Renaissance Golf Design recently carried out a facelift of Concord GC in Sydney.
I was interested to see how far improved the course could be without any structural change -- all hole corridors remained the same and the only significant change came in the par five 5th being separated into a short four and a long three and then, to balance the number of holes, the par three 7th and par four 8th being combined into a par five.
The old 5th was a slog uphill and around a dogleg, while the 7th was an in-house hole that never fit in, so both changes were welcome.
Concord was always a fairly small and steep piece of land constrained by roads and limited by the clay soil and kikuyu grass, and it is still all of those things. But with some judicious tree removal, smarter bunkering and greens that offer far more fun than the old Ross Watson set, it's also vastly improved and proves those site limitations needn't be a total dealbreaker for interesting and fun golf.
My recollection from a chat with superintendent Chris Howe is that the renovation retained the same number of bunkers, but halved their area, doubled the overall green size and similarly increased the short grass around greens -- with an increased use of couch grass for those aprons to encourage a wider array of recovery shots (and allow the ball to run further away from the putting surface when it misses in the wrong spot).
Tom Doak gets the occasional snide "yeah, but with sites as good as he always gets, how could you not build something world top 100?", so it was really interesting to see how he tackled the kind of property no one is falling over themselves to build on, coupled with the limitations of sticking to an existing routing.
Tree removal was unable to be as significant as some would have liked due to the role trees play separating some cheek-by-jowl playing corridors, but where space allowed, significant amounts were removed to open up views across the course. The long views that OCCM Golf created at Bonnie Doon (another small site 20 minutes away) created a supreme feeling of spaciousness, and the same was achieved here, especially in the corner of the course that houses the 6th and 12th greens and 13th and 14th holes.
The view of those several flags blowing in the breeze in an open parkland has been my lasting visual summary of the renovation.
The ethos of the renovation is evident from the first tee. The corridor on this shortish four used to be a lot tighter and there was no drive interest other than keeping it to the right of the left trees and to the left of the right trees. The fairway bunker in the foreground (I hit a four iron next to it in still conditions) is at just the right distance that it will always play a role in decision-making, while the green tilts just enough front to back to demand precision ballstriking on the approach.
Visual deception is a signature characteristic of the renovated course, and nowhere moreso than at the mid-iron par three 4th. The bunker immediately in front of the green appears to be all carry to reach the putting surface, but in fact it sits a good 20 metres short. Even in the age of laser rangefinders and aerial maps, I find a foreshortening bunker still plants some doubt and discomfort in your mind as you stand over the ball.
The first 300 metres of the old par four 5th is now a short par four, the green tucked behind a nest of bunkers on the dogleg. Uphill short fours always leave me feeling a bit shortchanged, and this one was no different. The domed green wants a spinning, fuller approach shot and there's ample room left to set yourself up for one. I still prefer this hole and the new long par three that follows it to the par five they replaced, but this is not a short four that golfers will recount the thrill of playing and the agony of deciding on a tee shot strategy each round.
Looking up from the 6th hole, past the 12th green towards the 13th and 14th.
Full-size version here
A handful of greensites at Concord are tucked up against narrow streams where balls that miss slightly can end up wet. The combination of such a wild green and the proximity of water at the par five 8th was a bold one, which I suppose adds drama to the climax of the hole where it is missing from the drive and second shot due to the narrow corridor. This is one hole where the old Concord strategy of just keeping it in the corridor remains.
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While the bunkering outside the dogleg at the 10th has remained, the green now at least rewards play from out there, and some tree removal creates a pleasant vista down to the 8th green and beyond.
The 13th is another uphill short par four, and is compromised by the road to its right and a par three tucked up against the left-hand-side. But Renaissance has made it a far more enjoyable and interesting hole by claiming enough extra width that you'd now consider hitting driver, and building this magnificent boomerang/lion's mouth green where a change of pin position will alter where you want to approach from.
Looking down the drop-shot short-iron 14th towards the 12th green immediately behind it and 5th green in the distance -- the reverse of the view in the picture further up.
The par five 15th was an example of a hole where tree-induced narrowness couldn't be fixed (it borders 11, 12, 16 and 17!), but the revamped bunkering makes it far more visually-appealing as well as more interesting on the lay-up and around the green.
The result is a course that's far more fun and interesting to play than its previous incarnation, and the positives in the new bunkering and green complexes took my mind off the limitations the site has, which previously were never far from your mind as you aimed once more for the centre of the fairway off the tee and the middle of the green on your approach.