Toured PGA Frisco (Hanse, only saw Welling from a distance) a week ago. Very nice, with lots of "new" ideas.
-Some ditch grass bunkers (I’ve done those, not quite as severe) with a combo of buffalo and Bermuda on the banks so one shot in may sit high, another low. Some knobs, not sure if they are supposed to look like Texas size ant hills, but unique.
- On 12, he has a big “waste bunker” left although it is just chunked up ground, no sand yet, so not sure the plan. There is a trench where it looked like a 4” tile went, and when they decided to self-drain, they just left that trench in the waste bunker, again, presumably to mete out random lies.
- A few bunkers that start as formal and transition to waste at the rear, a few that are waste in the front and transition to formal at the back. Pretty neat. (The photo above shows one of them)
- Even the formal sand bunkers have a nice mix of blobs with rugged edges vs. more traditional cape and bay style.
- Tees surrounds are shaped a lot, and most run straight into the fairway, a la George Thomas’ Fair tee.
- Gil didn’t allow a box blade or drag mat on the property, so the fairways have a nice old fashioned rough surface look to them.
-A lot of the green run ups are pretty sharp, including the first short par 4. Guessing he is trying to encourage and then potentially stop the drive from reaching the green? Or let the long hitters use it to slow down their shots.
-A lot of upslope and minor mounding at 340 yards. Carry bunkers from 270-300, most flanking bunkers at 300 or so.
-All par 5 holes over 600. Gil wants them to be true three shot holes. I liked 14 second LZ a lot. A cross bunker and some other bunkers both sides, creek long. The tight LZ was around 140 to green, laying up short of cross bunker puts players well over 150, I think, probably too long to assure a tight approach.
- Most scenic hole is 13, a 237 (?) par 3, creek left, sand bunker starts left, runs uphill to behind the green, and then curves back on itself on even a higher level, sort of a Z shape. Nicely done as it sits in shade, and green is pushed far enough north to allow sunlight in all hours of day. Open front, into wind, biggest hazards left and back, between clubs for PGA Tour players....one of the better combo set of conditions that might actually have players laying up with a shorter club, rather than hit extra club and risk the back bunker, if the wind suddenly stops gusting.
- Most unusual green is 6, with a sharp swale running off the back right....right into a sand bunker. The 12th had a little collector swale running to a chipping area mid right into the green (472 yard par 4)
-Card says 7601, but construction foreman says they added back tees to get it to possibly over 7900.
-Cart paths (8 foot wide, IMHO< should have been 10') at tees and greens only. Trying an "old driveway look" with two gravel tracks/paths with grass between to minimize hard surface along the length of fairways. They put a drain line under each gravel track, including some cross drains to make it practical. I think it should work, even with the turd floaters we get here in N Texas, but time will tell. In the end, concrete may have been cheaper, LOL.
-North Ridge Bermuda fw and rough, Tif Eagle on greens.
As always, just my humble opinion from what I saw in a quick tour. A nice addition to the DFW golf scene.