Does somebody have to be right and somebody have to be wrong?

[Jerry Kluger]

Raleigh Country Club was completed in 1948 and is attributed to Donald Ross.  Two respected experts on Donald Ross have put their hand to restoring the course and the differences are quite dramatic.  Richard Mandell was first to do a restoration a number of years ago to what he believed the course to be as Ross envisioned it.  Kyle Franz has now done a second restoration of the course and once again I believe it was to be as Kyle envisioned Ross designed it.  The differences are quite dramatic and the question is whether that means that one is correct and the other is not?   
https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2020/10/29/photos-of-renovated-raleigh-country-club.html?ana=e_trig_bn_editorschoice_editorschoice&j=90535290&t=Breaking%20News&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWm1Vek16azJZalU0TkRJeiIsInQiOiJTVlJ1V01SU2tBS3dhTWlIZVg0b3VZaE5aSnBcL2VVWm1lbkp5akFFNGhKVXJaNUhSTUlxRFhHNnZZVTN0VDFSWE9USDZXM04zb3ZDXC83cXVUbVhuMFIrM1Vib2VJRFowblVPcEN0V3o2YTBvSUw4RCtaY1wvaTdhbk5raHJDS0ZmZzhXRWZPc1dFZmFXclNiZ1FOeU9ldnc9PSJ9#g/473138/1

[Terry Lavin]

Good can be followed by better. Better can be surpassed by excellence.


This is no insult, but life is about sales.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Cart paths may have not been in Mandell's scope. That would be a big difference - when were they first added?
The first scope could have been clearing, and drainage with bunker work.
Franz's may have been bunkers, cart paths, and irrigation - looks great.
Peace

[Jerry Kluger]

I wouldn't say that one interpretation is better than the other. My point is that you cannot automatically assume that a particular architect would use particular features/designs on any given course.  You can make general statements about many architects but an architect like Ross who was so prolific still cannot be identified to build a course in a particular style or manner.  So to answer my question: there is no absolute right answer.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I am very familiar with RCC but have not played the new renovation. Franz added a bunch of new fairway bunkers. Were they in Ross' original drawings I wonder? As for one being right and one being wrong, I think when it comes to renovations one can be truer to the original than another but that doesn't make one better than the other. I like the look of Fanz's bunkers but question some of the placement and additions.

[Will Lozier]

The latest version looks "less Rossy" to me, fwiw.