[Jerry Kluger]

We at GCA have long debated the merits of the various ratings given by different golf publications and here we have trouble with the definitions being used by GD but how about discussing the courses which are recognized in the GD article.  I had the opportunity to play Congressional in August and I thought the "new" version of the Blue is very much in the spirit of what many on GCA have advocated concerning what a course should be based upon what we have learned with respect to conditioning, playability, etc.  The Blue had always been viewed as a big course which could be set up as a test for the very best golfers but it was a typical parkland course with thick trees and thick rough with a pretty straight forward approach to each hole.  The new version is drastically different despite it having essentially the same routing.  The trees are gone and replaced with wispy grasses which give the golfer an expansive view of the course and allows the course to breathe which should make conditioning more toward firm and fast.  Some holes have been noticeably changed but it is the tree removal which gives the course an entirely different feel and playability. I have to give the membership credit for going along with such a dramatic change but it should be worth it in the long run.  The only downside I found was that we played it on a very hot August day and there wasn't much shade to get a respite from the sun.

[Paul Jones]

I'm confused about what is a renovation and what is a transformation.

Or they are!   


I don’t understand how lac la Belle is a new course and not a Transformation.

Tom,


I was told when I played it this year that the city gave them additional land and they started over from scratch.  I did not see the before product, so I cannot compare pre/post.

[Tim Gavrich]

FWIW, the way I look at the distinction between a new golf course and a renovation/restoration/"transformation" is whether at least half the golf course ends up being rerouted, i.e. whether the golf course has nine or fewer holes in the same positions as before.


E.g., the minimum-qualifying "new course" I've seen of late is Quixote in S.C., where Kris Spence retained the routing of the front nine (while redesigning the holes in those corridors) and basically blew up the back nine and routed it anew. To me, that's a new golf course.


With that new land and the consolidation of holes on the older corridors, Lac La Belle also fits my "new golf course" definition.

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