Suggestions welcome.

[OChatriot]

Re course renovation, do you condone moving a classic course green by a few meters, keeping it's shape, angles etc, because it will make some space to improve nearby areas? Or is it a cardinal sin??


PS: I was in Ballybunion last month and the finished renovation of 4-5-6-7 on Cashen is spectacular. Especially the new 5th green. Being there feels a bit like standing on the Old 2nd, with massive views. Bravo! Watson firm doing a great job there, and the whole 36 holes will become an even stronger proposition than before. Cashen is one of my top 10 places to play golf, and when finished, many more people might agree. It might become as sought after as the Old Course there. Just my view!!

[Kevin_Reilly]

Hello, Olivier.  I will look through my old Orinda CC (Watson 1924) renovation/restoration materials to see if there is anything that might be useful to you.


Question re: Cashen.  I played there last week and didn't share the same enthusiasm for the course as you.  These bunkers for example looked out of place - almost "American style".  For sure the course will be better after Tom Watson's work, but the bar seemed pretty low to me.  I wonder how they will manage to widen many of the fairways without substantial earthmoving.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Olivier - isn't the most important thing to hire a good golf course architect who can put together a consistent plan to improve the course?


Why not hire a firm Hawtree (assuming he is still working) or Mackenzie & Ebert?  Has St Cloud hired an architect to come up with a plan?

[OChatriot]

@ Kevin.  Thank you for your offer.

Re Cashen, I would say the following:
- it was originally built by Robert Trent Jones Sr so it is American style in some way.
- Those bunkers did not shock me at all. I suppose the massive gains in fairway space there, lengthening the holes and creating at last a playable 7th more than balance a few potential mishaps. The overall plan is all about space and playability. I think it's great.
- my only disappointment were that fairway #4 on the MasterPlan was way closer to the Cashen river than it is in the end. Also I will regret the semi-blind character of the 5th (along the sea) second shot. The new back tees everywhere are splendid.
- a real plus was to see that even though they pushed the new #4 green into the back dune they kept the steep back part of the green that was so enjoyable to play long and bring the ball back.

[OChatriot]

The Cashen topic always raises the temp here 

[Sean_A]

The Cashen topic always raises the temp here 

Maybe because folks think it is silly narrow? I never liked the course, but it had a ton of cool shots. Always thought it best to get a cart, some beers and treat the course like mobile range. Just hit the cool shots and ride on. These days the price has become stupid so I can’t be bothered to see it again.

Ciao

[Phil Young]

Oliviera, the club should consider Mike DeVries and Frank Pont whose restorative reconstruction of Bloomfield Hills CC Harry Colt designed course was outstanding.

[Thomas Dai]

I liked many/most of the holes on the earlier version of the Cashen but wasn’t so keen on the routing nor the distance from greens to next tee so having been primed for the length and severity of the walks took a buggy.
Glad I did. Some cracking holes though, really quirky at times.
Atb