Bobby Weed-Should GCA love him?

[Craig Rokke]

Nice Finegan write-up about Glen Mills in the latest LINKS.

[WilliamWang]

this is an ancient thread, but i have added some photos that derek duncan took of the university of florida renovation done by bobby weed (see also RJ Daley's "First taste of weed" thread etc.).

i've yet to have my first taste, but hope to get to glen mills this fall.  from what i see in derek's photos the greens look delightful.

take it away derek...

View from the right of the par 5 3rd



The sharp-edged green at the par 3 8th



From the right of the 7th green



The par 3 6th



The 6th green from the left



The bottlecap 11th--125 yards



The drivable 17th--295 to 320 yards and downhill

[TEPaul]

There is definitely somethng very interesting about that Bobby Weed!

[willhammer (Guest)]

Though I have only played one course of his and thought it a good design, many here have bashed it (TPC Canyons in Vegas). I really appreciated his work.

Wide playing corridors with definate preferred angles. Large greens that were heavily, and smartly, contoured with short grassed steep slopes surrounding them. A good formula if you ask me though I could not say if that is typical of all his work.

I think the fact that he has done a number TPC courses negatively influences the "independant group think" on this message board when it comes to his body of work.

[Derek_Duncan]

Thanks for posting the photos William!

It's taken me some time to understand how Weed's start-over work at the University of Florida resembled Ross. Initially I thought the green complexes resembled MacDonald/Raynor, and Weed himself, if anything. But the more I become familiar with good Ross courses (difficult, living in Florida) there is a nice Rossian quality here.

There's very little to worry about off the tee at UF, and in fact one can get quite comfortable with the driver. But the approach shots into the greens demand precision, not to hit the greens but to not "miss" them. Sooner or later in the round, no matter how far one is driving the ball, a green will be missed, maybe even just slightly, and the resulting up and down will be confounding. The mental stress of missing several in a row is the course's greatest defense. Marginal approach shots are not rewarded. I've played with college players who drive it FAR and who look like they will simply overpower the course, only to see them eventually get frustrated and lose their patience. And it's all doen with slopes and contour. Very fascinating.

[Mark_Fine]

Glen Mills and Inniscrone have two things in common.  They both are poor pieces of land to put 18 hole golf courses on, however, they both at times, demonstrate the potential of the architects (if given some good property).  "Some" of the work is just brilliant.  

Didn't Weed do The Slammer and The Squire?  I thought there was some pretty good stuff down there although I wouldn't rush back down to play it again!
Mark

[BCrosby]

Weed renovated The Ponte Vedra Beach Club about 5 years ago. He did a very good job, retaining both the historical feel to some of the holes, but also retaining some of the wild, raised RTJ bunkering. I played the course many times both before and after Weed's work and the course is now a much more interesting track. A 5 on the Doak scale.

Bob    

[A.G._Crockett]

Cape Fear C.C. in Wilmington, NC is a Ross course that was recently redone to the original drawings, which were found in the attic of the clubhouse when the club was going to renovate the building.  Does anyone know if Weed did that work?

[jim_lewis]

I was probably out to lunch when this thread began. I have played Bobby's Olde Farm near Abingdon, Virginia, and it is very, very good. It was desrving of GD'd "Best New Private" a couple of years ago as well as its GOLFWEEK ranking as #75 Best Modern. It is much better than The Virginian by Tom Fazio, which located on adjacent property.

Myers Park CC in Charlotte was significantly improved by Bobby's work, although I am not sure how much was restoration. The course (at least some of the existing property) was originally designed by Tillinghast, then redesigned by Ross just before his death. Subsequently, Ellis Maples and Rees Jones made significant changes. All I know is the current couse is the best of the versions I have seen. My only disappoinment was that most of the bunkering is so shallow that it really is not much of a hazard.  There are not many fairway bunkers and in most cases, you are better off in the bunker than the alternative.


Bobby has also been engaged in some "restoration" work at Linville, one of my favorite Ross courses. I do not know the status of that project, but I believe it is complete.

It may not be televised, but the Senior  Amateur will be played at Timuquana CC Sept-28-Oct 3. That may provide a glimpse at his much-acclaimed restoration of that fine old Ross course.


A.G.

I believe you are mistaken about Cape Fear Country Club. They did retain Tom Doak, who submitted a plan for improving the course, buit I don't think it could be called a restoration. I don't know how much of Tom's plan has been implemented, but it focused primarily on much-needed tree removal. In my view, restoration to the original Ross design is out of the question. Many years ago the original 18th and 10th holes were eliminated in favor of a parking lot and a practice area. Property was acquired and a couple of new holes were added on the back nine. The club chose to build a large new clubhouse, which suggests to me that their priorities do not include a true restoration.

Walker Taylor IV, who posts here occasionally, is a member of the club and V-P of the Donald Ross Society.  I will try to contact him and ask him to set us straight with regard to restoration plans at Cape Fear.

[Craig_Rokke]

Relating to Mark's post about Inniscrone and Glen Mills being
tough sites to put 18 holes on, I agree to a point. The land
in both cases offers up very good portions that make for some very interesting golf holes--almost ideal in stretches.
But in others, it really makes it tough to shoe-horn in landing areas, and it also creates forced carries that may be a bit
long. If memory serves, both architects put the toughest
carries on the par four tee shots finishing up the courses at 17, and 18.