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RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
My first taste of 'Weed'.
« on: August 13, 2002, 05:04:05 PM »
Dan Kelly and I had a very fine twilight round of golf east of the Twin Cities at a Bobby Weed designed golf course called Stone Ridge.   It is a highly manufactured site with little in the way of natural greensites or fairway corridors/grading.  But, I am totally impressed with Weed's design in offering a wide array of design features that bring to mind many of the classic features that seem to be a trend these days (perhaps as the result of our vanguard of GCA afficianados) towards renewed interest in things like; midfairway bunkering presenting real choices of clubs off tees, optional strategies for some ground game or aerial approaches to greens, and clever use of fairway grading to offer real placement incentives, many and intricate greens surrounds hollows and hummocks that also offer many shot styles to accomplish ones desire to get up and down or play safe and take your medicine to avoid worse disaster with a variety of shot choices.  Weed's green designs at Stone Ridge have frequent and dramatic internal movement and excellent tie-ins to surround features.

Maintenance was as good as it gets in the northern Great Lakes region with firm greens running true and at appropriate speeds to the contours, expansive surrounds cut at puttable heights, and firm fairways of excellent turf quality.  Rough heights and density are also varried appropriate to their location.

Stoneridge is a perfect walk, although we crapped out after 9 in 90*/90humidity and opted for the mercy of a cart. :'(  The routing is superb and has just enough quirk to make it distinctive (like 9 being a par 3, and some vigorous uphill marches to greens, and some interesting plateaus in LZs.

I would like to know if Weed was ever under the tuteledge of Pete Dye.  His 18th, par 4 that we played at 453 and sets up at 473 screems of Pete Dyabolical, and is called "Curtains" and all the holes are named in a Dyelike style... ::)

My only critique is similar to the one I had at Barona Creek where par 3 redans were constructed that don't quite get the classic kick bank right and in my opinion need the slightest of alteration on the high right green and collar grade.

Interestingly to me, 'Stone Ridge' and a course near my area of Green Bay and Fox Cities called 'The Creeks at Ellingson' -designed by Bob Lohmann, both look as if they were designed in collaboration for golf feature creation.  Both were built at the same time (about 3 years ago) and they seem to be a departure from the 80s and 90s era, and back to the future of classicism.

I'm not into the Doak scale and all that, but I would say, if you are anywhere near the Twin Cities and able to play, it is an excellent choice.   8)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

ian

Re: My first taste of 'Weed'.
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2002, 05:35:36 PM »
It really changes your perception of golf courses......oh the architect.....sorry, never mind.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

John_Conley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: My first taste of 'Weed'.
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2002, 07:58:51 PM »
Beat you by a day.  It was very windy on Saturday and I found Stonehenge to be one of the harder courses I've played.

#14 reminded me of the famous par 3 on the back 9 at Portrush.  The Biarritz green on #6 was a hoot and made me wish I'd seen the hole before.  That Redan was N A S T Y if you missed left, which I fortunately didn't.

Somehow I pounded a Drive and 5-wood to the front edge of 18 and made 4 to get back on a couple bets that were out.  One of my playing partners beat Driver 2-iron.  It was dead into a STRONG wind.  

I had D-4 on #10 and hit both very well.

Hope you scored better than I did.

For the course, I thought the site didn't offer much but the design was outstanding.  Site-C, course-B+.  For the Doak Scale, nothing I'd say you have to go to Saint Paul to see, but play it if you are there.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Anthony_Nysse

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: My first taste of 'Weed'.
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2002, 06:12:07 AM »
If memory serves me correctly, Bobby Weed did alot of work for Pete, especially at Sawgrass and Riverhighlands
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
Anthony J. Nysse
Director of Golf Courses & Grounds
Apogee Club
Hobe Sound, FL

Ken_Cotner

Re: My first taste of 'Weed'.
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2002, 09:52:25 AM »
Dick,

I think Weed did some restoration work at Myers Park here in Charlotte (Ross) which included some of the same features you saw at Stone Ridge.  Very nice.

And a high cut into the right side of that Redan green won't kick to the back left!

Ken
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »

Michael Dugger

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: My first taste of 'Weed'.
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2002, 10:47:51 AM »
I believe that Dye says in his book (Bury Me In a Pot Bunker) that Bobby Weed first came to work for him as the construction superintendent at Long Cove.  I also believe that Doak mentions at some point in one of his works that there were something like six members of that construction crew that have gone on to design golf courses in their own right.(Doak, Weed, Schmidt, Perry and P.B.)  I'm not sure who else was there, nor what other courses Weed worked on with Pete, but I'd say it is fair to state that Pete Dye has influenced him quite a bit.    
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
What does it matter if the poor player can putt all the way from tee to green, provided that he has to zigzag so frequently that he takes six or seven putts to reach it?     --Alistair Mackenzie--

RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: My first taste of 'Weed'.
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2002, 12:31:11 PM »
John, sounds like we had similar rounds.  I also went into the deep and steep left-front redan pit on 7 and after hitting it over the green to back rear waste area, picked up as I had to do after too many blows on 2 and 3 with lost balls due to hitting tee shots dead right.  But, I also made a par on 18 although needed a 3-wood to make the right green collar 2nd shot, and got up and down for my most satisfying hole of the day.  ;D  Also, there are 2 legitimately drivable par 4s depending on wind conditions, which I liked, though I didn't have the horsepower on 1 or 13.  

I'm glad you fellows confirmed the relationship with Dye, or I would have thought I was going 'whacky on the Weed' by my assessment of the unmistakable characteristics.  I must get around to the "Bury me in a Pot Bunker"... :-/

Finally, can anyone say who was the lead construction entity or lead shaper.  This is in my opinion superior grading/shapingwork. 8)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by 1056376800 »
No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.