Is Eastlake a Ross anymore?

[David Stamm]

I don't know much about the course, and I must admit, watching today has left me a bit underwhelmed (I've never really watched the tourny here before). The property looks good in spots, but there seems to be some rather ho hum holes here and there. Have the changes taken away most of the Ross? Or was this never one of Ross' most praised courses? Is this a case much like Oaklaad Hills?

[Chris Cupit]

No Ross.  The course Jones played was the one that was mostly across the street.  I should say little if anything of the Ross is left.  I believe George Cobb did a pretty complete re-do prior to the Ryder Cup in 1963.  It's a tough course thanks to high bermuda rough, brick hard bermuda greens and length but it lacks any real charm aside from the neat 6th hole.

I played it a lot (50-75 times) in the late 80s and early 90s.  No doubt Mr. Cousins' foundation has transformed a once scary area into a model for what good can happen centered on golf but the re-do really messed up some favorites (I think those were more Cobb than Ross anyway).
Holes that were better before:  #4, #5, #7, #8, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14 green was awesome now its just another green
Improvements:  Obviously he conditioning is now flawless and the clubhouse is a museum that golf nuts could spend a week in.  Also I like new #1 green, #17 although the green was moved again this year even closer to the water and I think the bank is a bit angular/severe.

It's hard not to be proud of what happened down there at East Lake but the architecture is underwhelming/monotonous for sure.

[Kenny Baer]

I think Chris answered your question about Ross.

In regards to the course I like what Mike Young said; he said East Lake is like Vanilla ice cream but it may be the best Vanilla you have ever tasted.

[BCrosby]

Chris sums things up pretty well. A couple of quibbles. What exactly Cobb did in '62 is something of a mystery, though we have a couple of decent aerials and they give a feel for things pre and post. My sense is that Cobb's changes were not extensive. Cobb seems to have removed the old winter greens. And eight seems to have gone from a long par 3 to a short par 4 about that time. But there is little reliable documentation that would nail it down.

Charlie Harrison, one of the great amateurs of the '50's and early 60's, recalls the NLE No. 2 course across the street. He will tell you that almost everyone in the day thought it was the better course, but it was a pain to get to (well away from the main clubhouse), thus it tended to get less play. Charlie says a lot of women and kids were put on No. 2 on busy days. It was where Charlie played most of his golf as a kid. Aerials of that course are stunning. Much of the current Charlie Yates "short" course was built over the old layout of No. 2. But it is still easy to make out some of the hole corridors. A real loss to gca. Unlike the No. 1 course, which was a Ross redo, No.2 was a Ross original.

Changes made to EL in the '90's were advertised as a Ross restoration. As Chris notes, they weren't.

Bob

P.S. Chris - Refresh my memory of the old 14th green. I do remember it being terrific, but I'll be damned if I remember the details.