Kris, I have noticed that you have been busy in the Charlotte, Greenville/Spartanburg corridor this past year.
I am always curious about what the club wants when it hires an architect to do a majore renovation.
A. Tommy, it depends on the needs of each club. In most cases there are agronomic/quality concerns with greens, tees, bunkers,irrigation that drive the initial inquiry. In several cases it has been dissatisfaction with prior projects or the desire to follow the flow of other successful projects in the region. Regaining or strengthening their competitive edge has played a big role as well. My purest restorative project to date was Mimosa Hills in Morganton, the entire need for the project came about due to the fact the original clay based Ross greens would not support bentgrass to modern standards and the bunkers did not have drainage. Restoration was a by product of needing to rebuild the greens and bunkers, therefore lost green space was reclaimed and sand build up both in the bottom and on the sides of the bunkers was removed in the process. At the same time we evaluated all the changes that had taken place and made various recommendations as to course length, tree work, irrigation, re-instating lost bunkers or repositioning a few into present day landing areas as long as the topography allowed.
Q. \When Carolina, MPCC,or Furman, hired you did they give you a mandate or a free hand?
A. None of the clubs mentioned above spelled out a mandate other than to make it the best it can be given the restraints of the site, budgets etc. In the case of Carolina and MPCC both clubs expressed their desire to maintain or reinstate as much of Ross original work as I felt appropriate, both gave me the final decision. I do listen and work with key members who have an intimite knowlege of the course and its playing characteristics. I prefer to build my initial impression and core ideas for the Master Plan independent of club member influence and then share my ideas later in the process through a preliminary plan with focus groups of members. From these meetings the final Plan is determined. I have gotten some of my best ideas from these membership focus group meetings.
Q. I'd be interested to hear more about what Meyers Park was like before the renovation. I played MPCC and the newly renovated Charlotte CC on successive days this year and while they seem to be on similar terrain they played very differently. Charlotte wants a big time event. My guess is that MPCC does not, but wanted a course more user friendly. True?
A. I would rather not comment on Myers Park before and I haven't seen Ron Prichards work at Charlotte CC, so I cant compare them. In my opinion it makes no sense to compare them anyway, they were designed in two completely different eras of Ross' career as CCC was originally designed in 1910 and MPCC was a Ross remodel late in his career in 1945. It would seem Ross was given specific instructions to design a championship test at CCC due to the high number of bunkers I saw on the old aerials. While MPCC is well bunkered in the landing areas and into and around the green sites, Ross did not install as many of the short directional and or crossing bunkers you see on his designs from the teen's and 20's when hickory shafts were used.
The greens at MP are a mix of restored greens and some new Ross style greens to fit a new location or angle etc. I definitely try to read the membership and develop the course on a level that I think is appropriate. We apparently got MPCC and Carolina right as the reports coming out of both facilities has been very positive. Both courses will need this full season to mature, the last time I saw them the supers at both places had them well on their way.
I hope I answered your questions,