would the powers that be at Pasa ever be interested in returning #1 to its former self, up to an including using a top tee, converting back to a par 5 and reclaiming back part of the driving range? I think it would need to keep the trees separating the 1st and 9th holes, but the rest could be put back in place it seems.
Kalen:
I'm the one who converted the 1st hole to a par-4 by abandoning the "top tee". My logic was that the top tee wasn't original ... MacKenzie's first tee was further left toward the driving range, and only 470 yards, which in olden days made it a par-5. But the "top tee" which had been added later was a liability nightmare in its own right; anytime it was being used, you were firing over the heads of people going back and forth from the pro shop to the range.
Also, it's in their bylaws that anything they build on the course now must be restorative in nature ... i.e. they don't have to restore everything, but they can't make a change that isn't a restoration to the original design.
I did once suggest that they abandon the range altogether and utilize that whole area for the first hole as it had been originally. They didn't go for it, and I doubt they ever will.
P.S. to Tim Fenchel: With the out-of-bounds left for the driving range, and people's natural tendency to slice, removing the trees from the right side of the first hole would likely result in a lawsuit within the first month. I hate when design comes to that ... but when you're in California where people sue over every little thing, you have to consider it. Perhaps now that Jim Urbina is their consultant, he can take down all the trees ...