Hope Valley C.C. in Durham, NC is a 1926 Donald Ross design that reopened in Oct. after a renovation by Brian Silva. The course is of some historic significance as the scene of the fourth of Byron Nelson's 11 straight victories in 1945. The course had been changed several times over the years, most recently in the mid-80's. The club turned the course over to Silva last January. I should note that the club is in possession of Ross's original drawings, but they consist only of a page or so.
Silva was quoted in "Triangle Golf Today" as saying, "Hope Valley is Ross at the peak of his power. The routing is perfect-it was the one thing that wasn't tampered with. You don't see an uncomfortable hole out there, not a hole out of place..."
"At Hope Valley, our job wasn't to create an exact replica of the course as it was in 1926. You can't do that. Our job was to give the members a course that's true to the spirit of Ross's design, but at the same time can stand up to the capabilities of the modern player. It's a restoration, not a reproduction."
"What happened to Hope Valley happened to a lot of other great old courses all over the country," Silva said. "Over the years, many individual changes are made-some large, some small, but most of which should never have been done. One change in itself isn't a big deal, but they add up over time. And one day you wake up and you're on a course that's completely different from what the designer had in mind."
I had the good fortune to play the course yesterday on a beautiful day, and Silva's work is excellent by any standard. Basically, the changes fall into four areas:
1. The tee boxes have been squared up, and slightly elevated for improved drainage. Additionally, several new tees have been built to add 175 yds. to the course.
2. Approx. 20 bunkers have been added, and most of the existing bunkers have been converted to grass-faced, and made to appear to be cut very naturally into banks, as one would guess they probably were in 1926. Several of the bunkers are small "sight-line" bunkers, relatively close to the tees. Several fairway bunkers that were added as "savior" bunkers over the years have been removed.
3. Most importantly, the greens have been completely reworked. They have been restored to roughly their original sizes, after being reduced by about 25% in 1986 for financial reasons, and many very harsh contours that severely limited the available pin positions have been reduced. In general, the greens are now sloped rather than tiered. By returning the greens to the original size and contour, a multitude of chipping areas were also created.
4. Over 300 trees were removed from the course, primarily for better turf growth, rather than lines of play.
The changes seem to have been well-received by the club's membership, and were helped by some very good weather for growing in the bent grass greens in Oct. and Nov. There is only one hole on the course (#3, which was probably the weakest hole on the golf course) that Silva materially changed from the 1985 configuration. Other than that hole, a player not habitually geeked-up on GCA would only really be aware of the changes in the green contours. Visually, the course is vastly improved, and the playability (for lack of a better word) is improved as well through the better drainage and chipping areas.
One final note: Apparently, Nelson at some point had listed the 11th hole as one of his favorite composite 18. A creek running down the right side of the hole was subsequently covered up by two Greens Committee members who were chronic slicers. Ben Hogan, during an exhibition match with Mike Souchak in 1966, realized this and was extremely critical of the changes, saying "You tell'em I said they screwed up a great golf hole." I have it on good authority that the possibility of "unpiping" the creek was explored during this restoration, but was deemed to be impractical in light of housing growth in the area and possible flooding problems. Too bad, of course, but evidence that everyone at the club was and is trying hard to get it right.