The Travesty of Medalist-NLE, part II

[Jim_Michaels]

Well, saw about half of the Shell's WWOG match between Norman and Price that was played at the original Medalist last night. Amazing, amazing, amazing. That golf course is completely gone. Listening to the announcers talk about the decisions the Pete Dye course was forcing the players to make, it was startling to see how they have all been wrenched out of the course.

[Jeff Goldman]

I need to go back and review the discussions here about the changes, but from tv land, it looked quite interesting.  Except for the par-3 4th(?), which seemed out of place with a fake volcano island green, the course seemed to have a terrific singular character with the fairway greens surrounded mostly by grass and sod wall bunkers.

Jeff Goldman

[Joel_Stewart]

Its amazing given that Jack Whitaker in his little speach at the end of the show said that the Medalist may rank as a top 10 golf course in the world after a few years.   I believe the course did break into the top 100 then after Norman started messing around it has dropped into oblivion....

[Jim_Michaels]

So there is some value to the rankings. When this course was good, it was ranked. Now that it is not, it's not ranked.  How about that?

[ian]

Has Pete Dye ever said anything about the changes?

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Ian
 If Dye said anything negative about the changes, it hasn't stopped him from accepting a co-design with Norman at Tuscany Reserve, a high end housing development course in Naples,FL currently under construction. From shark.com

"The par-72 course at Tuscany Reserve Golf Club will be the second collaboration in Naples between WCI and Greg Norman. On this project Norman is collaborating with Pete Dye, one of golf's most influential architects. "

"Tuscany Reserve's championship course will meander along terraced hillsides with water features slowly spilling over aging stone walls into narrow finger-lakes and channels. A picturesque farm-like landscape of olive groves and flowering orchards helps create the look and feel of Tuscany. The Tuscan landscape is reflected in the topography of the golf course, with a variety of uphill and downhill holes. "

Steve

[Joel_Stewart]

Steve:
I'm glad you brought up the new course between Dye and Norman because I was really surprised that Norman accepted the joint venture.

What he has done at Medalist is take away every idea that Pete Dye put in.  All of the bunkers have been moved from the inside of the fairways to the outside, greens and tees have been moved, 17 has been changed from a par 5 to a par 4 and 18 from a great par 4 to a easy par 5.  

My question is who will have control at Tuscany Reserve after it is finished.  I'm going to assume that this is going to be one tough golf club going after the lower handicap players in the area.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Joel
If it's going to be a tough course, a lot of million dollar plus homeowners better have low handicaps. Otherwise, they will lose a lot of balls in the newly planted olive groves. Are olive trees indigenous to SW FL?

Steve