Pete,
First off, in case of claims of bias are labeled upon me, I want to say this about that--Golf Club Atlas is a site where one should freely expound the virtues of great golf architecture to being critical of the lack thereof. Some of us are frequently condemened for being biased, unruly, out of line, and lack of subjectivity. I find all of those complaints as nothing more then fodder for lack of argument. I think Torrey Pines is a perfect course to hilight this, because now that the archives are up and running, one can go back to my original post some three years ago, about this time of year where I suggest that Rees could have done better--I have always maintained this, and will until he either makes changes or tweaks--or if God Himself comes down from the Heavens, throws a lighting bolt at the bluff where the course sits, and crumbles that bluff of sandstone into water-leveled dunes--Torrey Pines will always be nothing more then just a O.K. golf course in a beautiful setting as long as Billy Bell or Rees Jones design theories are intact. That is my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
That being.....
You don't think a Redan was Bell's original intention there? Who said anything about a Short, Biarritz, and a Eden? As far as a Cape, then Rees did a pretty good job of creating a somewhat modified one at the 14th there don't you think?
And just to show you how fair I'm being about this, go back and look at all of the posts where I compliment him on the 14th. Its a far better hole now then it was back then, because why? I think not because he went closer to the cliff, but because he made it look different, gave it some character which many of the old holes never really ever had. They all looked the same, and in some cases, even played the same.
I have said before, I'm not as offended at what Rees Jones did there as some might think. He took a somewhat deteriorated muni and transformed it to the mammoth that it is today. Just think, the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines! If that is the case, then Sandpiper should also be a legitmate candidate for Reesification so it to can become a staple or bargaining chip in the US Open rota!
Sounds ridiculous? That's exactly my point! Torrey Pines is not a US Open-quality design golf course. It never will be. Its been given a hand-me-down Open because they want to make money--lots of money and admittingly, San Diego--one of the Worlds' Most Beautiful Cities is just the site to welcome tourism; handle it with the hotel rooms, and even many other attractions from the Zoo to Lego Land to appease those loud mouth brats that had to come on your US Open vacation with you. (I say give'em a surfboard and tell them to become part of the food chain!--you can play with your Legos at home!)
I think Rees Jones could have done so much better, even with lower budget that was afforded him. Before he started this project, he said in press conferences that he was going to honor and respect the memory of Billy Bell, and when I stand in the middle of the 13th fairway and look at that monstrosity of golf architcture, to me that is a horrible waste of what could have been something far better that I KNOW in fact he is fully capable of creating.
As far as using the excuse that he was doing what the Century Club instructed him to do, makes about as much sense as saying Yale Golf Club instructed Roger Rulewich to construct bunkers and eliminate key ground features intregal to their classic Seth Raynor design. Think about it, if your a group of citizens and denizens wanting to attract the US Open, and the economy that it will bring, what exactly are you in the postion to demand? All the more reason to understand that they were working off of the suggestions of the USGA to hire
their Open Doctor, and have him make these changes.
I applaude him for not using those hideous mounds. I detest the fact that the bunkers look as if a team of Terminator 100's under direction of Arnold Sharwznegger designed and shaped them.
As far as subjectivity, for such a wonderful setting, I actually think Fazio would have done a far better job because the bunker style alone would have ben refreshing and natural--more in terms of the setting to the site. But indeed if Fazio would have had this project, I could only visualize the look on the Century Club's face when he presented them with the bill!