The Meadow Club, CA

[Ran Morrissett]

I just read a good article by Jeff Mingay on Mike DeVries. In it, the Meadow Club has retained Mike's services for a long term plan of restoring Mackenzie's bold bunkering and green contours, all of which sounds great.What kind of potential does that course have? I am totally unfamiliar with the property, etc but the course seems to have a bit of a cult following - must be something neat about it.

[Gib_Papazian]

Meadow Club is set in a rolling valley high up above Marin County. It is hard to believe this expansive plateau exists when driving up the steep winding road from Fairfax. Bob Graves made some modifications to it in years past, and despite some really out of place work, the course still has a terrific routing. That said however, much of the good Doctor's work has been obliterated over the years by Green Committee's, especially in the bunkering. There are too many trees in goofy spots that tighten fairways unnecessarily. If this track was restored by somebody who knew what they were doing it would really be something special. Nearby Green Hills (Peninsula side of the Bay)has also undertaken a similar project based on old aerial maps. Green Hills is on a goat hill piece of land, but it looks pretty good so far.

[Mark Thawley]

I'm researching Meadow Club as part of my  thesis on improving established golf courses.  It is a neat place today, but it must have been really special before many changes occured.  Robert Hunter wrote about the course shortly after its opening and compared it to the Old Course at St. Andrew's several times.  Mackenzie designed it to play wide open with some of of the largest greens he ever built.  Today those greens are considerably smaller and like Pasatiempo new trees have completely changed the character of the course.  Many bunkers have also been removed and those that do remain have been smoothed out over the years.  Due to "safety" reasons the openess will never be completely restored.  However, with help from Mike D. they should be able to get the  greens and bunkers pretty close.  

[Mike_DeVries]

Meadow Club has one of the finest sites in the golf world.  Set in a high mountain meadow, with the surrounding land owned by the Water District and retained for drinking water recharge into a large dammed lake, there are NO lights visible from the golf course at night and never will be due to those restrictions!  Mt. Tamalpais is in view from most of the course, although in many places the trees have obscured the view of it.  It is most peaceful and has some wonderful ground, plus it is VERY walkable!There has been substantial tree planting on the course, particularly in a tight area between two large hills where 5 holes are routed through.  Originally, these 5 holes were all wide open, ala St. Andrews, with a creek running through the middle of it and golfers chose their line of play according to their strengths.  It was like having the Old Course in California!    Of course, due to the climate, many of these trees are redwoods and they are already huge!The greens have shrunk considerably since the inception of the club, most probably in the first 5 - 10 years, as the club opened in 1927 and with the Crash and Depression, times were tough and maintenance was at a minimum.  The intention is to reclaim the greens and bring back all the great pins tucked behind bunkers and on small plateaux.  The bunkers have been redone in the past, some have been filled in, some eliminated, and so there is much work to bring back the elaborate MacKenzie style to those.The routing is the same and is very good, with many options for playing only a few holes in different combinations, as time and course capacity allow for the members.  There were several creeks leading into the main stream, and many of these were originally culverted, but some were left open as hazards.  A pond was added at the par 3 14th for water storage (14 occupies the lowest elevation on the property and is at the end of the main stream channel) and that has altered that hole's playability and options.Typical of its era, the practice area is insufficient for today's amount of play, but there is not much room for enlargement near the clubhouse.All in all, Meadow Club is a great club on a beautiful site and the goal is to restore it to its MacKenzie roots so that it will be worthy of the first American course by the Good Doctor.I am interested in hearing all of your comments, particularly if you have recollections from decades ago.  Many thanks!!!!  

[Ran Morrissett]

Mike,When would you recommend someone who doesn't live very close (and I mean a long way away) to go play it (if you aren't interested in before and after, that is)?How far off are you from enlarging the greens and restoring the sprawling MacKenzie bunkers? 12 months?It does sound awesome - very best of luck for what sounds like a special opportunity.

[Mike_DeVries]

Ran,It is a long-term project, with the Master Plan being done this winter and then concentrating on a few holes at a time.  Many of the members are aware of Lake Merced's recent project and complete renovation of their golf course which called for shutting down the course for a year and that is not something they want to do.The superintendent has been there 20 years of so and has many good people and talent available nearby to operate equipment, cut trees, etc. so the plan calls for the work to be handled in-house, with me coordinating and finishing the details through the superintendent.  The first hole project will be the fifth -- a par 3 modeled after the Eden hole.  It is sketched in Thomas' book on page 25.  Mostly, it will consist of redoing the bunkers and bringing the green margins back out to where they should be (expanding the current green by 50-60%!) and cutting a few trees down.  For those of you interested, The 2nd green is on page 83 and the 4th green on page 96 of Thomas' book, also.I think this will take the club at least 5 years, maybe more, until the entire course is complete.  That is somewhat of a pain, but is necessary so the entire course will stay open for the members.  Maybe they will become very excited after the initial project and want to step up the program, but if not, that is okay (hey, I get a good reason to go to San Francisco and that is great!).So, to answer your question as to when to go.  Well, if you want to see some before and some after, then go in a few years.  Otherwise, stay in touch with me and go out in 5-7 years to see the final result.It is a VERY SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY and I am excited about working with the club to restore its MacKenzie characteristics in all their glory.

[T_MacWood]

MikeHow did you go about puting together the master plan? Did the club have MacKenzie's original plans?  Or was it a case of having to utilize old photos, members recollections and/or physical evidence of previous features?

[Mike_DeVries]

Tom,Unfortunately, MacKenzie's originals are long gone.  But there are the sketches as seen in Thomas' book, recollections from members (sometimes contradictory), old photos from a local photographer, aerials from old govt. files, physical information on the ground contours that I recognize (there has not been a total renovation of the golf course at one time although there has been some manipulation due to water issues of the stream, culverting of creeks when not originally planned -- typical stuff) -- so it is a combination of a lot of factors.  And we keep finding more tidbits all the time, and every bit helps, so if you know of any pictures of Meadow Club, send them my way, please!  The Master Plan will be produced this winter.  The first phase of mapping the evolution of the course's features over time has been done -- now we will generate a plan that looks at what is appropriate to take back, put back, etc. and detail that on a hole-by-hole basis.  The first in-depth hole will be the 5th, as stated above, and that will be constructed in the spring of 2000.  Boy, I can't wait to get the green enlarged!