[Mark Bourgeois]

Yeah, that's true. There's no slingshot at Meadow.

I was just getting at the position of the stream forcing you to make a decision to lay back or be aggressive off the tee.  The aggressive play to carry the farther reaches of it or try to stay inside and left of it, the conservative to play right and / or short of it.

The similarity to 13 Augusta, besides being a dogleg left to an amphitheater green: doesn't the bold line off the tee at ANGC involve challenging Rae's Creek? I think you get the slingshot after you successfully carry the creek.

BTW, what's the source of the claim that ANGC 13 was inspired by Alwoodley 10? Did MacKenzie write that?

Mark

[Bill_McBride]

Nick Leefe just said that sort of off-handedly when I played with him, as in (loosely paraphrasing), "Some say the 13th at Augusta may have been inspired by this hole."  He said it as we walked down the fairway, so I suspect he was talking about the tee shot.

I suspect that's not the first time he, or anybody else, has made that observation.  

The creek at Alwoodley has nothing to do with the tee shot, so perhaps we're both right!  

[Sean_A]

Every now and then somebody posts a comment along the lines of "MacKenzie-style bunkers," but these pictures seem to me an indication of the variety of bunkers he designed and not similarity or stereotype.

It looks to me like the intent of these bunkers was to capture the genius of the place, to develop a bunker style that fit the locale.

What's also interesting to me is the notion that the style he captured might have been "maintenance dependent."

This valley gets a lot of rain, yes? Add to that the need / tendency to water green complexes more than surrounding countryside, certainly more than the "non-golf course" part of the terrain, and it's possible blending the course into the surrounding hillsides (whose natural color in California would be straw or brown, yes?) is a task of huge challenge.

(It would be interesting to know how much rain this valley received during the design and construction years.  Is it possible the area received rainfall amounts well below normal, low enough to tinge the entire property in sepia?)

The picture Mike H. calls out looks a lot different in sepia tones -- note how naturally (or for you skeptics, how much more naturally) the bunkers blend into or at least "reflect" the hillside.


Mark

Looks more to me, Mark, like a Burial Ground for false teeth.

I agree with Rich - the bunkers above don't look to blend in well at all.  The jagged parts are far too uniform.  

This bunker below is much better.  However, I think to really pull off the natural look the bunker should be split and more grass allowed to creep closer to the green.  In effect, less sand in view.  

I am beginning to wonder if it isn't near on impossible to bring nature to the edge of the course without some sort of obvious transition which compromises the look.  Perhaps its better to forego the bunkering in the rear and let nature take its course.  Personally, I like some bunkering behind greens - especially on reachable 4s and 5s, but I generally prefer them to be hidden.  This allows the strategy to be in place without creating a very unnatural look of huge swaths of sand around greens.


Ciao

[JSPayne]

I was priviledged enough to be an NCGA Intern at Meadow Club for a year and half and on the project crew of the last phase of the restoration.

My feelings for this course are hard to even put into words. Definetely a place I will never forget, the course and the people, and "THE" best hidden gem I've yet to come across in my lifetime.

Here's a few of my favorite photos taken during my time there, as well as a few of the restoration pics:

#2 at sunrise


#7


#8


#14


Between #13 and #15 looking toward #15 green


#16


And some of the before and after pictures:

#7 Green Before - Note the size of the green before restoration...also the extreme change in bunker shape


#7 Green After - You can still faintly see the line of the old edge of the green.....this green as far as I know changed the most drastically in size


From behind #13 Green looking toward #15 Green....notice the treeline seperating the two holes


From behind #13 Green After......


#13 Green from short right Before


#13 Green After


#15 Green Before


#15 Green After



And a tribute to the "head honchos" behind it all.....

Architect Mike DeVries


Project Foreman Carlos Bautista (left with sod cutter), Superintendent Dave Sexton (back to the camera) and the golfclubatlas.com infamous Assistant Sean Tully (he's gonna love this pic)......all overseeing a touchy recontouring of the controversial #3 green

[Joe Hancock]

It's amazing what you can tell from pictures. For instance, I can tell it's Mike on the dozer because of the trademark yellow coat (safety first!). I can also tell Tully has a fine appreciation of good beer.

Joe

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