Badds is at Whisper Rock too, so I doubt that his handicap went up that much. His DF scores would just be non-counters in his last 20. Desert Forest was never that wide. It has the same amount of turf as Troon North Monument without the washes that cross most of the holes at TN.
The changes to Desert Forest away from the greens include the following. The changes to about 20 yards out from the greens are generally well regarded.
- tee additions - the course now has something like 6 or 7 options on each hole, and no hard data, but my sense is that most members play one or even two tees forward of where they played before the work;
- removal of about 150 trees - mostly non-native Chilean mesquites that grew in along the fairway perimeters;
- changes in fairway widths on #6, #7, #13, and #18 to pinch in landing areas for long hitters;
- complete blow up on #14 to make a drivable par 4;
The bunker area was increased about 30%. The green on hole 16 (par 5 with the tree in the fairway) was pushed back 15 yards or more.