I played Met Links, yesterday, Opening Day. The night before, we got a ton of rain so the course was very wet, if not, saturated. The redo architect Robert McNeil's description (see my earlier post in this thread) of the changes to each hole (see below) is spot on -- although the 5th hole is 225 yards (not 300) as the-crow-flies.
My takeaways:--- A very casual & low budget operation. Young adults staffing a trailer/pro shop...Starter=ditto. Value-priced.--- No warm-up/range area--- They eliminated original 1st tee, shortening the hole by 20+ yards
I think because as a public course, errant tee shots would be safety issue.
--- Fantastic conditioning improvement and enhancements (bunkering & green surrounds) to the 6 holes where the goal was to restore-the-Ross-design holes
--- Greens were sluggish probably too early to judge
--- The modified original 8th (now 5th), new 6th, and new 7th are quality holes. But, they don't work well from a routing perspective. Because, in effect, 4, 5, 6, & 7 are all par 3's -- with the finishing hole, the old 5th (a superb restoration, BTW) Met Links, for a 12 handicap or less, has 5 par 3's -- four of which are consecutive. We all hit the same club (142-148) on 4, 6, & 7 -- boring.
--- The new 6th looks Ross'ish - utilizing original 8th green. The modified 5th & new 7th do not look & feel like Ross.
--- By no means, is Met Links easy...short, but resistance-to-scoring is strong.--- After you play it a couple of times, you'll realize you don't need a full set of clubs.
--- Forward tee friendly! Metacomet's old Forward/Women's/Juniors tees were dreadful
--- Doable, but challenging to sustain quality conditions as a 9-hole public...I think it will be popular.--- For my fellow Metacomet lovers, the surrounding sight of the overgrown 11 holes is gut-wrenching.--- BUT, much much much better than 18 overgrown holes--- My buddy's assessment was: "If we come back, lets just play the 6 restored holes 3 times"