Baltimore Country Club has been awarded the Champions Tour's Tour Championship for 3 years starting in 2007. In order to prepare for the event, we are going to stretch the course an additional 400 yards. Our #1 and #2 are going to be #17 & #18 for the event (which is good), but will each be around 480. Currently both are in the 440 range. That's okay for #2 because it is downhill and generally played with the wind, but #1 is uphill and into the prevailing breeze. Stupid. #3, the new #1, will go from 380 to 445, #5 will go from 445 uphill to 480, #11 will go from 420 uphill to 470, the tees on #12 will be pushed back and right taking the risk/reward out and forcing a layup, #13 will go from 160 to 200+, #15 will add another 30 yards. All in all I can't say that this will be good for the course, but it certainly will help it in the reseistence to scoring category.

I hate professional golf.

Baltimore C.C. to host a tour event?? That right there sounds odd. I wouldn't have thought a club like that was into that stuff.

I would have thought so too, but when you have a great course that is run by non-golfers, sometimes you have to do strange things when you need money. The Tour is paying for a lot of the changes and we get an additional amount to pay for a new water system.

Another funny thing about this is our first line of defense has always been our greens and the Champions Tour guys said that we have to keep the greens at 9.5 because they don't want to embarrass anyone. I wish we kept them at 9.5 for our club championship then maybe I wouldn't have lost a match with a 6 putt on an unfair pin placement on #15 a few years ago.

And Doug, you are correct, no one has to play the new tees, but I am sure they will be in pkay for the club championship so I will have to play them on a regular basis.

Jim,

I sense your frustration.  

Is there an architect selected to oversee the work, or will it be done by "PGA Tour Services", or whoever the folks were who oversaw the work at Harding Park?

Tyler -

That is funny because I don't think they would use some of those tees they are building either.

Jim,

Although I haven't seen Foster's redesign/restoration work personally, I do know that he bills himself as sympathetic to classic design and some of his original work seems classically inspired.

You might want to look at Southern Hills and Colonial (I believe) for some sense of his approach.  

BCC's membership can't afford to pay for an irrigation system on their own?

Wish they'd use the occasion to fix the Cupp-Kite layout instead of Tillinghast's Five Farms.

Jimmy-as you know the real problem I have is the change at #12 which will result in the good player not being confronted with options off the tee and thereby taking a hybrid and plating straight.  we all know that when you have to start thinking on a golf course, it can lead to errors.

By the way, I think #1 usually plays down wind b/c of southern breezes during most of the golf season.

I can't believe that the greens will be at 9.5 and that this thing is gonna take place during the best time of the year and the only time of the year that the place is in great shape

I played BCC in late September. It was a nasty storm in the morning as I drove down, and then it magically cleared and was a beautiful day. It saddens me to think of playing BCC with corpotate tents on the Cupp course and grandstands on the Tilly course? It is really a peaceful setting out there.

Jim,

Around what week is that event played?

Isn't there already a Champions Tour event down the road at Hayfields?  

Matt -

Yes, but it is a regular event, this is supposed to be the yearend "championship".

TEPaul,

I agree with you, I'm a little surprised as well.

Brad Klein,

I thought that the club just spent a very substantial sum to upgrade many of their facilities.

I would think that it's a matter of will, rather than finances, that caused the club to reject the project.

Or perhaps it was too much, too soon after the other projects.

Jim: One redeeming factor is that they aren't messing with the greens so the members can play the course as it was meant to be played.  If they are so concerned about length then how are they going to deal with #18? Couldn't they simply admit 20 new golf members and be able to do everything they need to without the hassles and problems of dealing with a tour event?