[Evan_Green]

Here are some pictures taken last summer of Mike DeVries' teriffic work at the Meadow Club. I know MacKenzie would be very pleased with the way the course is now.

Meadow is also very lucky to have one of the nicest and most GCA knowlegable pros I have ever met, Jim O'Neal.


1st Green


2nd green with the 4th in the background


From behind the 3rd green. Look at all those undulations!


4th tee shot


2nd shot on #4


Greenside bunkers to the right of #4


The one shot #5. A tiered green. Wind up on the tier above the hole and you will probably 3 putt.


2nd shot on #6. Behind the green you can see the neat refreshment station.


6th Greenside bunkers. Look at the detail - just awesome.


Tee shot on #7


2nd shot on #7


7th green complex. Gorgeous bunkering.


The superb par 3 8th hole.


8th hole. From closer to the green.


9th hole


10th hole


11th Hole, par 3. I really do wish that cart path wasnt there.


Green complex on the par 3 #11.


12th hole, 2nd shot.


13 hole, par 5. Over the right running parallel is the 15th. There used to be a massive treeline dividing them similar to the one on the left side of the 13th hole. Fortunately it was recently removed.


Zoomed shot from #13. Notice Mt. Tamalpais in the background.


13th green complex. Gorgeous bunkering once again.


14th hole, par 3. This hole doesnt fit in with the others. The gentleman I played with, a longtime member, told me the lake was added in the 1970's.


Tee shot on #15, par 5. You can see #13 on the right side


#15. The cross bunkering is wonderful.


More of the bunkering on #15


A close up shot of one of the fairway bunkers on #15. Really gives you an idea of the attention to detail.


The incredible 16th. A short par 4 of approximately 330 yards give or take. This was MacKenzie's favorite hole on the course. It is short but deadly...


2nd shot into #16


The 16h green complex is treacherous. From in front.


Front right bunkers guarding the 16th green


The right side of the 16th green. Note the drop off and the shaved down chipping area. If your ball ends up on the hillside, it will roll all the way down.


#17


#17, including some of the clubs more esteemed members.


The very neat 17th green.


A closer look at 17 green. Look at the undulation.


Shot from the right side of the 17th green looking left.


18th tee shot.


18th hole, 2nd shot.

Hats off to Mike DeVries. Wonderful work!  

[James Bennett]

Great photos.

I'm salivating with expectation  (Ed Getka to note)

James B

[Cory Lewis]

These photos are exactly why this is one of the World's true hidden gems, some of the best greens I've ever seen.  A shining example of how a restortation/renovation can dramatically improve a golf course.

[Tom Jefferson]

Thanks, Evan, for the comprehensive set of photos!  I have always considered The Meadow Club as a cherished place to play..........the drive in, the clubhouse, the way the course sits peacefully away from the world and beneath Mt. Tam, and of course the wonderful variety of golf holes.

Tom

[Pat Howard]

Just curious, where is this course located? Looks terrific, thanks for the pics!

[Kevin_Reilly]

Just curious, where is this course located? Looks terrific, thanks for the pics!

Just outside Fairfax, CA (Marin County...a bit north of SF).

[Mike Benham]

Just curious, where is this course located? Looks terrific, thanks for the pics!

Just outside Fairfax, CA (Marin County...a bit north of SF).

Google Aerial of Meadow Club

[Evan_Green]

Thats an interesting aerial Mike. If you notice, the treeline between #13 and #15 is still there, so i'm guessing the arial is a year or 2 old?

(for those not familiar with the routing, 13 and 15 are the two long straight holes in the at the bottom of the routing running perpedicular to the par 3 with the lake which is #14.)

[Bill Shotzbarger]

Is placing two bunkers right of the green, one short right and another a little deeper, a trademark of Mackenzie? It seems that a little of the bunkering looks similar and this is one trend I noticed.

Anyway, the course looks amazing. I hope I get to play it one day. Thanks for the pics.

[Jimmy Muratt]

Mike DeVries really does some great work.  Anyone that has seen one of his original designs can definitely attest to that.  The bunker work at Meadow Club looks fantastic, I look forward to seeing it in person at some point.  

Mike DeVries should be on the very short list of any developer that hopes to maximize their site's potential.

[RJ_Daley]

Evan, thanks for the photo essay of the Meadow Club and showing detail work of DeVries.  Did Mike do anything in the greens surrounds in terms of adding more soil to define the greens or was the mounds behind the some of the greens there from Mackenzie?  That sure is some fancy bunker work and impressive turf management.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

That is beautiful work. I was there when Mike was half through and cannot wait to see it finished.

[Bill_McBride]

I caddied there in the late 50s, wonderful place.  Carrying double for two ladies who sprayed the ball was a remarkable experience!

For those who have known the course for years, were those big evergreens to the right of #9 green always there?  I do not remember those trees.  The area around the green, if I recall correctly, was open and looked great.

[RJ_Daley]

Who were you looping for - Glenna Collett and Marion Hollins,  you old goat?

[Mike_DeVries]

Evan,

Very nice set of photos -- thanks for posting them.  A couple of notes:
* The hole behind the 2nd green is the 5th green,
* I am not aware that MacKenzie ever stated what was his favorite hole on the course -- are you thinking of the 16th at Pasatiempo?
* Indeed, Jim O'Neal is one of the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic pros about golf architecture and a great guy.  Some may know that he is one-half of the Ballyneal brothers but has been in the SF area for many years and the pro at Meadow for the past 3 years or so.

Bill,
All the tree planting began in the mid-to-late 50's and continued into the 60's.  The founder of the club kept the property as a "meadow" and trees were not planted until after his passing, which coincided with the erroneous notion that we should plant trees (redwoods and Monterey pines!) between most of the holes.  So, during your formative years, these behemoths would not have started to become the imposition that they are now.

As to the restoration, the trees are really the last and most controversial aspect of bringing it back to its original glory and it will be difficult to remove some of the trees -- only time and turf maintenance issues caused by competition with the grass will warrant removal in many situations.  

All of the greens have been faithfully restored to their original configurations (except #3, which had been altered by the membership many years ago and suffered from poor drainage and soils, and therefore we completely rebuilt that green) by keeping the existing surface and reclaiming the outer portions that had been mowed as collar or rough since the Depression hit shortly after the course opened.  It is very interesting to note that the original concept for the course was to be "the Old Course in America" with the broad mountain meadow bisected by the Bon Tempe creek, wide open fairways to allow golfers to choose their line of attack, and bunkers strewn about the course to thwart and reward certain angles into the large (6000-9500 square ft.) greens.  MacKenzie's first foray into N. American design was closely modeled on the virtues of the Old Course and must have been very interesting to play.

Dick,
The mounding is all original and the green expansions were accomplished by stripping back the sod to the original edge -- the original greensmix was native soil, just screened better and noticeably "cleaner" than the rockier inherent material.  David Sexton, the superintendent for the last 25 years, had integrated a specified sand into the top 5-6" of the greens over 20 years, producing a good performing greens structure for the (predominantly) poa greens.  We amended the newly reclaimed portions of the greens with a lab tested material that matched the topdress-integrated greens and laid on-site nursery sod (made from plugs and overseeded with L-93) grown on the same composition.  Most areas did not have a noticeable topdress build-up that has occurred at some other clubs, as David has been very diligent in integrating the sand into the profile when doing hollow-tine corings.  All construction was done in-house with a crew that was very stable, leading to consistency and efficiency over the course of 5 years of construction -- David and those guys don't get enough credit for the job they did.  My sincere thanks for all their hard work and dedication to getting the details right -- it shows.  

Also, I must compliment the membership at the club.  They are very friendly and truly appreciate their club, whether golf architecture fans or not, as their club is about 30 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge and occupies one of the most beautiful and spectacular settings in golf (surrounded by land controlled by the Water District and will never be developed), where, when the sun sets, you only have the light on the clubhouse porch to disturb the view (you can't see a domicile from the property!).  It is a privilege to be entrusted to care for the preservation of MacKenzie's first course over here and I feel very fortunate to have been given that opportunity.

If others have questions, I will try to accommodate what I can -- please be patient with my response time.

Thanks,

Mike

[Evan_Green]

Evan,

Very nice set of photos -- thanks for posting them.  A couple of notes:
* The hole behind the 2nd green is the 5th green,

Thank you for the correction

* I am not aware that MacKenzie ever stated what was his favorite hole on the course -- are you thinking of the 16th at Pasatiempo?

I recall having read or heard that somewhere, but I certainly will defer to you on this one. In any case, it is probably my favorite hole on the course  

[Evan_Green]

If others have questions, I will try to accommodate what I can -- please be patient with my response time.

Thanks,

Mike

Mike,

I did have a question regarding the par 3, #14. Was there ever any talk of removing the pond there? As I mentioned in my first post, the member I played with said the pond was added in the 1970's, is this true? I wouldn't be surprised, as it doesnt look original.


Once again terrific job - you really did a number at Meadow and the members are very fortunate.

Evan

[Scott_Burroughs]

Evan,

Thanks for the pics.  It's nice to see that they did more tree-
clearing and bunker-adding since July of last year.  They move quickly!  

And yes, Jim O'Neal is a great guy (has a nice gig in Colorado, too!) and Mike's work is terrific.


For comparison purposes, here is #13 in July:

vs. now:


and the tee shot on #15 then:

and now:


fairway on #15 then:

and now:

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Mike thank you for the clarifications, explanations and information. Does that sound sorta Jessie Jackson like?

[Mike Hendren]

I saw this:



and thought of this:



Visually, not my cup of tea, that's all.

Mike

[Pete Lavallee]

Since Bogey brought it up, I was wondering are the lacy edges of the bunkers true to the one's MacKenzie originally built there? Are they any harder to maintain than clean edged bunkers?

[Evan_Green]

My understanding is the soil there was such that his traditional capes and bays were not feasible and it is his original design

[Scott_Burroughs]

Since Bogey brought it up, I was wondering are the lacy
edges of the bunkers true to the one's MacKenzie originally
built there? Are they any harder to maintain than clean edged bunkers?

Yes.  Meadow's web site used to have a better picture of the
bunkers from the 20's (that looked exactly as they do now),
but here's the one they currently have on their web site:



http://www.meadowclub.org/home/

[RJ_Daley]

Scott, well documented.  Good job.

Mike D., I was able to see Hepner's efforts at North Shore Club here in this area, where the mission and many of the methods seem the same, including the greens work of bringing out the edges and using the native soil and turf aeration cores to create a turf nursery.  Also, using the local grounds crew for labor.  Great stuff.

Do you fellows sit around pubs in the winter there in Traverse City and discuss these methods? It is like you guys have a sort of artists guild or academy up there...

[Sean_Tully]

Pete,

The restoration of the bunkers was based on the photographs that we have from an opening day article in The Fairway(a golf magazine for the Pacific Coast 1924-1929). It is interesting to note that this is the only course that Mac/Hunter built with this style of bunkers. As you can see they already had a different style when they did Cypress('28), Lake Merced('28), and culminating with the animated bunkers at Valley Club('29). I am trying to figure out who was on site doing the bunker work at Meadow Club('27), but that is hard to do. I think it would be interesting to figure out where Paddy Cole was during the construction of MC, my guess is that he had not yet joined AGCCC.

We maintain the bunker edges and taller grass around the bunkers with a reciprocator as growth dictates, roughly every two weeks during  the growing season. Our goal is to have a natural look to them so when using the reciprocator we have the operators trim the grass by randomly lifting and dropping the trimmer head on the grass to give a more unkept look(3-5"HOC). We played around with the height of cut for a while and are comfortable with  it now. Initially we had some members losing some balls in the taller grass.

Evan
Regarding the soil type determining the style of bunker, it was more of a style choice, over the soil type that led to the look of the MC bunkers.

I will try sending that pic again as time allows.

Sean Tully
Asst. Supt.
Meadow Club

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