I can't find a link to it on the web. Anybody else good at looking that stuff up?
Great descriptions of them tromping around laying out perspective holes.

I also felt the article was a good one about a project I find quite interesting.

The article has a photo of the group clustered around a site vehicle and I enjoyed guessing who was who.

Seems to me Brad was leaning over the tail gate...maybe?

I got a couple sneak peek photos of Old MacDonald (from PD 14 tee) with the flags staked out last month.

Tom Doak - With your permission, I'd like to post them and hear your commentary on what hole # / template hole they will become.  

If you'd prefer they remain offline just let me know and I won't post.  

Tim:

Our group agreed early on that the design process would proceed better if it proceeded fairly quietly.  Interestingly, Brad was the one who suggested so ... I guess he wanted a scoop.  Anyway, I don't want to answer a million questions about it, as it's still early and things will evolve.

In general, however, I think it's fair to say that the group feels we've found excellent natural locations for the Eden and Redan and Sahara; for a hog's back fairway and for a hole like the fourth at Scotscraig, which Macdonald used as the 13th at Piping Rock; and for a "Bottle" fairway and an Alps hole; and for a version of the hole at Littlestone which inspired the fourth at Lido.

Some of the other holes will require a little more construction work, but I am thrilled that we have enough in the way of natural settings that it will encourage us to try and work with the other natural features, instead of having to create the fairway contours of every hole from scratch and sticking too closely to the templates.

We'll post a routing of the course sometime this winter before we start construction.

Patrick:

The target date for opening day is in May or June of 2010, which Mr. Keiser suggested because it would be the 100th anniversary of the opening of the National Golf Links of America.

We expect to do some construction work this winter but most of it in the winter of 2008-09, and seed the final hole in April or May of '09, which will give the course plenty of time to mature before its scheduled opening.  If we do follow that schedule, it will probably be hard to keep people off the place until its official opening.

What should we set the over/under at for people that will have played the course before the official opening?  

Seems like everyone on this site played Bandon Trails before the opening....we should make a contest out of it.....

I heard from Brad and he thinks he can get a link to the article up here very soon.

What are the chances that the course will still be named "Old Macdonald" on opening day?

I think it's especially terrific that George is participating in the whole process.  What a magical experience it must be for him.