ISLEWORTH re-design, merely a rankings ploy?

[John_Conley]

Isleworth, profiled last Friday in the W.S.J., is world-renowned because of its high profile residents like Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal, Ken Griffey, and Wesley Snipes.  (Last one may not be a resident any longer.  Depends on the status of the foreclosure proceedings I read about.  Was Passenger 57 really that long ago?)

As much attention as the community gets, you rarely hear about the golf course.  Tiger hosted "friends" Chris O'Donnell (I think that's his name... the Robin guy) and Griffey in some scramble.  We read about his 59 in a tune-up round for the Masters with Mark O'Meara, whose 66 paled on that day.  Other than that, nary a peep.

Truth be told, it is a very interesting golf course.  Sure, a purist can lament the houses it weaves through, but here it actually adds to the experience.  Part of the appeal is that it is SO accessible to resident-members.

It has recently come to my attention that the club will be closing after the Masters and plans on reopening in November.  John Cook has been quoted as saying the course, already 7100 yards, is not long enough to provide a proper practice venue for Stu Appleby, Lee Janzen, and the like.  I say hogwash!  It is obvious there is only one reason they are spending the millions necessary to regrass - Golfweek Magazine's ranking of the Top 100, of which it has never been a member.

As you all know, Rance Crain - Owner of Turnstile Publishing - is a member of Isleworth.  He has issued a directive that the course make the Top 100 immediately, panelist opinions be damned.  To avoid the appearance of impropriety - after all, how would you feel if the owner of every magazine angled for his club's inclusion on their lists? - Crain has simultaneously forced the club to undergo changes.  This way, the resultant appearance on the America's Best list will be easy to explain, like the presence of Bethpage after the Rees-lift.

I think such blatant manipulation is just wrong.

[John Nixon]

If he's just one member among many, how could he force the renovation? I would think most of the members couldn't care less about being on some list, least of all the PGA tour players.

[Joel_Stewart]

I read the article in the WSJ but no mention of who the architect will be for the redesign.  Does anyone know?  I'm assuming it's Fazio.

[Joe Andriole]

As a club member and friend of the owner and privy to the redesign intentions for some time, I believe that I can safely assure John C and others that GW ratings or other rankings have no basis for the planned work.  The grasses in the fairways have been inconsistent for years and inhomogenous producing suboptimal lies and mottled vistas.  Plans to regrass have been in the works for years.  Once that decision was made, a critical appraissal of the course was made by its owner and many of its more "famous" members.  This has resulted in the planned changes which will not affect routing, will add about 400 yards and numerous bunkers.  Some fairway contours and green complexes are also being modified.  The consulting architect is Steve Smyers.

[John Conley]

Dr. Andriole:

Surely YOU know I am kidding!  Thanks for your serious response.  

To the rest:

There you have it.  Fellow panelist Andriole and Owner-of-the-Magazine Crain do not hold enough sway to have Isleworth in the Top 100.  If ever there was a case ripe for tampering with the process, Isleworth surely is an example.  Darn good course, too.  

I remember one account where a course that did a lot of advertising with the magazine thought they could curry favor by letting some staffers play free for a while.  They asked, "What do we have to do to make the Top 100?"

The response?  "Move the course."

[John Conley]

... inconsistent for years and inhomogenous producing suboptimal lies and mottled vistas...

Oh, I'm sorry JG.  I thought I knew you.  I just re-read your thread.  Must be two Andrioles in Orlando that are members at Isleworth and post on the GCA board.  The guy I know is a doctor, not a word-maker-upper!!  Or maybe that is how Dr. Seuss got his start!    LOL

I'm impressed.  Those are some descriptive word choices.

[Guest]

John Conley,

Isleworth is so exclusive that the chance of raters getting on the golf course is almost zero.  It's difficult to get rated if noone is allowed to  play the golf course.

[John Nixon]

Mr. Conley, if you were kidding, I guess I am mystified as to what the point of your post was. Is there some suspicion among some that magazine rankings might be susceptible to manipulation beyond that  normally attached to a ranking process?

[John_Conley]

Nix:

If you have read any of the threads that start annually about the Golfweek rankings, you'll see that many cry foul.  I took the time to detail the scoring process for the Fortsonator on a thread earlier this morning.  No replies since.  Could it be that the truth isn't as interesting as the mythical conspiracy?

To see what type of thinking prompted my tongue-in-cheek thread, look for the anonymous peer on the GW panel that "exposed" the fact that - from time to time - someone may be asked to review their scoring.  The reason isn't to get one course up or down, but to make sure that panelist is using the same scale.

Ask a Duke fan how this year's team is and they'll say below standard.  Ask a Creighton fan and they are delirious.  Relative expectations can greatly alter perspective.

Guest:

If it is "almost zero", how come I am playing there Friday?  You'd be surprised how many panelists have played there, as well as at other exclusive clubs that do not allow raters.  Like the people on this board, panelists tend to be passionate about golf.  If you know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy, your circle spreads pretty quickly.  Six degrees of separation connects the whole world, no?

[John Nixon]

Thanks for the clarification. I figured I was just missing some information somewhere. I will go do my homework now  

[John_Conley]

No problem.  This is an annual affair.  You will also see - mark my words - a lot of hullabaloo when Golf Digest names their Top 100.  

Great courses like Sand Hills are pretty much excluded from garnering points in the Tradition category.  In fact, it DROPPED from 36 to 41 or some such thing.  If you don't agree with the criteria, you'll never agree with the result.  So instead of recognizing that and moving on, you'll hear cries about how such-and-such is overrated.  GD will even show the course in question gets arbitrary points for having hosted a recent Walker Cup or something.  Like Mucci has asked, WHAT constitutes Tradition and who are the arbiters?  Very vague.  Yet people are surprised when that list differs from their own opinion.  Oh well.

For another attempt at humor on the subject, read Brad's reply on the NC Top 100 thread from some magazine.  

[Bill_McBride]

Interesting that Steve Smyers is doing the remodeling (new design work?) at Isleworth.  As you'll recall, John, I played both Isleworth and Smyers' Southern Dunes last year and posted my impressions of the two courses and what I perceived as the differences between them.  I was much more impressed with Southern Dunes in terms of strategic values and alternative playing routes, etc.  Isleworth seemed to be primarily grip and rip it golf, fairway bunkers both sides, pretty obviously one best line of play.  Southern Dunes lots of options and to me more interesting bunker complexes.  Maybe Steve Smyers can add some of that design flair to Isleworth.  

[John Conley]

Two things:

Bill - I think Steve Smyers has done work there before.

To all - "Upon further review..."

It has come to my attention that my attempt at humor by starting this thread missed the mark and may have offended.  I agree now that I take a 2nd look.  My apologies.

[John_D._Bernhardt]

John I have not played there, so i am not qualified to comment beyond the general. I have not heard anyone put this course in the top 2 or 3 locally which by definition makes the top 100 hard to achieve. I am told and believe that it is not even the best course the owner has. Lake Nona is a pretty fair course with its own pedigree of tour members and residents.

[John_D._Bernhardt]

Oh John sorry i have not got in touch yet. You were correct. She does not seem to see golf and me in the same conversation as much as I thought. I do enjoy the Faldo  practice facility every day doen there, which is as good as you stated and then some.