Sorry to be a late comer to his thread, but thankfully, Mr. Hurricane notified me of Barney's words....I've played here for almost 20 years and have seen the course go through a lot of growth/renaissance. It should be noted, however, that after the 1988 Women's Open, Brian Silva came in to re-spec the greens and bunkers--over time the putting surfaces had shrunk greatly and many of the green side bunkers were no longer in play. Before the work was done, BCCFF had all poa greens and they would get bumpy and burn out every summer. Silva replaced the poa with a grass that at the time was fairly advanced and had just been put in at Saucon. Here's an email I sent to Mucci last year about BCCFF and the work Keith Foster did last year. From a strategic standpoint, 18 is a much better hole as the long hitter can try to take advantage of an angle over bunkers up the right side and leave 100yds in or possible trouble:
Patrick—thanks for the good interest and questions. Keith Foster worked very well with our super over the course of last winter. Project took a bit longer than expected due to harsh winter and spring. As to current alterations, let me do a hole by hole for you with a note also towards future alterations still under consideration:
#1 added new back tee (15-20yds) and leveled other tees, and for the future, the right fairway bunker may be pushed 10yds up towards the green—it’s a beast now as the prevailing wind is usually in your face
#2 no alterations—really doesn’t need any with all that tight OB left
#3 a back tee was added three years ago, green has been “rehinged” so that rear and front are less severe, and there is future discussion of moving back tee towards the left (nearer the road) to create a cape sort of effect and to bring the bunker into play as a target
#4 no alterations
#5 leveled back tee, moved target bunker up the fairway 15 yds so that carry from back tee is now 265 and moved left fairway bunkers up and in
#6 no alterations
#7 added back tee (20yds) so that most must now hit driver to get down to the vale….it’s a much tougher hole
#8 don’t know if you remember, but originally there was a bunker low and right of the fairway—returned it, but pushed it way up the right side about 75 yds from the green…a nasty spot for sure as it is quite deep and has made for much more of a risk reward on the sometimes reachable shortie.
#9 replaced back tee by moving it up the slope 10 yds, but also elevated it so that there is no real change in distance, “rehinged” green so that it’s less severe and to allow for four days of pin placements—if you recall, the only pins previously were left front, middle and back and dead center—really no good right side pin
#10 IS NOW LONGER THAN #11!!...added back tee (+45 yds!!!—I continue to ba amazed at the difference this makes here!!) Now everyone has to hit driver, whereas some of us were getting away with 3 iron, wedge in previous years….I always loved the hole before and some have said that Tillie said it was his most loved hole with the Japanese garden influence, etc….BUT NOW IT IS TOUGH—shorter hitters playing it back are now coming into that green with 5 irons!!!
#11 no changes, but future consideration of a new back tee
#12 front right and back of green “rehinged” due to lack of pin placements and left fairway bunkers pinched in and moved up
#13 no changes but consideration of back tee to make it play 185
#14 left fairway bunker pushed in towards fairway 5 yds and up the fairway towards green 15 yds
#15 left bunker complex (b/w 15 and 16) moved up fairway 15 yds and in about 10—it’s now the target for the long hitter (my target!!) with a cut
#16 back tee added (+15)—doesn’t change much as ball still rolls down the hill—future discussion of restoring the flat (aka Roman’s Flat) at the bottom to a fuller size by removing that little red tree and cutting down the rough
#17 completely new tee complex, back tee now at 185yds and more the right by about 15yds…a bigger shot, but still very fair and a better view
#18 new back tee to the right and low, two new fairway bunkers right…the first of the two is a good target and the second one is a good 265 carry—they are where the trees on the right used to be—a much tougher finishing hole than the old 18, but the decent player should still have no more than 160 from the fairway, home….a ton of players, however are finding themselves in the deep new bunkers and can’t pull off the shot.
After some trouble with the new greens due to rain, everything has been open since about June 1…members love it and you couldn’t be more correct about Caves!!!!