Bumping this back up . . .
Just got back from Va. Beach and had the opportunity to play Cavalier. The first thing that jumps out at me is that a course of this caliber is routed on 94 acres . . . think about that. Sure, three par 3s and a par of 69, but who cares? Actually, I like that “quirkiness,” for lack of a better word. I am not a regular player anymore, but used to be a good golfer back in the day, and I got my tail handed to me by this 6,000 yard course. And, don’t feel bad Jeff Mingay, I also sprayed my ball all over the place and almost killed a bicyclist in the process!
Even more enjoyable was discussing the course with Lester George after I returned. Lester had a lot to share (most of its talked about above), and he said he still has a lump of coal on his desk that his crew excavated from under the 6th green(?), no doubt used by Banks to fuel the steam shovel. He also hinted that there might be some more tweaking done in the future if the club decides to expand its facilities. So, there might be some bunkers on the 5th Biarritz or a back bunker on 18. . . .
On another note, I have to admit the guys I played with didn’t care or care to learn about Banks and the history of the course. Nothing against the members, they were all very nice and generous, but they were playing their weekly betting game and were more concerned about how many strokes I was getting (not enough). I got a lot of blank stares and polite “huh, that’s interesting” responses when I talked about my anticipation of the Biarritz green on #5 and the strategy of bringing the shot in from the right on the Redan.
On asking if they knew anything about Lester George, one guy said: “He’s that guy who came in, tore up the course for a year and we had to play Princess Ann instead, right?”
I just chuckled and said: “yes, I think that’s who he is.”
God bless the golf course architect. Here he/she does all this good work developing new courses or restoring old classic ones, and most of the golfers could care less about history or the development of certain holes. Not all golfers, mind you, but it seems like most.
Great experience and a must see for classic course enthusiasts. Thanks again, Lester. And, thanks Ran for providing a web site that allows a guy like me to talk to a guy like Lester and get such insight into a great design.
-- Rob