Dan,
I saw the article this morning as well, here is a copy for the others;
I can't decide if a bunker in the middle of the 18th is good or bad, I suppose this spring I'll have to see for myself.
Pat
By Jim McCabe, Globe Staff | March 29, 2007
NORTON -- The hole story sits in the 18th fairway.
For the whole story, however, start at No. 1 and wind throughout miles of golf course to understand and appreciate the transformation Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner have pulled off at TPC Boston. If you know the venue from past editions of the Deutsche Bank Championship -- a $7 million PGA Tour event held Labor Day weekend -- you may not recognize it.
"If it feels older and looks more rustic, then we've done our job. That would be a great compliment," said Hanse, whose work at TPC Boston is a convenient starting point to a local golf season ready to blossom. After a brief blast of snow, slush, and ice, brown grass and soft, mushy turf is at our feet, and golf courses are slowly, but surely coming out of winter hibernation.
TPC Boston isn't quite ready for play, but soon it will be. In the meantime, Hanse and his colleagues have the place virtually to themselves.
His star in the world of course architecture was considered bright by those within the sport's inner circles years ago, but thanks to his exquisite work at The Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Hanse is no longer a secret. He and Wagner -- a vice president and design partner in Hanse Golf Course Design, Inc. -- are involved in projects in California and Nebraska, and just returned from Scotland. Still, their commitment to TPC Boston has been nothing short of consuming, given that they jumped into the project within two weeks of Tiger Woods's victory last Labor Day and are still there, almost on a daily basis.
"When people ask what we're doing, it's been said that we're trying to New Englandize it, if that's even a word," said Hanse, who was busy Tuesday shaping a bunker at the 11th hole. Somewhere on site, Wagner was busy with another bunker, because if this project is about anything, it's bunkers.
"I'd say they've touched every single one of them," said Eric Baldwin, championship director of the Deutsche Bank Championship.
And they've done so with patience and purpose. Bunkers, so far as Hanse and Wagner are concerned, should appear old and eroded, and they achieve the effect with attention to detail, down to the little islands of tall fescue that pop up in the middle of some bunkers. Although one would imagine such a mind-set would result in many new bunkers, the opposite took place.
"There are fewer [bunkers] now" said superintendent Tom Brodeur. "There were maybe 110 and now there are probably 52-53, although there's still the same relative square footage [of sand]."
Hanse did that by combining a series of small bunkers in some spots, such as to the left of the first hole, which is now a large, rugged-looking hazard. But in some cases, a bunker was added, which brings us to the hole story in the 18th fairway.
"One of the really cool things they've done with the bunkers is to bring back some places where you really have to think before you swing," said Baldwin, acknowledging what has been a critique of the course, that it was more of a blast-away course and less of a shot-maker's dream.
Wagner gets credit for putting more strategy into the 18th with the shaping of a steep, links-like pot bunker in the middle of what would be the layup area at the long, par-5 18th. Long hitters will still rip for the green in two, but those playing it as a three-shot hole must take caution because that 20-by-25 feet of sandy real estate will put a bite into your score.
"It's just a cool pot bunker," said Brodeur. He concedes that he's overwhelmed by some of the changes, one of his favorites being the par-4 17th. It was a hard dogleg left that benefited long hitters who could cut the corner, but it now puts a premium on the approach shot, with a new green that is a mere 3,300-square feet.
"That's A-plus work right there and he does A-work anyway," said Brodeur.
If you're thinking a 3,300-square-foot green is postage stamp-like in this era of 10,000-square-foot putting surfaces, then imagine No. 4, one of four new greens (also the ninth, 16th, and 17th) Hanse has put in. There's perhaps 3,100-square feet of putting green there, which is OK, because the hole will play in the vicinity of 300 yards, a drivable par 4 that was a dogleg right, but is now straightaway.
Go for it with your drive, but if you miss, great bunker work guards that tiny fourth green.
"We've tried to alter the strategic character of the golf course through the bunker work," said Hanse, who has worked closely with Steve Wenzloff, the PGA Tour's vice president of design services. Hanse has also received valuable input from PGA Tour member Brad Faxon, a New Englander who favors old-world courses that are not so much about length as they are about precise shots.
Reducing the number of bunkers and enlivening those they have reshaped is only part of the work by Hanse and Wagner. They've also done a rarity in today's world of golf -- they've shortened the course by approximately 165 yards, taking length away from Nos. 4, 16 (now approximately 161 yards to a green that has been brought closer to a large pond), and 17.
"They've put a little bit of the motion back in the drives," said Baldwin. "You have to work your ball in a variety of ways."
Hanse also has overseen a handful of sweeping changes, such as the cross-bunker at the par-5 seventh, a large expanse that begins roughly 140 yards from the green and runs 40 yards deep toward the green. And the stonewall work done at the par-3 16th and behind the green at the par-3 third? Baldwin and Brodeur think they add a mature, distinctive look that courses as young as TPC Boston (it opened in June 2002) rarely have.
"Those guys are so very talented," said Brodeur. "I'll be interested to see what the reaction is."
Assuming Mother Nature continues to cooperate, Brodeur should have his answer soon. A new season for one of our oldest sporting passions is here.