Laurel Links pictures

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

With a few tweekings, this Kelly Blake Moran course should be considered among the best that Long Island has to offer.  Some green areas are beyond severe and unpinnable, but with some softening in spots, could become absolutely great.  

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

This is the 7th green which could be an all world golf hole.  Unfortunately, the left 1/3 of the green is almost unpinnable and the right front is large false front that ends with 24 feet of green sloping off the back to the 15 ft falloff with the chipping area on the bottom.  A well struck shot will not hold the green under the normal very firm and fast green complex  conditions.



This is the par 3 9th.  This is a really cool hole.  The problem with this green is the mound separating the left and right sides is beyond severe and the right side is only about 25 feet for a 185 yard shot with a normal crosswind.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Thanks for the pics.  It looks fascinating.  I look forward to playing it in a couple of weeks.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

This is the 12th. It becomes a great hole as soon as the last 6 trees on the right are chopped down.  Currently, with the prevailing wind from the right, tee shots hugging the right trees tend to stay on the right side of the fairway and then are completely block out on the approach with a usually serious right to left wind making a fade impossible for even Tiger Woods.  Tee balls starting down the middle usually catch the wind and end up, hopefully, in the primary rough. The large tree on the left of the tee tends to make fades very difficult on the tee ball.

The 12th green complex after the tree blockage previously displayed

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

This is the par 4 13th with some more tree issues. The prevailing wind is from the left.  The play off the tee is a low semi-snap hook.  A straight ball will go through the fairway and be block out by trees on the right.  The wind will eat up lofted tee balls.  A simple clearing of the outer trees on the left and the tee shot part of the hole is great.

The approach to the 13th green is the worst issue on the whole course.  The green complex is awesome.  All approaches to the right half of the green are blocked by this overhanging tree.  Shots hit under the tree have no chance of holding the green.  Any shot that carries the tree will also carry the green.  A run-up shot from 150yds will break off the the right.  Putts from the left half of the green are very severe up and over putts. The photo was taken from the exact middle of the fairway.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

[Jon Wiggett]

Robert,

great photos. I wonder are a lot of the greens across the line of play (wider than they are deep) as appears the case from the photos?

Also, is it really a bad thing if parts o the green are unpinnable so long as there is enough pinnable area. Finally, if the 7th green is unholdable with a shot that lands on it then maybe the GCA intended people to use the false frount of the green to break the ball as is the case on many of the classical links.

[Jason Blasberg]

Robert, great photos and spot on analysis.

LL is totally under the radar in relation to its merit.

While the houses are unfortunate, as your photos reveal they are only in the line of sight while playing on a few shots.

You missed photos of the train tracks behind 5 green.  On my approach the LIRR was going by and it was something straight out of Ireland or England.  

If you have the opportunity to not pass by LL on way to some of its higher profile neighbors, you'll be missing something very unique and, in fact, the finest modern manufactured course I've played.

[Jason Blasberg]

Lots of visual deception at LL as you cannot appreciate the front swale from the fairway:
 


As you can see, lots of ground game options are LL, although I would say the approaches are mostly aerial the recovery is often on the ground.

[Mike Sweeney]

Robert,

Thanks these photos are awesome. I played it twice when it first opened. Kelly has mentioned a few times that the Super at LL has made the course better. It looks completely different with the rough grown in. Even the lake on 17 (?) looks so much better and natural. Before it had that Florida irrigation pond look. Now all the edges are filled in too. The clubhouse looks very nice too.

I agree with your assesment on some of the greens especially with a family type of membership. The greens are very good, but a few spots needed softening. If you are saying this (Robert is a very good player) I would think the membership is too.

I probably disagree with some of your tree assesments. That is Kelly's thing, you either like it or you don't, but he did leave them there on purpose. As long as it is not too often or too gimicky, I have no problem with a few trees that force the player IN THE FAIRWAY to hit a different shot. Take for instance the 18th at Mountain Lake. Now smaller after a bunch of hurricanes, the left side of the 18th fairway is partially blocked by the tree on the left. From the right side it is a tough approach over bunkers. Middle is good! It is a very wide fairway and I don't remember the specifics of the LL fairways in question.



The course is a good 9/11 story. David Saland the developer was at around 100 members when 9/11 hit. The first memberships were around $35,000, ratching up every 25 members or so. Around New Year's after 9/11 he was waiting for the bank to come and take the kids toys - things were looking so grim. Then the next season the world decided that if they are going to go down it might as well be the beach house and he basically sold out! One other thing he said about Kelly was he came in "on time and on budget".

[Mike_Cirba]

Thanks for sharing, Robert (and Jason & Mike).

It looks tremendous and yet another good reason to visit you fellows sometime this year.  

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

Quite a few greens are indeed wider than they are deeper.  With the exception of a few areas, the greens are absolutely brilliant.  The 7th is about 24 yards deep by 35 yards with a 440 length.  Unfortunately, the false front does not help control shots, but repells them, and those shots that carry the false front tend to go over.  One of the pros in my group actually putted off the green from the bottom of the false front--it didn't look that bad until it gained speed around the hole!  I've played this course probably 20 times, so have a pretty good feel for the layout.  The trees on 11 and 13 are probably cool in theory, but with the prevailing wind, they ruin the holes.  At the expense of being arrogent, if I cannot handle the trees, then there are very, very few players in the world who can negotiate them successfully.  The layout is so great that it does not need these trees.  Quite a few excellent players left the course with very negative opinions after the US Open Q--the trees were among the negatives discussed.  In addition, the opinions that I heard were that 7 green needed to be blown up and 9 and 16 greens softend so that there could be a few more pins.  Also, they did not understand why the left 1/3 of 1 was so severe as to be completely unpinnable--very cool green area that had great potential.

[Patrick_Mucci]

RMD,

I found it fun to play and I liked the fact that the course seemed to have several personalities.

Say "Hello" to Steve Haggerty for me.

[Jon Wiggett]

Thanks for the reply Robert,

sounds like the approach to 7 needs regrading to allow the player to run the shot in. As for the trees a friend of mine has 2 chainsaws called 'THUNDER & LIGHTNING'!!!!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Sean Arble,

Kelly Blake Moran likes drains.

However, he once told me that he only installs them when the force of gravity is working.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Thanks for all the info and pics.  I am playing there Monday afternoon June 4.  It looks like it should be fun.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

The club will be hosting the Met PGA Head Professional Championship on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  Results can be found on www.met.pga.com  

[Jason Blasberg]

The club will be hosting the Met PGA Head Professional Championship on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  Results can be found on www.monet.pga.com  

Looks like the boys had some issues getting the ball in the hole out there.  Those are some high scores and the 68 looks like quite a round.

I wonder how many 4 putts there were?

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

Low score from championship tees with the course set up far from its toughest(from what a friend told me last night), was one even par round.  The 68 eas shot from probably a little back regular tees.  He is a former tour player and longtime top area player who played in last week's Senior's PGA.

[Matt_Ward]

Robert:

The pictures are indeed a treat.

Couple of quick comments ...

The housing location in the center of the course is unfortunate. It simply distracts the eye from the nature of what is provided from the course.

The tree issue is another concern I have. When Laurel Links shines it is from the holes that are completely exposed to the natural elements. Cutting additional trees would only enhance the holes and move away from the bowling alley syndrome found on a few of them.

The last aspect deals with some of the contours -- they can be quite extreme and often times limit the available pin locations to be used.

KBM has done some really fun and interesting designs -- Laurel Links does indeed have plenty of such moments.

[HamiltonBHearst]

Seems like a few of the guys may be a little disengenuios Robert.  Open qualifiers did not like #7 green, fair enough, I have never seen it and I don't play public courses.  But why is it a concern for them if they deem 9, 16 don't have enough "pinnable" areas.  They are there for two days, who cares? Seems like they just don't like "unfair" greens.

Pinnable area should be the sole concern of the superintendent and playing membership not the hit and run types.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

Hamilton, you have made a couple of mistaken statements--the course is private with members from quite a few of the more prestigous clubs in Nassau County.  In addition, my friends have a fairly well rounded understanding of architecture and do  have a right to air their opinions.  They just might provide the valuable imput to push this  club into the elite courses category.  

[Sandman]

Gentlemen,
I was out watching my Club's Pro try to negotiate his way around the challenging course at Laurel.  Needless to say, he did not fair to well yet he will be the first to admitt that it was to no fault of the golf course.  The course presents challenges on EVERY shot; you must think and use your course management skills to the fullest!  The layout is tremendous, the conditions are tremendous and the staff treated myself and my Pro like kings.  Also, the course, IMO, was setup rather short for the MET/PGA HeadPro Champs.  Many, as well as my Pro, were hitting through the landing areas.  We both thought that the course should have been setup to play just a bit longer.  However, what an enjoyable 2 days of golf and I can't wait to get out there and play the course myself....a must see  

[HamiltonBHearst]

Robert,

I can't think of many instances of comments from a group of open qualifiers IMPROVING the architecture of a course.  

[TEPaul]

"....I have never seen it and I don't play public courses."

That sounds like a reasonable philosophy Hamilton. One never knows what one might be infected by if one gets too close to "public" golfers.