From the local Allentown newspaper;
(Great to see that the Fazio group "totally overhauled" Oakmont.
)
btw, for those of you who saw my subsequently deleted post last night on the "Basher" thread, I'll repeat that the war is over and we have lost.
Saucon Valley goes Strong-er
Host of Women's Open in '09 returns to its roots with Old Course.
By Mark Wogenrich Of The Morning Call
The membership won't go back to the new championship tees, save for the single-digit handicappers and the foolhardy. Heck, even club president George Burke won't go back there.
''I may drive by and look,'' he said, ''but that's about it.''
As it nears the two-year countdown to the 2009 U.S. Women's Open, Saucon Valley Country Club wants to reintroduce its Old Course, the 86-year-old layout that will host the tournament. When it reopens April 21, the course will show off the results of a nearly completed, 18-month renovation that freshened its look while retaining the characteristics of Herbert Strong's classic design.
The highlights of the master plan, administered by Tom Fazio's design group, include all new bunkering, four rebuilt greens and seven new tee boxes that will add 350 yards to the course. No wonder, then, that the theme of the renovation became ''longer and stronger.''
''We asked ourselves, 'What would Herbert Strong do if he laid out the course today?' '' said Burke, who also will serve as general chairman for the 2009 Women's Open. ''Those are the concepts we used to make the course stronger, given today's technology and players. The results are phenomenal.''
In fall 2005, a few months after winning its bid for the Women's Open, Saucon Valley approached Fazio's design group about a long-range master plan to update the Old Course. The membership approved the plan last June, and construction took place primarily over the fall and early winter. All renovations are scheduled to be completed in June.
The club chose Fazio's group because of its experience with master plans at other United States Golf Association venues, including Oakmont, Winged Foot and Merion. It also had connections: Before coming to Saucon Valley in 2005, superintendent Jim Roney worked at Sand Ridge Golf Club in Ohio, designed by Fazio senior architect Tom Marzolf.
Marzolf, who supervised the Old Course project, has worked on several U.S. Open course renovations, including the total overhaul of Oakmont Country Club, site of this year's U.S. Open. A Jenkintown native, Marzolf knew Philadelphia courses quite well (he has worked extensively at Merion) but never had visited Saucon before 2005. It made a smart first impression.
''I tell the members all the time how lucky they are, because you couldn't build a place like this today,'' Marzolf said. ''Those three courses, the clubhouse, which is one of the neatest in all of golf, and all the facilities -- I couldn't imagine what that would cost in today's dollars.''
The Old Course had undergone two renovations since 1921, each of which tinkered with the layout. This time, the club wanted to adapt Strong's original playing concepts to today's game.
Fairway bunkers on several holes (including Nos. 1, 10 and 13) were moved farther from the tee boxes, bringing them back into play for today's longer hitters. And fairways at Nos. 12 and 15 were shifted to better approximate the course's original sightlines.
Of the four greens that were enlarged, two also were raised to reduce the severity of their slopes. The 14th green (unpopular among players at the 1992 and 2000 Senior Opens hosted by Saucon) received the most attention, being raised nine inches in the front to soften its sharp back-to-front tilt.
''All the old clubs of the 1920s are being retooled,'' Marzolf said. ''There's been a huge change in equipment, and architecture needs to adjust to that.''
The largest project, however, involved the course's 86 bunkers. All were emptied and cleaned, fitted with drainage and grass-faced to improve their aesthetic and penal nature. Also, 11 new bunkers were added, and some existing bunkers were deepened and rebuilt with sharper contours, giving them a cavernous feel.
''It was something that had never been done before at Saucon,'' said Andrew Warner, chairman of Saucon's golf and green committee. ''From a design and playability perspective, we wanted to hold strong to the idea of restoration. The way the bunkers are now is the way they were meant to be played.''
Though adding yardage was a ''minor part of the whole process,'' Warner said, it did change the course -- particularly for tournament play. Formerly 6,808 yards from the championship tees, the Old Course now has seven new tee boxes that will increase its length to 7,150 yards. That is an investment in the club's future as a tournament venue.
At that length (and with room to stretch to 7,500 yards, Marzolf said), the Old Course ''is certainly capable of hosting any kind of championship.'' He said he's eager to see LPGA Tour players test the venue (which will play at about 6,800 yards for the Women's Open) and would be intrigued to see the Old Course hold an event with long-hitting players, such as an NCAA championship.
''When you say, 'We are a championship club, and we want to host championships in the future,' you have to put the course on the ground,'' Marzolf said. ''That's the way you have to look at it. And that's what the club has done.''
mark.wogenrich@mcall.com