Darn, I wish I would have looked at the old aerial from Scott Burroughs prior to going there yesterday. As Phil indicates, the de-treeing was wonderfully extensive.
It really must have been received enthusiastically by the membership. I can't hardly believe that anyone wouldn't see how much more of a golf course, detreeing had given them.
As mentioned, the 3rd hole is seen under construction-remodelling in the aerial. And, as Phil states, the 10th detreeing really yielded an exciting par 4, from the old bowling alley tree lined enclosed on one side by a high ridge that was the old.
RTJ bunkers were quite in prominence. I can't really say what the old Allison-Colt configurations looked like. At any rate, the bunkering was dramatic, relavant to play and not just eyecandy - inviting great tee shots to take them on or flirt with lines of charm, and some greenside bunkers were literally 8-10ft flashed up walls - Very scary!
I found that my favorite spot on the course was standing aside 8 par 3 and watching tee ball and second on shorty par 4 9th, and one can step over a few paces and watch down into the valley from the high ridge to observe play on 10. I would love to play that loop alone over and over. Not that I wouldn't love to play the entire course.
8 par 3 is a snarly shortish 165 yarder, slightly uphill, with enormously deep bunker front left, and pretty significant bunker front right, very narrow green opening between the two. With a carry of shelves behind the two fronting bunkers onto a small green, that is pretty much canted back to front, but with shaved or clipped VERY steep back green down to a very deep ravine, where the rough doesn't start, to stop the ball untill it has run behind and down from the green a good 50ft or so. I just loved the hole.
9th is a shorty par 4 tee off over the ravine up to a hllside landing area, with nest of bunkers right and then down the ridge to service road and 10 corridor below. The remaining approach shot is up to a very false fronted green guarded by bunkers all around. A smaller front left bunker with the false front of about 20ft wide, and then a fronting big right bunker, and then a small pot directly behind the green, with a large bunker back right of the green. The whole green complex tilts down right with all the surrounds and rear of the green are clipped short right up to the clubhouse, and if you go long there is a very good chance to run down right and even down to 10 teeing area. But, the small green is also overhung from back right by a large oak, that hangs over the back of the green and back right bunker. I really have to give it more thought as far as if I like that feature or not. It makes for a very ticklish situation, on the approach shot, which should come from on high and from only 90-120ish yards, yet too long will nip the tree, and lord knows what will happen, or it might drop into the back right bunker, or goes in unpredictable bounding onto the short clipping and runaway. (I guess I'd have to play that approach shot about a 100 times to determine if I love it, hate it, but I don't think I'd be indifferent...
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Then as Phil states, the now long par 4 was a hole benched along the whole right side ridge, with a series of bunkers below the ridge on the right side of FW, and now opened up from de-treeing rough up the left. The approach from the LZ is to a benched into hillside green, benched from the high right, with slope down to the left. When I looked at it, 12 at Kingsley club entered my mind...
The best funny moment was the evening last pairing. A finishing player on that 9th, hit a duck hook into the left trees hillside rough, leaving about 120 uphill through jail, to the the very false fronted green. It looked like a pretty impossible task to get it on the green. I figured he'd play safe and try to punch it to the bottom of the false front and chip on. Well he spanked what looked like a 7I, low below the tree limbs and ran right up the false front to the top of the false front precipice, but it looked for a long time as if it would not hold and trickle down to the bottom about 20-30 ft below the green or even into the corner of the front bunker. But, it seemed miraculous that it held the precipace. Well, Pat Sisk the superintendent, was sitting right there next to the green complex watching the finishing group and reportedly saw the spanking shot and the ball climb and hold the top of the false front precipece, and allegedly turned to his companion in the easy-go and said, that won't happen tomorrow. As a group of us gathered there in the afterglow of the finishing group, a crew with a roller were already deploying to roll the green and false front!
The atmosphere at the event was just wonderful. Everyone on the USGA staff were just very welcoming and friendly.
I'd like to say that I had a particularly good time meeting and watching the morning round with Brendan Dolan, a graduating turf student at the UW. We were a matched pair, since Brendan was wearing his crew gear from his internship at BallyNeal, and I in my BallyNeal golf shirt and Wild Horse hat. Brendan had a great summer working and playing the sand hill courses, so we had plenty to chat about as we followed play through the course. We saw several holes played by Mark Mandel with his GCA.com bro Jason on the bag, and walked with their Dad, David. We even hit a sports bar nearby between morn and afternoon rounds to catch up on the football games before returning to catch much of the afternooners.
And, Big John VB was doing his thing as an official walking with the pairings in morn and afternoon rounds. Then aftewards it was a real pleasure to have some beers into the evening where they had quite a steakfry spread for the staff. I hung for quite a while with other officials including Mark Studer, Chris Cupid, Ward Johnson, Pete the Omaha Kid, and others... Thanks fellow for a nice evening of GCA talk and sharing some of your enjoyable golf stories...
And, yes Tom Paul, your ears were ringing, as we talked about you and the Philly guys and their courses...
