George,
I have been to Essex twice and it remains a mystery to me why the course is not higher ranked. The back 9 at Essex is my favorite back 9 I have ever played. Great to hear you made it more "strategic" off the tee (I'll translate for my own game - harder
). Here I was thinking I had a chance to break 80 the next time I made it up there.... Having seen your work first hand at SH (and I loved everything you guys did), I can't wait to see how it turned out.
Mike - What were your thoughts on Essex?
Final story on Essex - Last year we played on a brutally hot August day, 100 degrees and had a teenager carrying both of our bags (and he did a loop that morning). As we are all struggling to the top of the hill on 17, I turn to our caddy and say "This will probably be the toughest twenty dollars you have every earned...
" The kid looks at me with total disbelief until I assure him that we were joking. That broke the ice enough for him to tell us about how the 18th tee was his prime spot for him to bring girls out to at twligiht...