Frank,
I have no idea really but I don't think they did. I also don't think the greens pre-2007 were close to the original Colt greens, though.
Emil,
You might have a good point there and maybe von Limburger also redesigned some of the greens so that they were not original Colt-greens anymore anyway........but at the moment I only have prove for bunker restaurations and placements by von Limburger in preparation of the 1969 German Open Championship played at Frankfurt where von Limburger was commissioned to redesign Frankfurt Golf Course.
Im March 1969 he von Limburger writes in the German magazine "Golf" "that some of his old golfing friends from Frankfurt don't greet him any more as their golf balls are now often landing in one of the new fairway bunkers". Similar critisism was recived after von Limburger put the fairway bunker on 14 in Hamburg-Falkenstein some years before, "but today (1969) nobody is talking about this "wrong" fairway bunker any more."
And now comes the interesting part: "old golfers will soon learn that the time of the ordinary 0815 (as we call it in German) bunkers has long gone, where you would find a row of bunkers on the left side of the fairway for hooked shots and another row of bunkers on the right hand side of the fairway for sliced shots. Modern golf requires thinking and planning and today it is not sufficient just to place the golf ball somewhere on the fairway. The golf course at Frankfurt will have 30 bunkers less than before - but it won't play any easier - we will know for sure after the German Open this summer (1969 that is)."
It seems to me that like at Falkenstein the number of bunkers has increased slightly again at Frankfurt also during the latest redesign work
You didn't hear from me because I was and still I am digging in my archives about how Frankfurt Golf Course has changed since it was opened in summer 1929:
- the routing at Frankfurt has remained unchanged since 1930
- the course originally played over 6.035m at PAR 77 (Par was different in 1930 - holes 1,2,3,8,9 and 12 which today are PAR 4 holes originally were PAR 5 holes in 1930
- in 1938 the course was lengthened to 6.225m at PAR 75 as the German Open Championship was played in Frankfurt for the first time(PAR distances changed from 1930 to 1938 with the steel shaft having taken over completely - Holes 1 and 8 became par 4 holes. btw it was Henry Cotton who won the 1938 German Open Championship
- in 1945 when the Americans took over the course during occupation the course remained unchanged in comparaison to 1938.
- in 1956 J.Morrison suggested some improvements and renovations after the course was taken back from the Americans on Jan. 1st, 1956
- in late 1968 Bernhard von Limburger was allowed to renovate Frankfurt-Niederrad. More than 30 original Colt bunkers were closed....
to be continued......
W.A.Murray playing out of a bunker at Frankfurt-Niederrad during the 1929 German Amateur Championship: