I attended the Buick at Torrey South on Saturday and here's my observations: I think overall Rees did a very good job improving the course without totally losing its original character (very much like Bethpage Black). It should be noted that not one mound could be found anywhere on the course! The original fairway bunker sites were retained, and additional ones were added on the other side of the fairway to narrow the landing areas, which were only 30-35 yards wide. The addition of the new back tees now makes the bunkers complexes 280-300 yards from the tee on almost every hole. There is none of the randomness of bunkering ala Eckenrode at Barona Creek or Doak at Pacific Dunes. They should play great for the 2008 Open (if we get it), but what happens when Ty Tryon's son enters the 2028 Buick Invitational? The original pushup greens were at ground level in the front and sloped to 5-6 feet in the back. Rees elevated all the existing green sites 3-4 feet in the front, so they now slope up from 1-2 feet from front to back. All the new greenside bunkers are at least 3-4 feet below the level of the green. This should give the average muni hack plenty of trouble but the Tour Pros I saw had ZERO trouble with them. I would love to see the stats on sand saves this past week; I never saw anyone fail to get his sand shot to at least 3 feet! Rees has built the world's friendliest bunkers here. I know the PGA Tour groom's its bunkers to perfection but this was ridiculous. Maybe the fact that they were unplayed on for 3-4 months could be a factor. The actual sand surface was very flat, leaving level lies for most shots. Bring back the Oakmont bunker rakes! The four brand new green sites are a nobrainer, they will be reguarded as the best holes on the course. Bringing the 3rd, 4th and 14th right to the edge of the canyon will make for some real excitement. There was absolutely no way to lenghten the par 5 6th and 13th, so they are still very reachable. The 18th and 9th can be made virtually unreachable and can now be played as 3 shot holes. I actually saw John Cook hit a fairway wood into the par 3 16th(OK he hit to 3 feet) but the par threes are no pushover anymore. The kikuyu is dormant this time of year so the rough was mainly rye grass which presented a less than half shot penalty, this will not be the case in June when the kikuyu kicks in. Subtract the 4 under most people shot on the North Course and change two par 5's to par 4's and the most likely winning score would be near even par. Definitely worthy of the US Open.