Anyone been out to Bald head Island and played since the renovation? The Bald Head website has some great before, during and after photos and the course appears to be much improved...
I have (about 100 times since I am a member) and the course is much improved.
Cate used the original plans of George Cobb as the basis of his work. If nothing else the course needed to rebuild the greens and the new greens and green complexes are more interesting in playability, strategy and visually. The greens are larger than before which is needed because of the constant winds on the island. The course does require better shots now as the penalty for a misplaced shot is more severe than before.. A lot of the original plan was not ever built because of financial issues of the developer at the time of the original construction. Cate added many waste areas throughout the course. Technically there still are no fairway bunkers but sand is everywhere.
Additionally some of the lagoons on the course in some odd places making for awkward (bad as opposed to quirky good) shots and playability so Cate redid a number of them allowing for wider fairways and more generous landing area. One of the shortcomings in the renovation is the flatness of most of the renovated fairways. The original course had many rolls or humps and bumps in the fairways which made for a variety of interesting lies and shots. Cate took out a lot of the rumbling in the fairways to the point where I think you could safely land a plane on them.
A lot of the "natural" areas appear a bit artificial but time hopefully will correct that. I am more of the fan of the style of naturalization as Coore and Crenshaw did at Pinehurst rather than Cate's eye candy style. However, it is dramatic and appealing to the "retail" golfer so it likely makes sense for the club.
The course is more fun to play and more of a challenge. The installation of TiffDwarf greens are great since the speeds are better but more importantly the course plays quite firm around the greens. With some of the winds we get there ground game shots are nice to have in your arsenal.