John,
I said that "I didn't think Dismal River was a great course" based on information I had gathered from various trusted sources, just like I'd do when searching out information on any course I was thinking about visiting. Don and some others took exception to it and the thread was deleted. Fair enough. I admit I was probably over the line, though Mac said he didn't have a problem with it.
This is probably violating some sort of 'What happens in Vegas' clause, but Mark Saltzman quotes GCA over there so maybe I'm okay:
"Mac, that sounds like the right mindset. However the rub is very few of us have the budget or time to dedicate to seeing golf courses that you do. Personally, I have to rely on ratings, friends and other sources to figure out what to prioritize for the remaining years I have on this Earth. Might I end up missing out on a course I might otherwise enjoy? Sure, but that's just the risk you take. Sure, preconceived notions might play a role in this, right or wrong. I'm not particularly fond of Jim Engh's work, it just doesn't float my boat. Still, we took a day to play Sanctuary last year and the course was even worse than we expected, even coming in with an open mind for that style. That day (which came at opportunity cost of 36-45 holes at Ballyneal) further cemented my belief to just focus on stuff I have a high propensity to enjoy. I'd like to see and experience everything but that's just not realistic. I doubt Tiger regrets not seeing or playing the entire course, he probably just regrets going there in the first place when he could've just played wild horse instead.
As far as DR goes, tiger stated on the other thread that he didn't think Dismal was a great course. You and a couple guys jumped on him. Now it comes out that he based that seeing a few holes, adding more fuel to the fire. I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but based on everything I've seen or read, I'd say that "Dismal River is not a great course", with a caveat that i haven't seen any of the holes! That just means my opinion isnt worth much. But I had the opportunity to play the course last year and went through the same exercise of deciding whether to do it or not. I asked a friend for a detailed hole-by-hole and he gave me his honest opinion, I asked another well-traveled friend who said don't bother. Another friend who I consider one of the great minds in golf course architecture and he called it a "Doak 0". Then we had the post-1995 rating thing on the other site and Dismal was something like 50th out of 52. Maybe they are all wrong. Maybe you, Eric and others are 100% right. I'm sure all the recent changes are for the best. Even if it's 50/50 that I'd love it, I don't have the freedom to take that chance. My golfing days for the year are becoming more and more of a precious commodity.
I'm sure most will view this as more Ballyneal vs DR rivalry, but in my mind such rivalry doesn't exist. Sure i roll my eyes at some of the stuff CJ says on GCA, but who doesn't? All in all, he seems like a decent guy. I'm sure folks are tired of hearing about Jim Colton and bn. I wouldnt blame you. I've invited Mac, Eric and even JC Jones out to Ballyneal. Mac and Eric have invited me out to DR. They are different course about 3 1/2 hours apart. And I hope the Doak course is fantastic.
Flame away!"
I then tried to start this same Case Study thread over there, focusing on the positives and on architecture, but that got quickly pulled as well. I guess the question I have is this: because I am a Ballyneal member, am I not allowed to start an architectural discussion about Dismal River? I understand you can have your doubts, be skeptical -- but I'm ready to move on. If anything I say in this thread is out of line, feel free to call me out on it. Looking back on some of Adam's old links, you can see that I've always been interested in this project (and Erin Hills). I enjoy learning about the process of how things come to be, how key decisions were made (routing trade-offs, etc) and when and why changes were made. I poured over topos of Doak's course and came about 'this close' to proposing a change (before coming to my senses).
So far there has been a lot of interest on this topic and CJ has graciously chimed in with his thoughts. As someone who was in before CJ, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well. What drew you to this course in the middle of nowhere?
As I told Mac via PM, I'd openly welcome a similar thread on Ballyneal 2.0 or 3.0 or whenever it's heading in the right direction in the same trajectory that DR has been on. That only means good things have happened for the course and the club and we can reflect and document how we got there.