Patrick, there are others that can speak more intelligibly about this, but the changes at The Bridge are absolutely NOT SIMPLY AESTHETIC.
Tees have been shifted, bunkers have been moved, fairways and areas around greens have been re-graded. I think the only thing that is unchanged is the putting surfaces.
I can't speak of Maidstone as I haven't seen the changes.
Re The Bridge:
It' OK to not like it or question the need, but to suggest it's a "hairy bunker or aesthetic " change , and not about strategy and how the holes play,would be a mistake.
While all work is done in house, I'd also say it's mistake to think any of these changes are minor.
That said, it's done one hole at a time, and buttoned up immediately and Many members are unaware of how much work is being done and how much earth is being moved.
Perhaps those suggesting more text and less pictures, should READ
the text.
Although to be fair, I agree with everything Tom wrote about aesthetics vs. placement.
When bunker acreage is reduced by 60%, and fairway acreage is increased dramatically, and nearly all bunkers are shifted to random and inconsistent carry/skirt distances off the tee generally IN the fairway after previously being iN the rough, that's hardly a bunker edge treatment, and DOES definitely affect how the holes [play.
Perhaps some are confusing the pictures of the holes that are NOT renovated yet(2 partially,3,4,5,6), but simply did have a different bunker edge treatment aimed at preserving sand.
Tom, maintenance time has gone way down as there are virtually no washouts, we used to spend a lot of time after every rain repairing,and every spring from winter blowout.
Holes that have been redone
1 comes pretty close to playing the same off the tee although new bunker on right may steer players left into more maintained bail area-long hitter has a bunker protecting the preferred left angle. The second shot is much more run up friendly as the turf was recontoured to feed onto the green, but also to feed into the bunkers if not properly executed as opposed to before where everything funneled to the same place.
partial redo-#2 may play the same for a low handicap, but is much more friendly to a higher handicapper-more to be done on this hole as bunkers are not new.
7 plays entirely different on both the drive, as well as the second shot. to say nothing of 50 feet less of walking uphill from previous green
8 plays entirely different on the drive, as well as the second shot-80 yard shorter walk to 8 tee
9 plays entirely different on the second shot, although I'd say that changed strategically 6 years ago when we added a cross bunker and added more fairway on the second shot behind it to capture a great angle in. 50 yard shorter walk to 9 tee and 20-30 feet lower in elevation, in addition to valley before fairway filled to soften down then upness.
10 tee shot way different and somewhat disorienting, second shot play s way different with centerline bunker, cross bunker farther left and large greenside bunker replaced with false front/chipping area-perhaps for a long hitter the hole plays the same if he challenges left fairway bunker successfully and hits green in two
11 plays way different with bunkers protecting angle and second shot plays differently with fairway turf lifted and recontoured to provide a run up that distinguishes between a good shot and a bad shot (bunker) and doesn't simply gather from both sides
12 where to even begin-virtually unrecognizeable and tees 50 yards closer(and lower) to 11 green replacing a 30 -40 foot climb then downhill tee shot
with a 5-10 foot rise over the length of the tee shot.
13 totally different angle-tee much closer to 12 green
14 drop shot downhill par 3, now slightly uphill with recontoured run up area and fallaway right side approach, dramatically enlarged chipping area over green -walk off 13 green to tee now level, replacing 10 foot drop down followed by 40 foot walk up.
15 tee shot plays different and involves carrying a bunker to get the best speed slot and certainly plays different if one drives it right as we removed about an acre of bunker
16 previously 100 foot climb up to 85 foot drop shot par 3-now an uphill hole with the tee located 15 yards from 15 green, rebunkered to challenge the different angle which also affects the bounce on the tee shot sideboard, which can be used to access front right pins
17 previously 380 hole par 4 walk up, play down, now a 290 par 4 (tee level and near 16 green)with entirely different bunkering and 5 different areas to approach from depending on pin placement, wind and player ability-all made possible by an untouched great green with multiple tilts.
18 plays similarly
, bunkers angled slightly better, more fairway added to promote challenging those bunkers-Ironically it was this hole that convinced me to get much more involved on a daily basis(second hole we renovated) as I would say this change was mainly aesthetic and DID not change the way the hole played much ---leading me to conclude no reason to do that much work if not gaining any placement/strategy.
And that's not even close to a comprehensive list of all that was done including many lowerings of material in front of bunkers so a ball will roll into them,many approaches lifted and improved to give an opportunity for a ball to roll where directed rather than a forgiving concave resulting in the same result for balls mediocre or not, and many, many modern looking overshaped areas recontoured. Additionally ,many, many tees have been relocated to create angles, shorten walks create strategy etc.
Most fairways have been adjusted as well, some the entire perimeter of the hole changed.
The only thing untouched is greens, but certainly many green surrounds have been reworked.
Pat,
If you think the holes are virtually unchanged in their design in terms of how they play, you're a moron
.
Ironically, the holes changed the most are now member favorites..
I do think we don't give the average golfer enough credit for recognizing strategy and fun.
Perhaps it's that we don't have many low handicappers, but our members love the changes, and comment about how much more fun and interesting the course is.
I don't think the course is easier or harder, but definitely have more choices to make.
Here's the thing-we're not done yet, and even after that the nature of these changes is such that they will need 2-5 years to mature, which is why I've been reluctant to post about it.
Very interesting for the few GCAers that have seen the before and after, but we're not quite ready for prime time judgement.