I have not commented so far because
(a) It's the club's business
(b) Nothing has been decided -- I haven't been there to look at it since they called, and obviously I can't make a recommendation from 8,000 miles away, and
(c) I did not want to reward Scott Warren, who has now made a habit of posting rumors without having the courtesy to call me and ask if I will comment on the record, beforehand. He is now on my permanent blacklist, which is a pretty short list, so I guess he should be honored.
I appreciate the background information from Mike Clayton, who has actually played the hole for long enough to have some idea whether anything has changed over time. Nothing else that's been shared on this thread is of ANY use or value. I don't know why Mark Ferguson is calling my character into question, but I will return the favor, here. My track record of "destroying" classic greens is pretty clean to date, and I don't have any intention of throwing that away. But I do have a client, so I've got to go and see what they are asking about, and watch over the work if it is determined that something should be done.
Even if the greens were really that fast 20-30 years ago (which is hard for me to believe), I think the issue is more acute now because the speed is faster on an everyday basis for member play. The call about taking a look at the green did not come as the result of the recent tournaments; it came two or three months before that. 13+ speeds on a 4% slope may be borderline playable for professionals, but once the speeds got above 10 for everyday play, it's pretty difficult for the members.
In MacKenzie's day, they certainly could have used the 4.5% slope between the left and right hole locations for member play, but no more. I don't know when that went away, but making that work for today's speeds would require softening the entire back half of the green, which I prefer to avoid. I'm also curious about what Mike mentions about the area in front of the green ... in the old days, could the members play just short of the green and have the ball stay there? That's what makes the green so difficult, the fact that it's almost impossible to stay below the hole, without your ball retreating forty or fifty yards off the green.
I'm told that their mapping shows small changes in the green that they want to put right -- and that is possible, because they control thatch by stripping the sod off the greens and removing the topdressing and thatch layer every few years. Very small changes (1/2 inch here or there) almost inevitably occur during that process. However, one would expect that they would have been extra careful not to make this particular green even MORE severe during the course of that work ... the tendency would be the opposite, for someone to try to "fix" it in-house by building something up just a smidgen. But sometimes that sort of work backfires, too.
It will certainly make for an interesting discussion this weekend. Pray for me that I am able to find a proper resolution to the situation, and note that this is EXACTLY why I usually decline to consult at clubs that host big tournaments.