I was lucky to have played PV last week for the first time. I could talk about the course and the experience for ages, but I'll keep on subject with the following bullets:
- The caddies told me over 200 trees were cleared between the left of 3 and left of 4 tee. 3 was spectacular - a sea of sand now
- Trees have been removed behind 2 green and to the right of 2 green, which opens up views and makes it more of a skyline green
- I have compared my photos of 2 and 18 to those of my buddy Graylyn, who played the course a few years ago. I prefer the look & play now; more sand.
- Trees around and behind 5 have been removed when compared to older photos (from 5-15 years ago). You can now see the waste area in front of the 6th fairway from the 5th tee
- Trees around 10 appear to have been removed, opening up the right side more
- In general, when comparing photos to those in the 'courses by country' section and on the internet, it looks like they have reclaimed a lot of sandy areas, which had become overgrown with grass. The approaches to 3, 7 and 17 are SPECTACULAR.
Reading before the round, many had pointed to concerns that the 'waste' areas were becoming too manicured. I can't really comment as I didn't play before, but to me, they were great. Crapshoot on the lie, but generally, findable and playable to get it back into play.