After getting chased off of my job site by a thunderstorm yesterday morning, I drove up to Bloomington where Steve was kind enough to give me a tour of the golf course after he finished his pre-opening day round with the project donors and VIPs.
Having never been to Bloomington, I was shocked by the site's topography. It's a beautiful, rolling property with an array of high points, ridges, and ravines/drainage channels that feed down into a forest preserve that encompasses the eastern boundary of the site. Early in the re-routing process, Steve identified several areas that he refers to as "power points" on the property. These were generally high spots with panoramic views out over the property and he clustered as many tees and greens on these points as possible, playing out and back to these points from many angles.
To my memory, there are perhaps only two instances where consecutive holes play parallel to one another and only one instance where consecutive holes play in the same direction. Steve did a good job or setting the course up so that the Blue and White tees are generally the tees closest to the previous green, with the Red and Black tees often requiring somewhat of a walk-back (of varying distance, but rarely extreme).
With 146 bunkers and only 46 acres of irrigated turf, there is no doubt that this will be a difficult golf course for the average-to-below average player and it will certainly be capable of testing the best players in the Big 10/NCAA. Still, there is only one instance on the golf course (the 18th) where the golfer is required to make a forced carry to a green and the 7,908 back tee yardage may as well be ignored as the course will almost never be set up to play that far back.
Aesthetically, it was as pleasing a golf course as I have been on in recent memory. This may have been aided by the near perfect conditions yesterday, mid-70s with a nice breeze. If I had to compare the course to others I have seen or played, I would say it is the love child of Bethpage Black and Ballyhack. I also know that Steve drew inspiration from Pine Valley on several holes/features.
I have no idea what the previous course was like, having only seen the aerial on Google Maps, but I have to think the new version is a massive upgrade to what was there and I would recommend for anyone to go out and see it if you're in the area.
Now, a few photos:
The green on the short par-4 5th Hole. A 275-yard drive will leave you with this delicate downhill pitch to a green that deceptively runs away from front-left to back-right.
Looking back toward the rumpled fairway from the green on the par-4 6th Hole. This was probably my favorite hole on the course and one of three bunkerless holes.
The green on the short par-4 10th Hole.
The tee shot on the par-4 16th Hole. Another favorite.
The green on the bunkerless par-3 17th Hole. This one is quite visually deceptive. While blind, yesterday's pin location on this green is actually at the front of the green while the visible portion to the right is the back of the green.
The approach to the par-4 18th Hole. While a forced carry is required here, this is a very large punchbowl-style green in the 10,000-11,000 SF range so it's not quite as difficult a shot as it looks from the fairway.
I would be happy to share additional photos or thoughts on other holes if anyone else has played/seen the course.