[Jon Cavalier]

Today, Hollywood Golf Club unveiled its new 17th Hole designed by Brian Schneider.


SPOILER ALERT: photos of the new 17th hole follow below.



Here's the previous 17th, which was generally regarded as the weakest hole of this otherwise outstanding Walter Travis design:














And here's the new hole, which opened today:















































In my opinion, a dramatic improvement and the elimination of a weak spot in an otherwise terrific golf course.  The restoration of the old tunnel through the berm is a really nice touch.

[mike_malone]

Nothing succeeds like excess. 

[Tommy Williamsen]

It is one of the most bunkered courses around. I do like the look but maybe it doesn't need all those bunkers.

[Peter Flory]

That place looks right up my alley. 


Was the "before" hole semi original?  or had it been watered down over the year?

[Carl Rogers]

Is Brian a GCA Lurker?  Some context and explanation would be helpful.

[Jaeger Kovich]

Awesome work Walter, Brain, Blake, Todd, & Rich.

[Tom_Doak]

Is Brian a GCA Lurker?  Some context and explanation would be helpful.

I can provide some context.


The “previous version” was a Rees Jones green.  He blew up the original 25 years ago on the grounds that it was too close to #7 and that the ridge in the middle of Travis’s green was too severe.  Jon’s pictures of the new green look like the feature I remember from the original.


The Travis version I saw did not have so much bunkering, but by then a lot of other bunkers had been filled in, too.  Most were restored five years ago, but the club held off on changing 17 at that time, because the budget for the project didn’t allow it.  I do not know if all the bunkers are original or not, though there would be some differences as the green is rebuilt in Rees’ location.

[Greg Smith]

wowowowow!  I love this hole, and especially in the context of the other wild bunkering around Hollywood.


"Old tunnel" through the berm?  Does that mean there USED to be a berm and a tunnel in a previous version of the hole?  Or merely that a new quirky detail was created to look "old"?  Reminds me of some of the playful little things at Pete Dye GC in WV.

[John Emerson]

This place looks stunning

[Ronald Montesano]

JC...so you're saying that she's photogenic...


TD...thanks for the context...


Did RJ blow up the entire hole, and recreate that understated version? Did WJT include that many bunkers (in those specific places) in his original design? I'll hang up and read.


rm

[Tom_Doak]

Did RJ blow up the entire hole, and recreate that understated version? Did WJT include that many bunkers (in those specific places) in his original design? I'll hang up and read.

I don’t remember how many bunkers 17 had on the old aerial photo, but everything else there has been a restoration, so I’d be surprised if Brian just decided to add a half dozen bunkers.


And for Greg S:  there was originally a steep berm between 17g and 18t to protect 18 from wayward shots, with a tunnel to connect them.  It was long gone by the time I saw Hollywood in the late 1980s, but it’s not a new invention.

[David_Tepper]

Jon C. -

Thanks for your (as usual) excellent pics. The hole looks great.


DT

[Jeff Schley]

JC wonderful photos, golf course photography has come a long way and we are the beneficiaries of that. Never seen a hole with a pass through like that, very unique and classic photo with the flag.
I'm seeing some humps in the green with shadowing and looks like a lot of pin locations there, with a run up making it an accessible green.  However looking at all that bunker edge length will take some time from the maintenance team for sure. Obviously the club is happy with that as it probably was similar to Travis's original.

[Ronald Montesano]

It's wonderful when the wind cooperates like that. You have to wait a bit sometimes, to catch the flag just right.


And the question: which came first, the berm or the tunnel? Not the original version, but in the restoration, for you builders.

[Bill Brightly]

Looking at Historic Aerials, it appears the bunkers were restored in the exact same position as 1940. Perhaps someone else can post that aerial?

[MCirba]

Wow.

[Thomas Dai]

Looks like nice use of a slight mound in the centre of the green and the ridge that flows in from the right side is cool too. Subtle features that are presumably easy on maintenance yet add interest and challenge to the hole. Just coz you're on the green doesn't mean the puzzle is over.
atb

[Paul Rudovsky]

Played Hollywood for second time last summer and was told about the plans (without specific details) for #17.  As wonderful as the course was last summer, this looks like a fabulous added change! 

[Joel_Stewart]

I've played Hollywood a few times in the 1980s but more at the Donald Ross course Deal which is across the street.


With Hollywood and Manasquan River completing highly successful restorations, I wonder if Deal will do the same? KBM did some work there 20 years ago. 

[Tommy Williamsen]

I've played Hollywood a few times in the 1980s but more at the Donald Ross course Deal which is across the street.


With Hollywood and Manasquan River completing highly successful restorations, I wonder if Deal will do the same? KBM did some work there 20 years ago.

Joel, Deal went through a renovation a few years ago. I think Rees did it. I played it after he finished and loved it. Some of the members, however, were very unhappy with the result. I hadn't played it previously so I had nothing with which to compare before and after. I loved it. For a small footprint I thought the routing was genius. I could be very happy there.

[Steve Lapper]

Nothing succeeds like excess.

Spoken with powerful, and expected, provincialism.

[mike_malone]

Nothing succeeds like excess.

Spoken with powerful, and expected, provincialism.

It’s just an expression. I like the course.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Nothing succeeds like excess.

Spoken with powerful, and expected, provincialism.

Steve, it’s definitely excess though, isn’t it?


It’s just restoring excess rather than new excess. And if that’s what the club wants, then that’s perfectly ok. It does look pretty cool.

[Steve Lapper]

Brian Schneider, along with the club, allowed for considerable time to finish researching any and all past records for just how the original 17th existed. As Tom Doak alludes to, none of those documents had a historically precise count of the # of bunkers.


Did Brian add a flourish or two that might be construed as visual excess? Perhaps, yet the last version of the hole was a blighted anomaly relative to the other 17 holes and absolutely needed some measure of creative license. The berm and the tunnel was a restoration to the original.

I've been fortunate to personally witness the evolution of Brian's restoration and the coup d'grace of the new 17th fits in perfectly. Jon's picture, while brilliant and all-encompassing, may convey some cover for labeling it excess, yet in totality, it hardly feels that way.

The hole starts in the course's busiest locus point...the convergence of the 4th and 16th green, 5th and 17th tees...and ends at another...the teeing ground for 18 and 10. Expecting to play at 220yds, wayward shots there might have serious consequences.

In this case, the negative connotation associated with the word "excess," usually used around these parts just isn't deserved.

[Bill Brightly]

The bunkers appear to have been faithfully restored as Travis built the hole. Same number and same location.


I haven't played the course in many years but it seems the restored version shares one of the main characteristics of a Biarritz par 3: both sides of the approach are heavily bunkered. (I KNOW it is not a Biarritz green.) Is this something that Travis did often?

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