"The result is a startling transformation that makes the California Golf Club of San Francisco arguably one of the golf-rich state’s five finest courses for the first time in its history."

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Ran Morrissett profiles the dramatic restoration of California Country Club, explains the role of various team members in this post, and contends that the project transcends the typical restoration, realizing something greater by combining the best of modern agronomic and architectural practices with MacKenzie's original redesign vision.

Some of the greatest designs ever seen in the United States- Lakeside, Bel-Air, and Los Angeles - were radically changed for the worse prior to World War II. Other designs like Pasatiempo were compromised by the subsequent residential component that was built too close to the playing corridors. Only a few clubs like the Valley Club of Montecito have retained and/or returned the best playing attributes ofthe course'soriginal design.

Yet, there is one club that has returned the best Golden Age design features to its course and taken full advantage of the finest aspects of modern golf architecture and agronomy. The result is a startling transformation that makes the California Golf Club of San Francisco arguably one of the golf-rich state’s five finest courses for the first time in its history.

 

"A difficult-to-navigate Jack Nicklaus-designed course"

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I can't say this is the most flattering golf course adjective I've ever read, especially since it arrives in a press release from Tiger's crew plugging next week's Chevron World Challenge.

The scene is a classic, the 7,027-yard Sherwood Country Club, a difficult-to-navigate Jack Nicklaus-designed course that will test 16 of the world’s greatest players in a 72-hole stroke play format, Dec. 17-21. 

Ben and Bill To Get...A Senior Major?

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Last week Greg Henry reported at Examiner.com that Colorado Golf Club was going to get a PGA Championship. That report has since been taken down (come on guys, that's now how the web works!) and replaced with a new post that Thursday's announcement will reveal a 2010 Senior PGA for the Coore-Crenshaw design. That was based on a Rocky Mountain news report suggesting that the announcement could still include a PGA.

"The first impression will be big -- big fairways, big greens, just big"

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John Paul Newport samples 10 holes at Old Macdonald and gives us a preview.

Given the bulk of low-lying land that Mr. Doak and team will be responding to "as if they were C.B. Macdonald," Mr. Keiser said that golfers may see as much St. Andrews in the course as they do the National. That will be especially true from the inland clubhouse, with its view of the conjoined first and 18th fairways, as at St. Andrews. "The first impression will be big -- big fairways, big greens, just big," he said. 

Don't forget to check out Team Doak's work on the Kiwi Challenge this weekend at 4 p.m. EST each day (I think Cape Kidnappers appears Sunday on NBC).

 

"He has probably put more steps on this ground at this stage of development than any architect we've dealt with"

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In Jerry Potter's story on Tiger's press conference to launch The Cliffs, he shares this from developer Jim Anthony:

Woods said he was able to walk about three months after surgery, and Anthony said his early visits to the site left him worried. "He has probably put more steps on this ground at this stage of development than any architect we've dealt with," said Anthony, who has courses built by Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio.

That's not really saying much. Those three, walking a site? Without cameras? Right.

"Drop your putter, dig your cell phone out of your golf bag, and call 1.877.9NM.GIFT."

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I would not have believed this one if not for Ryan Herrington's item in this week's Golf World Bunker. There's selling out, there's whoring out and then there's another indescribable level of unfathomable desperation as evidenced from item in the new Neiman Marcus catalog...

Jack Nicklaus Custom Backyard Course Package

Go ahead, re-read it. Yes, THE Jack Nicklaus, Golfer of the Century turned world-renowned course designer. Yep, your very own custom-designed three-hole course. Uh-huh, for your backyard. Jack will study topography, aerial photos, and landscape maps for the site, then send his team to survey the property. He'll create a formal design plan and color renderings for up to three holes and a practice area, depending on the size of your back forty. Your construction crew builds from it, with supervision from Jack's world-class design team (the same team pursued by premier club owners worldwide). Now to sink the winning putt; when your course is finished, the Golden Bear himself will stop by to play the first round with you, personally. More? He'll sign his club and ball for your collection and throw in a custom set of Nicklaus clubs, including a personalized bag.

Drop your putter, dig your cell phone out of your golf bag, and call 1.877.9NM.GIFT.

Jack Nicklaus Custom Backyard Course Package
Price Beginning at $1,000,000.00*
OCBF9_NMO3603
*Construction and site preparation costs not included.

For $1,000,000 you get some plans and a site visit? So, how is that different from a normal Nicklaus design?

No word yet on whether Neiman's new favorite customer will be buying one of these for Todd.

Enjoy Golfweek's Best New Courses While You Can

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At the pace we're on, there won't be enough new courses in the coming years to do these awards issues. Well, that won't stop them from trying. Maybe they'll go with "where are they now" issues trying to figure out what they were thinking in selecting some of these gems!

You have two options. There is the online version of the print edition with all of Brad Klein's musings, or the online photo slideshow backed by some of the finest copyright-free Muzak you'll ever want to not hear.

 

"The changes certainly will help."

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Brad Klein returns to Erin Hills--the course he originally dubbed "Errant Hills" and a comment that Golf Digest's Ron Whitten countered was payback for a lousy Wintonbury Hills review--and doesn't sound any more enthusiastic about what he sees in the fall reworking that the course hopes will usher in a U.S. Open bid.

And Open there makes complete sense when you can bypass a proven cash cow and weather wonder like Torrey Pines in 2017 and head straight to the middle of no where in Wisconsin! Don't worry scribblers, there's a Marriott just 45 minutes away...more points and you'll love the highway billboards.

Klein writes:

But for a golf course that touts a links sensibility, there’s actually little integration at Erin Hills between approach shots and contours into and around greens. Every recovery shot from around and behind putting surfaces is a lobbed shot, not a bump and run. And there are so many holes where the natural slopes leading into the green deflect the ball away from the putting surface rather than allowing you to feed the ball in. The contours might all be entirely natural, but they defy thoughtful shotmaking and end up requiring an aerial brand of golf in which everything is simply flown to the target. As for the bunkers, there’s nothing natural about any of their shapes; they are scraped out in such contrived, undersized pockets that they make you feel as if you’ve been lowered into jagged tea cups.
The changes certainly will help. A postage-stamp style, domed green on the short par-4 second hole will be expanded by 50 percent. The wild Biarritz green on the long par-5 10th hole will be flattened front and back so that it will be far more pin-able and playable. A ridge in the 15th green also will be modified. Awkward deflection slopes on the first and 17th fairways will be softened, making both far more receptive.

"With ball technology still unpoliced, one certain victim will be the par 5."

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I've been giving some thought to Ron Whitten's story on the future of architecture and one of his more optimistic visions sees the par-5 disappearing from the game:

So where is golf architecture headed? Our prediction is that in the next 20 years, new courses will be wider, drier and probably scruffy around the edges. They'll feature a lot of steep, deep hazards and dramatic slopes, will be more eclectic in their bunkering and green complexes and be positively dizzying in their strategies of play.
They'll still be mostly 18 holes, but the standard of par will drop from 72 to 69. With ball technology still unpoliced, one certain victim will be the par 5. Par 4s now play as long as par 5s used to. Even the glorious 12th at Stonebrae will probably be rendered into a drive and pitch shot by some Nationwide players next March.
To be genuine three-shot holes, new par 5s would have to be 700 yards or more. It'll be impossible to have four of those on any new course, because they'd take up too much precious land and drag each round into a sixth hour. A single par 5 will suffice. The others will be called what they now really are, long par 4s.

First, it's nice to see Ron's optimistic about governing body regulation of the ball. Can't say he's off base with that one!

But do you think he's right that the par-5 is doomed and is this a good or bad thing?

Obviously I agree with the merits of sub-par 70 courses because they take less time and the game needs to downsize the amount of acreage it uses. And he is also right that it'll take 700 yards to make a true three shotter, but really, how many of those are that interesting to play?

However, wouldn't we be losing one of the great treats in the game: the reachable par-5? When the elements are in balance, is there any more exciting or interesting shot than the decision to go for a par-5 in two?

Judge Reduces Winged Foot East To 17-Holes

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You think I'm kidding...Corey Kilgannon reports in the New York Times. But not to worry, The Donald is on the case.

Last week, a State Supreme Court judge in Westchester issued a temporary restraining order against the club, banning play on the sixth hole until further notice. Outings have been disrupted, as has competitive play among members at what has become, in effect, the most famous 17-hole championship golf course in the country.

“Everybody at Winged Foot is very surprised, and people want to fight it,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday. “I’m very surprised something couldn’t have been worked out. To close a hole, it’s a sad day for the club. I’m thinking maybe I’ll visit the gentleman. I’d love to go and mediate it.”

Mr. Pecora has suffered $14,000 in damage to his home from errant golf balls, including five broken windows this year alone, said Julius Cohn, his lawyer. He said Mr. Pecora, who moved into the house in 2003, began complaining about the errant shots in 2006, when the club cut down several trees between his house and the sixth green.

“Since they cut down the trees in 2006, my client has been getting bombarded with golf balls,” he said, adding that Mr. Pecora fears for the safety of his children, ages 6 and 11, who often play in the backyard. “He has golf balls raining down on his home — his children can’t even walk on the property.”
There's a lot I could say here, but I won't. Hopefully we'll learn more about this in the coming days.
The club spent $70,000 to plant three large trees in September, but Mr. Cohn said the club refused to put up a net protecting Mr. Pecora’s house. He said golfers routinely walk onto Mr. Pecora’s property to hit a ball back onto the course.
“He has pails and pails of golf balls,” he said, adding that Mr. Pecora’s 14-year-old dog ate a golf ball last year and required emergency surgery, costing $3,344.40.
Ouch.

Unfortunately, this statement just doesn't fly anymore...at least in the eyes of the courts. Yet another reason why the technology issue has been on the minds of architects.
William O’Shaughnessy, who owns a pair of radio stations in New Rochelle, and is a member at Winged Foot, said, “If you buy a house on a golf course, you have to assume there may be a couple of errant shots that are going to land in your yard.”
“It’s part of the charm of living on one of the most famous golf courses in the world,” he said.

"The restrictions on square grooves will bring back the old days"

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Ron Whitten covers a lot of ground in his "Shape of Courses to Come" feature in the November, 2008 Golf Digest.

I think this passage speaks to the rude awakening some of the folks at the USGA are in for:

Steve Smyers, a veteran architect and member of the Executive Committee of the USGA, believes new restrictions on square grooves in golf clubs, set to go into effect at pro tour events in 2010 and apply to all by 2024, will affect course architecture in positive ways, particularly for those designing courses intended to host championships. (And because most owners dream of owning a contender, that means most new courses.)
"The restrictions on square grooves will bring back the old days," Smyers says. "Elite players will be gearing back on their swings, and going back to golf balls that spin a little more, which will reduce their distance. I've always been an advocate of big, wide fairways, but I think fairways will get narrower. Light rough will again become an integral part of the game. Hitting the fairway will again become absolutely critical. It'll be position golf as opposed to power golf."
See, here's my question. How can you position yourself on a narrow fairway? Just a question!

And if someone can name one noted player who has said he will be gearing back his swing because of the new grooves, I'm offering a first edition, signed copy of Masters of the Links.