First Masters Question: What To Restore Next?

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I watched the Masters in its entirety and honestly can't remember the second cut impacting more than a handful of shots. And most of those were balls near the tree lines in what was more of a transitional cut than an orchestrated layer of rough. That's pretty amazing compared to where the course was a few years ago.
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"Old Soul" Follow-Up

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Thanks for all the kind remarks regarding my Golf World story on Augusta National's genealogical ties to the Old Course.

These Alister MacKenzie sketches of holes three, four and five (originally 12-14) prove nothing about the relationship between the two courses. Instead I post them merely for your viewing pleasure. Click on the images to enlarge.

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“All (the changes) are for the better.”

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In my limited viewing of round one from Bay Hill, I have to say the course looks way better, What a joy it is not to see the crop of rough that Arnie annually harvested. And even better, replaced by short grass and firm greens. Maybe he got the message after Mickelson sat it out the last few years (that's his compliment above), or when players like Ogilvy and Poulter (an Orlando resident!) are sitting this one out.
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Bay Hill Will Be New To The Players...Again

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Jeff Shain on Arnold Palmer's latest redo of Bay Hill.

"We've literally done something to every hole," said Palmer, who has made Bay Hill his winter home since 1965 and acquired the club 11 years later. "It'll be new to most all [the players]."

Bedecked with an old-school par. After three editions as a par 70, it reverts to 72 as two long par-4s are returned to their original state as par-5s. One of those comes at No. 16, which should help inject some risk/reward thrill to the closing stretch.

"I think it's going to be more fun for the players and a lot more entertaining for the fans," said rookie pro Sam Saunders, who as Palmer's grandson has more familiarity with the new look than anyone else in the field.

Like an aging house, every golf course gets to a point where it needs some maintenance and upgrade. Greens and bunkers tend to shrink as rough slowly overtakes the edges; new technology requires some modification.

Or some committee guy or benevolent dictator jacks around with it to the point that no one really likes it anymore!

Whew. Glad Bay Hill doesn't fall into that category.

On a serious note, wouldn't it have just been cheaper to mow the rough down and change 16 back to a par-5?

"A Simpler Game"

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Now posted is my winter Links Magazine look at how golf got to the mess it's in and ways in which costs can be cut. Included are quotes from architects like Bruce Hepner, developer Jim Taylor of Clear Creek and superintendent Rusty Mercer of Cuscowilla. As always, thoughts welcomed

Meanwhile Ryan Ballengee plays Coore and Crenshaw's Sugarloaf Mountain, part of a failing central Florida real estate development, and comes away wondering if people would ever buy a home on a minimalist design.