More Pebble Beach Then And Now: #8

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I've got a couple more before-afters that I forgot to post last week once play got underway. So before the 2010 U.S. Open buzz wears off...

Alister MacKenzie renovated the 8th green in 1926 as part of an audition for the greater overhaul that was handled by Chander Egan, Robert Hunter and Roger Lapham. Here is an early view of MacKenzie's green, with the 2010 US Open perspective showing two added bunkers. I'm not sure who added them, but something tells me it was Robert Trent Jones. And I think he made the right choice.

"Who's going to drive the future of Colorado Golf Club?"

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In a world where you have clubs that would kill to host a major, then there's Colorado Golf Club.

 

It's kind of an amazing thing to read Anthony Cotton's story on Colorado Golf Club's shaky status and realize that the PGA of America sees it as a potential host site for future majors and yet, the place seems to have a corporate ownership situation that may doom the course.

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Old Macdonald, Old Macdonald

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You may be suffering from Old Macdonald hype fatigue, but there's a stellar piece from Ron Whitten in this week's Golf World (not yet posted) reviewing the design and touching on the oddity of Tom Doak recently parting ways with co-designer Jim Urbina. There is also this GolfDigest.com video about the course, and a slideshow. Love how brown the course looks!
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Crenshaw's Fellow Player-Architects Compliment Colorado Golf Club...

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...but is it me, or does it sound like it's killing them to pay a compliment to this week's Senior PGA host site?

"It's a good test," said Watson, who also designs courses. "It has great variety to it. There's plenty of room (in landing areas), and yet there's some toughness that you have to worry about. . . . That's the way golf should be played."

After playing Colorado Golf Club for the first time, Tom Kite said it's worthy of hosting a major championship.

"The golf course is going to stand up very well to the players. It's very difficult," Kite said. "There's a lot to know. We're going to have to kind of fly by the seat of our pants to learn the golf course as we go."

With the thin air, and depending on the wind and slope of the terrain, a shot that normally would require 180 yards might be 220 or 130, said Bernhard Langer, who already has won twice on the 2010 Champions Tour.

"It's kind of crazy," he said, "and then you have to figure how much the ball is going to run when it hits. But it's a great golf course, great layout, beautiful scenery. And some interesting design work."