When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Look Out Jack And Annika: Shark And Ochoa Issue Press Release With Olympic Design In Sight!
/I don't know about you, but they do skew a lot younger than Jack and Annika, the other previously announced Olympic design wannabes!
Read More"It's all still there."
/Ron Green Jr. visits with Ben Crenshaw during the Pinehurst No. 2 rehab.
"You may get a great lie or be up against a pine cone or against wire grass," Crenshaw says. "You wonder why Ross was so enamored with what he saw. It's just sandy, impoverished soil but it's ideal for golf."
The fairways are wide and follow the original lines created by Ross. More than half the sprinkler heads have been removed at No.2, leaving the restored natural areas to take what the weather gives them.
There is an art to bringing back the natural look of No.2. Crenshaw stands in a sandy area, recently cleared and now being cultivated. He talks about the fun of placing clumps of wiregrass so that there's no pattern to it, spreading them like the wind might, and the options that will evolve over time when weather and fallen pine needles fill in off the fairways.
Green also talks on this video about what he's seeing, allowing us to get a glimpse of the work behind him.
"As part of the suit, the plaintiffs filled a notice of mechanic’s lien against the resort hotel."
/Wondering if the whole Greenbrier success story has been a little too good to be true now that Brad Klein reports they are being sued for unpaid bills to a golf course contractor?
Read More"The golf industry was not included as part of the national stimulus package, but just about everyone else was."
/There are a couple of great quotes in Steve Habel's Cybergolf story on the dismal state of the design business:
Read MoreTiger's Cliffs Course Resumes Construction Even Though It Never Stopped
/Even though they insisted construction never stopped due to insufficient funds, it seems that The Cliffs is moving forward with a few tweaks to appease environmentalists.
Read More"Ray Charles could have seen it was a bunker."
/Thanks to Brooks for spotting Gary D'Amato's short post after running into Pete Dye at the new French Lick Resort where the octegenarian architect was still talking about Dustin Johnson.
Read More"People are mean, and architects are an easy target. I know Rees. Rees is a friend of mine."
/I always enjoy SI/golf.com's Confidential but this week's left me feeling like it's now becoming another vehicle to defend the established thought, which, if there were ever going to be a Confidential killer, that would be it.
Read More"The sad reality for China, is that despite all the noise and activity, most of the golf is very disappointing, and unlikely to support or sustain the type of participation growth industry ‘insiders’ are fond of quoting."
/Dan Washburn posts an interesting email from Darius Oliver, who takes aim at the rush of mediocre, unsustainable golf courses popping up all over China.
Read MoreRees Jones Comes To His Own Defense
/Ed Sherman talks to the architect about player criticism of his Cog Hill Rees-do and not only does the dreaded examination word come out, but he drags the tour into his mess!
Read More"Expectations were high for Lost Farm, and Coore has delivered with a course that is top shelf."
/
Darius Oliver files the first review of Lost Farm, the companion course to Tom Doak and Mike Clayton's Barnbougle Dunes, and not surprisingly it sounds like a winner. Thanks to reader Jon for this.
Expectations were high for Lost Farm, and Coore has delivered with a course that is top shelf. It does need a growing season or two before the fescue grasses mature and provide golfers with the sort of firm surfaces ideal for this type of layout, but preview rounds will not disappoint. Golfers who have been putting off a trip to Barnbougle Dunes since it opened in 2004 now have no excuse.
"And anybody good enough to play it knows what a wreck it is."
/As a conoisseur of player complaints, I have to say that the Cog Hill bashing is some of the toughest I've read and somewhat oddly timed considering that last year was the debut of Rees Jones' reestoration. But maybe what this speaks to is just how much mediocre design work--it's not like this is their first cup of Rees--the modern player will look past if a course is in good condition. If it's not, maybe the floodgates really open?
Read More“Two things you don’t want to hear as a player, Rees Jones and Sub-air.”
/Paul Casey just vaulted to the front of the pack in best quote of the year, as Steve Elling reports on PGA Tour player affection for Rees Jones' redo of Cog Hill.
Read More"That's not my idea of sustainability in golf."
/Dottie Pepper did not leave Chambers Bay a fan, writing in her SI column that while the course is "big on ideas, it's not quite ready for prime time." Her reasoning:
Read More
