Ribbon-Cutting Day At Trump Ferry Point!

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Stephanie Wei files a WSJ preview for Wednesday's sure-to-be lively ribbon-cutting at Ferry Point Park, New York City's pricey public course pushed through by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, designed by Jack Nicklaus and to be managed by Donald Trump.

The three will be on hand to commemorate the completion of construction.

Priceless quote from Nicklaus:

"We had half a golf course out there before Mr. Trump got involved," said Nicklaus in an interview at the Presidents Cup earlier this month. "The problem was finishing it. They kept working at it. We spent this ridiculous amount of money for environmental issues—on a dump!"

The course is not actually opening for a while...

That finish line won't officially arrive until the spring of 2015, when the course is slated to open to the public. (Ferry Point will be used for some public programming, primarily junior golf, in conjunction with the city's Parks Department starting next summer.) Only 14 months ago, the site contained little more than dirt—millions of tons of it.

Same Day: Spieth Plays Pine Valley & Augusta National

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Fine tuning the game for his TBD 2013-14 PGA Tour debut, Jordan Spieth put up a sweet 67 at Pine Valley, then played a late nine at Augusta National according to tweets by his playing partner and Dallas-based performance coach Cameron McCormick.

Pine Valley is in fall color mode...


And confirmation of the incredible same day PVGC/ANGC combo.

University Of Maryland Golf Course Eyed For Development

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We've been through this before with Stanford (threatened redevelopment) and Yale (neglect), so it's not a huge surprise that University of Maryland doesn't appreciate its 1959 George Cobb course so much that they're willing to plow a big chunk of what sounds like a community treasure.

For a new offramp, faculty house and an entrance to the school with a--big oy vey here--terrapin theme.

Luz Lazo of the Washington Post reports.

But the plan has riled neighbors, who say the course is a community treasure that should be preserved. For more than five decades, the 150 acres of rolling green have been a favorite of college students and area golfers attracted by twilight specials. The public course, which recently underwent a $3.5 million upgrade, also attracts neighbors who come to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July and to listen to live bands Thursday evenings.

A website has been set up to help save the Certified Audubon Cooperative course, which is ranked 27th on Golfweek's list of best college courses.

Kennemer To Save The Day!

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I turned on the European Tour Thursday to see a super looking golf course only to realize that those of us trying to come down off the Merion-Muirfield-Country Club-National high of the last few months still have a super H.S. Colt course to watch.

Ran Morrissett has a profile of the design with plenty of photos.

Jimenez opened with a 64, so there's that too.

Golf Channel has KLM Open coverage this weekend, all times ET:

Friday              12:30-2:30 p.m. (Tape Delay)
Sunday            2-6 a.m. (Tape Delay)
Monday           2:30-5 a.m. (Tape Delay)
 
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Steve Burkowski (Studio Host)
Warren Humphreys (Play by Play)
Julian Tutt (Analyst)
Jay Townsend (On Course)

Slideshow: "Mid Pines has truly been reborn"

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Bill Fields goes to Mid Pines and photographs Kyle Franz's restoration of the other significant Donald Ross course in the Pinehurst area.

An eGolf Professional Tour event was recently played there as a re-introduction of sorts for the course.

Franz took out rough in many places, replacing it with sandy areas of pine straw and wire grass -- but the transformation isn't wall-to-wall or overdone. Trees were taken out in some areas, creating attractive vistas particularly on the 16th hole and around the second, eighth and 12th tees. The bunkers have been tweaked to give them more natural, less rounded edges. MiniVerde Bermuda grass was installed on the greens, which were enlarged a bit and the interesting contours restored on some. They already roll beautifully.

Quick Video: Looking At NGLA's Sahara, Alps & Punchbowl

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Course creator C.B. Macdonald was pretty high on his Sahara hole, National Golf Links' 2nd.

Here's what he wrote:

The Sahara of the Royal St. George's at Sandwich I found in our second hole. In one sense it is not a replica, but it is a mental picture of that fine hole, embodying the underlying principle--a golfer's reward is granted to him who can negotiate the carry he is capable of accomplishing. The real carry on the line of the hole is over an immense bunker calling for 210 to 220 yards. The ball then can run to the putting green. Less powerful players must satisfy themselves with placing their ball from the tee advantageously to reach the green in two. I am confident that it is a much better hole than the original Sahara.

 Here are three short, very rough videos from the course looking at the Sahara, Alps back tee and the Punchbowl (16).

Old Town's Maxwell Restoration: A "Grand Slam"

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John Dell took a look at the restoration of Perry Maxwell's Old Town Club--ironically once mangled by Liberty National architect Bob Cupp--and comes away calling the Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw restoration a "grand slam."

This PDF of before-after photos tell the visual story. You won't see many more stunning architectural transformations than this.

From golf chairman Dunlop White:

"Coore and Crenshaw have successfully recaptured the ‘big bone’ presence of our 1939 layout, and today all of our features possess a much larger footprint,” White said last week, just before the re-opening.

The course had been closed since December, and the $1 million restoration had plenty of phases to it. The bunker sizes were restored and reshaped to capture an old-style look and feel that resembles courses in the Pinehurst area.

They even put back the rare double green built by Maxwell.

Old Town used to play at about 6,800 yards from the back tees. It now can play at 7,037 yards.
Coore, who hopes to make it back to Old Town this fall, said by telephone that he and his team, which included Dave Axland, were the most nervous about the double green.

"We knew something had to be done with the double green, and we wanted to make sure it was done right, and when it was completed we liked how it turned out,” Coore said.

Other major changes included fairway expansions from 35 acres to 52 acres that give golfers more choices off the tee and plenty of fairway.

The story also featured this video interviewing superintendent O’Neal Crouch.

Looking Good: The Country Club Is Back!

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Watching the Round of 32 U.S. Amateur coverage on Golf Channel I'm impressed how much better The Country Club is looking since we last saw at the Ryder Cup. Credit architect Gil Hanse and superintendent Bill Spence for bringing the New England back into the course.

Ran Morrissett has updated his profile for The Country Club with photos taken just a few weeks ago.

Coverage continues Friday on GC with tape delayed coverage from 9-11 pm ET, followed by NBC Saturday and Sunday at 4 pm ET.

And there should be a super-fun awkward tension when USGA President Glen "I like that the Fox Sports guys don't know anything about golf" Nager visits the booth for the annual contractually obligated visit.

Cabot Links Secures Government Financing For Second Course

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Thanks to reader DGS for Erin Pottie's great news of Cape Breton's Cabot Links securing an $8.25-million loan that should kickstart construction of a second Coore-Crenshaw course and inn expansion at the burgeoning resort developed by Ben Cowan-Dewar, Mike Keiser and many others.

The first course, a Rod Whitman design, just cracked Golf Magazine's top 100 in the world list.

"The general feel in the town is that traffic is increased and there's more attention being put on Inverness, and more visitors," said Merv Tingley, owner of the Dancing Goat Café and Bakery, which recently opened in Inverness. "It's definitely very exciting news. The town itself is really going to see a lot of rejuvenation. "

A main reason for the buzz has been the golf club's international recognition.

2013 Golf Magazine World Top 100

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Of all the rankings Golf's panel seems to select the fewest courses that make you pause and say, "Really?" Yes it's very America-centric and Trump International Scotland landing in the top 50 when it's probably not in the top 50 Scottish links you'd enjoy playing, helps distract from the strange infatuation the list has with South Korea's Seven Bridges.

Nonetheless, Golf presents a timeless architecture-focused list presented with images in gallery form, starting with the world 1-25.

And 26-50.

And 51-75.

And 76-100.

They've also posted the top 25 U.S. courses.