Kneejerk Reaction: Trump Doral Blue Monster

A few quick thoughts on my trip around the revamped Trump Doral, which was a combination of site inspection and insights from Gil Hanse, who, with Jim Wagner, remodeled the resort’s Blue Monster course. I will be discussing the course on a special four-hour Morning Drive Thursday that will be covering the media day for the course’s re-opening.

View from 11th tee feels like a hole at Seminole (Click to enlarge)A longer, hopefully more eloquent review is to come in Golf World, but for now…

—More sophisticated. The course has gone up a multiple notches not only in the strategy department, but in the overall grandeur of the property. By no means was it ever going to be Pebble Beach east, but the combination of tree removal, re-grading fairways, raising greens and refining some of the less exciting holes has given the property a grander feeling reminiscent of William Flynn’s Indian Creek (not coincidentally, Doral architect Dick Wilson was a protege of Flynn). It looks and feels like an older classic, with refined features and presentation.

—More routing points better connected. The previous version of the course felt like 18 holes plopped on a flat piece of Miami, but with the moving of a few greens many of the disconnecting points are gone. The finishing holes appear to have a really nice flow, sadly interrupted with some overly aggressive corporate tenting, but most improved of all is the move of the 9th green closer to the 18th. This should create a more dynamic energy around the clubhouse come tournament time.

11th tee view has touches of Seminole (click to enlarge)—The first hole is vastly improved. Now a super risk-reward par-5 with water at the green, this should be the second hole of a sudden death playoff (after replaying 18, of course).

—The range is way better. The downside, however, was an overly aggressive planting of palms along the 10th hole. The straight line and braces holding up the palms give the impression of a row of cell-tower trees. Hopefully undergrowth will soften the look over time.

—The finish could become the best on the PGA Tour. The three hole finale at TPC Sawgrass will always be tough to beat, but Doral’s 18th is better. Furthermore, the new short par-3 15th features a green with multiple hole locations that could produce some hole-in-ones, but the peninsula green will also see plenty of water balls. The 16th, which became drivable when all the guys started eating Chipotle instead of Five Guys, remains drivable if the tees are up and when they are not, is a far more beautiful, interesting drive and pitch with a raised fairway that will no longer be the mudball parking lot that the old hole presented. And amidst all of this water, Hanse and Wagner retained the old 17th hole’s huge green but with better bunkering and a superb mix of shot shapes required to make birdie.

—The greens are perfect, the fairways will need a few more 80 degree days to allow the superintendent to take them to a lower cut. The approaches are noticeably top-dressed and firming up, which will be critical for a few new run-up options to front hole locations on what before was strictly an aerial golf course.

Overall, the most stunning thing about Trump Doral? No gold crests! The Donald took the Sheikdom accoutrements down many notches, which only adds to the sophisticated and revitalized Blue Monster.

The Ghost Of Clifford Roberts Surfaces In Scottsdale!

You may remember the "resignation opportunity" letter offered to Scottsdale National members by owner Bob Parsons. The GoDaddy.com founder had changed the name from Golf Club of Scottsdale and had dreams of building his own Augusta in Scottsdale. The results of the opportunity and revamped club appears to be borrowing liberally from the Clifford Roberts model for Augusta National, and that's not all bad! In fact, some of this is almost too good to be true.

To protect the innocent, this latest Parsons email to the members who survived the resignation opportunity has been copied and pasted from the original, emailed, stomped on, tilted and emailed again. But the ideas are undeniably those of Parsons who, if nothing else, will be considered reasonable for having backed off some of his original member demands (mandatory spending, big limits) and maybe even going full circle, turning into kind of a Santa Claus to those remaining members.

Here is the original letter.

And the latest correspondence, post-resignations and channeling his inner-Clifford:

No Bill Murray At Pebble Beach, Bring On The Suits!

Josh Sens explains why Bill Murray will not be making his usual mockery (with a few funny moments) this year at Pebble Beach. He's got a movie to plug.

Before you get too excited, Doug Ferguson reminds us how much this event means to the G4 set and the Cialis-replacing boost they get from making the cut.

And as much as Murray's antics may pain you, just brace yourself for more than you ever wanted to see of the PNC chairman!

Rory Still Really Sorry About Having A "Mistake" Toothache

Rory McIlroy's entered the Honda Classic, as have several other big names, but in announcing his attention to play, McIlroy keeps apologizing for WD'ing with a dental issue. Yet never mentions how his wisdom tooth thingy turned out.

Brian Keogh reports on today's announcement and quotes from Rory:

Rory McIlroy admits he has "unfinished business" and "should have adopted a more mature approach" rather than walking off as he played his 27th hole in last year's Honda Classic.

In a statement issued through his management company at the time, he later said that a wisdom tooth problem had led to his sensational decision to high tail it out of the event.

He apologised at the following week's WGC-Cadillac Championship, explaining: "I realised pretty quickly that it wasn't the right thing to do. No matter how bad I was playing, I should have stayed out there.  I should have tried to shoot the best score possible even though it probably wasn't going to be good enough to make the cut.

"At that point in time, I was just all over the place, and you know, I saw red, as I said, and you know, it was a mistake and everyone makes mistakes and I'm learning from them.  I guess for me, some people have the‑‑ I guess the pleasure of making mistakes in private.  Most of my mistakes are in the public eye. So it is what it is, and I regret what I did.  But, you know, it's over now and it won't happen again."

Translation: the tooth was pulled!