EarthGolf

Geoff Shackelford has two articles of note on golf courses changes to significant courses.

The first is an update on TPC Boston which is being reworked by talented architect Gil Hanse (with Brad Faxon serving as player consultant) and the article couldn’t be full of more good news on the improvements that Hanse has inserted into the venue.

Dramatic new bunkering with grass that falls back into the sand caught the group’s attention at many holes, starting at the first, and a series of “chocolate drops,” which are mounds of grass-covered dirt, now lend character to holes. Aesthetically, TPC Boston looks so much better than before that Hanse should be considered a miracle-worker. He has done what any great designer strives to do — players will not only have to think their way around , they’ll have to hit a variety of shots.

Of course, fickle PGA Tour players surely will critique the changes. Those involved are especially eager to hear the reaction to the par-4 fourth, changed from a goofy, dogleg right of 425 yards to a fairly straight and drivable par-4 of 299 yards — but one that features a green that can’t be more than 3,300 square feet and provides demanding shots from just off the green. So, fire away, laddies.

Dramatic, too, are the changes to the par-5 seventh, which now features a cross bunker roughly 140 yards from the green and creative greenside mounding, and to the par-5 18th, to which Hanse has added a strip of rough stretching out from a bunker. The par-3 16th? It is shorter, but now the green sits closer to the pond, so it’s a more daunting shot. The par-4 17th? It might just be the best hole on the back nine, a brilliant piece of work that features one large grassy mound on each side of the fairway, but just enough room for those players who feel they can thread a draw between them.

It’s exciting to see yardage being taken away from some holes to add some interest into the strategy of the usually mundane quality of TPC courses. The use of Hanse is… to be nice… enhancing what Arnold Palmer originally designed. (I think the Boston Globe’s Jim McCabe would agree with that sentiment given his use of “miracle worker”.)

The second change is that Oakmont actually was able to find one more tree to add to the chopping block. Although, as Geoff astutely points out, it was a victim of uncontrolled technology.

In the 1994 U.S. Open, Oakmont was able to seat 4,100 people in the grandstands around the 18th hole. But, because of the new back tees at Nos. 10 and 12, a grandstand could not be built on the left side of the 18th green this year.

Popularity: 4% [?]