Streamsong Red & Blue

Current Rankings:

Red: GolfWeek Modern 31 (7.55)

Blue: GolfWeek Modern 39 (7.43)

I did not stay at the resort, but I did play both golf courses.  First they are not Bandon as is being bandied about (what is) but they are very very good. Lots of hype a-flying, both are over-rated on every list I've seen, I suppose, but flat Florida is home to about 1 in 10 courses in the USA and anything good there is boosted.(Jupiter Hills, Calusa, Sawgrass) but some aren't.  These however are by favourite architects and have all the right design elements visually.  There are photos everywhere on the web, I didn't take many and I'll post a few later.  The courses aren't Top 100 US Overall, but that's a tough nut to crack, especially for a public access track.

Unless you are lucky enough to have played most of the newest modern minimalist design courses, you will think I am crazy and while you are in what passes in Florida for heaven, you will curse me.  Please don't, this is just what I do.  These designs are a little on the forgiving side compared to the all out work these designers do, they need to be as regular golfers need a little extra leeway compared to the globe-trotting cognoscenti. Even with these small concessions rounds run five hours plus and nine holes ran over 3 hours at least once a day. That's really unfortunate.

I also don't personally think I'll ever visit in Summer as it is just miserable in these parts having lived in Tampa for 5 years. You can get here in under an hour from the east Tampa region near Brandon on route 60 which I did.  The lodge was not open when I booked and I will try the lodge some day. I look forward to returning, just don't look for me between Easter and thanksgiving.

Some generalities and specifics: the two courses are inter-routed a bit making both routings compromised a bit especially providing a "signature" par 3 over a water feature - they wind up astride each other. Honestly, i'm guessing that this could have been done a bit better and reviewing the aerial photography of the land the driving range was probably a better spot for some holes to me. Thus we get a double cross-over on each routing although for the most part much of the Red is located on the perimeter of the Blue. Another point that must be made about the routings is that because of this slaving of each course to this one point it creates a string of mostly in the same direction play holes, something I don't care for not on a linksland ground. Consequently, I did not find either routing a particularly stellar one and the continuous string of mostly Par 4's mostly on the second nine of each course led to a little tedium. There is as much similarity to green styles and bunkering styles as there is differences.

Of note playing the first two holes of Blue as my first two holes I had a slight evocation of Ballyneal but I'm not certain that would have been as strong had I played Red first.

Red commences with 4 of the first five play holes decidedly moving left to right, part of it circling around a dune or two or three. One being 80 yards wide doesn't feel a play of one way or the other and aerially this is mostly borne out.  It's just big.

Strictly using Doak's scale each course rates a seven, but collectively they are surely eight.  Many will have a preference for a course or the other, but try as I may, I like each equally as well.  There are stretches on each I love and others that drag a bit. These are however superior golf courses, just not top tier from either designer, that may sound negative, but I don't mean it that way.  These courses are for all golfers and must have a more forgiving side than courses built for a private audience. The grass around the greens probably needs to be changed to accommodate the run-up shot a bit more as there is that expectation for these courses but a rescue chip works almost best almost every time. Again, these are really picky criticisms, what I think my closest friends expect from me - that which a stranger will this a disrespect is merely a very critical eye and mind.  Enjoy these courses liberally!

If you really want cartball, do it elsewhere because you probably don't or won't know the difference between a fine walk and a cart to drink your six-packs from. The caddies are very good, but the need for a professional caddie is not as strong as it is at Bandon Resort, ironically I had a new fellow, fresh from Bandon with Professional Men's Tour experience. Other than in the water, it is hard to lose a ball here and most will be able to read most greens, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't take a caddie, by all means, do, they are quite good. There is no reason not to walk unless you have a medical certificate. This is expensive golf at $300 including a caddie which is really the thing to do, they are rather good and worth the $100 note. This place is really special, just not Bandon special. There is talk of two more courses, not sure where they are planning, but some earth-moving will take place as the land around is not as interesting nor as exposed as the current two courses, but I hear there will be two more and it will be welcome.  Some regular non $300-400 lodging on site would be good, too.The courses are certainly Bucket List material and the food is even better!  Enjoy.

This will be a random mix of architectural notes, anecdotes and playing notes as I think out loud or something like that...

Red:

1 - Not your typical starter by most folks design style.  Most architects now want to get you into a round with a gentle start, this can only be described as a long par 4 with a perched green to make it play longer. A very wide fairway, but just getting to the green is the demand so there is no strategic variety to the tee shot.  Three shots for most, not much compelling here. A different loosening up, getting into the round hole …. Meh, long Par 4’s bore me as much as long Par 3 ‘s in the last 3 holes

2 - Tom Fazio has made a career out of this hole and a lot of architects use it.  You will hear most people call it a Cape Hole, but it’s not mostly because no one really knows why a true Cape is called a ‘Cape”.  A “cape” (as in capes & bays) is what that “finger” sticking into a bunker is, it’s a geographical terminology if you want to be technical.  What it means to most is “bite off what you can chew” and Macdonald’s Cape (5th at Mid-Ocean) had and still has both features.  Since the fairways here are generous, you should be pretty safe if you know your game – this hole moves left to right as do most of the move play holes at the start.  Two bunkers – one short and one tight right with an enormous green reminiscent of ripples in a stream greets you.

3 – Medium Left to Right dogleg with a shelf above the left side of the green which releases amost none.  Right side of fairway always gives you the best angle into the green, a bunker right protects you from the lateral hazard.

4 – The first really intriguing hole, a nearly drivable Par 4 with a sort of Principal’s Nose – Lion’s Mouth kind of bunker making for some rather segmented portions of the green and making you think about playing the hole right from the start.  A long central bunker (but not creating a true “Bottle”) makes you think about your layup tee shot and also about your two-cheek driver off the tee. The green coupled with the bisected fairway make this a superior short hole and one that would probably be the most interesting hole on the property to play over and over on different days with different pin positions.  This is the duo at their very best.

6 – A short to medium Par 3 with an enormous green.  A fine dune behind the green makes this hole visually spectacular.  The large green is simple to hit, but the task is to hit the proper portion of the green. I’m a little mixed about this hole for all but a few really cool pins, I’d call it a post card shot.

7 – For a three-shot Par 5 it will all come down to a precision wedge shot.  As a two-shotter, without a monster drive, you will need a curling shot to get it on in two, but it will need to be only for specific pins. I found this hole rather inviting and birdied it with a very challenging pin position.  As a three shot hole, the second shot winding up in the left quarter of the fairway will almost always give you the preferred approach.

8 – A Gem of a Par 3 hole, mostly a short shot with a differing angle front (straight on) to angled (from the right). Lots of pins, again like number 4 another hole you’d like to play every pin position. Another birdie with another wedge to 3-4 feet. Front third of the green probably most interesting shots with the angle form the back.

9 – Pin position and short grass short par 4, be cautious about the slopes, cute hole, nothing more, no strategy, all defence.  It can be called unfair by some very easily.  Doesn’t mean you are guaranteed a par 4. I generally liked this hole, probably would lay it up to 100 – 120 if I wanted to guarantee a score.

11 – Hitting it in the bunkers unless you are against a forward lip is not a penalty, strange double fairway, to the right adds so many clubs and left doesn’t work for left green, so I guess you can call it a “Backwards Bottle” template.  You have to execute a more difficult tee shot to have a longer iron in.  Rees Jones built a version this hole as #11 at Huntsville National in the suburbs of Scranton, PA.  Doesn’t feel good either place, because it is backwards. Makes little sense.  I felt better playing out of the bunker that I would have up top because it was 3-4 less clubs.

12 – A bit awkward in a good way but another hole that probably will come off as unfair as the fairway slopes and the corner cannot be cut.

13 – A bunker to mess with you off the tee, but it’s irrelevant because you must have the angle on the third.  Not a two-shotter for many.  All these details get lost in the shuffle if everything about the hole dictates that teh hole must play in from a very small area.

15 – Another three shot Par 4, meh.  For most it is humourless and a tedium with no real strategy possible.  It is very long, plays uphill and has a perched green as well.

16 – So the property built a “Biarritz”.  Over the water, just like France.  But, it’s a silly one I’m going to rip apart because it has faults a public golfer should not encounter in his or her first Biarritz. If you hit the green I suppose you’re in the swale a lot.  The front pins, you might wind up there because you don’t want to be short.  The front is massive, OK.  The swale is deep.  OK.  The rear – there is a kicker on the back left that ruins many shots getting up there because they have no spin in most folks hands if it’s run up on the back tier, will come back to the swale. Couple this with only the back tee having a straight go at the green, every other tee comes from the left so if you are weaker, you more likely slice so the back tier is ridiculous for you. This hole was backed up both days and I’ll bet is backed up for the first group.

17 – Tee shot is a lot like the 16^th at Pine Valley but not so in the forced carry aspect but in picking your carry line.  As you go right you are rewarded with a nicer angle.  It works, it’s quality architecture, it’s definitely one breather.

18 – Probably the most reachable Par 5 on the property by going with sheer abandon.  A feel good ending.  There is even a shorter way left of the massive left bunker, but hitting it in that bunker doesn’t keep you from making birdie, you can hit a lofted fairway wood like a 5 or a lofted rescue as you are likely to roll away from the face.

All in all

Routing: Could be better, more walkable distance wise than the Blue, but still these are flat courses. This is pretty unnatural terrain and although it seems natural, just look at aerials on the internet to see the surrounding flora.

Overall Hole Quality: 3’s above average. 4’s above average but short & long, not many mid length variety. 5’s are probably average but looking good.

Green Complexes: Way above average

Bunkering Schema: Rough, rugged, you can generally tack your way around them.  Overall, the fine feathering of edges fit the overall site well.

Conditioning: Excellent, but the putting surface surrounds could be firmer and the grass less grabby.

Vegetation: Perfectly done.

Ideality: I think all levels of players are OK, although this is the more heavily water hazard-laden course, it is still very manageable due to width.

Clubhouse & All: First rate, excellent food.

Overall: Definitely worth the trip, repeat trips and while sorta Bandon East, it’s not Bandon.  The weather in the off-season (Summer) here will be intolerable without cartball.

Blue’s turn …

Overall, I usually like Doak’s courses clearly better than Coore & Crenshaw’s because of the big round nature of the curves.  I’m the anti-butt boy of critics on the internet, I have not one but at least 5 architects to vie for the top group of abilities.  Here, side by side C&C seemingly ramped up more large contours and Doak held back a bit compared to usual is how it comes off and visually, I would think a novice would have a very hard time differentiating the two architects if playing the holes by being blindfolded and taken to a new hole out of order.  Bottom line is both are really good golf courses, neither is truly world-class as a course, but few can really opine on that.  The biggest excluder/separator is the extreme width used off the tee on each course – pretty much mandated by the clientele. There I not the attendant strategy for greatness demanded with such extreme width.  That doesn't mean inferiority in any way, in fact it is for playability, key here.

My caddie is a Bandon looper by trade basically brand new to the Streamsong Resort and holds the Doak sway generally, but the similarities in design finish elements are closer between the two courses than further away to be supremely honest.  The Blue routing is more interior on the whole save a short stretch at the numerical turn at the very northern end of the property which adds more land to the 36-hole project, but more than not provides play holes mostly to the west northwest (WNW for crossword buffs) more than a little bit like Red’s 7-11 stretch.  I can’t help but do mental exercises about routing on this property. It is a mess, but the straight stretch on Blue is superior with some real interest. A great majority of holes on both courses run in the diagonal between NW and SE.  A little loop to start the Red seems added on and is the most visually different of the entire property. My caddie-partner thinks the Blue has longer green to tee walks, but what does happen is that the Blue has better direction changes and has one awkward stretch to include the water Par 3 (which is the better of the two) of the dueling holes from each course. If it weren’t for the seemingly endless 16 (and where in the game it comes to wholly disturb pace of play) this outstandingly better set of par 3’s would be more so. Again, these are my opinionated observations and love them or hate them you know I own them.

1 – A loverly little starter playing to get a wedge in your hand for a clever and rolly green. Playing from a dunetop and especially with the visual and other similarities between Blue #2 and Ballyneal’s #4 as I said, I had a strong sense of place – probably comparable for Sand Hills and the few massive blow-outs on the biggest par 4’s on Red. This first green is semi-blind for most and falls away toward the back especially left side.  I personally endorse this sort of starter and Doak believes very strongly in this kind of beginning, perhaps learned at Dye’s side, I believe that he once told me just this.

2 – I really thought the evocation of Ballyneal was very strong here to a compliment/homage. The fairway is a lot less contoured and the green is not as raised but the fairway flow is reminiscent.  This hole allows an attack in two without mandating a bunker third if not executed.

3 – A very much outside of dogleg style of hole with far better angles for most of the green from the longer right side.  The false front was very much in play (a common theme one day) where a fine iron 10 – 15 feet too far right wound off quite a way from putting surface.  This as other greens are rather large so over-clubbing is often (but not always) safe – an interesting thought where a lot of golfers playing here will have never over-clubbed in their lives. A thought to consider as you personally explore this course.

North Shore Redux

1 New Leaf 10 Eden
2 Sahara 11Woods
3 Road 12 Hilltop
4 Highlands 13 St. Christopher’s
5 Biarritz 14 Double Plateau
6 Punchbowl 15 Dell
7 Bandon 16 Ravine
8 Pond 17 Short
9 Redan 18 Westward Ho!

Original, unedited post Not to ruffle the club, I followed the release. Doak appears was right in the Confidential Guide to Golf Courses after all. Steve Schaffer and Mark Hissey extensively researched the provenance and the comments after noted the original post. Here's today's take and the link gives you a first impression taking the presentation as given and documenting the course without confrontation. Read in whatever order you prefer. Notedly I used "shenanigans" in each.

North Shore Country Club on Long Island in New York is a special little place; I first visited in 2009 the spring after the financial crisis unfolded. The club had been particularly hard hit and was particularly vulnerable to the forces of the crisis. There had been a significant loss of members and the club had unwittingly become a notice in the Wall Street Journal as a victim directly affected by Bernie Madoff’s shenanigans. Fortunately that part of history is history. The MWGA (Metropolitan Golf Writers Association) was invited to a spring 2009 outing to help foster a more favorable press for the struggling club. A proud notation of Tillinghast as the designer was offered and curiously when all research was completed a single confirmation of Tillinghast ever being on site was uncovered. The club originally thought that Tillie was responsible for their course. An expert on Macdonald, Banks and Raynor thought that they were the architects and even Robert White’s name figured in the discussion since he had been the golf professional in early years. Persistence and diligence in research led to confirmation that this course was indeed the first of Seth Raynor. On-site visits from Charles Blair Macdonald coincided with his working on the nearby design at Piping Rock - one of the few bearing his name as designer of record, a bit of a coup in itself.

Much of the design historical information was eventually found in the records of a German Jewish City Club – The Harmonie Club (some actually in Gothic German) helping clear and confirm the unique and enviable place in the history of American Golf Architecture that the North Shore CC holds. My own first look at the club’s architecture was the then (and now) 13th hole - a challenging par 4 with a very tilted and contoured green; in and of itself, not necessarily a defining hole architecturally but one of considerable merit. It was however the 14th hole that first engaged me and led me to consider that someone other than Tillinghast was the designer. I felt that green was a hybrid Biarritz Double Plateau – having a diagonal trench and two flattish areas within the more than 10,000 square feet of putting surface. The scale and contours were in my experience fairly far out of the realm of Tillinghast’s style. Once I reached the then (and now) third hole with its magnificent Road Hole green complex MB&R came firmly to mind. Much existing architecture was enhanced, some altered and some bold new additions have been and are continuing under the hand of Tom Doak. Mike Butler the caddiemaster was my TourGuide able to answer many varied questions and offer up for review the newest changes and additions.

Every hole is now named; new green complexes responsible for the Biarritz at #5, Punchbowl at six, an expanded and relatively softened green in the hollow now Dell at fifteen and the short seventh – again somewhat drivable at 322? given the moniker “Bandon” honoring the two courses at that most attractive of destination resorts in North America. It most recalls characteristics of #6 at Pacific Dunes (In reach but with death to a hook with a finicky green) to me, but I’ll have to ask Tom to be certain. Green re-work has gone on at 4, 11 & 12 and expansion and/or modification is planned for 8 (Pond), 9 (Redan), 10 (Eden), 13 (St. Christopher’s) and the sublime par 5 sixteenth (Ravine).

The de novo construction of holes 1 & 2 and 17 & 18 constitute the wholesale changes with each pair being rebuilt on the footprint of the other. The new uphill #1 is New Leaf, the second is a drivable Sahara at 311. Seventeen is now a lovely Short (max 125) as of yet to yield an ace. It is one of if not the most contoured green Doak has built to date. Eighteen (Westward Ho!) at 639 will eventually yield to two shots as nothing is out of reach these days and the hole is downhill; a single fairway bunker on the left can easily be cleared by the longest hitters and there is no other hazard until the green complex. It seems to me another of Doak’s apparent homage to Mackenzie’s #16 at Crystal Downs – somewhat similarly devoid of hazards to outright slugging. There as here, it is not a concept I am particularly enamored with as my readers know I am not fond of long par 5’s nor of a fiver at 1, 9, 10 or 18. The green complex is bunkered short left and long right – favoring the draw preferred by long hitting right-handers, but difficult to pull off from a downhill lie. Thoughtful, but not engaging to me.

Planned green renovations are exciting to look forward to and bunkers will be re-worked; The eighth known as Pond has yet to be touched nor is the Redan 9th. North Shore has turned the corner and is a very worthy visit. It always was but not it is getting ready for the big stage. Always a wonderful place to go, it is already notably improved and more is on the way!

Routing - Very efficient and one also would not notice the new holes were you not to be aware of changes. Fairly large elevation change from below the 11th tee to the 12th green is all uphill, but in an appropriate part of the round.

Par 3’s - The four templates of MB&R all well done. From 120 to 250, short to Biarritz. Each is an excellent version whether Doak or Raynor.

Par 4’s - A rather great diversity from drivable at 2 & 7 to a healthy mid or long iron on three.

Par 5’s - Ravine will be the most beautiful as it is one of the most beautiful holes on Long Island - and a wonderful hole.

Cohesion - Integration of new into old is outstanding although the new greens being so new are easy to pick out.

Green Complexes - All very interesting whether new or old

Bunkering Schema - Raynor and Raynor-esque go hand in hand. Relatively forgiving fairway bunkers are welcomed.

Conditioning - It was very exciting to see a pulled core full out aeration of most of the fairways. The greens were perfect.

Appropriate Vegetation - Check. Nothing silly.

Ideality - more geared to the club player but all but the most skilled amateurs and touring pros will be challenged tee to green and all will be tested there, but not beat up.

Rest of Club - NO Kummel, I assume and Single Malts were few. All keeping in line with the relatively light-drinking typicality of such a club.

Milieu - Basically a stone's throw from LaGuardia dn the Long Island Expressway (LIE aka I-495) and even within shouting distance of Manhattan. Despite all of this one senses a very peaceful, relaxed detachment from the mayhem that constitutes a trip on the Cross-Bronx Expressway connecting this part of the world with the majority of the USA. GREAT Milieu.

ACCC

The Birth of the Birdie. In 1903 Ab(ner) Smith played a fine shot into the then 12th hole at Atlantic City Country Club. That shot was laid dead as to yield a score of one under the stern par of four. That green today exits as a practice just north of the 18th green. The plaque commemorating the event has been moved to its proper place from where it had been kept adjacent to the current 9th hole. The course has changed quite a bit since then. At the conclusion of the hole a fellow-competitor called it "a bird of a shot" and eventually as it developed and traveled it became birdie - one under par. There are many variations on this story some including William and George Trump as well as A.W. Tillinghast recanted in the club's 100 year History Birth of The Birdie. This version is considered by the club as most true.

As a take off point - a Birdie is one under par, an Eagle two under par and an Albatross three under par (NOT a “Double Eagle” as Americans are wont to say – that would be FOUR under par on a hole), Double Eagle is a very grating term to my ears – just as a hole-in-one. It’s an ACE. Another sticky point – the mis-belief that an ace must be in an 18 – hole round to be legitimate. That’s just wrong – it’s a perpetuation of the Golf Digest requirement for an ace to be a part of an 18-hole round to be recognized by their clearinghouse, lest our Honest Abe American brethren stand out on a par 3 with a bucket of balls and shoot at a par 3 flag all day to say that they holed-in-one. Funny one, that - I was recently in Arizona for a meeting and thanks to a friend was able to play the lovely little Adobe Course at the even lovelier Frank Lloyd Wright Masterpiece Biltmore Hotel. There was a special hole-in-one event going on taking up half the practice tee (hell, I don’t practice …) for the Fiesta Bowl Charities wherein one buys a number of balls and shoots at a 125 - 140 yard target to try and hole in one –apparently as many as three occur in a day. These are technically holed practice shots, but they do qualify the golfer (as well as the closest on any given day that no one holes) for a final event at the time of the actual Fiesta Bowl (Make that Doritos Fiesta Bowl?) in which each final qualifier tries one time to hole in one for who knows, a million bucks or a KIA Sedona or something else exciting.

Atlantic City Country Club – famous for the invention of the term birdie was renovated in 1876 by Tom Doak to the point that one might even consider it a new course at this point –is a fun little course that is clearly falling very hard on economic downturn. During Monopoly money boom times recently it was a very exclusive course that was almost like a secret society in how it was run and evident in how few had gotten to play it. Now under dire economic stress it is open to the public and last Sunday was available for the enjoyment of a slug-like 5 hour round for a very nice $45. But, sometimes it felt like going to jail without passing go. Slow play is killing golf, I just want to see courses policing pace of play more. 5 hours in mid-40 degree weather escapes me.

The preferred look of the lovely raggedy bunker style fits very well here and is still in place, it looks great in pictures, but the course is sadly getting beaten up Closely mown areas adjacent to greens is perhaps my favorite hazards as it is very egalitarian – foozlers pick their putters and stroke away whilst the skilled golfer considers every one of five or so choices before he makes a mess of it (sometimes). This was one of the great joys of ACCC as it is a windy site and it was a recovery shot often required. Soft, spongy pock-marked closely mown areas have little teeth and are very unattractive. Public golfers are notorious for not fixing ball marks on greens so they sure as hell aren’t going to do it on the approaches and runs-off. Once you fix offending marks on the line of your upcoming putt, the greens are putting very well – once you finally get to them. After waiting on every shot for the first three holes the waits got longer and longer despite the chilly temperatures the players out on Sunday could just not get the lead out. Not fixing these marks certainly didn’t add any time to the round.

The routing is generally lovely but on the 14th a long walk out to the tee on the marsh to wait for the green to clear (that almost no one can drive in cold weather) backs things up. Then from 15 to 17th tee, one feels a bit exposed. The design team cannot really be held accountable for this as the original mission of the re-design was for mostly walking and little play. Still, the routing is a nice one with a lovely bayside stretch from thirteen to seventeen.

The par 3’s are generally a little shorter than one usually sees today - a good thing considering the winds on the property. All five of them are lovely and challenging requiring very precise shot-making to small greens with many places to tuck a pin. Middle green and putting is not a bad option most of the time. The fully exposed wind-swept 15th is one of the more demanding par 3’s anywhere with a marsh in play and nearly always a cross wind or hurting wind never mind the season. It is a lovely hole by anyone’s standards with the skyline of Atlantic City across the marsh as the backdrop. The par 5’s are stout with only the water-guarded left turning dog legged 10th likely reachable in two shots. The par 4’s are quite varies from the very gentle and deceptive 2nd to the demanding 6th and seventeenth – they being barely reachable with very well-protected greens.

Overall the design is an excellent one and the clubhouse is quite a bit of history, but the conditioning and care of the golf course and monitoring of pace of play sorely needs attention. The carts have a Plexiglas-covered pin sheet with summer left-over offers – proffering a mere $100 replay round and a suggested 4:15 to 4:30 pace of play admonishment - both out of reach given the experience Sunday.

ACCC is well-worth playing, but the pace of play needs attention.



Much of the history of the course is from Birth of the Birdie. The club has existed for more than 100 years, the original layout pre-dating 1900 laid out by John Reid the professional. He laid out nine holes at a time and the 5,900 yard par 72 course attracted the 1901 USGA Amateur contested by Charles Blair MacDonald and Walter Travis among others. Mr. Reid who later won the USGA Open for two consecutive years prior to Francis Ouimet's "Shot heard 'round the world" in 1913. Most of the Philadelphia School of Architects who collaborated on Pine Valley visited and played ACCC. However, it was Willie Park, Jr. who added the third nine which persisted through 1950 according to the club. Herbert J. Tweedie from Chicago also tinkered with the design pre-depression with no time frame given. In an interesting frame of reference the tome claims he drank Scotch Whisky heavily while creating deeper and deeper bunkers (none of which remain) on the course. Their recollection is actually quite humorous, unless you are a descendant of Mr. Tweedie! During the period from the Depression through 1950 not much change ensued. Prior to Tom Doak's acclaimed re-design in 2000, only some elevation of the most marshward holes occurred.

The design as it exists today follows the first nine footprint of Flynn fairly well with the exception of shortening the second and lengthening the fifth. Flynn's 10th and 11th were combined to make the par 5 tenth. The footprint of the routing again remains fairly intact through the added 14th, 15th and expanded sixteenth. 14-16 are reviewed in photos below.



Here's a short pictorial tour of the course as it existed while still private and after Doak revised Flynn's 18 hole version.

The approach to the lovely third - on the same footprint as Flynn's hole


The short 4th with Atlantic City across the brackwater marsh


The Par 3 Eighth - Aptly labeled Sycamore


The 9th when known as Adirondack for the viewing chairs and the penultimate (erroneous) resting place of the Birdie Plaque


An Original Doak Hole - #14 drivable under certain conditions


Another Doak Original - The demanding fifteenth par 3 snuck in between 14 & 16


Par 4 Sixteenth from the Tee


Sixteen approach - Tall seaoats encroach on the marsh to the right of the green today


The Hidden 17th - another marvelous hole

Renaissance Club

Old Macdonald will do what Charles Blair Macdonald hoped that NGLA would do – expose American golfers to the great holes of the U.K.

Old Macdonald is truly the completion of Charles Blair Macdonald’s dream. It brings to life for the everyman golfer his Gift : Golf. National Golf Links of America on the remote east end of Long Island was intended to show Americans what a proper golf course was – but in its first 100 years only a privileged few were able to do so. Access to America’s finest golf courses is so much more restricted than it is in Scotland, golf’s birthplace as we know the game today. Old Macdonald change all that. The exposure is now available – what the golfer makes of it is yet to be determined. One approaches Old Macdonald with an open mind, hopefully a completely blank slate as it will be for most, unlike anything they have ever seen.
Old Macdonald is the newest course at the arguably best destination golf resort in America. It is best because it is openly available and Bandon is all about the celebration of golf. It is the last piece of the puzzle in so many ways. Unless something extraordinary happens, it is the final course in the collection at Bandon Dunes – a revolutionary resort in America. More importantly it finally makes whole Charles Blair Macdonald’s original intent. Charlie Macdonald was from Chicago, was sent to St. Andrews to receive a proper education at St. Andrews University and became infected by golf in the process. Charlie called his years after St. Andrews the dark years as he was so removed from his beloved golf. In 1911 he opened his gift to America – The National Golf Links of America commonly known by cognoscenti simply as NGLA. It is truly THE National.
With the opening of Old Macdonald this upcoming Tuesday June 1, 2010, Old Macdonald will do for the American player what Charlie originally hoped NGLA would do for American golf – introduce the concepts, the features, the interpretive ideals of the great holes of the British Isles. NGLA managed to expose the wealthy, privileged, country club golfer to these strategies and replica holes – Old Macdonald will now expose to anyone willing to make the somewhat arduous trek to the remote coast of Southern Oregon to what NGLA intended to do 100 years ago.
Old Macdonald will make available to the everyman golfer in America the wonderful nature of strategic and truly classic golf as NGLA was meant to do. Due to its exclusivity this unfortunately never happened. NGLA even today with a new appreciation for its magnificent architecture recognized by American Magazine’s Top 100 lists, it remains a name mostly unfamiliar to the retail golfer (as Owner Mike Keiser has labeled the daily player) not fortunate enough to have received a coveted invitation to NGLA.

Old Macdonald is a true collaboration of many minds. Tom Doak and his assistant Jim Urbina are the official architects of record but an even more unfamiliar name – George Bahto – plays a pertinent part. He is Charlie Macdonald's biographer in The Evangelist of Golf. After a successful career as an owner of a dry cleaning business, George Bahto has become a sought after consultant by courses designed by Macdonald and his protégées Seth Raynor and Charles Banks. Noted author Bradley S. Klein has also had a significant consultant’s role, but George Bahto is the real go-to guy anyone could want for encyclopedic knowledge of Macdonald. The definitive tome on NGLA and Charles Blair Macdonald’s so-called template holes, George’s basement is a candyland for the golf course architecture student. He has hand drawn nearly all of their routings and holes and has archived materials unlike anything outside the Tufts Collection at Pinehurst and the USGA Museum itself. George is a modest man who has greatly played down his role; however he has been on site for much of two years and will continue to be there for the first month of opening.
A lot of site wandering and conversation has gone on in the process of giving birth to Old Macdonald. Jim Urbina, a warm and friendly bear of a man who admits that he never really intended to become an architect has spent so much time and effort on the project meeting with Tom Doak and processing the suggestions and implementing them on an ongoing process that has been non-stop. The large original plain bisected by a tall ridge situated north of Pacific Dunes and south of the legendary Sheep Ranch that was to become Old Macdonald was originally deeply covered in gorse. Routing or the laying of the footprints that are to become golf holes was the first step in creation. A routing map was finalized and drawn. Then the final details took place in the proverbial dirt constantly shaping and arranging features to yield the course you will find today. Mr. Keiser is to be given so much credit first for creating Bandon Dunes and having it exceed all expectations. The, especially for the freedom allowed at Old Macdonald. Every step of the way everyone involved has nothing but praise for his foresight and the opportunity given.
Those familiar with Scottish and English will recognize the names of the holes. Eden, Redan, Biarritz and Short comprise the par 3’s. Long, Littlestone (perhaps better known as its Lido iteration), Westward Ho! and Hogback are the fives. Double Plateau as the opening hole introduces wild features, perhaps unlike any ever seen by many a golfer new to Macdonald and the links inspiration. In fact, the holes rather than being based upon the NGLA or other American templates are inspired by the original holes themselves, George Bahto having been dispatched to the U.K. by owner Mike Keiser to see the originals for himself, otherwise having seen virtually every version Macdonald and partners ever constructed. Sahara, the third hole, is an inspiration and is most unlike its namesake at NGLA. It has a very wild fairway and a very large green with even more intense contours and slopes. I think it is fair to say that at Old Macdonald one generally finds more undulations, dips and hollows on one green than one usually encounters at any complete American Golf Course.
Familiar hole names Cape, Road, Punchbowl, Alps, Maiden, perhaps less so Leven and Bottle coupled with the unique hole (a la CBM’s original the “Cape”) “Ocean” are there to relentlessly engage you. The scale, the massive nature of this project is overwhelming. First seen when one crosses the spine on the Sahara hole, there are at least four other spots where one can see nearly three hundred acres of golf ground in a single sweeping view – something nearly unparalleled in golf – and it does not encompass the entire course. Even Pacific Dunes fourteenth hole affords such a view giving one a tantalizing preview or recollection depending on whether or not one has yet to play Old Macdonald.
On the one hand if you are completely unfamiliar with the strategies, concepts and features of these iconic holes, I won’t spoil the discovery for you, but will comment on architectural specifics elsewhere. Suffice it to say, educated or not, you are likely unprepared for the assault on your perception of golf by Old Macdonald. I think Charlie would wholeheartedly approve.

What NGLA was to do -Old Macdonald will do precisely what Charles Blair Macdonald hoped that NGLA would do – expose American golfers to the great holes of the U.K.

It is done by Doak, Urbina, Bahto and others, but it is their doing what Charlie intended for the 21st century retail golfer.

Additionally, some random and directed thoughts all off the top to expand on my original thoughts.

The "Edges of greens" are very indistinct from the surrounds in many places, I like that.

One thing that really stands out again: Ocean strikes me as a wonderful golf hole, perhaps the hole I most look forward to playing at Bandon, at least today. An original hole, no "Template", no "Replica" - a complete original. All of the holes are pretty much originals based on classic holes and features - actually the sort of design I champion. Strategic over "random".

Going off the specifics of Old Macdonald, I feel overall that par 5's are the least interesting, hardest to build, most overall repetitive strategies in golf. Tillinghast died before writing his "Par 5 Treatise" as he did for 3's and 4's. Most of the fives at OM and at Bandon are the least interesting holes of respective hole types. Hog's Back, Long, Westward Ho!, Littlestone they are at Old Macdonald.

Overall opinions of holes at OM (being extremely critical - as not particularly given to throwing around superlatives am I)

1-good starter, interesting (Double Plateau)
2-v.good (Eden)
3-superior (Sahara)
4-OK (Hogback)
5-rather decent, if perhaps over-done (short)
6-fair, decent green, the new fresh Hell (High(in))
7-outstanding for the view alone, a feel-good hole (Ocean)
8-nice take (Biarritz)
9-meh (Cape) didn't translate well to property

10-very! good (Bottle)
11-OK hole. great evocation of green (Road) corner not at all fearsome (Road)
12-nice take (Redan) bunkerless front right pretty cool
13-very good to superior; not very close to orig. hole - doesn't matter, it's just super tee to green! (Leven)
14-very! good (Maiden)
15-left me a bit cold, least interesting hole to me with Cape (Westward Ho!) - inspired by 18 NGLA - little resemblance, should be more engaging
16-quite good with a slight reservation - 2 alternate routes around bunker (Alps)
17-very! good to superior (Littlestone/Lido) easily most vexing five, demanding!
18-nice! take! (Punchbowl [modified]) would love to hang around and play shots into and around THIS green

I put it solidly into the top 10 GolfWeek Modern class.

But ... the fives as a whole aren't the outstanding hole type.
Also Fives at the rest of the resort:
Bandon Dunes #9 & 18 are steps down from #3 and #12 (I love that one)
Bandon Trails #16 love it!, #3 is a real yawn (done x3 (var.) at Pac Dunes!), #9 extremely, sadly just dull.
Pacific Dunes #3, #12, #15 v.similar play tee to green, varied greens from #3 - excellent, #12- kinda blah to blah +, #15 good to rather good. #18 is a loads of fun 3-shotter (never played in North wind ...)

Doing good fives is just tough, I think. But this is everywhere. I'll do a bit on par fives perhaps this summer.







p.s. Keep checking in as these articles on Bandon are works in progress.