Revivals and Remakes

[Bechambo]

I decided, since I'm going to a golf club that was recently re-opened, to start a thread that talks about courses that have been revived from non operation or remade. I golf at a remade course, The Golf Club at Terra Lago, which was renamed a while back from Landmark Golf Club, home of the Skins Game in 1999-2001. So, talk about the revivals or remakes you've played or are located around and give your opinion on whether they maintained their value, improved or degraded.

[jamo]

A few years ago I started writing a review of George Wright Golf Course in Boston, but never ended up putting it up on TST for publishing (maybe I'll finish it off this summer). I still have it saved, so here's the "History" section: [QUOTE] Namesake George Wright was a Hall of Fame baseball player for the Cincinnati and Boston Red Stockings in the late 1800s. Upon his retirement, Wright opened Wright and Ditson Sporting Goods and was influential in the building of nearby Franklin Park Golf Course, also now owned by the City of Boston. Wright would later donate the land the golf course now sits on. The land was appropriated for a golf course in the 1920s, and despite initial concerns about some swampy areas of the property, the project surged until the stock market crash of 1929. It was picked back up in 1932, when Ross and his men took up the challenge of building the golf course. 60,000 pounds of dynamite was used, 72,000 cubic yards of dirt was laid to fill in the swamp land, and 57,000 feet of pipe was put down to drain the property. An estimated $1.2 million (close to $20 million in today’s dollars) was provided by the WPA for construction of the clubhouse, the six-foot rock wall that surrounds the property, and the clubhouse. The course went into disarray during World War II though, and it was neglected throughout the 1950s, to the point where they began considering closing the course late in the decade, and they finally did shut it down in the 1970s. After a decades of neglect, George Wright was reopened in the 1980s, on lease from the City to Billy Flynn, a local golf course manager. Flynn was able to use the available revenue to rebuild George Wright, and by the 1990s it was turning a tidy profit. Observing the course's success, the City of Boston decided to take reclaim control of the course and pocket the cash themselves. It was leased to other managers over the early 2000s, but none used the revenue to improve the course, instead claiming it for themselves. The course was in bad shape; greens were poorly defined, aging trees loomed large, the bunkers and few water hazards were poorly kept, and weeds began to overtake the grass. Some of the lower-laying holes were flooded during installation of a new drainage system was being installed, and drainage continues to be one of George Wright’s weaknesses. The late 2000s were good to George Wright, however, and the condition of the course has gotten exponentially better since the City’s Parks Commission took control of the course. George Wright operates mostly on its own, not taking much money from the City, and is allowed to pump the profits back into improving the course. Over the past few years, extensive work has been put into modernizing several of the more poorly-maintained holes. [/QUOTE] Recently they've gutted a few of the holes (13 probably saw the most extensive work) to install new waterways, sod, and tee boxes, and the course, which I played last August, is looking pretty good. Golf Digest named it one of the top 10 munis in the country a few years ago, and that was before some of the most extensive work.

[Bechambo]

Played Ram's Hill Golf Club last weekend. This place apparently was closed for a while and has just come back online. This place was amazing. For anyone that's willing to make the trip to Borrego Springs, you need to go and play this course. I'm pretty sure @tristanhilton85 should have posted photos and made a post about this place. maybe he'll respond with a link to them...*wink*wink* @tristanhilton85

[jsgolfer]

The only course I know was a remake that I can remember was the Samoset Resort Course in Rockport Me. Or as it's known as the Pebble Beach of The East. And if I remember it actually had two revisions to get it where it is now.