Aitken On Old Course Changes***

The Scotsman's Mike Aitken offers the most complete explanation of changes to the Old Course in preparation for July's Open Championship. After explaining which holes will be lengthened, Aiken quotes Peter Dawson, who appears to contradict himself.

"We’re not trying to change the character of the Old Course," Dawson said. "We just want to reinstate the old decisions players had to make. There isn’t a parallel here to what’s happened at Augusta because we don’t think the Old Course particularly needs lengthening: it’s been proven many times it’s subtle enough to provide a good challenge."

So then, why are you lengthening the Old Course if it doesn't need lengthening?

Update***: John Huggan has more comments from Peter Dawson about the changes in this Golfobserver.com column.

C.H. Alison in Japan

For architecture junkies, C.H. Alison's trip to Japan has always been one of the greater mysteries. What did he do? Was his work as dynamic there as it was elsewhere? And of course, why did the better courses lose many of their best features? Tom MacWood contributes another outstanding "In My Opinion" piece to golfclubatlas.com. You'll want to print this one out...well, if you're an architecture junkie.

Torrey Pines Mess Vol. 6

The San Diego City Council voted down the North Course redo, 9-0. Tod Leonard reports that $400,000 was approved for additions to the South, including a renovated 18th hole. Ultimately, the council had trouble with the lack of a presentable plan. They also didn't buy the case made that the greens were in need of a USGA-spec upgrade.

"I am struck by the fact that we were asked to approve these changes before there was a design," said councilman Brian Maienschein. "Why do you need an architect like Rees Jones to do maintenance work? I played baseball, and when they talked about maintaining the field, they weren't moving the bases 80 or 100 feet.

"It's clear to me from the testimony and from e-mails that people feel the South Course has become extremely difficult for the average player, and that should not be repeated on the North. We need to be very cautious about spending $3 million when the vast majority don't want the project."

January Golf Magazine

If you aren't a subscriber or maybe got out of the habit of reading it, then pick up the January Golf Magazine before it leaves newstands. Not only is the previously noted Donald Trump interview a riot (well, actually the Donald comes off as pretty sleezy), but two features stand out in the issue. Josh Sens takes an in-depth look at the Tour's recent pension plan tax exemption, and the spin isn't pretty. Also, Richard Hack looks at Howard Hughes and his life in golf, easily one of the best magazine features I've read in a long, long time. Sadly, neither story is posted (or ever will be?) on golfonline.com.

Classic Course: Riviera

My Riviera “Classic Course” feature is now posted on the Links Magazine site.

Weekend Reads

The Scotsman's John Huggan brings up the various accusations of cheating and general rudeness leveled against Vijay Singh, while also providing several quotes from caddie Dave Renwick in another storying detailing his break up with Vijay as well as other interesting bits about the caddie life.

If fluffy writing paired with clichés and funny architect quotes is your thing, this Boca Raton News story looks at Rees Jones and his renovation of the Breakers hotel course. My favorite from Rees:

“I think this is an era of building classic style golf courses with the shot options. I follow the Neo-classic design style. The bunkers are on angles and the landing areas are narrowed down.”

Torrey Pines Mess, Vol. 5 ***

The San Diego City Council votes Tuesday on the proposed renovation of Torrey Pines North. As usual, Tod Leonard has another interesting and detail-rich piece on the controversial project.

“If the North Course is renovated now, the total cost for the two courses would be at least $6.4 million – or $4.5 million more than the original figure that was approved,” Leonard writes. “The North's $3 million cost does not include six months of lost revenue during construction.”

"That was simply a place-holder figure," City Manager Bruce Herring said of the $1.9 million. "We didn't know what it was going to cost."

Leonard writes that a total of $3,332,591 needs to be drawn from the city's golf enterprise fund for work on both courses.

“Of that, $2.1 million will be spent on North Course renovation, $425,000 on consultant services, $150,000 on site furnishing and signage and $364,650 on South Course irrigation and "minor adjustments." An additional $250,000 has been set aside for contingencies. The work would be performed by Kubly Golf Course Construction Inc., which did the South renovation, in association with Jones.”

Through "an agreement" with the “Friends of Torrey Pines,” the U.S.G.A., has agreed to contribute a whopping $100,000 for the South work and possibly another $100,000 in consultant fees.

USGA Executive Committee member Jay Rains is chairman of the "Friends of Torrey Pines."

Update***: Tod Leonard looks at the rain hitting Torrey Pines and the need to redo the North greens because of their inability to take on heavy amounts of moisture. However, the article points out something interesting.

“Horton said tests have shown the top four inches of the North's greens drain only 0.02 inches per hour. Because some of the greens are severely sloped, the water rolls off before having a chance to be absorbed.”

Considering Billy Bell Sr. and Jr. emphasized surface drainage in their work, it sounds like the North greens are actually doing their job.