I don't think Oakmont would have needed 5" rough if conditions hadn't been so wet. That let players stop the ball close to the landing spot on greens and made fairways play a lot wider. A firm and fast Oakmont doesn't need 5" of rough.

Really appreciated showing the strategic value of this course passed not hitting it in the rough.

With the Canadian Grand Prix happening this weekend, I found the racing reference very relevant. But yes, Gil crushed it with bringing this design feature back. Loved seeing the scatter-plot image on this hole!

These scatterplot posts are awesome and give me something to watch for the next day. Would love to see these again at Portrush!

A belated thank-you for this overview, Michael! Great stuff.

Of all the very recent course openings, Old Barnwell is the course I seem to be most drawn to when I see the photos (haven't seen it in person). It looks endlessly fascinating. Very excited to see how the Gilroy shapes up--will be really interesting to see how it compliments OB. Thanks for the heads-up on the Cobbs Creek doc. That one's local enough to me that I might actually get to see it someday. There's a lot of great golf in the Philadelphia area but not much of it is public, so fingers crossed this will be a good one.

Pumped to see what Brian and Blake come up with for the Gilroy!!