10:47 a.m. In retrospect, the first tee sunrise was the high point of the day.

The reality in a case like Interlachen is that the framework of the course is still Ross, it’s his routing and any changes have to be made within his framework. It seems they tried to have some historical renovation items even if the course was lengthened or hazards deepened or “modernized” whatever the heck that means. The ones where it gets interesting is where the framework is substantially altered.

This feels like the same journey one would take drinking a cup of his "wellness coffee".

At the beginning of this piece you feel bad for him and by the end you feel queasy. Eeesh.

I agree it can’t be a lifetime ban, but I’d expect something akin to the waiting period being at least as long as you played professionally. And perhaps the Mid Am and Sr Am are always off limits to anyone who played professionally (not club pros)? Happy for Justin Hueber and the like to go try their luck at the Am, but leave the Mid Am and Sr for those of us that never played at the upper echelons.

Along with the US Naval Academy golf team, we played a college event here back in 2001, hosted by St John’s. Some USGA officials came to watch us since we were playing the back tees, and they wanted to see what lines we took on certain holes. In particular, they intended to play 7 and 12 as par 4s for the 2002 US Open, and wanted to see how we played them as par 5s. I’ll never forget that the tee on 7 read 512 yards on our scorecard and had a stone yardage along the tee box. This was a period when the USGA felt like par 4s in championship play shouldn’t be 500+, and they made sure of that by removing the yardage stone and playing it at the 512 box, but 489 on the scorecard. 12 played at 499.

If you play tees that match your length/skill level, I think you’ll find the rough the most challenging aspect. The greens are relatively flat, with the exception being 15.

Talk about a fall from grace

It's a valid complaint but it also makes good sense to build one grandstand that will be used most of the day rather than separate grandstands where at least one grandstand is empty at almost all times.

I would do the two OGs, Sedge is great but it needs a couple more years to mature. SV is fully matured and has the best turf at the resort while MD is close behind in that respect while also offering a unique golf experience at the heart beat of the resort.