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The National Links Trust announced yesterday that Rock Creek Park Golf Course, a municipal facility in Washington, D.C., is now closed for the first phase of a "full-scale rehabilitation project." I detailed the plans for this project back in 2023. The National Links Trust holds the lease to operate D.C.'s three National Park Service-owned golf courses: Rock Creek Park, Langston Golf Course, and East Potomac Golf Links.

From the press release:

"Currently, we are continuing our adaptive management approach to invasive vine, shrub, and tree removal and finishing site work before we begin vertical construction on the new, modern maintenance facility and clubhouse, driving range, and putting course. Vertical construction will begin in the coming weeks.

"Next spring, our intention is to reopen at least nine holes of golf with a modified routing to accommodate for clubhouse and maintenance facility construction. The holes that reopen will continue to improve in playability and conditions, like we saw this year, as the turf receives more sunlight and better airflow and the corridors expand to their historic widths."

Whereas phase one of the Rock Creek overhaul will focus on the property's buildings and practice facilities, phase two will include Gil Hanse's redesign of the golf course. Hanse plans to split the current 18-hole course into a nine-hole regulation course and a nine-hole par-3 layout.

The news that work has begun at Rock Creek comes amid concerning chatter out of NLT-managed East Potomac Golf Links, where the Trump administration is creating an enormous mound out of rubble from the ongoing East Wing renovation project.

There's been a growing interest in pre-1935 hickory clubs and 1950-1990 steel shaft persimmons & irons. Let's exchange info on makers, how to build a set, connections to people that do restoration and reproductions, etc.

I'll start with hickories since I restore & play them. A number of states have active hickory groups who are very knowledgeable & helpful. The first organization I recommend joining is The Society of Hickory Golfers, tremendous resource for all things hickory including posting hickory scores & a hickory handicap system. Only $65/year: https://www.hickorygolfers.com/membership-join/

I've started dabbling in vintage/retro clubs with sets from 1958 (MacGregor) & 1970 (Hogan). Garage sales, auctions, 2nd hand/thrift shops, eBay are just some places to find gear. There's quite a few sites on IG for retro/persimmon, etc. aficionados too.

I'm in WI & you can find me on IG at: the pond is good for you or X at: golf69ski88

This week I will be recording a new architecture mailbag pod with Garrett.

Fire away any questions you have.

Thanks

Andy

Pinehurst No. 2 is considered by many to be the magnum opus of Donald Ross. People like the Fried Egg's very own Garrett Morrison have written about the wonderful routing that takes full advantage of the subtle natural topography. Walter Travis, Pinehurst member and 5x North and South Amateur Champion described Pinehurst as having "scientific" bunkering. But we all know that the greens are the star of the show when you go and play it. With that being said, it seems to be pretty much accepted at this point that the greens on No. 2 are not original to Ross (or at least drastically more severe). Pete Dye, who was stationed at nearby Fort Bragg during his Army years had a CO that was an avid golfer, and Pete had the opportunity to go and play No. 2 with him many times. He claims that the greens were much flatter in the 1940s and that the domed greens that we know today are due to decades of top dressing. This should track, as the original "greens" at Pinehurst were all flat, and sand covered squares. Ross and Frank Maples were not able to convert all 18 greens to grass until the 1930s. Bradford Becken, President of the Donald Ross society wrote in his book The Golf Architecture of Donald Ross: "As with the rest of Ross' work, there is considerable variety to his green designs. Many Ross fans associate the turtleback greens found on Pinehurst 2 as emblematic of his work, but this is not the case. in fact, looking at the body of his available drawings, such greens appear to be more of an exception, leading some to attribute the shape to years of top dressing and other maintenance practices rather than what was originally envisioned by Ross."

The Question that this is leading me to is this: Why Pinehurst No. 2 specifically? Why did top dressing not effect the greens on No. 1, No. 3 (which does have some crowned greens, but nothing like No. 2), Pine Needles, Mid Pines, SPGC, etc...? Same playing surfaces, same soil composition, conceivably same general maintenance practices. So why would the greens on No. 2 specifically be top dressed in a way that creates greens so extreme that it has mistakenly became a characteristic of Donald Ross?

My two sons (both college age) have created a card game that is fun to play while relaxing in the 19th hole after your round. I'm biased, but I think they've done a great job simulating golf within the game. The game is called Card Golf Tour; they have created a physical card game and you can play online. If you have a chance to play, I know they would love any feedback.

Andy, instead of lotteries for oversubscribed courses, how about waiting lists? It worked for Bozo Circus (parents used to get tix as baby shower gifts cause there was a 6-8 year wait) and my Cubs season tix (was #87,000 & took 8 years to get a call). At least that way you can make plans months/years in advance. If there’s AI/bot concerns, go old school and only accept mailed entries. Whaddaya think? - Perry Rouches

So my club is undergoing a massive practice area renovation. I definitely did not think that the old practice area/driving range was bad, but I was excited about having some more short game area options, as I really enjoy going out and chipping. However, when I saw the video of what was going to be opening, I got really excited. I’ll link the video below, if you feel like devoting a few minutes to it.

My questions/topics of discussion here are twofold. First off, Keith Foster designed this practice area (he also did the restoration of one of our courses). Is it commonplace for a golf course architect to also design the practice facilities? I’ve never really thought about it, but when say Doak or C&C do a design/build are they also designing the practice area; Or is it usually just a case of parceling off a 300 yard x 300 yard area and the club does what they want with it? I suppose it could vary club to club, but I can't think of a high number of examples where the practice area seemed intentionally designed instead of just plopped down. Keith Foster has a relationship with the club, which would help to get him involved in this, but he also had a bit of legal trouble a few years back, and this might be him trying to tiptoe back in the game. I wonder how many established architects would take the job of designing a practice area?

Secondly, how important is a practice area to your overall enjoyment of a golf course? I don't know if we have any raters here, but if you visited a club and you began your visit with a trip to a practice facility that really wowed you, would it be difficult to not carry those feelings into your round and potentially inform your rating? I have visited some incredible, highly rated clubs that had terrible practice facilities, so maybe it doesn't matter? I do think that we are sort of at the beginning of clubs really paying attention to their practice facilities, many golden age designs are on tighter parcels of land and don't really have the space to devote to a massive improvement. However, at clubs that do have the space, and might have a little money to spend I wonder if we'll start to see more of this kind of thing?

Link, if interested:

https://youtu.be/E06tZk8KJoo

My sister decided to move to Dublin recently, and we are going to visit her this spring. Looking to bring my clubs and play a couple of rounds while over there. I am looking for any recommendations about golf in the area. A short drive is fine, but this isn't really a golf trip, so I'm looking for local courses where I can go play a round without disappearing for a full day.

Portmarnock is option #1, and I know FEG's concierge service also mentions The Island Golf Club and Royal Dublin Golf Club, but I thought I would open it up to any and all recommendations. I would certainly prefer an under the radar, pure golf experience instead of a mainstream, tourist trap (as I'm sure all of us here would).

Ladies and gents,

Our little Instagram journey that is Design Disasters is officially one year old. To celebrate the anniversary, I'm having Joseph LaMagna and Brendan Porath join me for a lunchtime hangout this coming Friday. If flights go according to plan, we may have another guest as well. Another boy perhaps.

Either way, join us for some fun and merriment as we relive the first year of Design Disasters.

November Virtual Hangout Details

Date: Friday, November 21

Time: Noon ET

Link to Join

On Thursday, November 13, Fried Egg Golf obtained an email to members from North Berwick Golf Club in East Lothian, Scotland, announcing that the club had hired U.S.-based designer Gil Hanse as its consulting architect.

From the email:

"Beginning in 2026, Gil will work closely with us to develop a Master Plan for the West Links, ensuring its heritage is preserved while preparing for the future."

North Berwick's West Links is a revered course, home to the much imitated "Redan" par 3 and "Pit" par 4, along with many other unique holes. Golf architect and longtime North Berwick member James Duncan mused on the magic of the West Links in this Fried Egg Golf video.

More from the club's announcement:

"Gil's strength lies in honoring the heritage of the course, restoring key features, while remaining sensitive to modern play. This thoughtful approach ensures the West Links retains its character while evolving for the future. Continuity and consistency will come through minor refinements, with no major changes anticipated. A critical priority, however, is addressing coastal erosion through robust contingencies and protective measures to mitigate future risks from the advancing sea."

The email also mentions that Hanse's hiring came after "a rigorous selection process, including on-course evaluations and consultations with other leading architects."

For the past few years, North Berwick has employed Clyde Johnson, a UK-based architect and Tom Doak associate, to assist with projects like the restoration of the front-left bunker on the Redan hole. Johnson is a terrific young talent, and from a personal standpoint, I feel bad for him. His recent work on the West Links has been very well received.

Philosophically, the move from Johnson to Hanse is more or less lateral. Both are historically minded architects. Plus, as the portion of the email that I bolded indicates, Hanse's alterations to the course are expected to be, like Johnson's, careful and subtle.

In terms of public relations, however, Hanse is obviously a bigger name. He also commands higher fees, in general.

This decision by North Berwick might be an indicator of a broader sea change in British and Irish golf. Over the last several years, visitor rates at top links clubs, even at those that do not host Open Championships, have skyrocketed. Golf tourism in Great Britain and Ireland has become a big, lucrative business. Many clubs have more money to spend than they ever have, and some have chosen to invest a portion of that windfall back into their courses. Royal Dornoch Golf Club's decision to roll with King Collins Dormer's out-of-the-box plan to overhaul its Struie Course is an example of this trend.

But I'm skeptical that more expensive, ambitious architecture will improve British and Irish links courses. Some places don't really need to change. So I hope Hanse uses a light touch at North Berwick.

Iowa has around 250 9-hole courses. The majority of which are rather basic but fun and cheap. I recently was able to visit the in progress Silo Club by Kevin Hargrave. It's a great looking strategic 9er with many options, including teeing grounds with different angles and elevations.

All this to ask. How do you all compare 9 vs 18? I know many are not into rankings but someone asked me once grown in where I think it might rank in state. I didn't really know how to address it and other great 9-holers in the state or even across the country compared to their 18 hole counterparts. I'm inclined to remove hole quantities from the equation at all, but doing something great 18 times seems like it should carry slightly more weight than 9.

On the most recent FEG podcast, Andy brings up the question of what should the Tour do with all of the cash they have on hand from the recent investment from SSG? He offers the suggestion of adding permanent grandstands because people clearly love to play a golf course when it has the stadium feel, just look at how demand sky rocketed at Bethpage this year.

My initial thought for this question was to use a small chunk of that $3 billion to renovate some of the stinker TPC courses with a top tier architect like Tom Doak, who has proven that he's great at building a golf course that challenges pros and creates interesting tournament play. See Memorial Park in Houston, TX.

While turning a subpar TPC course into an excellent one may not do quite enough to help the PGA Tour gain more momentum it would be cool if the TPC network didn't have a bunch of lousy courses. They already have the infrastructure in place, most are close to metro areas so perhaps a high quality golf course that's stimulating to watch the pros play along with some extra bells and whistles (permanent grandstands?) could create these longstanding hubs for events so the tour doesn't have to rely so much on country clubs hosting their tournaments.

Yes, this does sound like the stadium course concept that Pete Dye and Dean Beaman were after in the 1980's but maybe we could do a better job in modern times. I'm not sure if this is even a good idea by myself and perhaps I'm being selfish for just wanting more quality publicly accessible designs but I'd love to hear other peoples pipe dream ideas for what the PGA should do with its stockpile of cash other than give the players comfy pensions.

Good morning everyone!

I was curious if there were any other topics that folks would like added to the forum (e.g. What's In The Bag -- where members create a post and share all the juicy details on their clubs, bags, quirky ball markers, etc.). In an effort to evolve and incorporate feedback I'm just curious if there's things that folks would like to have a space to discuss here that they don't feel like the current format allows.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated. And within reason we'll do our best to add topics if it seems folks are excited about it.

Don't be shy!

An idea I’ve been thinking about that I think could save Kapalua as a PGA Tour host, turn the Sentry into a match play event.

If the tour isn’t willing to turn the Tour Championship into a match play event then Kapalua to start the season is the perfect opportunity.

You can easily seed the players based on the prior years FedEx Cup Standings. The reason tv allegedly doesn’t like match play is that there’s a potential for a weak Sunday final match, but here you are turning it into an advantage. You are taking the opportunity to have multiple amazing golf matches happening in prime time simultaneously on weekdays. Kapalua Sunday is always competing with football anyway and with only one match to worry about it’s easier to find a time slot that minimizes the direct competition. Finally, if there is an element that people don’t like about Kapalua is that scores are so low but by making it match play you can eliminate that talking point and I think Kapalua could be a perfect match play course.

I’m sure the Tour won’t go in this direction but am I missing something or would this idea work?

For those of us that use the TOUR app to track tournament scores, and abuse the favorites button, it is always good litmus test to see the number of "Favorites" in any given tournament. For me, the high bar is always THE PLAYERS, clocking in at 30 Favorites. Do I have 30 "favorite" players? No. I blame SGS banter and NLU podcast interviews for clogging up my list. In contrast, this week I only have four "favorites" in the Butterfield field:

ZB, Higgs, Sahith, and Kuchar.

Dare I say this is a MargarineField at best. I'll see myself out.