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Forse's insightful
comments about the landscape and what Ross might have intended were prescient.
Club historian (now Club President) Michael Jamieson, uncovered some photographs
taken shortly after the Club opened the new course in 1923 and Green Committee
members were amazed at how closely these photos depicted Ron Forse's instincts
of how the greens and bunkers should be arranged.
As Forse
began work on the master plan, the Club Directors debated another issue
- throughout the Club's history, members had been faced with virtual shut
down of the course during the wet winter months. The clay soil did not
drain well and the water from the adjacent hills inundated the course.
When an aggressive
drain system combined with sand-capping was proposed the Club hired agronomist
Dave Wilbur and Ed Guiliani a soils engineer to help develop a drainage
plan.
With
their proposals combined with conceptual sketches from Forse the Club
Directors approached the membership with a multifaceted renovation plan:
1)
Redesign the course to restore the Donald Ross character
2)
Remove five inches of topsoil from all fairways and green surrounds to
be replaced by eight inches of sand (with a water retention profile specified
by Wilbur)
3)
Reconstruct all tees, greens and bunkers to modern specifications.
After
three years of design, consultation and revision with frequent presentations
to the membership, a full membership approval was voted and work began
on the first of two nine hole phases in April 2001. The anticipated cost
of the project, including similar work on the driving range and practice
areas was $6,360,375.
The first
nine holes have been in play since April of this year when work began
on phase 2. The modifications to our drainage system which included installation
of extensive sub-surface herringbone patterned drain pipe, catch basins
and
cart paths designed to divert water flow has proved to be nothing short
of spectacular when tested by heavy rains this past winter.
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Fairways that had been ankle deep with sloppy mud in previous winters
have become firm landing areas where balls bounce and roll delightfully.
When
the project is finished Wadsworth Construction will have laid 25 miles
of perforated pipe in the fairways alone. 2,500 truckloads (60,000 tons)
of cap sand have been delivered to the golf course and carefully spread
over the gentle contours drawn by Forse.
Architecturally,
the mastery of Donald Ross as interpreted by the painterly eye of Ron
Forse is proving to be every bit as appropriate for today's golfer.
Members are delighted to find the course a fairer test for mid-handicap
players and offering plenty of risk-reward opportunities for the bolder
players. Four different sets of tees now offer appropriate opportunities
to all levels of golfer, and landing areas that are in the range of
modern equipment have been leveled so as to be more receptive.
On
several holes, Forse has provided conservative options with hospitable
chipping areas adjacent to greens as bunkers have been relocated. But
those who opt for the shorter route must contend with steeply faced
bunkers and putting greens that have once again been divided into distinct
cupping areas with intruding humps and swales that would have brought
a smile to the face of Donald Ross.
Par
might prove more likely for the player who lays up and makes an accurate
chip shot than for the strong player whose long approach shot finds
the wrong part of the green. In seventy-five years, too many ill-chosen
trees have intruded on the course and many of these have now been removed.
The
views over the course of surrounding hills and the cool gray city of
San Francisco to the north are fabulous. It is rare to find a course
in an essentially urban area that is surrounded by so much open space.
Hole by hole descriptions of the changes would mean little to those
who had not played the course, but Society members are encouraged to
cultivate friendships with Peninsula members at next year's Annual Meeting.
Who knows, someday you might come to California where each and every
day of the year the sun is shining on a Donald Ross course after Easterners
have gone to bed for the night and winter snow drifts across their home
fairways.
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