Outside of his courses in New York, maybe, Rees Jones is probably better known for his work renovating and prepping courses for major championships than he is for his original designs. He earned the moniker “The Open Doctor” (his father, Robert Trent Jones, was the original Open Doctor) for his renovations of courses like The Country Club, Pinehurst No.2, Bethpage Black, Torrey Pines (South) and Congressional for…
I never saw this course prior to its 2007 bunker and green renovation but it couldn’t have been very interesting since it’s only marginally interesting after it. The property, in the middle of town, is dead flat with virtually no indigenous features to riff on (a drainage canal slinking through is the hazard highlight), and the…
If it’s true the Lake course at Grand National is the most balanced course on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail (perhaps), the Links is where all the unused parts and rejected ideas for it went. But Mulligan Stew can hit the spot sometimes, and at the very least you can expect flavor. That’s what you get…
You know how birds sometimes nest in odd places, taking eminent domain in an overlooked eave or post column you wouldn’t think any creature would find habitable? Amelia River is like that bird. For its home it chose a small chunk of land wedged between a road, an inside corner of two airport runways and the marshy cove of…
The International Course at this 36-hole complex a few miles southwest of Disney World was conceived to emulate the look and characteristics of Scottish and Irish links (there’s also the National course, designed in an “American” style). I’m not sure which links courses exactly, because I can’t think of any off the top of my…
For reasons that I cannot explain, all the vertical features and doodle-bunker shapes don’t bother me as much at Burnt Pine as they do on many other Rees Jones course from this time period. Maybe I’ve just played so much golf in Florida that I’ve come to appreciate how much more apathetic most courses would look…