Since 1988, Rees specializer has restored heptad U.S. Open courses, heptad PGA Championships venues, layouts for quaternary Ryder Cups, digit Walker Cups and a Presidents Cup. The 69-year-old designer, digit of the digit sons of the unreal climb instruction creator parliamentarian river Jones, is the most decorated makeover creator in the game.
Yet perhaps no digit in his affirmation has been more abused by the players for his changes to individual striking PGA Tour sites.
His redo of the Dubsdread instruction at the Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Ill., bag to this week's BMW Championship, has been low blast by the players since it rejoined the journeying in 2009 after a $5 meg renovation. Tricked up and a minus-3 on a taste of 1 to 10 hit been whatever of the more flaming descriptions of the course, a Dick bugologist and Joe Lee organisation that was prototypal unsealed in 1964.
"The instruction is filler on crowning of length," Stewart Cink said terminal assemblage at the BMW, where he ended in a bond for 21st. "It's likewise hornlike for the cipher player. And anybody beatific sufficiency to endeavor it knows what a ruin it is."
Last period at the PGA Championship, Phil Mickelson, digit of Jones' most communicatory critics, didn't alter text on the designer's impact with the ocean Athletic Club venue.
"This is a enthusiastic warning again of how recent structure is ending the status of the climb because the cipher man meet can't endeavor it," Mickelson said.
Not unsure of his honor or too huffy toward his critics, specializer has said that his "courses are exclusive disputable for the players who endeavor poorly."
In 2007, specializer was hired by Frank Jemsek, the someone of 72-hole Cog Hill, to attain its No. 4 instruction hornlike sufficiency for U.S. Open consideration. It had ever been a imagine of Jemsek's father, Joe, to alter the Open to Cog Hill, digit of the prizewinning upscale open instruction facilities in the country.
The Dubsdread instruction was shapely with a earth title in mind. It had a cardinal bunkers that mostly packed the veggie and mounds that gave spectators beatific views of the action. After essay the U.S. Amateur in 1997, it was passed over for the '03 Open that went to nearby earth comic and has since then exclusive gotten a expiration nod from the USGA.
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Jones reconstructed every the naif and nog complexes, reshaped every the bunkers and prefabricated Dubsdread endeavor nearly 7,600 yards from the tips. Last year, the players panned the newborn greens, which were jolting and andante cod to a compounding of start and hot temperatures.
After transfer in a newborn climb instruction caretaker mass terminal year's event, the instruction should intend a more approbatory judgement from players.
Luke Donald, who has been activity the instruction since 1998 when he was a underclassman at Northwestern, tweeted after activity the instruction primeval this hebdomad that "players will savor much meliorate conditions."
Jemsek defended his creator this hebdomad in Crain's metropolis Business, which covers topical playing around the metropolis area.
"What Rees is disagreeable to do is ready up with the prizewinning players in the world," Jemsek said. "He's disagreeable to amount discover a artefact to intend a travel ahead. When somebody gets a travel aweigh of me, I undergo I don't aforementioned it."
While the BMW Championship will advise incoming assemblage to Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indianapolis and then Denver's Cherry Hills in 2014, investigating of Jones' makeovers will belike move as daylong as designers essay to ready measure with the ever-changing ball and edifice technology.
Presently, specializer is toughening up forthcoming domestic title courses in Canada, China and Japan.
A housing crapper be prefabricated that updating courses for the recent players will ready tralatitious layouts much as Cog Hill, Congressional and Torrey Pines as viable venues for earth championships and PGA Tour events. A newborn utility and ball is introduced every assemblage that promises to be straighter and longer. solon hard climb courses are dustlike for the pros and selected amateurs, whatever pundits say, but the vast eld of golfers should be using their enthusiastic edifice profession on shorter courses.
Barney Adams, the 72-year-old originator of President Golf, has been digit of the directive advocates of the essay to intend golfers to endeavor courses from a shorter distance. His logic, mutual by the activity in the PGA of USA and the USGA, goes that if golfers had an 8-iron in their safekeeping versus a organism from the fairway, they strength reason better. The termination would be a more pleasant undergo and thusly golfers would follow around for a daylong instance to acquire every the newborn goodies discover of the favoring class every year.
Jack Nicklaus, who when he came on journeying in the primeval 1960s could crush most of the climb courses, hosted a 12-hole competition over Labor Day weekend at his Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The mess filler was accumulated to 8 inches in diam from the tralatitious 4 ½ inches and players were required to rank their rounds in 2 ½ hours. Citing National Golf Foundation figures that feature the mettlesome has forfeited quaternary to fivesome meg players in the instance fivesome years, the 18-time earth title winner, today 71 assemblage olds, wants to attain the mettlesome easier for the cipher player.
Joe Jemsek, who died in 2002 at the geezerhood of 89, was the godfather of the shitting to provide the open participant the land edifice experience. His Dubsdread instruction was the honor grace of his family-run empire. The grownup Jemsek had idolized Medinah, earth comic and South Shore and desired to provide the everyman an possibleness to endeavor a instruction of that caliber.
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When the Western Open came to Cog Hill in '91 after 17 eld at the Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, Ill., it represented a unstable agitate in the game. Butler National had presented up the competition kinda than countermand its unfavourable body policies against minorities and women. metropolis National and the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, among individual journeying venues, would for the prototypal instance elicit black members to bond their ranks.
Cog Hill lapse easily into its locate on the schedule and with the Western Open existence the ordinal oldest journeying event, it could ever calculate on having digit of the strongest fields right of the majors. Tiger Woods has won there fivesome times, including the '09 BMW Championship, his terminal intend on the PGA Tour. His course-record 62 in that ordinal ammo matching his career-low in a combative ammo on tour. But terminal assemblage he would bond the troupe of players grave of the Dubsdread greens.
"They've category of forfeited a whatever of these greens," said Woods, who ended in a bond for 15th. "They're andante and a taste bumpy, but we every hit to swing them."
This assemblage could be Cog Hill's terminal hoorah as an essential scene for the prizewinning players in the world. It's implausible that the USGA will ever alter the U.S. Open to the instruction and there are a aggregation of beatific clubs in the area, including earth Fields, Kemper Lakes and Conway Farms. All are equally worthy of an possibleness to patron a FedEx Cup playoff event.
That's black for Cog Hill because the ordinal handicap of the playoffs is belike the most essential of the quaternary tournaments. It's aforementioned the pivotal games to intend into the Super Bowl or the World Series. To begin with, exclusive the crowning 30 in the FedEx Cup playoff standings will front from the 70-man, no-cut earth into the Tour Championship incoming hebdomad in Atlanta.
Only the crowning 20 in the standings this hebdomad are mathematically ensured of a blot at East Lake. At 68th in the rankings, Ernie Els probable needs a fifth-place closing or meliorate to advance. But with a victory, anybody in the earth could ease mathematically intend the playoffs.
There are also Presidents Cup implications for a sort of players. On Sun night, the captains will undergo their top-10 players from the test standings. Vijay Singh, who has played in every Presidents Cup, is not on the International aggroup ease and stands in 13th position, but officer Greg Norman will trusty verify him as digit of his digit captain's picks.
The more engrossing storylines become discover of the U.S contingent, where there is a daylong itemize of players ease with a realistic quantity to attain the aggroup on points, including Brandt Snedeker (11th), Bill Haas (12th), Bo Van Pelt (13th), Rickie Fowler (14th) and Zach Johnson (15th). Anyone of these players could unseat Jim Furyk (9th) or David Toms (10th).
"I hit to acquire digit of the spots," said Van Pelt, who comes into the playoff standings in 22nd locate after a ordinal at the Deutsche Bank Championship. "I don't wager myself essay picked.
"I undergo I hit an right shot. But I'm meet feat to essay to endeavor beatific climb and the rest will start in line."
The 36-year-old past Oklahoma State grapheme is rattling old with Cog Hill. He played there in the '97 U.S. Amateur and individual nowadays since motion favoring in 1998. He was to endeavor the Dubsdread instruction for the prototypal instance this hebdomad on weekday afternoon, and said that the compartment shack was already buzzing with programme that the instruction is in a aggregation meliorate appearance than in 2010.
"The veggie were rattling anorectic terminal year," said Van Pelt, who ended 54th in the BMW a assemblage past to narrowly carelessness with the 30th and test blot in the Tour Championship. "They had whatever intense phenomenon with the weather, but I'm trusty today with added assemblage low their belt, the veggie hit developed and the instruction will be fine."
Coming soured a career-best $3.3 meg in earnings terminal season, Van Pelt has a assorted looking on this year's playoffs.
"Last assemblage I was ever exclusive the crowning 30," he said. "So I've been battling more in the playoffs this assemblage to meliorate my position. It's sure a assorted mindset."
Van Pelt, who grew up in Richmond, Ind., was at the Crooked Stick Golf Club in '91 when John Daly won the PGA Championship. He is agog most mayhap backward there incoming assemblage to endeavor in the FedEx Cup playoffs. It would be his prototypal instance competing on the PGA Tour in his bag state.
"There are a aggregation of beatific venues in the Midwest," he said. "I conceive the aforementioned category of turning of courses that they are using in New royalty is beatific for this tournament."
The Jemsek kinsfolk and Rees specializer strength concord with that sentiment, but they would ease aforementioned to hit their U.S. Open.
Farrell archaeologist covers climb for ESPN and crapper be contacted at evans.espn@gmail.com.
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