![]() An overabundance of trees of was removed to improve playing conditions, open vistas and reestablish playing lines. All the bunkers were rebuilt with improved drainage and some were relocated, and they are now more classically Ross in appearance. Golf Association specifications with enhanced drainage to provide firm playing conditions. Work wrapped up in 2019, with each of the 18 greens having been rebuilt to U.S. The newly renovated sixth hole at Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course in Rochester, N.Y. The results will protect the legacy of Oak Hill for decades to come.” ![]() “We will utilize every ounce of historic data to reflect the strategy, style and intent of Ross with a keen eye on the way the game of golf is played today. “Donald Ross set the East Course at Oak Hill Country Club on a stunning piece of ground where the holes turn direction and flow over the property in an inspired fashion,” Green – who has established himself as a restoration expert with such work completed at Wannamoisett, Inverness, Congressional and several other such classic layouts – told the club at the outset of the restoration. Green used Ross’s original drawings and historical photos to determine the best course of action in restoring the layout. The club said its objectives were to add length where possible, create more forward tees for members, expand areas where cups could be cut into greens and to evaluate options for holes that had been changed over the years. It hired architect Andrew Green, who the club said worked with Corcoran Jeff Sluman, PGA Tour professional and Rochester native and an East Course Restoration Committee led by Tim Thaney and Jim McKenna. Starting in 2015, the club decided to put the Ross flair back into the course. “And I think the progression of the game dictates a lot of the work you need to do, in some regards, if you want to be a golf course that hosts major championships.” You always have to do some housekeeping, always have to do some updating,” said Jeff Corcoran, Oak Hill’s manager of golf courses and grounds. “It’s just like owning a home in some regard. While these changes were all implemented in the interest of increased difficulty for touring professionals, the club received criticism about eliminating too much of Ross’s original design.Īdd in naturally occurring changes to the course over the years, and club officials knew it was time to make some changes. In the 1970s, George and Tom Fazio further modernized the layout, redesigning three holes – the fifth, sixth and 15th – and moving the 18th green. Robert Trent Jones tweaked the East in the 1950s and ’60s, including – in the name of spectator flow – the replacement of a par 4 considered by many to be among the best in the country. 4 and 5 at Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course in Rochester, New York (Photo: Gabe Gudgel/Golfweek)īut the course had changed dramatically over the years, losing much of its Ross flavor. Add to those events a rich history of amateur and senior events, plus the 1995 Ryder Cup, and Oak Hill’s rich championship history clearly ranks among the best clubs in the world. Opens (1956, ’68 and ’89), with winners including the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Curtis Strange. Among its many championships, the East has hosted three PGA Championships (1980, ’03 and ’13) and three U.S. Opened in 1926 with a design by architectural legend Donald Ross, the East had undergone many changes over the decades, many of them in pursuit of additional challenge to the best players in the world. 42 on Golfweek’s Best list of classic courses in the U.S. 12 among New York’s elite roster of clubs on Golfweek’s Best list of top private courses in each state, and it’s No. Consider Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course in Rochester, New York, site of the 2023 PGA Championship. Whether through intentional architectural efforts or natural evolution, every golf course changes in time.Įven those that host major championships. Undulations shift on greens, which themselves often shrink over years and decades. Trees grow, blocking light, air and playing lines. Bunkers shift as sand is blasted out by players. Grass grows, often in new places and in unexpected ways. Nothing remains static on a golf course for long.
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