“A crown jewel of the Travis diadem” – that’s New Jersey’s Hollywood Golf Club. They have recently completed a sparkling restoration. There is just one green left to restore, and that one will be a museum piece when it’s done.
You can read the article here. Here’s a snippet:
The project has been a runaway success, and many in golf design circles are lining up to see what may arguably be the best restoration of the year. Over 1,200 non-strategic trees were removed, including 400 on the iconic 12th hole alone, nicknamed the “Heinz 57 Hole” for the urban legend that says 57 bunkers pepper its fairway and green complex.
As an aside, as usual, rumor loves to make the hearer’s flesh creep. There are really only 40-odd bunkers…maybe 45, nobody’s really sure.
“People tend to lose count, or track or both,” laughed Wolf.
“All 40 or 45 of those bunkers were rebuilt, along with the rest of the 175 on the course. Using a 1940 aerial as an overlay, Doak, Schneider, and head superintendent Michael Broome put the bunkers back where Travis had them originally with the genius result that the hazards were now out of play for the golfer who shoots 100, but dangerously in play for the golfer who shoots 72. That’s what Travis strove for as a designer, and it may have been why he was hired in the first place.”
