Well, I may have a little first hand experience on this topic. I worked at the RTJ course in AU for years. I’ve never seen those weekend hustlers some of y’all are referencing. Not saying there’s not a few, but there’s not many. And there’s absolutely no 65 year olds that could hustle a pro. That’s insane and stupid talk.
I worked maintenance and watched everybody coming thru since we stopped working while groups played thru. I then played with some maintenance and clubhouse guys after work, almost every day. Including the club pro. Some good players in the group.
I was there when they setup the course for the NCAA ship in the early 2000’s. It was insane what we did to that course. The championship tees were way back the normal tees. And a bunch of other little things to make the course tough. I thought, this is crazy. Then - the top college guys came in and shot mid 60’s. Another level that most folks just don’t understand. And the driver was the least important club in the bag.
We played Grand National a couple of months before the first Barbasol when some of the prep was underway. LOT of trees trimmed back, tee boxes moved and built -- No. 1 and 9, if I remember, were extended like 40-60 yards? -- and other changes you mention. And then those guys who were second-tier and didn't qualify for The Open went out and pounded the schitt out of it for four days.
Like most RTJ courses it has a couple of holes that IMO are stinkers. Every RTJ course has at least one.
I haven't played it but was told the Links course also got a lot of changes but was used for promotion, sponsors and such.
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