Friend of Golf On Long Island Rob Toffolo walked away from a recent round at Eisenhower Park's Red Course with interesting information about scheduled alterations to the century-old layout, some of which are currently in the early construction stages.
Two holes on the Red's front nine are in line for future modifications, and it won't take long during a round for golfers to notice the difference. New tees will soon be added on #1, according to park staff, shortening the par-5 opener by about 40 yards and reintroducing it as a lengthy par-4. Farther ahead at #7, park crews have already started clearing trees and marking ground for a project that will stretch the 452-yard par-4 into a slightly doglegged par-5.
When complete, the new teebox at #7 will be set way back near the perimeter fence along Salisbury Park Road, about 25 yards behind the current back tee. Flags currently mark the site of #7's future green, to be situated farther back and to the right of the present surface. The end result will likely be a shade over 500 yards with a late-turning dogleg that fits with the rest of the Red Course's long, bending fairways.
Hole realignments and redirected fairways are nothing new to the Red, of course -- especially the front nine, which has undergone a strange set of changes over time. Back in 2010 GOLI highlighted the Red's ghost greens at #4 and #6, each of which served as alternative targets at one time or another before being removed from the rotation. While old #6 is now long gone, the alternate #4 green -- once dubbed hole #4A on scorecards back when it was in use -- was recently restored with new bunkers and briefly used as a stand-in for the par-3 fifth while that hole was under repair. Otherwise it has mostly sat idly behind small trees.
And you cannot discuss realigned holes at Eisenhower Red without mentioning #2, where the longtime par-3 was paired up with an alternate par-4 back in the 1990s, an awkward 90-degree dogleg that's shoehorned between overhanging trees. Thankfully the par-3 remains the primary hole there.
For more on Eisenhower Red, a Devereux Emmet original and home of the 1926 PGA Championship, check out the course flyover.
[PICTURED: New #7 tee under construction near Salisbury Park Road.]
Comments