Eisenhower Park's Red Course began its new 2022 season this past weekend, and those who ventured out to Westbury amid cool, windy conditions were the first to get a look at the Red's revamped holes, most notably the no-longer-par-4 seventh.
Changes have been afoot at Eisenhower Red for more than a year -- it was this time last spring when word began to circulate that a new tee and green were marked for construction at #7. Now an entirely new hole is in play. Once a straight 452-yard par-4, Red #7 is now a lengthened par-5 that doglegs right toward the new surface. The green slopes downhill from center to front, according to GOLI's Eisenhower insider Rob Toffolo, and a spacious bunker sits on its right. A new back tee near the perimeter fence is fully built and cleared of trees.
Meanwhile, #7's former green is still being converted to fairway, and lift, clean and place rules are currently in play.
Much more of a surprise are changes made to the par-4 11th. That hole, which features three different left, center and right tee chutes, now sports a series of four bunkers along the fairway's right side. This weekend the longest (left) tees were used, stretching the hole to its maximum length and pointing tee shots toward the new traps. Even drives that stay out of the sand are in danger of settling into sidehill lies on new mounding between the bunkers, Toffolo says.
At the Red's opening hole, an official shortening from reachable par-5 to a 413-yard par-4 is still in progress.
The changes continue the century-old Red's long tradition of hole rerouting and alteration, often done on the fly. Over time the Devereux Emmet classic has seen greens come and go, fairways added and removed, and new tees replace old ones. Next door on the White Course, park staff completely changed the identity of the Robert Trent Jones layout in 2017 by adding or remodeling dozens of shallow bunkers.
Check back throughout the season for further updates on changes at Eisenhower.
[Photos courtesy Rob Toffolo]
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