75 the uphill par-four eighteenth has been restored to its 1920 dimensions and shape – and it shows; its slopes are severe! But the most dramatic restorative work is the recreation of the remarkable punchbowl green on the par-five ninth hole. The approach to the hole is blind; it plays over a hill crest about 100 yards short of the putting surface. Old photos suggest that Ross built a punchbowl green to help contain these blind shots, but the right side of the punchbowl was lost at some point when a maintenance road was created on that side of the hole. This created a difficult situation where shots hit to the right side of the green would run away down a steep slope and across the road. The green had not been addressed during the original restoration on grounds of cost, and difficulty finding the fill to rebuild the bowl, but Prichard now realised he could make a significant improvement to the hole. “It occurred to me that we could improve the hole dramatically by regrading the area from the ninth fairway and in front of the tenth tees to capture shots and I could use all the accumulated excess fill to build a very bold punchbowl green. And the best thing is that everyone smiles when they see it, and loves how it plays!” he says. Given that the green is immediately below the clubhouse terrace, it is a triumphant decision, creating perhaps the most memorable feature on the entire golf course in full view of everyone having a post-round drink! The work at Cedar Rapids is nothing short of wonderful. From disaster has come triumph, and everyone involved, from architect Prichard to Tom Feller and all those at the club, should be very proud of it. And Prichard – who loves to tweak his friends – will not, I am sure, be hurt when I say that perhaps getting two bites at this particular cherry enabled him to do even better work! Photo: Vaughn Halyard Bunkering has been expanded to match the scale of the open landscape post-storm, as seen here on the ninth, which also has a new punchbowl green CEDAR RAPIDS “ By regrading the ninth fairway…I could use all the accumulated excess fill to build a very bold punchbowl green”
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