31 He was referring to the mounded, flat and pot-style bunkers that Dye has implemented on many of his designs. Other updates include improving and stabilising watersheds, replacing or adding railroad tie features and making some minor redirections to shot corridors. One of the most notable changes involves tee repositioning on the par-three thirteenth. The tee was moved slightly to the right of the hole for a more intuitive shot into the green. The rebuilding of the greens was the most significant undertaking of the Crooked Stick renovation. Doak explains: “This is a really special set of greens. When Pete built this golf course, originally green speeds were eight on the Stimpmeter, and now they’re 12 or 13. Even though he’s redone them in pieces over time, it’s still just creeping up, and there are hole locations on some greens that you really can’t use anymore. So, we’re trying to get a little bit of that back without changing the difficulty of the greens in general. We’re trying to get some things back in play that haven’t been used much in the last 15 years.” This highlights the overall theme of the renovation – subtle but meaningful changes. Towards the end of the video, Iverson makes a comment that sums up the collective goal of the renovation in a very poignant way. He says: “It’s an honour and it’s also an obligation and it’s a chance for us to give back a little bit to the man and the family that gave us our springboard into the business.” I echo Eric’s sentiment – it has been an honour for me to be involved in this project, in my own small way, given the deep respect and passion engrained in it. I’m looking forward to the 2025 reopening of Crooked Stick and I’m excited to see how the changes take shape with the finishing touches complete. I believe the golf experience there will be one of the best. INSIGHT Bunkers have been renovated to a unified style throughout the course Photo: Crooked Stick
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