75 levels. The redesign of the ponds, fed by all of those drainage pipes, now ensures both faster clearance of stormwater and the ability to keep the water table at bay. All of which means better turf, a firmer surface, faster recovery from rains and enhanced reliance on a sustainable cycle of water management. What does this mean for specific holes? Consider the 368-yard twelfth on the northern edge of the property, the shortest par four at Seminole. It plays 18 feet downhill from tee to green, but into the prevailing breeze off the ocean. A narrow ditch lining the entire left side of the fairway was introduced some time after World War Two – undoubtedly to aid drainage, but certainly not part of Ross’s plan and not evident in a 1930 aerial. Between that ditch and the out-ofbounds along the left side, golfers tended to favour the right side and even the adjoining fourteenth fairway that runs in the opposite direction. Not only was this area virtually free of obstructions or hazards, it actually opened up a better line of approach into the Wilson-redesigned green – which itself betrayed an alignment different from the original Ross green. A few paltry palm trees between this area and the putting surface hardly impeded good players, who had no problem lofting their approaches over them. The result was that, over the years, elite players came to play the hole way right to gain an easy line in. The Hanse-Wagner restoration took care of this and brought back the original line of play options. That narrow lateral ditch was removed, allowing the fairway to expand left. Also removed was a Wilson-era fairway bunker deep on the left side that had only steered longer hitters away to the right. The previously unprotected area right, bordering the fourteenth, was restored to the wildlooking, broken-up, native dune-like area that Ross had originally built. The green was reconfigured, with 15 per cent expansion and a rotation of its axis of about 15 degrees to the right, by expanding the green front left and back right while closing off the front right entry with steep bunkering – as originally indicated in the Ross plan. Meanwhile, back at the tee, coconut trees were added on the right to impede clear line of sight and flight to the area along the fourteenth. A cart path on the right was removed and the tee expanded to provide more optional angles on the drive. A veritable wall of bordering trees down the left side was also peeled back to make the opening chute to the fairway look more receptive. The result is that the ease of access down the far right has been undercut, the left side landing area more generous, and the path into the green more favourable to shots from the centre-left of the fairway than before. Mid-range golfers now have more room for their drives. Elite players now don’t have the casual bail-out right off the tee. As an added benefit, golfers coming up the fourteenth no longer fear for their safety to the extent they did before. Equally transformative has been the work on the dogleg-right, par-five fifteenth. The hole is already unique in several regards, as it’s the second of consecutive par fives, something Ross rarely did. Moreover, it’s a splitfairway hole, with two distinct paths to the green, each about 35 yards wide: a safer if longer ‘low road’ to the left, and a riskier ‘high road’ to the right that is shorter. Interestingly, Ross’s original plan called for a long series of mid-fairway sandy mounds, between three-and-a-half and five feet in height, to divide the two paths. However, the aerial evidence from 1930 shows that a series of seven bunkers was actually built, backed by a line of palm trees. Over the years, those bunkers got reduced to four in number and were shallowed out; the mounding behind them also got reduced in height. Advances in equipment technology and swing training also had a dramatic effect in neutering the impact of that midfairway bunker complex because the last bunker could be cleared by a drive flying 290 yards – monumental in Ross’s day but pretty standard for elite players in recent years. Except for days when playing into a stiff wind, the hole had become very easy for elite players. Meanwhile, the alternative path for mid-handicappers had become less attractive an SEMINOLE GC “ Seminole is now more dynamic, more engaging and more demanding of those who seek a strategic advantage”
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