Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2019 17:52:09 GMT -5
The Chastener, known partly for finishing 7th in the recent Designer Challenge Series (National Treasure) contest in 2018, and partly for being the 6,800 yard course that people claimed they couldn’t hit driver on, has received a sizable reconstruction in order to become a world-class monster. The original concept for the design was very symbolic in nature, and those that didn’t read the backstory or recognize the artistic license to make this a “Russian National Treasure” didn’t seem to take to the design aspects very much, so converting it to a more traditional championship course that would appeal to the top golfers seemed to make sense. But don’t be fooled, playing this design is not for the faint of heart.
Gone are the dark, cloudy skies, the Russian-flag colored tees, the steel curtain bridge, and the “forced” architecture. Players of all levels will be able to hit driver from every tee, even if it’s not the best choice, and many of the holes have been slightly re-shaped and widened to fit the fast-rolling fairways. The tee complexes have been completely redesigned, and now include a 4th tee set, the Championship tees, which measure over 7,300 yards from the tips. Golfers who enjoyed the contest version may remember these greens being a leisurely 168 speed, but they are now firm and lightning fast at 187 and can be quite treacherous, because although many of the contours have been re-sculpted to eliminate some of the yellow and red, the key word there is... “some.”
Of the nearly 4,000 plays the original design received, what left the biggest impression in some golfer's minds was the bridge on hole 17, most likely because players unlucky enough to hit their drive behind it were sometimes blocked on their second shot. One such player, Justin Smedlekov (B.Smooth13), happened to find just that spot during the final round of the 2008 club championship, and despite his caddy warning him not to force the issue, "Putin," as they called him in the clubhouse, tried to loft his wedge over the concrete edging. There's really nothing like the sound of a pristine Titleist ProV hitting the bricks, followed by 5 seconds of petrified silence, and ending with a watery sploosh. That's right, Smedlekov's ball ricocheted off the structure, sending it 30 yards to the right, and coming to its moist demise in the pond on the 15th hole. Unfortunately, he was one down in the match as they played that hole, and after a drop and a mediocre fourth shot to the center of the green, he conceded the hole and lost the club championship.
As they left the 17th green complex, Smedlekov ripped his golf bag from his caddy's shoulder, marched it to the rock ledge near the 18th tee, and launched it 50 feet into the lake as if it weighed no more than a feather. I guess it's true what they say about an adrenaline rush in an angry man... he's capable of almost anything! The bystanders witnessing this, still somewhat surrounding the 17th green and 18th tee area as they had hoped the match would be continuing, heard "Putin" Smedlekov angrily mumble, "vat iz vee lazt tyme vat brrridge doze vat zoo me!" Nobody really made much of the temper tantrum, as they had seen the same thing on four other temperamental occasions in his twenty-year history as one of the best players at the club, but this time was different.
When the membership arrived for their rounds on Monday morning, they saw tire tracks that came off the main driveway and headed straight down the 18th hole, aimed right at the bridge on 17 as the raven flies. Sure enough, somebody had brought a vehicle out to the course overnight that weighed much more than a golf cart and had driven it over the bridge enough times to destroy the wooden-planked surface. It also appeared as though a sledgehammer had been used to smash apart the brick & mortar frame. At first it wasn't clear who would do this, but there was a spray-painted word left on the badly broken wall that gave it all away: #BridgeGate! And with that, the sore scene of just 24 hours before came rushing back to the minds of the members. This time he was serious! It would, in fact, be the last time that bridge did that to him.
Justin Smedlekov would never be heard from again, but unfortunately for The Chastener, he was their largest contributing member financially. Perhaps he knew when he destroyed the bridge that they wouldn't have the funds to replace it, but neither did he care as he wouldn't step foot on those grounds the rest of his days. When VLS Golf Management CEO Victor Lane purchased The Chastener as an investment property that he could renovate into a championship-level golf course, he asked the membership if they would like to have the bridge replaced, especially as it now sits in a terrible state of disrepair nearly ten years after the incident. But the lore of the story was now somewhat sympathetic in the minds of the golfers, so they asked to have it kept as is, with one small request... to rename the course, The Chastener @ Bridgegate.
Gone are the dark, cloudy skies, the Russian-flag colored tees, the steel curtain bridge, and the “forced” architecture. Players of all levels will be able to hit driver from every tee, even if it’s not the best choice, and many of the holes have been slightly re-shaped and widened to fit the fast-rolling fairways. The tee complexes have been completely redesigned, and now include a 4th tee set, the Championship tees, which measure over 7,300 yards from the tips. Golfers who enjoyed the contest version may remember these greens being a leisurely 168 speed, but they are now firm and lightning fast at 187 and can be quite treacherous, because although many of the contours have been re-sculpted to eliminate some of the yellow and red, the key word there is... “some.”
Of the nearly 4,000 plays the original design received, what left the biggest impression in some golfer's minds was the bridge on hole 17, most likely because players unlucky enough to hit their drive behind it were sometimes blocked on their second shot. One such player, Justin Smedlekov (B.Smooth13), happened to find just that spot during the final round of the 2008 club championship, and despite his caddy warning him not to force the issue, "Putin," as they called him in the clubhouse, tried to loft his wedge over the concrete edging. There's really nothing like the sound of a pristine Titleist ProV hitting the bricks, followed by 5 seconds of petrified silence, and ending with a watery sploosh. That's right, Smedlekov's ball ricocheted off the structure, sending it 30 yards to the right, and coming to its moist demise in the pond on the 15th hole. Unfortunately, he was one down in the match as they played that hole, and after a drop and a mediocre fourth shot to the center of the green, he conceded the hole and lost the club championship.
As they left the 17th green complex, Smedlekov ripped his golf bag from his caddy's shoulder, marched it to the rock ledge near the 18th tee, and launched it 50 feet into the lake as if it weighed no more than a feather. I guess it's true what they say about an adrenaline rush in an angry man... he's capable of almost anything! The bystanders witnessing this, still somewhat surrounding the 17th green and 18th tee area as they had hoped the match would be continuing, heard "Putin" Smedlekov angrily mumble, "vat iz vee lazt tyme vat brrridge doze vat zoo me!" Nobody really made much of the temper tantrum, as they had seen the same thing on four other temperamental occasions in his twenty-year history as one of the best players at the club, but this time was different.
When the membership arrived for their rounds on Monday morning, they saw tire tracks that came off the main driveway and headed straight down the 18th hole, aimed right at the bridge on 17 as the raven flies. Sure enough, somebody had brought a vehicle out to the course overnight that weighed much more than a golf cart and had driven it over the bridge enough times to destroy the wooden-planked surface. It also appeared as though a sledgehammer had been used to smash apart the brick & mortar frame. At first it wasn't clear who would do this, but there was a spray-painted word left on the badly broken wall that gave it all away: #BridgeGate! And with that, the sore scene of just 24 hours before came rushing back to the minds of the members. This time he was serious! It would, in fact, be the last time that bridge did that to him.
Justin Smedlekov would never be heard from again, but unfortunately for The Chastener, he was their largest contributing member financially. Perhaps he knew when he destroyed the bridge that they wouldn't have the funds to replace it, but neither did he care as he wouldn't step foot on those grounds the rest of his days. When VLS Golf Management CEO Victor Lane purchased The Chastener as an investment property that he could renovate into a championship-level golf course, he asked the membership if they would like to have the bridge replaced, especially as it now sits in a terrible state of disrepair nearly ten years after the incident. But the lore of the story was now somewhat sympathetic in the minds of the golfers, so they asked to have it kept as is, with one small request... to rename the course, The Chastener @ Bridgegate.