It would be nearsighted to think Liberty National Golf Course went through its recent transformation as a reaction to some snippy comments from some finicky touring professionals. It goes a bit deeper than that.
When the PGA Tour heads to the Jersey City club this week for the Barclays, the first tournament in the FedEx Cup playoffs, the course itself will be significantly different than it was during the inaugural event four years ago. In the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and with stunning views of downtown Manhattan, the best Tiger Woods could muster in 2009 was to call the place "interesting," and one Tour caddie said jokingly they ruined a perfectly good landfill.
Paul J. Bereswill
NEW AND IMPROVED: Tiger Woods — who only could muster an "interesting" when describing his thoughts on Liberty National in the 2009 Barclays — will be seeing a more receptive course this week, according to Steve Wenzloff, the PGA Tour's vice president of design services.
Now, some sweeping renovations have taken place in order to make the course more palatable for the games' best.
"The goal of the modification was really to help increase the overall receptiveness of the golf course," said Steve Wenzloff, the PGA Tour's vice president of design services and player liaison. "I say receptiveness as sort of a broad definition. Specially, two facets: the tee shots and the approach shots."
What Wenzloff suggested to owner Paul Fireman in order to achieve better tee shots and approach shots — included under the latter umbrella are putting and chipping, therefore making up the whole of any golf course — was to widen the landing areas and soften the green contours.
Though saying it still has the same "character" sounds nice, in reality, what the pros will be playing for real on Thursday is very different than what was widely ridiculed last time around.
"He has a very successful business model there," Wenzloff said of Fireman, who built the course in 2006 for $250 million and paid for the renovations out of his own pocket. "He knew that the tournament was a success, that members liked it, and the tournament is a opportunity to increase the value of his club's perception, as well as monetarily what it can do for membership sales."
Of course, a club that plays host to a PGA Tour event — especially a high-profile playoff event — is well regarded among those with the deepest of pockets. But with the hope of the Tour to set up a four-course Barclays rotation with Ridgewood, Plainfield, and Bethpage Black, the more griping there was from the pros, the more likely Liberty National would be left on the outside looking in.
"So Mr. Fireman wanted to do what he felt would be good for the members and for the event," Wenzloff said. "We looked at things that would help the long-term play there, as well as help the members. The membership feedback he was getting was consistent with our player feedback."
In total, five greens were entirely rebuilt, and an additional six were reconstructed; 13 landing areas were altered; and 11 tee boxes were expanded or moved. Some fairway bunkers were moved farther from the line of play, and the greens complexes generally were made flatter, allowing for more hole locations and less severe run-offs into deep chipping areas.
The 18th green was moved 20 yards down the fairway to allow for Barclays to have a larger corporate tent, and the hole stayed the same length by virtue of a rarely used back tee, 20 yards behind the one used in 2009.
The long fescue grass that frames a lot of the holes — often running side-by-side — has been pulled back a bit, and the plan for the course setup would be for larger swaths of intermediary rough, with the primary rough almost exclusively in the areas where the gallery walks.
The result is intended to be a friendlier golf course and certainly less complaining. Now with the Freedom Tower hulking over the skyline, the improved view remains one of a kind.
"It's still a hard golf course, and there's nothing wrong with that," Wenzloff said. "The teeth will still be in it, just the teeth won't sink as deep into your skin."
bcyrgalis@nypost.com
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