145. A Week in New Jersey and Long Island , NY

While I was on my prior trip, the governor of MA announced new travel restrictions for entering MA that became effective August 1.  Essentially, to enter or re-enter MA from any state but NY, NJ, and the other 5 New England states (“exempt states”) one needs to either have a negative COVID test or self-quarantine for 14 days…and effective a week ago, RI lost its exempt status!  Travelers are required to submit a form upon entering MA, and I am concerned about flying, as MA may have a data sharing agreement with the airlines, which would make it easy for them to come after you if you avoid submitting the form.  So thoughts of trips to the mid-west etc. have quickly dissipated.

I had been invited for two golf rounds in the NY area during the week of August 10^th, one at Mountain Ridge GC (NJ) on 8/11 and one at Deepdale on 8/14.  I planned on a Monday-Friday trip covering 8 courses, mostly in NJ to cover some courses on my various bucket lists.  

 

Knickerbocker Country Club, August 10, 2020:  I left our home around 8:30am (far more civilized than 5am…but trust me, I am not becoming civilized…it is almost impossible to find a private club that is open for play Monday morning) and arrived at Knickerbocker around 1pm.  Again, due to COVID, never hit any traffic (except for two construction sites on the Merritt Parkway in CT).  The club was almost deserted except for the swimming pool and given both the temperature and humidity were well over 90 (and would remain so most of the week) I wondered if I had the wrong sports equipment with me. 

 

Knickerbocker was founded in 1914 and has been at this location (in Tenafly, NJ about 5 miles north of the George Washington Bridge entrance) since then.  The course was originally designed by Donald Ross and subsequently renovated by Herbert Strong (think Canterbury in Cleveland and Guyan…Post #143…in WV).  More recently in 2007-8 Ron Forse restored some of Ross’ features.  It has never made a USA Top 100 but was included in GW’s Top 200 Classic list several times allowing for its inclusion in my Merged GW 400.  The highest position I show in the merged list was #287 in 2014 and it had dropped to #383 in the recently announced 2020 Merged GW list.

 

I thought the course was good but not great…its ratings today are probably appropriate.  It is flat for a good number of holes and had good land movement on others.  I was surprised at how docile these Ross greens were for the first 4-5 holes but then as the round continued, the greens had greater overall slope and were fairly good….and overall very large (having been expanded back to original size by Forse).  From the tips it plays 6726 yards (par 72) and I played from 5790 yards.  There were some very good maintenance practices employed on the course, such as maintaining grass at the entrances to all fairway and greenside bunkers at fairway height (so that bunkers act as “gathering point hazards”…and Knickerbocker has a whole bunch of superbly placed cross bunkers, which must be carefully considered after placing a drive in the rough.  On the other hand, the course looked and felt too green, soft, and slow and would be much better if firm and fast.  My favorite hole was #6, a 191-yard par 3 with a diamond shaped green (home plate is a point in the front middle of the green).  I hit the ball well and had a 40 – 41 = 81.   Played in 2:20.

 

I was really surprised by the amount of tree damage caused by Hurricane Isaias.  Several clubs I tried to reach this past week had lost their power for as long as 7-9 days and I saw the remains of numerous trees with trunk diameters or 3” and more that had he broken like toothpicks around the property…and this damage was evident at every course on the trip.

 

After the round I drove to my hotel where I was meeting for dinner Mitch R. (a fellow Golf Magazine panelist and member of GGCC), who would be part of our group at Mountain Ridge GC the next morning.  I first met Mitch in 2016 when he hosted me at the Chevy Chase Club (Post #46), his home club outside of Washington, DC.  Mitch completed his first GM World 100 in 2015 without having previously been a Top 100 Panelist for any magazine…quite a feat!

Dinner was good and I got to bed reasonably early…good thing as the next three days would be 36 holes/day in tough weather.

 

Mountain Ridge Country Club, August 11, 2020:  Mountain Ridge was founded in 1912 and originally was located in West Orange, NJ, with a nine-hole course designed by David Hunter.  Five years later Alfred Tillinghast had expanded the course to 18 holes, but the property was very hilly and not well suited for golf.  After subsequent evaluations by the likes of Raynor, Banks, and Travis all came back saying not much could be made with this property.  The club eventually sold their original property and purchased the current site in West Caldwell.  The new course was designed by Donald Ross and completed in 1931 with a new clubhouse designed by Clifford Wendehack (Winged Foot, Bethpage, Ridgewood, Park CC)…pretty good lineage on both fronts!  Since 1931, the club has hosted four Metropolitan Opens (the 4^th being held August 20-23, 2020) and the 2012 US Senior Amateur Championship. 

 

I had played Mountain Ridge once before in 2016 (Post #46) and had heard good things about recent renovation work completed by Ron Prichard.  Golf Magazine was having a mini gathering of local Panelists, and there were about 12 of us there.  The recent work was clearly quite extensive based on my first look down holes 1 and 10 which run alongside a completely redone practice range.  The major changes to my eye are:

 

--very well done green size expansion (I would guess to original size in most cases);

--major tree removal creating superb vistas throughout the course and improving turf quality;

---elimination of areas of “double trouble” (dictating the need to pitch out) leaving the player the option of a heroic recovery and risk of a double bogey or worse;

--widening of the fairways bringing back Ross’ use of strategic options and angles; and

--excellent placement of cross bunkers along the edges of the fairways (with fairway height grass at all bunker entrances).

 

Mountain Ridge continues to have two different nines, with holes 1-9 being mostly straight and very hilly, and hole 10-18 (especially 11-17) generally being flat with many doglegs…but the nines do “fit together” very well.  IMO best holes are #6 and #7.  Overall a huge improvement, but I would like to see the course be faster and firmer, and importantly, the women’s tees here are 5500 yards (par 73).  I doubt that the average woman member can reach more than three par 4’s in regulation …and if the men members had to play at “equivalent distances” most would quit the game.  This is a problem at many “top” clubs and courses and needs to be corrected…and the costs are small.

 

In terms of historical ratings, Mountain Ridge has never cracked a Top 100.  It has been on the GW Top 100 Classic four times.  No question that 10-15 years ago a course like this would be in the USA Top 100, but the overall quality of courses out there has risen so much that I do not think it will make that goal this time.  Get firm and fast and there will be a new story here.

 

For the record, I did not play well and had a 45 – 42 = 87, playing from about 5500 yards.  From the tips it plays 7122 (par 71) and I expect it will present itself very well at the Met Open this week.

 

After the round, we had lunch with Ran Morrissett (Architecture Editor of GOLF), David DeNunizo (Editor-In-Chief), and Jason Abel (CEO) and discussed the Panel’s future plans.  Overall a very productive and interesting discussion.  Around 1:45 the lunch broke up and I headed south to the Edison NJ area.

 

Forsgate Country Club-Banks Course, August 11, 2020:  The drive to Forsgate was some 50 miles (0:55) and the course was fairly busy…so this would not be a quick afternoon round; such is golf in the COVID era, everyone has “cabin fever” and the game of golf is one of the few healthy and safe releases.

 

Forsgate has 36 holes; its first course was designed by Charles Banks and was his last course design (he passed away at the all too young age of 49 just prior to the course’s completion in 1931).  With his passing, so ended the Charles Blair Macdonald—Seth Raynor—Charles Banks lineage in golf architecture.  To some degree this trio was underappreciated, but efforts by Tom Doak and the late George Bahto have resurrected their place in golf history to its current high perch.  The second course (now called The Palmer Course) was designed by Hal Purdy and opened in 1961 and was renovated by Arnold Palmer in 1995.

 

Forsgate’s Banks Course is a demanding test.  It is filled with deep deep greenside bunkers literally built with Banks’ steamshovel.  There must be 10-15 greenside bunkers where the player must hit their bunker shot up at least 10’ to escape the hazard.  You had better bring your game!  To some degree I thought the course was too penal and lacked some of the strategic width and the mental “chess game” present in most CBM and Raynor tracks.  I thought the best holes to be #12 (named “Horseshoe” but really an adaptation of the CBM/Raynor “Short” design first displayed at National Golf Link’s 6^th hole (Posts #19 and #138)…and an even better green that Sleepy Hollow’s #16 post Hanse…Post #128…but not a better view) and #17 (“Biarritz” with the longest valley I can recall seeing on a Biarritz design).  

 

The course finally was included in a Golf Week Top 200 listing in 2019 and 2020…both at #195 which earned it position #395 on my Merged GW list both years.

 

My game was fairly ugly this afternoon, yielding a 42 – 45 = 87 from 5650 yards; if I had played it from the tips (6904 yards) I might still be out there.

 

After the round I headed east to the NJ “Shore” where 3 of my rounds over the next two days would take place.

 

Hollywood Golf Club, August 12, 2020:  I first heard of Hollywood GC in the late 1970’s and the discussion centered on Mr. Robert Jacobson, who had won the club championship at Hollywood 25 times from 1932-1960.  One of Jacobson’s sons was a member at Quaker Ridge when I was there, and later in Pinehurst I met Earl E., who became a senior partner in Jacobson’s firm.  Finally, the wife of a person I did a lot of business with in the 1990’s grew up at Hollywood…and Saul P. and his wife Linda P. remain great friends.

 

I first played Hollywood in 2015 (Post #21) and loved every minute of it.  At that point the course was about one year into its renovation by Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design, and the changes since then are deep and superb, but first I need to fill in some history.  

 

Hollywood GC was founded in 1898 and the course was originally designed by Issac Mackie.  In 1914, Walter Travis (an early member of Hollywood, British Amateur Champion, and  

Three-time US Amateur Champion) redid all the greens and bunkers.  During the subsequent years, the course was revised by Rees Jones and others.  Finally, Renaissance’s Brian Schneider has been restoring Hollywood back to Travis original intent since 2014.  In terms of important events, Hollywood hosted the 1921 US Women’s Amateur, 2014 US Senior Women’s Am, and the Met Open in 1906, 1991, and 2017.  I wanted to play it after more recent work since 2015 prior to submitting my ballot for GOLF magazine’s next USA Top 100 later this summer. 

 

Hollywood has never made a US Top 100, although recently it has come close.  On my Merged GW list, it was #115 in 2005 and then started a significant drift downward to #205 in 2011.  Starting in 2016 is has made a steady climb, accelerating in the last two years:

                        2016    #199

                        2017    #190

                        2018    #184

                        2019    #157

                        2020    #108

 

Good signs and a climb that has been earned.  My favorite holes on the course are #4, #9, #11, #12, #13, and #16.  The bunkering throughout the courses is superb (featuring I think two “volcano bunkers”), as are the expanded green complexes.  When it was first redone by Travis it had some 220 bunkers, including 57 on the notorious 12^th hole.  I counted the bunkers on #12 back in 2014 and came up with 39…and was told the current count there is 42.  The course is for sure playing firmer and faster.  But most of all, it meets two tests that are very hard to meet on one track:  it is both fun and an excellent test of golf.

 

No question in my mind that this one will break into the USA Top 100 ranks in the next two years…and it is about time that it is recognized by Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, and top100golfcourses.com.

 

If you have not played this is a must see and play!

 

I played with two members, Burt E., the club’s historian and member of the restoration committee, and Matt L.  All in all, a very good morning…except for my putting.  Hit the ball fairly well but could not do anything with the putter and had a 44 - 42 = 86.

 

Canoe Brook Country Club-South, August 12, 2020:  After a 45 minute drive north to Summit, NJ, I arrived at Canoe Brook CC.  I had been here in October 2015 (a few days before my afore mentioned 2015 round at Hollywood) to play the North Course (Post #20) and was back to play the South.  The North was designed by Walter Travis and opened in 1901 and the South was built by Charles Alison (of the firm Colt, Alison and Mackenzie).  Impressive heritage, but somehow road expansions etc. resulted in the need to redesign parts of both courses and these changes were made by Alfred Tull (1952), Hal Purdy (1971) and Rees Jones (1994).  Knowing the more recent history, I headed to Canoe Brook with some trepidation.

 

I arrived just before my tee time and headed to the first tee, which is a bit of a trek (via cart not so bad).  Frankly the first hole is awful….511-yard par 5 straight downhill at first, then flat to a wide and shallow green guarded by a large pond that starts about 80 yards short of the green front and covers all but the right hand 40% of the fairway.  The pin was way left and on my 7-iron third I bailed right and somehow two putted from about 90’ for a par.  On #2 (the #1 handicap hole) I hit a 3 wood second to about 4 feet and sunk the birdie putt.  The third is a downhill par 4 that I bogeyed, and #4 is a very uphill par 3 where I hit a 6-iron to about 15 inches just past the hole, for another birdie.  So, after 4 holes I am one under.  After bogeys on 5 and 6 and three pars on 7-9, I finish the front nine with a one over 38…and tell myself to grind hard on the back, where I will need a 2 over 37 for the magic number.  

 

Bogeys on 11 and 12 do not help but are followed by pars on 13 and 14.  #15 is a straight slightly uphill par 5 (489 yards from tips and 445 from my tees) and I hit my third shot to about 6’, and the putt is headed dead center in the cup when it suddenly veers right in the last 5-7”, just lipping out of the right edge and staying out, for a par.  Now I need to finished #16-18 even par, and par #16 and #17.  The final hole played 377 yards for me from an elevated tee to a slightly elevated green (overall hole is downhill).  Hit very good drive and then three wood stopped about 5 yards short of the green.  So so chip and missed 15’ putt and I had another 76…one too high.  Getting tired of this stuff!!!  Oh well, fairly pleased with how I played, just a little frustrated.  One thing is for sure, my putting substantially improved during my drive from Hollywood to Canoe Brook.

 

Obviously, course is one stroke away from a Top 50 in USA!  But actually, I liked the course and thought it was more fun than the North and made excellent use of some difficult land (still dislike #1).  It has never made a USA Top 100/200/400 but did host the 1936 US Women’s Amateur as well as four Met Ams.  Drive back down south to the Jersey shore was filled with “what-if” thoughts (as you are probably aware, the word “if” did not exist until the game of golf was invented).

 

Manasquan River Golf Club:  Founded in 1922, Manasquan River opened with a nine-hole course designed by Robert White. Four years later an additional nine holes lying to the west of the initial nine were added by White.  The topographies of those two nines are vastly different.  The initial nine (which for the most part is now occupied by holes 1 and 12-18) is basically flat and lies next to the river.  Holes 2-11 lie on land that rises sharply upward as one heads west away from the river and the initial nine holer.  Renovation work was performed by Ron Prichard and then a few years ago Andrew Green completed a major renovation.

 

Overall the golf course is very good its best holes IMO are #3, 7, 15 and 16.  The 7^th hole plays 657 yards (overall very downhill) and given the raw unused land behind the 7^th tee could easily be stretched to 800 yards (that is NOT my recommendation…”could” does not mean “should”).  I played with three other members of ISAGS (an international golf society) and hit the ball fairly well, shooting a 41 – 41 = 82 from 6143 yards (very long for me these days).  We were very fortunate that the rain and thunderstorms held off during our play.  The forecast for this day as of 24 hours earlier was fairly ugly, but never came to fruition.

 

Overall, I thought the course was very good…and the views looking east from holes 2-11 are often very compelling.  That club’s website says that bluff is the highest point along the Atlantic Seaboard from New Jersey thru Florida.  It plays reasonably fast and firm and is in excellent condition.

 

While the club has never been included in a USA Top 100/200/400, it hosted the US Girl’s Junior Championship in 1990.

 

After the round and a very good lunch (lobster et al), I drove about 5 miles to Spring Lake.

 

Spring Lake Golf Club, August 13, 2020:  By Thursday afternoon I was pretty tired.  When I arrived at Spring Lake, I learned that my 3:00pm tee time was just approximate…the club does not have tee times during weekdays.  With at least 4 groups in front of me, it looked like a 4pm start…and a slow 18 holes.  Plus, it had started to rain…not hard but fairly constant.  I retreated to my car for a short nap!  At 3:35 I was able to tee off.  

 

Spring Lake GC was founded in 1898 and started with a 9-hole course designed by Willie Nelson of Prestwick.  Within 10 years the club had outgrown the confines of nine holes…and soon thereafter purchased a 118-acre farm plus an adjoining 30-acre plot.  George Thomas (later known best for his brilliant designs in the Los Angeles area, including LACC-North, Riviera, and Bel-Aire CC) of Philadelphia was retained to design the new course.  After some five years of play, the club asked A. W. Tillinghast to renovate and improve on Thomas’ design, and Tillie’s work was completed by 1918.  

 

While the course was enjoyable to play and well maintained, frankly I found the architectural features to be rather bland and ordinary.  The greens reflected almost none of the contours and slopes typically found in Thomas’ and Tillinghast’s work, and the same can be said about the bunkering.  The club’s website makes no mention of any other architect’s involvement, but I had difficulty finding many of these two architect’s “fingerprints” on the layout.  I have no explanation based on facts…only conjecture.

 

From the tips Spring Lake plays a relatively short 6552 yards (I played from 5423) and a par of 72.  The course is very flat except for a couple of what appear to have been old wash areas to channel off flood waters.  The front nine played very slow and I chose not to keep score…but it would not have been pretty.  The rain persisted for about the first nine holes and then let up, and while the front nine was slow, some groups obviously quit after nine and the back nine moved along fairly well.

 

As with Manasquan, Spring Lake has never made a USA Top 100/200/400 but did host a USGA Championship, the 1981 Senior Women’s Amateur.

 

After the round I had a long (1:30) drive north to Mineola, Long Island, NY, which thankfully did not involve any heavy traffic.  One more night of sleep away from home, then 18 holes Friday and then I can get home, see me bride and hopefully get some rest!

 

Deepdale Golf Club, August 14, 2014:  In 1924 William K. Vanderbilt II commissioned C. B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor to convert part of his estate in Lake Success, NY (just east of the Queens County/Nassau County line) into a private golf course for his use.  Shortly thereafter Vanderbilt’s friends convinced him to make this new course part of a small elite private club, which would be closer to New York City and more accessible than some of the great clubs of Long Island further east (in today’s vernacular, it sounds like they convinced Vanderbilt to “downsize”).  That club became Deepdale Golf Club and was incorporated on October 26, 1924.

 

Fast forward about 30 years and plans were announced for the building of a major expressway (which would become part of the Interstate Highway System) to be known as the Long Island Expressway or I-495 eventually stretching some 70 miles from the western end of Queens at the entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel to Riverhead, NY (just northwest of the Hamptons).  I well recall the building of the LIE in the late 1950’s as it replaced a major throughfare formerly known as Horace Harding Blvd.  Believe it or not, this was important golf territory in the 1930’s.  There were four “majors” played in Queens prior to WWII:

 

            --1930 PGA Championship, Fresh Meadow CC (Post #14)

            --1932 US Open, Fresh Meadow CC

            --1939 PGA Championship, Pomonok CC

 

Fresh Meadow was located about 5 miles west of the original Deepdale GC, and Pomonock was about one mile further west.  Both were located on Horace Harding Blvd and Pomonock was about 0.5 from Kissena Golf Course, the NYC muni on which I played most of my early golf.  Shortly after WW II, Pomonock disbanded and Fresh Meadow sold its Queens location (to Met Life who built a shopping center and housing complex) and moved five miles east to Lake Success (near the original Deepdale).

 

Note…if this feels like it is getting tedious, stick with it…it will provide some interesting insights into New York politics in the 1950’s and beyond.

 

Now I need to step back into the 1920’s and 1930’s, when Robert Moses ruled the roost in NYC and NYC.  The following I learned from a fascinating book, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro, published in the 1970’s.  Moses was named head of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority which ended up building New York’s road system, Jones Beach and other City and State parks, etc…literally public works costing some $27 billion.  Caro explains a few of Moses’ more interesting transactions.  The routing of the Northern State Parkway through Nassau County was altered to avoid impacts on the estates and clubs (apparently particularly Wheatley Hills Country Club) of some of Moses’ friends.  If you look at a map of Nassau County, note how the Northern State Parkway suddenly heads south for about 2 miles before turning eastbound again.  Caro makes some interesting calculations regarding the amount of excess gasoline used annually by cars on this route.  Caro also claims that Moses, a Democrat, purposely built the Long Island parkways with low overpasses so that blacks could not use bus transportation to get to NYS parks such as Jones Beach.  Obviously, since Moses was a Democrat, such a claim must be summarily dismissed.  Seriously…go read the book as it is brilliant.

 

Back to Deepdale.  When the LIE was being routed, Moses was on his way out and could not control the LIE’s routing.  Unfortunately for the club, the LIE was routed directly through the original Deepdale GC property and the club purchased the Grace estate located about ½ mile from the original course, and hired Dick Wilson to build a new course on the estate, using the original Grace home as a clubhouse.  Deepdale moved to this new location in 1955 and has now been there for some 65 years.  Deepdale’s original course was sold to the Village of Lake Success and some of the original Deepdale is incorporated in the Village Club of Lake Success, which I played once in 1986 with an old friend of my parents Sid Nadworny, who was a member.

 

Interestingly, many golf courses move locations around Nassau County in the late 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s as a result of the rapid growth on LI after WW II and the construction of the LIE, including the following:

 

            --Deepdale’s move in 1955 as described above;

            --Fresh Meadow’s move from Queens and purchase of the financially troubled Lakeville CC in 1946;

            --Glen Oaks’ CC move of about 8 miles east from Lake Success to Old Westbury, NY, also necessitated by the building of the LIE.

 

Deepdale has only appeared on some recent GolfWeek USA Top 200 Classic lists, including a high of #101 in 2012 and most recently #125 in 2020.  It has not hosted any important national events but since 1972 has hosted three Met Am’s.

 

Now to the golf course.  One would doubt that Dick Wilson could design a golf course equal to one designed and built by Macdonald and Raynor…and one would be right!  This is a good golf course generally in phenomenal condition…but far from great.  Its architecture is somewhat repetitive and uninspiring.  On the other hand, the club is superb.  Very exclusive and private and filled with all of NY’s movers and shakers…today’s business, political, media, sports, and entertainment power brokers.  But, not my cup of tea, and the feeling may be mutual (no invitation to join has been received since my visit).  Am pleased I finally had the chance to play it.  I had a 44 – 41 = 85 and could not sink a putt (left two long ones just short and hanging on the edge).  Played with Fergal O. (another G2C2 member) and two mutual friends from Cape Cod (Kevan G. and Alex D.), who moved on the Garden City for an afternoon round.  I headed north and happily arrived home around 5:30.  Got out of bed Saturday morning around 10:30 (am I think!).

 

So now stand at 1240 courses played with lots left to go.  Travel in the immediate future will be limited as MA has placed restrictions on returning to MA from almost anyplace but the northeast, and I at most have 10-12 courses in the northeast on my high priority list!  

144. Finger Lakes Region Upstate NY and Manchester, VT

 

144.  Finger Lakes Region Upstate NY and Manchester, VT

Black Rock Country Club, July 24, 2020:  After returning from my KY-WV-PA-OU journey on July 10, I played Brookline a few times over the following two weeks.  Then on Friday July 24 I played Black Rock Golf Club in Hingham MA, about 12 miles from our MA home.  I had a long outstanding invitation to play Black Rock from Tyler H., whom (or is it who?...no I think whom) I had hosted at Brookline in 2013.  Normally on this Friday in late July I would be playing in Brookline’s stroke play qualifying for its Super Senior Match Play Championship, but it seemed very clear to me that I would almost certainly not qualify for the Golf Medal matches (4 qualify) as my game simply was not ready.  Hopefully I will be ready next year but if not, it has been a good and fun run.

 

Black Rock was designed by Brian Silva (2002) and sits next door to Boston Golf Club (designed by Gil Hanse), which was built about the same time.  I found it simply amazing that this much contiguous land (about 800 acres) located less than 20 miles from downtown Boston would have been undeveloped 20 years ago.  It is also interesting that both architects are better known for their renovations and restorations than original designs.

 

Black Rock has never been on any of the USA Top 100’s or 200’s that I follow, but it has been included in thew GolfWeek Merged USA Top 400 (200 Modern and 200 Classic) six times, with a merged high of #208.  I should note that it is not included in the recently released GW 2020 lists.  

 

It was built in a former quarry and that is very evident from the topography which I think is a “net add” to the course.  The best hole IMO is #4, a 563 yards par 5 with as green set within a large punchbowl…with a downslope of about 60 yards in front of a very large green.  This is one of many blind shots here…but I find blind shots to be fun.  Other good holes are #3, 8, and 11.  Overall I would consider this to be a good course…but not better than that due to the large number of homes lining each fairway which results in long distances from green to tee. 

 

The course measures 6960 yards from the tips (par 71); I played from 5536 yards and had a 45-40 = 85.

 

Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at Cornell University, July 30, 2020:  My to do list included 7 courses in upstate NY, including three in Buffalo and two in Rochester.  But that was too long a trip given other obligations so I cut it in half, with a plan to play the Buffalo and Rochester courses later and the closer two now.  This day started with the alarm going off at 4am and my departure at about 5am, on my way to visit Cornell University in Ithaca NY (near the Finger Lakes).  This drive would be about 5:45 heading directly west from Boston.

 

Cornell is of course a member of the Ivy League and the game of golf has seen better days with the Ivies.  First, Brown University (Providence, RI) dropped golf as a varsity sport.  Second, Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH) announced it was dropping golf as a varsity sport and announced it was closing its on campus 18-hole golf course.  Third, the golf world is filled with chatter regarding the condition of the Yale Golf Course, considered by many (including yours truly) as one of the game’s absolute architectural gems (see Post #18).  I also noted the loss of Seth Raynor features at Hotchkiss Golf Course when I played that 9-holer two months ago (Post #142).   As someone who understands the game of golf, the effort required to properly maintain a course, and who served for ten years as a trustee of the nation’s largest research university (MIT) I thought I could add something to the discussion on GolfClubAtlas.com regarding this subject.  So last month I posted some comments regarding the conditions at the Yale Course (basically saying that universities have a mission to educate and it is unreasonable to assume they can understand what it takes the maintain a golf course…and advocating  that universities should spin off these courses to allow them to grow and improve under proper management).  Let me just say I was roundly roasted for such a position…so I guess those who responded keep beating their heads against brick walls even after their heads hurt.   Who knows?  My round at Cornell this day would do nothing but reinforce my previous thoughts.

 

Anyhow, I should not have been surprised by what I saw at Cornell.  No (and I mean zero) sand in the bunkers, fairways with little or no grass.  Greens were OK, but little else was.  I was here because in 1961 it hosted the US Boy’s Junior Championship.  While he completed his studies at Cornell, Robert Trent Jones designed and built 9 of the course’s holes (around 1941), and the other nine were completed in 1954.  The course’s official name is the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at Cornell University.

 

I had a 43 - 40 = 83 and frankly was glad to put this one in the rear-view mirror.  All I can say is we would never let a bunch of golf professionals run a major university, so why does anyone believe some educators can operate a golf course.  Simply nuts!  Spin it off!

 

I finished the round just before 2pm and then drove just over 2 hours to Cooperstown, home of Baseball’s Hall of Fame!

 

Leatherstocking Golf Course, July 30, 2020:  I had been to the Hall of Fame some 60 years ago while at summer camp but not since.  Cooperstown is a beautiful small town at the southern tip of Otsego Lake.  Leatherstocking is part of The Otesaga Resort Hotel and is a very very good and fun golf course, built on land seemingly carved out thousands of years ago by glaciers just so a good course could be built here…with the help of architect Devereux Emmet in 1909.  For 15 holes, the land heaves thereby eliminating any flat lies and forcing the player to think hard about how to play these holes.  The last 2.5 holes (downhill  then flat par 4/flat par 3/flat par 5 consecutively) lie along the lake’s edge and while seemingly this would not “fit” with the first 15.5 …they seem to fit quite well and provide a fun finish.  

 

The course has been included on GW’s Top 200 classic course three times, most recently as #198 in 2019…as such it is on my Merged GW 400 list.  Yes, just made it but worth a visit…and you might even want to visit the Hall of Fame (even though the Dodgers left Brooklyn over 60 years ago!!

 

In any case, I was able to play the full 18 before sunset (and it was a gorgeous day and evening), and then drove about 2:15 to a hotel in NYS about 20 miles west of Manchester, VT, arriving around 10:30 pm, nearly exhausted!  Oh…had a 41 – 38 = 79, including fun birdies on the #1 handicap up-hill 7^th and by holing out from the grass filled depression in front of the 13^th hole.

 

Equinox Golf Course, July 31, 2020:   Drove just over 2 hours and stopped at a motel just on the NY side of the VT/NY line…not wanting to stay overnight in VT due to their COVID restrictions.  It was 10:30 by the time I got settled in the room and given that I had started the day leaving our house at 5am, I was just a bit tired.  But tomorrow would just be 18 holes and then a drive home (drive from motel to course in morning was to be about 25 minutes).  

 

Equinox Golf Course is part of a resort (The Equinox) located in the center of Manchester VT.  It was originally designed by Walter Travis and completed in 1927, about 28 years after Travis completed the building of Ekwanok Golf Club’s 18-hole course (Post #18), which lies contiguous and just to the south of Equinox.  Ekwanok is a very exclusive and very private club and is no question one of the most fun courses in the Northeastern part of the USA, sitting in an incredibly peaceful and idyllic setting.  Equinox sits in a wonderful setting as well…but the comparison is a little unfair…just as comparing a sister of Audrey Hepburn to Audrey Hepburn.

 

The small but perfectly set clubhouse sits close ot the cenbter of the Village of Manchester and above the 1^st, 9^th, 10^thand 18^th holes on top of a hill with the rest of the golf course stretching out to the east and north.  It plays to 6423 yards (par 71) and underwent a total redesign by Rees Jones and Greg Muirhead in 1992.  While I never played Equinox prior to 1992, I sense that this redesign did not enhance the golf course, but of course, who knows.  I was here because Equinox was included in the 1966 Golf Digest 200 Toughest list, listed as “Gleneagles”, a former name for the course.  In fact, the “feeling” around Manchester is quite reminiscent of the superb Scottish “Gleneagles” resort located in Perthshire (Post #100). 

 

My game was awful on the front nine but I did play well on the back (46 – 39 = 85).  After the round I met with John H., a member of Ekwanok whose father was a former president of the USGA and a good friend of a now deceased old boss and friend from Citibank, Bill Spencer.  Then it was off to Milton, MA (a drive of about 3:30).

143. Visit to KY/WV/PA/OH

143.  Visit to KY/WV/PA/OH

 

This trip came about because of a planned meeting (and round of golf) of the Board of Global Golf Centurions Club (GGCC) at Oakmont CC.  The meeting and golf round were scheduled for July 8 and 9 so I built an itinerary around that base.  Then, one week before the trip, Oakmont was informed by a guest who had stayed overnight that he had tested positive for COV-19.  As a result, our stay and meeting were cancelled by Oakmont and the golf cancelled by us.  I was already booked for a bunch of other courses so decided to proceed with a revised itinerary.

 

Spring Valley Golf Club, July 5, 2020:  I set my alarm for 3:15am Sunday morning July 5 in order to catch a 6am flight to Lexington KY (with a connection in Charlotte, NC).  Both flights were fairly full and both arrived early which eased the pressure of a tight connection.  During the late 1990’s I traveled to Lexington several times to visit one of Atlantis Plastic’s plants located there.  It is the center of Kentucky’s horse country and the area is filled with spectacular horse farms.  A beautiful charming city.

 

Spring Valley was built on a former dairy farm in 1949 and two years later on July 4, 1951, Ben Hogan played in an exhibition match there, with a high school golf star named Gay Brewer, Jr caddying for him.   Brewer went on to win the Masters in 1967, and finished second in the 1976 Westchester Classic Pro-Am while playing with moi.  Small world of golf again!

 

 I was here because Spring Valley made its way onto Golf Digest’s first two “lists”, the 1966 and 1967 200 Toughest in USA.  Originally designed by Buck Blankenship, their website claims that Keith Foster was involved with its restoration.  I will simply say that the course shows zero signs of ever being restored, and certainly not by an architect of Keith Foster’s caliber.   The course today is 6735 yards from the tips and is fairly hilly.  My game was set up by a fellow panelist, Phil S. who lives in KY and previous set me up at Olde Stone and had arranged my game at Keene Trace for this afternoon. About two years ago Phil was my guest at Brookline.  My hosts said the course had recently been purchased by a real estate developer and most people assumed it had a maximum of two years left…but who knows.  It is a slightly better than average golf course…but certainly not a “200 toughest”.  Good to have in one’s rear view mirror.  I had a lackluster 45-42 = 87 playing from 5873 yards (par 72).

 

Keene Trace Golf Club (Champion Trace), July 5, 2020: Keene Trace is a large club with 36 holes.  Its Champions course currently hosts the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship, which normally would have been played this year July 16-19 opposite The Open Championship, but both were cancelled due to the COVID Pandemic.  It was on my high priority list as it had hosted the USGA’s Senior Amateur Championship in 1994.  It was completed in 1987 and designed by Arthur Hills.  With a fairly late start (4:30pm) I needed to play quickly which was no problem as the course was relatively empty and two groups quickly waved me through.  The course is similar to many courses built around a real estate plan in the 1980’s and as such has long distances from green to next tee.  It’s difficultly is a function of well protected greens and fairways and deep rough.  It has never been on a USA Top 100 or Top 200.

 

I hit the ball well this afternoon with a 38-42 = 80…but it needs to be noted that I played from 5241 yards.  This would prove to be the first of six straight days with temperatures in the 90’s and (I think) humidity in the same range.  No surprise given where I was and of course I used a cart everywhere…and stayed very hydrated.

 

After the round I drove past Louisville to the Fort Knox area where I was scheduled to play Lindsey Golf Course first thing Monday before heading north to Cincinnati.

 

Fort Knox Lindsey Golf Course, July 6, 2020:  If you are from my generation you cannot forget the James Bond movie “Goldfinger”, which was the third and by far the most extreme from a technology standpoint…at that time.  Its success set up a trend that IMHO eventually ruined the Bond movies as they became too extreme.  While the golf in “Goldfinger” was filmed at England’s Stoke Park Golf Club (I have not played), in was meant to be England’s Royal St. George’s (which was supposed to be hosting the Open Championship this week…but will do so instead in a year).  Major portions of the film were made at Fort Knox…and you will remember this building (the gold depository) which lies just 200 yards (and lots of barbed wire fences) south of Lindsey’s 3^rd tee (see next page).

 

Suffice it to say that the gold depository was the highlight of my visit.  Lindsey was built in 1933 and designed by Buck Blankenship and Morgan Boggs.  Byron Nelson triumphed in the 1943 Kentucky Open conducted here.    I could hardly wait to get the round finished (I teed off just before 8am and was done by 10:05).  USA 200 Toughest in 1966 (but not included in 1967)…supposedly.  But not very good or tough today.

 

 

To this point I would guess that Lindsey was the worst of the 1966/67 courses (about 250)…but with about 80 more to play, that position is not secure.  No one to blame but myself…I chose this bucket list!  Ended up with a 43 – 46 = 89 as interest in the round waned…  Course is 6796 yards (par 72) from the tips and my tees were 6043 yards…long for me these days.

 

After round purchased some food supplies for my drive to Cincinnati and Terrace Park…which has to be better.

 

Terrace Park Country Club, July 6, 2020:  The drive to Terrace Park took about 2:40.  Course was a major step up…meaning reasonably good.  Stretches to 6858 yards; I played a ”hybrid “ course from 5544 yards.  Given how hilly the topography of Cincinnati is, I was surprised by Terrace Park’s topography…front nine was very flat on a “plateau,” and the back nine sits on another plateau about 40’ lower than the front.  The club was founded in 1910 and moved to its present location in 1931.  Several other websites claim its architect was Arthur Hills but I have my doubts, given that Hills was born in 1930…makes me a bit suspicious.  I fired a 41 -45 = 86 clearly showing signed of tiredness on the back.  This was another of the 1966/67 Golf Digest lists…it was on both.  Overall a good course with well protected greens, although bunkers are a bit shallow.

 

Hurried through my last few holes to finish before threatening clouds got much closer and just made it in time.  About 10 seconds after loading my car and leaving the club’s parking lot, it started raining fairly hard…not surprising as this was another day with 90+ degree heat and high humidity.

 

The drive to Huntington WV (just across the OH-WV state line) would take about 2:45 and include a stretch of about 5 miles when I was moving about 30mph through brutal thunderstorms and 40+ mph winds.  Not fun at all but got through it with no harm.

 

Guyan Golf & Country Club, July 7, 2020:  I am ashamed to admit that I did not know anything about this club prior to planning this trip.  I planned a visit simply because Guyan hosted the 1977 US Girl’s Junior Championship.  When researching the club while planning the trip, I learned that Guyan had been William Campbell’s home club for some 87 years…no typo there (although given he passed away at age 90 in 2013, it is not totally clear how he became a club member at age 3).  Guyan’s clubhouse has a room that houses his collection of trophies and the following plaque sits at its entrance…read it carefully as it is mind boggling.  If you have doubts about his playing ability, please note that as an amateur, Mr. Campbell (as he is universally referred to at the club):

 

            -finished tied for 23^rd and 34^th at the US Open at the respective ages of 31 and 41;

            -finished tied for 36^th and 38^th at the Masters at the respective ages of 42 and 44;

            -won the US Amateur at the age of 41 and reached its semi-finals at the age of 50.

 

About everyone in West Virginia refers to him as the finest gentleman they had ever met.

 

 

 

The course is extremely hilly with close to zero flat lies, and is fun to play.  I played from its Green tees (5034 yards par 71) and started off with a double bogey 7 on #1 followed by three bogey 5’s and holes 2-4…then played two over par on holes 5-17 before finishing with a bogey on #18 for a 41 – 38 = 79, not too shabby for an old man with a rebuilt heart!! Drove it very well (hitting 11 of 14 fairways…and was in right rough on the other three drives) but still pretty short.  Net net...cannot complain.  After the round talked with Guyan’s GM, Allan Thatcher, and received a full tour of the clubhouse.  Allan is a retired businessman and a member of the club who was asked to serve as GM a few years ago and loves it as a part time gig!

 

The club opened for play in 1922, designed by Herb Strong.  Strong had emigrated from England to the USA in 1905 having caddied at Royal St. George’s in the 1890’s.  In 1916 he was one of the organizers of what became the PGA, and was its initial Secretary-Treasurer.  Upon arriving in the New York area, he soon became head pro at The Apawamis Club in Rye NY.  Caddying and playing at Sandwich and then serving as HP at Apawamis made Strong quite comfortable designing courses in very hilly areas.  Among these are Canterbury CC (OH), Saucon Valley CC (PA), and four in the NYC area…Engineers CC, Metropolis CC, Nassau CC, and Inwood CC.  Five of those six are built are hilly terrain and all are masterfully designed...as is Guyan.

 

 

Berry Hills Country Club, July 7, 2020:  After an easy 50-mile drive directly east to Charleston, I arrived at Berry Hills for my afternoon round.  Berry Hills opened in 1952 and was designed by William Gordon who also designed The Stanwich Club (CT) and Saucon Valley (Grace) (PA).  Berry Hills was on the Golf Digest 200 Toughest lists in both 1966 and 1967, and with its trouble right on most holes probably deservedly so.

 

I had been forewarned that Berry Hills’ topography was more extreme than Guyan’s and that there is tons of trouble if you hit it right.  I played  a self-designed “hybrid” course (White/Gold tees) totaling 5460 yards (par 70).  Hit 11 of 13 fairways and left rough on the other two…so avoided right side trouble.  Lost only one ball…and that was on left side of #13 costing me a double.  Ended up with a 42 – 39 = 81 which was pretty good.  Greens at both Guyan and Berry Hills were in excellent condition but a little slow (necessary to keep them alive in the continued 90+ degree heat).

 

Had a good chance to chew the fat with head pro Barry Evans…very very good player (prior WV Open Champ and National Club Pro Champ).  

 

Overall…good day in WV.  Was pulled off course at Berry Hills for about 30 minutes due to thunderstorms but no problem getting the 18 completed.  Now have played eight courses in WV with my favorites being Pete Dye GC, Greenbrier (Old White) (Post #1001), and Guyan.  Pikewood National (played in 2013 before this blog commenced) has been pretty high on Golf Digest’s USA 100 Greatest for reasons I cannot understand. 

 

Drive north to Pittsburgh took about 3:30 and would be the last really long drive of the trip.  Arrived at hotel around 8:40pm, leaving just enough time to pick up some dinner (take-out of course) from a nearby restaurant!  During second half of drive I could see big thunderstorms hitting the Pittsburgh area.

 

Allegheny Country Club, July 8, 2020:  When we set up the round and board meeting at Oakmont (Post #18), I planned to play three courses in the Pittsburgh area on my various bucket lists (Allegheny CC, St Clair Golf Club, and Sewickley Heights Golf Club)…having already played Oakmont, Fox Chapel (Post #18), Pittsburgh Field Club (Post #60), and Sunnehanna (Post #115).  I should add that I played Laurel Valley three times in 1986…and heard from two different people that most of the trees have been removed from Laurel Valley and the course is now fast and firm and hugely improved; but no extra time available this week.

 

I met Fergal O’Leary (who stayed at the same hotel) for breakfast and we took separate cars to the club (he was heading to Cleveland airport for his flight after our round).  As we neared the club, the estates grew larger and more impressive.  And ACC, with its magnificent clubhouse shortly loomed on the horizon.  The only word for the locker room is “classic”. And the course is a perfect match.  I had heard about the club from our former neighbors in Pinehurst, Steve and Becky Smith, who were members here when they lived in Pittsburgh.

 

During my two years in Pittsburgh for business school (1966-1968) I have never heard of or been to the area where Allegheny CC and Sewickley Heights GC are located, and this was my first visit to this area 14 miles NW of downtown Pittsburgh.  All I can say is WOW!!

 

The club was founded in 1895 and originally golf was played on a six-hole course, which was expanded to 9 holes the next year.  By 1902 the club had moved to Sewickley and a new course designed by Tom Bendelow.  By 1913 Donald Ross was consulting for the club and his redesigned course opened in 1928.  Ross continued to tinker with the course and finished his last changes in 1945 shortly after the conclusion of WW II.  In more recent years, the club retained Gil Hanse to complete a major renovation of the golf course.  

 

The golf course sits on three pieces of property that are separated by small country roads…reminding me somewhat of layout for Ocean Links in Newport, RI in the early 1900’s.  With almost all of the trees gone, the turf quality is superb and the vistas magnificent.   It is simply great fun to play…and the greens make the course pretty damn tough despite its relatively short length (6581 yards par 70).  The terrain was fairly hilly…but seemed almost flat compared with West Virginia.  The course, despite heavy thunderstorms the day before (the ones I saw during my drive north) played firm and fast.  Big wide fairways give the player lots of options that change dramatically with pin position changes on these very tough greens…so pick your option but think about it first…the green slopes mean death if you end up on the wrong side!

 

We played with John Aber, ACC’s head pro (whose father had been a member of CCNC before passing away a few years ago), and Chris W., a member whose father, Craig, a former club champ and president, followed us in a cart and was most helpful to me in negotiating this superb track.  Fergal, Chris and John played from 6581 and I played from 5548 yards.  The weather and the company were simply perfect and the setting even better.  All in all a superb morning…even better than yesterday morning at Ft Knox!  Oh...my score was 42 – 46 = 88.  Actually hit the ball better on the back nine but the back is 450 yards longer than the front (212 from my tees).

 

St. Clair Golf Club, July 8, 2020:  After a quick lunch at ACC Fergal headed to Cleveland’s airport and I headed south about 15 miles to St. Clair GC.  As soon as I arrived it was clear to me that this would be a long afternoon…the course was jammed with foursomes off every 10 minutes.  I teed off as a single and prepared to wait on almost every hole.  Amazing what COVID has done for the popularity of this game worldwide.

 

St. Clair was founded in 1916 and moved to this location in 1954.  The course was designed by William and David Gordon and then renovated by Keith Foster in 2007.  Again, very hilly plus filled with about 5 water hazards.  It is a good but not great course that could use some tree removal and less watering…at least IMHO.  Contrast with ACC is simply stark…few options here…one way to play each hole (that doesn’t necessarily make it easy, but it certainly does not add to the thinking and fun factors).   The front nine moved reasonably well (about 1:50) but the back nine slowed to a crawl (2:20).  But I got it done and off the unplayed bucket list.  I was very tired by the end of the round, and never bothered to keep score (might have been too tired to count that high).  Was certainly looking forward to getting back to the hotel and a shower.   Four straight days now above 90 was starting to get to me.

 

Fox Chapel Golf Club (just viewing), July 9, 2020:  I have had the joy of playing Fox Chapel twice…in 2013 and 2015 (Post #18).  IMO it is one of Seth Raynor’s great works…perhaps his 2^nd best parkland track (Camargo is about impossible to beat).  Right now it is in the midst of a renovation (I believe its second in the last 8 years) directed by Tom Marzolf, focusing primarily on greens and bunkers.  Late start because of COVID but good weather is allowing them to catch up. Watch for this puppy to move up in the ratings game.  It suffers from only one incurable issue…it rests in the shadow of Oakmont!

 

Sewickley Heights Golf Club, July 9, 2020:  Boy, an hour riding around Fox Chapel in a cart and then just 18 holes of play…this is like a day off, and I needed it.  I arrived early but the club was fairly deserted and was able to tee off early…until thunder storms rolled in as I was about to step on the 1^st tee.  That delayed play about 1:15 minutes which gave me a good chance to chat with head pro David Malatak.

 

First some history…the club was founded in 1961 under the leadership of Bud Semple.  If that name rings a bell, it is probably because of Bud’s daughter, Carol Semple-Thompson, perhaps the most accomplished women amateur player in US history (and a long-term member of Alleghany CC).  Bud Semple also served as President of the USGA from 1971-1974.  The club’s architect was Jim Harrison who also designed Warwick Hills (MI) (Post #111) and Tannenhauf Golf Course (OH) (keep reading this post for about another 2 minutes).  In both 1966 and 1967 Sewickley Heights was included in Golf Digest’s 200 Toughest.

 

It became clear with the first hole that this might be the hilliest course of the trip…also the course with the best bunkering by far (perhaps too difficult for the average club player…but simply beautiful and superbly shaped).  By the second hole I wondered why one would build holes #1 and #2 with almost identical shapes and slopes…and then later see the same thing on holes #10 and #11.  Additionally, the greens at Sewickley Heights are some of the biggest greens I have ever played…and in superb condition.  

 

As I approached what I thought was the 13^th tee, the warning siren went off again and it was back to the clubhouse…and I then realized that I was saved by the bell (or siren), as the tee was the 18^th!  Anyhow, this delay lasted 1:45 and I was just starting to think I would not get this finished when the all clear sounded and I zipped back out to finish…and finish I did with a very good birdie on #18 for a 43-40 = 83.  I played the forward tees (5497 yards par 71) and hit the ball very well.  Game coming around but still very short and unsure of distances.

 

Head Pro David M. told me to be sure to look for the huge mansion (supposedly 35,000 sq ft recently completed nearby and visible from the 16the hole…see picture below).  Or is that Disneyland?

 

 

Drive to Alliance OH would take 90 minutes…just one more day left with a forecast of thunderstorms starting at 11am.  And as a reminder, when I arrived at my hotel, it had no elevators or wi-fi as the building had been hit by lightning two nights earlier.

 

Tannenhauf Golf Club, July 10, 2020:  Tannenhauf GC is in Alliance, Ohio, about 15 miles SE of Akron.  I have played a fair amount of golf in this area …mostly between 1967 and 1980 with my very good friend from business school, Dale Johnson.  Dale grew up in Warren, Ohio (20-25 miles NE of Alliance) and worked there for General Motors.  For a good number of years we would do home-and-home trips to New York and northeast Ohio playing the best courses in both regions (here including Oakmont, Firestone South, Firestone North, Canterbury, Muirfield Village, Avalon Lakes, and Sharon Golf Club).  Dale was a scratch player with the best short game I ever saw…and a great great guy.  Sadly, in about 1998 Dale was killed in an accident while jogging in Mexico City on assignment with GM.  

 

I can assure you that Dale never mentioned Tannenhauf as a candidate for playing, despite its vaulted status being included on Golf Digest’s first ever list (200 Toughest) in 1966.  By the way, at most of the courses on this trip that appeared on either or both 200 Toughest lists, the head pro or manager was unaware of this and I was able to email them a pdf of both lists and the accompanying articles.

 

Tannenhauf was built on a family owned dairy farm in 1959 and designed by Jim Harrison and Fred Garbin.  It is still run today by the same family, and I had the chance to meet the grandson of the farmer who converted the farm to the golf course.  The terrain here is very flat, with slight hills on 8 of the holes (mostly from a 20 yard wide and 10 foot deep culvert that runs through the property) and the other 10 holes are flat as pancakes.  The fairways are tree lined (trees probably planted some 60 years ago) and mostly straight (about 5 doglegs).  The greens are circular, have no overall slope, and very little mounding or breaks of any kind.  

 

I teed of around 6:50am and my bogeys on holes 2, 3, and 6 were partially offset by good birdies on 4 and 8, yielding a one over 37 for the front nine (the course measures 6694 par 72 from the tips and I was playing from 5546 yards).  After the birdie on #8 I realized this might be my perfect chance to final shoot my age…but I tried like hell to keep focused on the task at hand and “stay in the present”.  Bogies on # 12 and #14 (a long par 4) were followed by birdies on #13 and the short downhill par 3 15^th hole…bringing me back to one over with three holes to play…and needing to finish at no more than three over.  My drive on the par 5 16^th caught the left rough and I could not get home in three…and the 17^this a longish par 4 where my drive also just caught the left rough.  So I stood now on the 18^th tee needing a simple par…and hit a good drive leaving myself 111 yards to the pin…normally a 9 iron but after my surgery I chose an 8 and hit it real good…and was shocked to see it land and then stop dead 4 yards short of the green and probably 40 feet from the hole.  The entire course was almost rock hard and nothing but this shot stop quickly all-round long.  You for sure know the rest of the story…I got my third straight bogey and my 76…and went looking once again for my birth certificate to make a small adjustment!!  Close but no cigar for about the 4^th time!!  This one being my first real choke…or bad break.  One of these days…

 

The Mayfield Sand Ridge Club (Mayfield), July 10, 2020:  After a 45-minute drive I was in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland.  In 2006 Mayfield Golf Club, which dates back to 1909 merged with the Tom Fazio designed (completed in 1998) Sand Ridge Golf Club and now operate as one club with two campuses and two very different golf courses…but both very good.  I played Sand Ridge in 2015 (Post #17).  I was at Mayfield this day because back in 1920 it hosted the 24^th US Women’s Amateur (won by Alexa Stirling…her second of three straight Championships).  Mayfield was designed by Bertie Way, who also built Firestone-South in Akron.  

 

This course is loaded with blind shots and fun funky holes…totally different from Sand Ridge (and frankly IMO better as well).  It obviously can be frustrating for someone negotiating it for the first time, but I am a big believer in the old Scottish saying “a shot is only blind once.”  

 

From the tips Mayfield plays 6697 yards par 71 and I played from its Gold Tees (5479 yards).  I had a solid 39 – 41 = 80 sinking a ton of putts on their very good greens.  I played quickly (the course was fairly empty) as the skies were threatening all afternoon…and I wanted to get this one done and complete the trip’s 11 rounds on 11 courses.  I had been able to tee off early and was finished by 2:15pm, despite confusion over the routing resulting in my playing the last 5 holes in the following order (14, 18, 15, 16, 17…and actually replaying #1 after 18 but that is too long a story).  So it was done...all 11 courses (199 holes including playing Mayfield's #1 twice), plus driving some 979 miles.

 

Happily I was able to shower at the club (with my own soap and an individually packaged bath towel) before heading to Hopkins airport in Cleveland…for a flight leaving at about 9pm.  I thought about going over to play Canterbury…a favorite track…but actually showed a bit of wisdom and relaxed at the airport instead.  

 

Upon landing at Boston, I took a Uber ride home and discovered that the Uber pick up and drop off spot had been moved to central parking…a 10 minute walk from baggage claim…effectively killing Uber and Lyft as services for Logan Airport.  Once again, the bureaucrats who control the taxi industry destroy a better form of competition and the consumer loses…but the bureaucrats keep power!!  Other than that, it was great to get home…no golf for the next 3 days as I was exhausted.

 

***********************************

Current status:

 

Total courses played: 1,230

High priority to play: 31 

to reclimb World Top 100 EVER for another time,

finish Golf Digest Top 200 USA EVER

finish Golf Week Top 100 Classic and Top 100 Modern EVER,

finish all Women’s Major and Senior Major sites EVER,

finish all USGA Senior Am sites EVER

finish World Golf Championships sites EVER

Then 23 more to finish US Junior Championships EVER

Then 73 to finish Golf Digest 1966/67 200 Toughest

Then 68 to finish USGA Women’s Am, Mid-Am, Senior Am and Girl’s Junior…to complete USGA current championships sites EVER.

 

TOTAL of 195 to go!!!!!...plus any new ones that crop up…finish by end 2022?  doable if stay healthy!!

 

No rest for the weary…

142. Last Six Months or so…

142.  Last Six Months or so…

 

They say time flies when things are going well…in that case, parts of the last six months took forever but other parts whizzed by.   Last time you heard from me was December 24, 2019.  My last round of golf was at Forest Creek (North) on December 9, and I only played 11 holes, finishing off by sinking a six-footer for par on 18.  

 

Two days later I was scheduled for a heart catherization at Duke Hospital during which both my cardiologist, Dr. J Kevin Harrison, MD and I expected that I would require replacement for two stents I had received about five years earlier.  This procedure was viewed as relatively low risk and was made necessary by some angina symptoms I had experienced over the prior couple of weeks (and explains why I only played 11 holes on 12/9).  During that catherization my cardiologist discovered conditions that were much worse than expected…and appropriately stopped the procedure so that we could discuss alternatives.  Pat was there with me during these discussions and they were fairly frank and clear.  My Left Anterior Descending (“LAD”) (aka “The Widow Maker”) artery was 80% blocked with highly calcified blockage.  So my choices were (1) highly risky attempt to stent the LAD (and other arteries), or (2) very difficult Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (“CABG”) surgery.  While it was clear that I did not need to have the surgery in the next few days, waiting more than a couple of months was certainly not advisable.  

 

Fortunately, the heart surgeon Dr. Harrison recommended (Dr. Carmelo Milano, MD) had some free time that afternoon and was able to review my prior tests and sit down with us.  Dr. Milano was very forthcoming and said he could successfully perform the surgery but the recovery would be long and arduous due to my prior open chest surgery and 25 radiation treatments in 1998.  After numerous consultations with family, friends, and medical advisors, the decision became obvious and bypass surgery was scheduled for the morning of January 21 at Duke.

 

The surgery itself took over six hours and both Dr. Harrison and Dr Milano advised that it went very well…with solid by passes constructed around my LAD, Right Coronary Artery, and Ramus Arteries.  Pat was there and seemed very much more at ease with the surgery successfully completed.  The two words that stuck in my head were “long” and “arduous”, both of which had been used by Dr. Milano 2-3 weeks earlier to describe my likely recovery process.

 

The biggest post-surgery surprise was that instead of losing weight, I had gained about 10 pounds.  One look at my legs showed why…fluid retention, which would be a major battle once my blood pressure rose enough (and the risk of dehydration was past) for me to take diuretic medicines.  They released me from the Intensive Care Unit the morning of January 23, and I was released from Duke Hospital on January 30.  Interestingly, once the diuretics started working around February 8 my weight simply peeled off.  In 79 days (2/8-4/28) I literally lost 41 pounds…and in the almost 10 weeks since then my weight has stayed within a 6-pound range.  That said I would not recommend bypass surgery as a weight reduction technique!

 

Suffice it to say that Dr. Milano’s forecast of a long and arduous recovery process proved to be correct…and of course about six weeks into it, the COVID pandemic crisis hit the USA hard.  Interestingly, in two ways the timing of my surgery was fairly fortunate.  First, six weeks later and surgery and recovery in any major hospital would have been more difficult due to COVID.  Secondly, in terms of missing golf and my crazy golf trips, having the most intense parts of my recovery overlapping with the most intense parts of COVID was not all bad… I certainly was not going to be traveling around the USA or world in March-May 2020 even if I had been perfectly healthy.

 

By the end of ApriI, I was walking approximately 1.5 miles per day (fairly flat land…ant hills seemed like and still seem like mountains to me) and on April 30 Dr. Harrison gave me permission to start hitting golf balls.  Three to four weeks earlier I had thought this would not come until June at the earliest…and possibly as late as July or August.  Anyhow, I wasted little time and on May 1 hit wedges at CCNC’s practice range for about 45 minutes.  By May 6 I had hit all the clubs in my bag and ventured out to play two holes (#1 and #18 on CCNC’s Cardinal course…for the record had a double bogey on #1 and a par on 18) and on May 12 playing with a cart managed to play 18 holes.  While I hit a few good shots, my game, especially my short game was fairly ugly, and my distance was zippo…probably lost 2-3 club lengths.  But I was as happy as the veritable pig in XXXX!!

 

Project Fescue

 

As you might know, having spare time on my hands can be dangerous.  In early April I started planning my remaining bucket list conquests, including thinking about new courses under construction and restorations/renovations currently planned and underway (to stay on top of currently completed bucket lists).  At that point I wasn’t fully confident would be playing much golf going forward but daydreaming helps one get through a pandemic and a major recovery.

 

I quickly realized there was no place to view a list of new course/renovation/restoration projects, and decided to try to build such a list.  My initial stab yielded a list of 9 projects which I knew had to be a very small percentage of the actual number.  So after asking for input from about 10 friends the number 9 grew to just over 250 today. 

 

If you are interested, go to https://fescue.github.io/ which reflects lots of work by a good friend from LA, Tom Brown and me.

 

Drive from Pinehurst to Milton, MA for Summer

By the second half of May, Pinehurst was starting to get warm and Pat and I were ready to head up to Massachusetts for the summer.  We both left Pinehurst on May 19.  She flew to Boston and I drove with the car stuffed to the gills for the next five months.  As usual I planned to play a bunch of bucket list courses along the way.  However, the COVID virus threw several wrenches into that plan.  First, in some states golf courses had just opened and in other states guest play was not allowed at private clubs.  Most importantly, with folks having been cooped up at home since mid-March, the opportunity to get out and play golf (in a relatively “safe” environment in terms of social distancing) combined with reduced “capacity” due to “one in a cart” rules and state imposed 15 minute spacing between tee times created some of the highest demand levels clubs have seen in 10 years.  As a result, almost all had imposed rules banning either unaccompanied guest play or at even any guest play…their first tees were too crowded.  Calling to see if I could play yielded the most rejections I have had since I tried to get a date for our high school senior prom!

 

Eventually I had a full dance card and was set for the trip.  One every pleasant result of the COVID virus was a huge reduction in traffic in I-95 (and everyplace else).  Even getting around Washington DC and New York City proved to be like early on a Sunday morning.  After some 585 miles of driving I pulled into my hotel in Dobbs Ferry, Westchester County around 7pm, pretty damn tired.  This was not a night I wanted to be up late and fortunately got right to sleep and slept fairly well that night.  Pat had an uneventful flight to Boston and was all set at home…I would be there in two days.

 

Scarsdale Golf Club, May 20, 2020:  My old club, Quaker Ridge GC is located on the eastern side of the Village of Scarsdale, but this morning I was scheduled to play Scarsdale GC which lies just west of Scarsdale in Hartsdale, NY.  The club was founded in 1898 and started with a nine-hole course designed by Willie Dunn, Jr.  Dunn had finished 2^nd at the initial US Open conducted at Newport CC in 1895.  He also designed Apawamis, the initial course at Shinnecock Hills, and six holes at Maidstone.  In 1900 nine more holes designed by Carl Fox, Scarsdale’s pro, expanded the course to 18 holes.  In 1924 A. W. Tillinghast was hired to redesign the course and that design is still in place.

 

I first played Scarsdale GC in 1976 as the guest of Alan Blitz.  Alan was IBM’s sales rep covering Citibank and I had known him since my first days in Citi’s Operating Group in 1971.  But to be honest, while I recalled the clubhouse setting and first hole (which back then had a row of weeping willow trees along the pond to the left of the first fairway), I did not recall much of the course.  About 2-3 years ago, Tyler Gosselin left his First Assistant professional position at Brookline to go to Scarsdale where he is head professional.  Tyler and I have stayed in touch since this move…having lived and played lots of golf in the New York area, I hope I have been helpful to Tyler and his wife Jess when they first navigated the often strange ways of NY.

 

My game this morning was fairly horrendous, and the numerous raised greens and tees on Scarsdale’s very hilly terrain was tough on my recuperating body even with the use of a cart.  Outside of three straight pars on holes 6-8, there is not much to write home about my golf game this morning, so I shall leave it at that.  But it is good to be back playing.

 

Scarsdale seemed like a very strong, cohesive club with a good golf course.  Its acreage is limited and as a result from back tees it is only 6350 yards…not that I even sniffed those tee boxes (I played from 5335 yards).   I had the strong sense that Tyler is doing very well here and is genuinely respected, appreciated and liked by the membership and his staff…and he seems quite happy which is great to see. 

 

Obviously because of COVID the clubhouse was closed up and except for golf and tennis the club was essentially closed…SOP everywhere.  After the round I thanked Tyler and headed northeast into Connecticut.

 

Country Club of Waterbury, May 20, 2020:  During my drive south in October 2019 I had tried to play Waterbury but it looked too busy given my schedule.  Frankly I do not recall who told me about it, but based on my round here this day…I owe that person a huge “thank you”.

 

CC of Waterbury had its start on the nine-hole West End Golf Links in the 1890’s.  By the end of the century, the Waterbury Golf Association was in place and within ten years became The Country Club of Waterbury officially in 1907.  Planning commenced for a new course on a 200-acre plot of land and Donald Ross was retained in 1927 to design and build the course., which opened September 15, 1928.

 

I arrived still fairly tired after my morning round and had to decide whether to proceed with my scheduled play.  Boy am I glad I decided “YES.”  While Waterbury is not a USA Top 100, it is a wonderful course…a true hidden gem.  This is a beautifully simple and clean Ross creation.  It plays very firm and fast and makes you think on every hole.  My favorite holes were 2, 6-8, 11, 13 and 16…but there is not a bad or ordinary one on the course.  No question my game was energized by seeing this track!  I had a 43-42 = 85 even finishing bogey, bogey, double bogey, bogey, double on 14-18 (might have been a little tired).

 

Built on wonderful rolling land (flat lies are rare finds here), and with beautifully sloping green surfaces, poorly thought out shots pay real penalties here…but safe avenues are available on all holes.  Tough but fair.  But the best part was the conditioning; without being manicured and over the top, it was as close to perfect as I have seen.  If you are in CT…get there!

 

Wampanoag Country Club, May 21, 2020:  In researching information for Project Fescue, I traded emailed with a number of golf architects about the courses they were involved with and their friends/associates were involved with.  One of these courses was Wampanoag, where Tyler Rae, Kyle Franz, and Brad Klein are working to restore this 1924 Donald Ross creation.  Rae is a young architect who has worked at Atlantic GC (NY), Beverly CC (IL), Skokie CC (IL), Cedar Rapids CC (IA), Monroe CC (NY), Mountain Lake Club (FL), and Northland CC (MN)…with four of these efforts being with Ron Prichard.  Kyle Franz has worked on some very high profile and successful courses including Pacific Dunes in Bandon, OR and Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania Australia (both working for Tom Doak), Pinehurst #2 with Coore-Crenshaw, and the Rio Olympic Course with Gil Hanse.  But his best work may have been his restoration of Mid Pines in Southern Pines, NC. Brad Klein formerly headed GolfWeek’s Top 100 Panel.  

 

I played with a member of the Club’s Restoration Committee and it was most interesting to see the “before” of a major project.  No question the course has good bones and a talented team of architects and consultants and it shall be interesting to see how the project turns out.

 

It was great to get back to our Milton home and see Pat after three days (and some 990 miles) on the road.  Also good to know that I am starting or recapture a modicum of my energy.  This will take a while and that’s OK with moi.

 

Nine Hole Courses:  My first week full week back I got in one 18-hole round at Brookline.  The course was in wonderful condition, but the rough was brutal and was thankfully scheduled to be reduced somewhat.

 

The following two weeks I took a mini tour of some 9-hole courses mainly in the New England area.  New England has a superb collection of 9-holers and I scheduled six that I had never played.  Two others that I did not play this time are really very special:  (1) Whitinsville GC near Wooster MA (which many keen observers consider to be the USA’s finest 9-holer), and (2) Acoaxet GC near Westport MA (where I qualified for the MA Senior Amateur in 2010)…but this trip was to see some previously unplayed gems.

 

Edgartown Golf Club, June 9: In 2013 I played 9 holes at Secession Golf Club (SC) with Mark Hess, the General Manager of Martha Vineyard’s Edgartown GC (and Hess has held that position for a mere thirty years).  Mark is a first-class gentleman and invited me to come down to the Vineyard and play Edgartown (for you folks who are not familiar with New England, Martha’s Vineyard is an island south of Cape Code and is accessible only by ferry or airplane).  I am about 6 years late, but very pleased I made the trip.  

 

It could be my imagination, but I have always felt that 9-hole courses too often act like the “neglected ugly step sister” of our game.  In today’s world, many players do not regularly have the time for a full 18, and 9 holes ends up being a great alternative…not a second class round.  And neither 9 or 18 at Edgartown can be classified as second class.  Edgartown is superb nine holer…and is proud to be a nine holer.  And this difference in attitude is palpable.

 

One distinguishing factor  with Edgartown is the variety offered by changing tees, lengths, angles and greens between the “front” and “back” nines.  For example, holes #1 and #7 use different greens than holes #10 and #16.  I cannot recall playing a 9-holer with as much change between the ”front” and “back” nines.  The new fairway/green at the 7^th hole was designed by Jaeger Kovich (who cut his teeth as a shaper for Tom Doak and Gil Hanse) and represent an outstanding addition.  This course is fun to play and challenges one’s game and ability to think clearly, even if only 5654 yards (par 71).  It was designed in 1926 by its founder, Cornelius S. Lee.  

 

The club itself is as low key as club’s come and has a great “feel” to it.  Talk about just golf…this place is JUST golf!  It represents the ultimate in “anti-Discovery Land”.  Like the brilliant and wonderful Royal Worlington and Newmarket in England, this is a very very special place even if served in a half-sized bite.  Nine holers of the world unite…you can be great!

 

Milton-Hoosic Clvb, Jvne 11, 2020*:  Far more convenient to our Massachusetts home (about 4 miles away) lies “The Hoo”, founded in 1891 and one of the first 100 golf courses and clubs in the USA.  The course was originally designed by Willie Park, Jr. (ensuring healthy bones) and in recent years has made a concerted (and I think successful) effort to improve a layout that has been overgrown by 100+ years of tree growth.  I had the opportunity to play the course with its Head Pro, Todd Cook and its President, Mike N.   This is a club and course on a comeback trail…still in the midst of excellent changes but with a bit more work to go (which is their explicit plan).  

 

From the tips it plays 6020 yards (par 70) and after a relatively slow start become very interesting starting with the 4^thhole, an excellent par 4 to an uphill green guarded well by a highly protective (i.e. tough) right front bunker cut into the hill.  Recently, a large swarth of trees between the 6^th and 8^th fairways has been eliminated, opening up these holes in terms of vistas and fresh air.  The work here is not completed but marks a wonderful change.

 

This is a club that is feeling its oats and becoming proud of its status as a nine holer…great to see and I look forward to following its progress over the next couple of years.

 

*And if you get there and look carefully at the scorecard, you will know there are no typos here.

 

Hooper Golf Course, June 12, 2020:  Early departure this day for 110-mile drive northwest to Walpole, NH which lies just east of the NH/VT state line (Connecticut River) about 25 miles north of the MA state line.  Hooper Golf Course was designed by Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek (think the outstanding Taconic Golf Club in MA) and opened in 1928.  The course is virtually untouched since its original design save for some tree removal (and given that trees grow approximately 3% annually, substantially regular tree trimming is necessary to keep courses “unchanged” …you should let that statement sink in!!).

 

During the 2008 financial crisis, the financial structure that allowed the course to operate for eighty years almost resulted in the closing of the course, but a small group of enthusiasts (mostly from Walpole) worked diligently to restructure the arrangements and that process was successfully culminated ten years later in 2018 with this small group now owning the course.  Now their problem is to generate enough usage in get the cash receipts to support the necessary maintenance of a golf course.

 

On the plus side is an excellent design, starting from the first tee which offers a wonderful view of Vermont to the distant west (see picture below the distant horizon near the center left).  

The land rolls like an ocean in a storm and flat lies are a rare find.  A number of folks with fare better eyes than I have shouted praises of Hooper in recent years…including Tom Doak and Ran Morrissett and I agree with their views in terms of Hooper’s potential.  However, in order for the course to realize its true potential it needs funds to restore some of its features.  I am not talking about manicured fairways…but I am talking about rebuilding its bunkers and improving the fairways (the greens were in very good condition this day).  They need the traffic to generate the cash necessary to fund these improvements…and they need these improvements to generate the traffic…a classic chicken & egg problem.  I hope they get it solved!!  If you are in NH or VT…go play it and help the cause.  It is a very good fun nine holer, with the potential to be a great one.  Here is the par 3 6^th hole of 194 yards…remember to NOT be above the pin on this green!

 

Cohasse Country Club, June 15, 2020:  The plan for this week was to play four nine holers and two 18 hole courses while wandering through MA, NY, CT, and RI.  This week involved a big circlular drive proceeding counter clockwise from Boston, to central MA, to north of Albany, NY, to NW CT, to SW RI.  Between last week’s ventures to Edgartown, The Hoo, and Hooper, and this week’s trip great circle route I would drive 930 miles.  

 

I left Milton this morning around 7:15 and arrived at Cohasse by 8:30…only to discover that I had left my wallet at home.  Called Pat and she found it and would Federal Express it to me for arrival Tuesday afternoon…and I had enough cash to get by until then.  But I certainly had to make sure I was not stopped by police in the next 30 hours…that might not be fun!

 

Cohasse is a relatively early (1918) Donald Ross design which started with six holes located in Southbridge, MA (just south of Sturbridge).   The course was built for the workers at American Optical Corp by the company’s owner…perhaps inspired by (or in competition with) Whitinsville 20 miles to the east (also built for the employees of a large factory).  Few expenses were spared at Cohasse as the course was expanded to 9 holes in 1930 with the help of Olmstead Brothers (think NY’s Central Park etc. etc.) designing the landscaping.  

 

The golf course starts with a tough tough (but fair) first (410 yards for #1 and 427 for #10) with an elevated tee and elevated green and a fairly flat fairway in between.  A major part of the difficulty comes from the angle of the green and the opening to the green as the right side of the green is protected in front by a large hill and bunker.  Hole #3 is a tough 190-yard (210 for 12^th hole) par 3 to an elevated green sloping sharply from back left to front right.  The one real poor hole is #5 which is an uphill dogleg left with a blind shot to the green.  Overall the course was in fine condition and in total played 6026 yards for 18 holes.

 

Saratoga Golf & Polo Club, June 15, 2020:  Had about a two hour drive from Cohasse to Saratoga…this is to be a long day.

 

This nine-holer goes back to 1896 and was designed by R. C. B. Anderson, whose name I had never before come across, but he built a superb one here.   Kyle Goalby, son of former masters Champion Bob Goalby, is working with historian (and club member) David Normoyle to help restore Saratoga.

 

The course today plays to 6082 yards (par 70).  It is truly fast and firm (even if measured on GB&I standards) and in close to perfect condition.  Due to the presence of several major ridges running through the property, there are interesting slopes on almost every fairway and green, which are very well employed.  And there are numerous berms employed as hazards throughout the course…which brought back memories of the St Martins 9 holer at Philadelphia Cricket.

 

This is a very small, exclusive, and Waspy club.  It is undergoing a major renovation of its facilities and I am sure is hopping like crazy during the Saratoga Race Course season (late July to Labor Day).  I hit the ball well but the slopes on the greens fooled me totally.  If I come back to this area will try to play it again for sure…along with Glen Falls, a great Ross 18-holer a few miles north of Saratoga (see post #120).

 

Wolferts Roost Country Club, June 15, 2020:  When planning this trip and knowing I would be driving through the Albany NY area I added Wolferts Roost CC to my itinerary as it had hosted the 1963 US Girl’s Junior Championship. The club was founded in 1915 and my educated guess is its membership in filled with senior NYS politicians and lobbyists.  So be it…I was just trying to play golf.

 

I arrived around 2:45 and went off the first tee right away.  After 2-3 holes I knew I would like the course.  It is only 6255 yards (par 70) and also was designed by R. C. B. Anderson (never heard of him them play two of his courses in a row) on a relatively small piece of land…but a superb piece of land.  The fairways have considerable slope and flat lies do not exist.  My only architectural criticisms are a little too overtreed and a little too green (ever hear that before?).  But I played very well, especially on the back nine (2 over 37 after bogeying 17 and 18).  Maybe some of the old game is coming back; don’t bet on that!

 

After the round drove about an hour south to just west of the Hotchkiss School in CT (my bed & breakfast was in NYS) and went out for a nice pizza dinner.  Was tired and getting to bed felt great.  

 

Hotchkiss School Golf Course, June 16, 2020:  Historic land!  Most golfers know how CB Macdonald and Seth Raynor met and started working together (after CBM decided to go ahead with National Golf Links he was looking for a person to oversee the construction/engineering aspects of the project and someone suggested he meet with Seth Raynor, a local civil engineer and surveyor).  So commenced perhaps the greatest “partnership” in the history of golf architecture even though Raynor had never played or followed the game of golf.  But far fewer understood how Raynor met his “Seth Raynor” in the form of Charles Banks.  The following write up from “The A Position” does it much better than I ever could, so here goes:

 

“It appears Banks and Raynor met when Raynor was hired to renovate the existing nine-hole course at the Hotchkiss School. Raynor would also be simultaneously working on one of his finest designs if not the finest design, the Course at Yale, 65 miles to the south. Banks, who was employed by Hotchkiss as a fundraiser when Raynor first visited the campus, was a graduate of Hotchkiss (1902) and Yale (1906).

Around the same time, Raynor also laid out a nine-hole course for the called the Watertown Golf Club and located on the campus of the Taft School, another prestigious prep school located in Northwest Connecticut. It was built without Raynor or his staff playing a role in the construction. It no longer exists.

When work began on the Hotchkiss course, for which Raynor took only expense money for possibly the only time in his career, Banks was one of a small group that acted as intermediaries between the school and architect. Starting in 1923, Raynor visited the site a number of times. It is then that the two would have forged a friendship and when the love of course design first blossomed within Banks.

Even though work on the Hotchkiss course extended through two of the school’s summer breaks, Banks would have most likely continued on his duties as the school’s fundraiser year-round, yet somehow, he apparently devoted much time to the course project, an endeavor that would lead to his exit from his beloved Hotchkiss.”

So that is why I refer to this course as “historic land”.  I was really looking forward to seeing it.  But…as you might have already guessed, for the most part it was a disappointment.  Unfortunately, Hotchkiss School has not maintained the course properly.  It is cared for by the regular school ground maintenance staff and they were never trained in the special needs of golf courses.   Green square footage haa shrunk by at least one-third (as evidenced by aerial photos from the 1930’s), bunkers have also shrunk or been completely filled in, and new school buildings have absorbed some of the course’s land requiring holes to be altered and shortened….and the features of Raynor’s famous “template holes” are difficult to recognize today.  

 

Best hole is #1 (was not #1 originally) a long tough uphill par 4 sloping slightly right.  Best green is #4…I liked it so much that after hitting this par 4 green in regulation I four-putted for a double-bogey 6.  Only “excuse” is that pin was on a small tough shelf at back right.  Worst hole is par five #9 (was not #9 originally) and most of hole was moved from the east side of a large stand of trees to the west side of that stand.  

 

My net take away is that this is still an important course because of its history, but it should teach us a lesson.  Schools do (and should) have a different major function than maintaining a superb golf course.  When they need $$ and land, their priorities are elsewhere.  Important courses like these should be transferred to the ownership and care of groups vested in their greatness.  End of speech…except for the fact that I started to finally hit the ball better and had a 4 over 39…with bogies on #8 and #9 and the four putt on #4.

 

After the round I drove southeast to the SW corner of Rhode Island…a drive that took about 2:25.

 

Weekapaug Golf Club, June 16, 2020:  This would be the last nine holer on this trip and this corner of RI has become a small “hot-spot” for golf. With Weekapaug, Shelter Harbor Golf Club (post #5), and The Misquamicut Club (post #109) within a stone’s throw of one another (not to mention the convenience of a water taxi to Fishers Island).  Originally designed by Phil Wogan and built by Sam Urso (who son Don remains green superintendant today) in 1967, it became a private club in 1997.  

 

Sitting less than 0.5 miles from the Atlantic, the setting of the course is outstanding, and it seems to be very exposed to the wind.  The course is going through a renovation including rebuilding its bunkers.  Given that holes 1-7 are oriented along a N-S axis and 8 and 9 run E-W, the routing is not ideal., but any anticipated changes to the routing have already been completed 

 

At this stage it is hard to tell what the club is shooting for…while firm and fast turf would seem appropriate…the course was fairly green this day.  The real question is what will the maintenance practices be when the renovation is completed.  In summary, I would say too early to tell with this one, outside of superb setting but average routing, it remains an unanswered question.

 

Shelter Harbor Golf Club, June 17, 2020:  I had played Shelter Harbor once before in 2013 (Post #105) and it was very good to return.  This Hurdzan/Frye design is now 16 years old and has matured well.  I love the wide-open fairways and placement of bunkers in the middle of the fairways (which created a multitude of options to be considered).  My front nine was weak but I had a strong back nine despite a double bogey on 18 (44 – 38 = 82).  Please go to Post #105 for details.

 

After this round I drove home for a couple of days of rest.  While I never ventured further than 206 miles from home last week or this week, including my trip on June 19, I drove some 930 miles driving to these courses these two weeks!

 

The Kittansett Club, June 19, 2020:  KIttansett sits off Buzzard’s Bay, just west of the start of Cape Cod, was founded in 1922 and designed by the masterful William Flynn and constructed by Fred Hood.  I had played it four times with an initial round there in 2008 and last round in 2012 (no prior post as all of these prior rounds happened before this Blog started).  I had tried to arrange play each of the last 4-5 years to no avail and then asked a friend, Steve G. who is also a Brookline member if he could host me.  

 

While Kittansett has only appeared on a Golf Magazine World 100 once (as #91 in the 1987 listing) it has been a real regular in USA ratings appearing in 57 of 73 total USA Top 100’s. 

 

For several years I had heard from other panelists and friends (as well as my bride) how much Kittansett has improved…and that was totally obvious as soon as I arrived.  The turf was much healthier and thousands of trees that previously had blocked outstanding vistas and restricted fresh air movement and sunlight had been removed.  It was a delight to see and experience.   Through the round starting with the first hole I noticed architectural improvements and Steve mentioned that Gil Hanse had been quietly working to improve the layout and return it to its prior glory.  While its total length was now almost 7000 yards (I had remembered it as being about 6600-6700 yards but cannot be sure as my scorecard collection is in Pinehurst), from forward tees is still remains a well-designed, fun track (I cannot count how many other great classic courses have unnecessarily, and sadly, lost their “fun” appeal in the quest for increased overall length).

 

Before my trip down that morning I had not reviewed the history of Kittansett’s ratings but early on Steve mentioned the frustration he and others had with a recent drop in its position despite the improvements almost all visitors noticed and commented about.  My immediate response was to point out the huge surge of renovations and restorations of other great classic courses as well as the completion of numerous great new tracks since 1995.  While that response was not inaccurate, it only told part of the story.

 

At the conclusion of the round I thanked Steve again for hosting me…and mentioned that I wanted to give more thought to his observation of Kittansett’s relative drop in the ratings. 

 

Pat had made the drive down here with me and spend the morning visiting her long-time wonderful friend Barbara M, who lives about 2 miles from the club.  I met them for lunch at Barbara’s beautiful home and then Pat and I drove back home to Milton (about 50 miles).  As soon as we arrived home I looked at Kittansett’s history on my ratings spreadsheet and the recent drop was obvious…as was the real underlying culprit.  As long as other panelists at Golf Magazine (as well as Golf Digest, Golf Week and http://www.top100golfcourses.com/)  experience the same difficultly as I had in gaining access, the data bases will continue to reflect reviews based on an over-treed course of 8 or so years ago.  I promptly emailed Steve and he responded saying he totally understood and would so advise the “powers that be”.

 

 

After over six months with no posts, this has been a long winded one…but there was a lot of ground to cover.  My game is slowly coming back and time will tell how much of it does return.  But that is OK…it is wonderful to be back playing and enjoying this wonderful game (which is a very special “release” during the current pandemic).  

 

At this point my course count stands at 1219.  The trips described in this post did nothing for my bucket lists…but they did start to get me back in the game.  And the 9 hole course tour opened my eyes big time to the virtues of a quick nine.

 

To date in 2020, I have played  15 different courses and 8 of which were first time played for me (7 of which are 9-holers).