80. Midwest Trip (plus KY) May 15-19, 2017 (Part II)

Midwest Trip (plus KY) May 15-19, 2017 (Part II)

Beverly Country Club, May 16, 2017:  Located on Chicago’s South Side, Beverly CC was about a 15-minute drive from my hotel.  It is one of these iconic clubs known well by golf affectionato’s (spelling?) but not by casual observers.  Founded in 1908 it was originally designed by its first head pro, George O’Neil and architect Tom Bendelow.  Later, Donald Ross was brought in and developed a Master Plan that took 10 years to fully implement. 

More recently, Ron Prichard has been implementing a new Master Plan intended to bring back the of Ross’ brilliant design elements that were lost over the previous decades (see below).

From the tips Beverly plays to 7016 yards.  In terms of Top 100 listings it has never really excelled.  In 1969 Golf Digest’s “Best Tests” had it among the #71-80 group, then in the second 50 (#51-100) in GD’s 1971 and 1973 “100 Greatest” listings…nothing since then.  It never made the merged Golf Week 100 or the Golf Magazine. 

It has hosted an impressive group of events including:

o   Western Open (1910, ’63, ’67, ’70)

o   Western Am (1930)

o   US Am (1931)

o   US Senior Am (2009)

with winners including Chick Evans, Francis Ouimet, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus—see pic of plaque on 13^th tee.

Beverly is built on a rectangular plot divided in half by W 87^th Street (a tunnel is used to go between the front nine and pro shop on the north side of W 87^th  , and the back nine and clubhouse located south of 87^th).  On the front nine, there is a pronounced sand ridge running east-west which was the south shore of the prehistoric Lake Chicago.  Ross superbly utilized this ridge; it impacts play on holes 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8.  The routing of the entire course is excellent with short walks from green to tee (with the obvious exception of 9 to 10) and only two consecutive holes (11 and 12) running in the same direction.  As a result, the player is continually dealing with changing wind directions.  Off the top of my all too bald head I can only think of three courses with such a continuous change in direction: Muirfield in Scotland, Onwentsia located about 40 miles north of Beverly, and Quaker Ridge in Scarsdale, NY…and all these three have 8 or 9 holes circling the perimeter with the other holes looping in the center. 

While Beverly does of course have its “best holes” (4, 8, and 17 IMO), none of these stand out and truly dramatic, brilliant holes.  What does stand out about the course is the overall brilliance of the routing/flow and the consistently superb collection of 18 holes…not a weakling or average one in the bunch.  And based on looking at pre-renovation pictures, Ron Prichard is doing all the right things to “open up” the course to allow its brilliance to show through.  The tree removal part of the renovation is now done and the next year or two will focus on fairway cut lines and width.  For sure this track has the potential to be a USA Top 60-70.

Beverly 8th green--65 yards deep and special--and "within" prehistoric Lake Chicago 

Beverly #10 198 yd downhill par 3

Beverly #18 599 par 5 approach; stuck wedge to 4'--birdie! 😀

My Flossmoor write-up neglected to provide scoring info.  There I started well (even par through 5 and 39 on front), but had a 45 on the back with nine straight bogies for an 84.  The next morning at Beverly I had a 45-36 = 81 finishing with a wedge to 3’ and a birdie on 18 (see pic of approach of green with huge false front).  Go figure.

After thanking the head pro, it was into the car for a 1:30 drive to southwestern Michigan.

Lost Dunes Golf Club, May 16, 2017:  Almost all major cities have places to escape to on weekends, and Chicago is no exception.  One of the Windy City’s escape destinations is Southwestern Michigan…about 80-100 miles away but traffic can be bumper to bumper on summer Fridays and Sundays.  Back in the 1970’s the only great course in this area was Point O’ Woods, the long time home of the Western Amateur in Benton Harbor, MI designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr.  More recently, Mike Keiser built his first course, a nine holer (The Dunes Club…probably the best 9 holer in the USA), in New Buffalo in 1990, and about 9 years later, Lost Dunes GC, designed by Tom Doak, was  completed. 

In many ways, this is a spectacular, fun golf course.  It has wide fairways and big undulating greens that make play less than punishing for the average player but tough for the better player (which probably explains why I played well).  While lakes come into play on about half the holes, there usually is enough of a bail out area to avoid them.  The course is spectacularly beautiful, the bunkers are extremely well placed and are natural looking, and the greens, while difficult, are fun to play.  However, I should also point to two major faults.  First, the property is divided by I-94 (a major limited access highway).  While I-94 is only visible from a small portion of the property, one can hear the traffic, (especially trucks) from every part of the course.  Second, the property was a reclaimed sand quarry making for a wonderful sand base but the fairways are generally too flat and lack undulations found on most great courses.  One can reasonably argue that Doak was given the property to work on and that property happened to have I-94 and flat land…but   course evaluation is more that evaluating the architect’s work.  Site selection, perhaps then most important element, is often outside of the influence of the architect.  And maintenance of the course (which here gets 5 stars) happens after the architect is gone.

Lost Dunes plays 6928 yards (par 71).  It made one appearance on GD’s USA Top 100 in 2007 at #63, but then disappeared.  Its appearances on GW’s merged list were continuous from 2001-2004 (highest being #82 in 2004) but it stayed on the GW Modern Top 100 list from 2001-2014 (note: the Modern courses usually comprise about 45% of the merged list, and from 2005-2014, Lost Dunes’ position on the Modern list drifted from #44 in 2005 to #91 in 2014).  My personal sense is that it is not a Top 100…and the lists today are appropriate. 

I did hit it well that afternoon…shooting 38-39 = 77, hitting 13 of 13 fairways and 11 of 18 greens.  I thought best holes were the par 5 8^th and 15^th (a superb Cape Hole) and also very much liked #4, 5, 12, and 17.  There are no bad or so-so holes.  Pictures follow.

 

Lost Dunes 4th green (par 5)--camera is level, green is not!

Lost Dunes par 3 5th green from 6th tee

LD #12 from elevated tee--414 yd par 4

LD #13 170 yd par 3

LD #14 375 yd par 4 from elevated tee

After the round, I had a 4 hour 30 minute drive to Dayton, OH.  This was to be a long day…36 holes of golf (on two excellent courses) and about 6 hours of driving.  Got to my hotel around 9:30pm and hit the sack (rather than work on the blog).

Moraine Country Club, May 17, 2017:  Founded in 1930 near Dayton, Ohio, Moraine was built on a fabulous piece of rolling land and has a strong connection to The Country Club (Brookline).  TCC’s first pro (1896-196) and first designer, Alex “Nipper” Campbell designed Moraine as well.  Byron Nelson won the PGA Championship at Moraine in 1945…his ninth win among his unparalleled string of 11 consecutive wins.  Because of its hosting a PGA, Moraine has been on my bucket list for a while…but it moved up sharply as I learned of architect Keith Foster’s outstanding renovation last year on GolfClubAtlas.com.  Rather than attempt to describe how Foster and Moraine went about the renovation process, I would urge you to go directly to Ran Morrissett’s brilliant description at http://golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/usa/moraine-country-club/.  It is far superior to anything I could write.

I was fortunate to be able to play Moraine with the member who headed the greens committee during the renovation, Ray Lane, along with Taylor M., a very good player who Pat and I met at the ISAGS event in Cabo in January and who lives nearby in Cincinnati.  This was Taylor’s first time at Moraine since the renovation and he deeply appreciated the changes.

In terms of USA 100’s, Moraine was included on GD’s 200 Toughest in 1966 and GW’s Top 100 Classic courses in 14 of the 21 years it has been published.  But it has never made the merged GW list or any other USA Top 100.  If that does not change and change quickly, something is very wrong with the ratings systems. 

The course is now difficult but fair and fun.  From the tips it plays a hefty 7270 yards (par 71), but it is very playable from the appropriate tees.  Many houses could have been built from the trees that have been removed (see before and after pics on GCA).  And the turf is now breathing and healthy and the views something to behold.

I got around in a 41-38 = 79 and was very pleased with that score. 

After the round, Ray showed us around the lovely clubhouse and the old photos reveal a course originally with very few trees, and it seems clear that Campbell would firmly approve of the recent efforts.

A few of my pics follow:

 

M #3 419 par 4 from left rough

M #4 Tee shot 539 par 5

M #4 approach shot

 

M #5 154 yd par 3

M #6 approach 362 yds

M#7 from behind #6 green...326 yards

M#* tee shot on 636 yd par 5

M#8 approach shot

M#9 green sloping from back right to front left

M#10 green---wonderful fall off around entire green

M #13 par 5 610 yds...approach shot and 14th fairway behind

M#14 tee shot uphill par 4 454 yds...a bear

M#14 approach shot

M#15 161 yd par 3 into corner...big drop off right

M#16 from left rough...408 yd par 4

M #17 tee shot 470 yd par 4

M#17 approach shot

M#18 tee shot 445 yd par 4

Uphill approach M #18

One last point…the renovation seems to have brought new life into the club.  Membership count has increased and there was a lot of activity around the club the day we were there.  Yes, renovations cost $$$, but everything needs some renovation work and delays often lead to decay.

Miami Valley Golf Club, May 17, 2017:  Construction of the golf course at Miami Valley GC commenced in 1915 and finished (and the club was incorporated) in 1919.  Designed by Donald Ross, it was one of Ohio’s finest tracks for many years.  It hosted the 1931 Western Open and the last PGA Championship conducted at match play, won by Lionel Hebert in 1957. 

MVGC has never been included on a USA Top 100 list of any kind.  It plays to 6795 yards (par 71).  While it has a number of good holes and the land had excellent movement, probably due in large part to a deterioration in its neighborhood, the club clearly is facing difficult financial conditions.  The course suffers from neglect and is not in good condition.  I knew of these conditions before going to the club, so this was no surprise…but still disappointing.  My guess is that for many decades, MVGC was one of premier clubs, but no longer.

I played quickly and had a 39-39 = 78, then headed 50 miles south to Cincinnati.  Going after “ever” bucket lists means you will run into courses such as these, but that does not block the disappointment and sadness.  On the other hand, places like East Lake GC in Atlanta show that these trends are reversible…not easy, but doable.