138. Some Boston Area Stuff...and Visit to the Hamptons

138. Some Boston Area Stuff...and Visit to the Hamptons

It is now about 32 months until the United States Open is scheduled to be conducted at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.  In 2013, Brookline hosted the US Amateur and the course held up quite well.  Of course, the Open will occur nine years later, and that probably means an additional 10-15 yards in driving distances over that period.  So this fall, Gil Hanse and company are busy making changes to Brookline's Championship course to get it spruced up for 2020.  It is fun watching the process unfold.  The "shapers", who move dirt in large and small quantities with great precision, artistry, and care, have been out there rebuilding bunkers, expanding tees, bringing greens back to their original dimensions (thereby re-creating a whole bunch of interesting pin placements), and generally tiding up the place.  Fortunately TCC has 27 holes; a new "course du jour" has been created as work progressed so we have a full 18 holes to play each day.

Fall is always a busy time at Brookline, and the last weekend of September the annual mixed member guest event ("Steeplechase") is held.  Pat and I played with Cindy and Ian C. (friends from Wellesley Country Club) and much to our surprise even won prizes.  Even more shocking was my winning the Long Drive (over 60...years of age, not yards...division).  Yes, I did go over #18 in two a few weeks ago, but winning a Long Drive event was not exactly in the cards.  Counseling sessions were scheduled for those whose drives were short of mine.

In all seriousness, I am hitting it further (further is not the same as far) in the past few weeks...but we'll see how long that lasts.

Wellesley Country Club, October 1, 2019:  Three days after the Steeplechase I played with Ian at Wellesley CC for the first time.  Wellesley is about 10 miles northwest of our home and was founded at its present location in 1910.  The club started with nine holes designed by Donald Ross and this was later modified by Wayne Stiles.  About fifty years ago, the course expanded to 18 holes under the guidance of Geoffrey Cornish.  It sits on a fairly hilly parkland setting and plays 6903 yards from the tips...and there are some serious uphill walks on this track...with the steepest being front the 4th fairway up to the 4th green and then to the 5th tee (my guess is a vertical climb of about 75 feet).  Overall a good golf course.

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, October 3, 2019:  A Rudovsky family reunion was planned for the weekend of October 4-6 in East Hampton, NY, and I thought there might be some decent golf courses out on the South Fork of Long Island that might be worth visiting.  Pat had to be up at Clark and Alex's new house in NH that weekend so this trip would be by myself.  Got it all lined up with hotels rooms booked and then learned the reunion would have to be in Manhattan and just on Saturday...which opened up some more time on the South Fork.  The Hampton Jitney, a bus service between Manhattan and the Hamptons proved perfect for getting into and out of NYC on Saturday and I was free to play some fabulous tracks on Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday.

I left home around 6:45am for the New London CT to Orient Point, NY ferry across Long Island Sound.  The drive to the ferry was some 95 miles and took 1:40, the ferry ride itself was 1:25, and the drive from the dock to Shinnecock Hills (SHGC) was 42 miles and required about an hour (on a summer weekend might have been 1:45).

The Hamptons are simply impossible during the summer months.  I have concluded that part of Manhattan (and now Brooklyn) simply move 90-100 miles east each weekend and bring their NY attitudes with them.  Traffic can be unbearable and reservations anyplace are impossible.  Maybe I am just getting old (maybe???  actually no longer getting, am old).

But in any case, the golf is sublime...very few in any places in the world have as many world class courses within a 20 mile driving radius as the area with SHGC at its center. To my mind, this area includes 4 courses in my World Top 75 and Golf Magazine's current World 100 (Shinnecock, National, Friar's, and Maidstone), and that would exclude Fisher's Island which even by helicopter is not within the 20 mile radius.  The next best concentrations IMO would probably be:

   --The Old Course, Kingsbarns, and Carnoustie in Fife and Angus, Scotland;
   --Royal Melbourne-West & East, Kingston Heath, and Victoria in Melbourne's Sand Belt;
   --Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, and Spyglass Hill on California's Monterrey Peninsula; and
   --Muirfield, North Berwick, and Gullane #1 in East Lothian, Scotland.

Anyhow, I diverged again.  I was to be guest of Joe R., a member of SHGC for some 20-25 years.  I had met Joe at Quaker Ridge's Walker Cup reunion in 2016.

The weather was looking fairly grim as I made the drive from Orient Point but the rain subsided by the time I arrived...but the temperature was about 53º and the winds about 15mph out of the west.  We had lunch in the warmth of the clubhouse and Joe said let's go do it, so who was I to argue?

Now I need to diverge again.  I probably played SHGC about 10 times between 1976 and 1995 (and also spent the entire week there during the 1986 US Open), but I think my last round there was in 1994.  I had been told of the tree clearings over the last 25 years but had not seen the results close-up.   Careful readers of this blog might recall my reactions to seeing National in 2015 (Post #19) for the first time in about 20 years.  This day would be equally shocking.  Additionally, in the late 1970's and early 1980's, SHGC was a quiet, sleepy weekend course.  Its fabulous "bones" were quite evident but efforts to mask its greatness were prevalent.  Fairway grass was very long (resulting in "flyer" lies almost every time) and the greens were very very slow.  While those days are long gone, as most of my rounds here were under those conditions, they tend to dominate my memories.

Back to the round.  With the wind from the west, #1 was a bear, but I will never forget is how different #1 looked...beautifully de-nuded.  In the "old days" the second green was not visible from the first fairway.  Even the directional "angle" of #2 looked different...I remembered it as being turned almost 90º from the second half of hole #1...in reality it is turned about 40º.  And on the third hole, the closeness of National's #10 hole is much more evident.  These changes are hugely positive IMHO.  Shinnecock is much more open, with wider fairways and greater choices of angle of approach on most holes.  But the biggest change is in the greens, which Coore and Crenshaw  expanded to their original dimensions, reintroducing superb pin positions in corners and close to the green's new edges...and enhancing the greater choices of approach angles.  Changes in pin positions and weather conditions will have huge impacts on playing strategy...enabling holes to play very differently from one day to the next.  The greens are much larger than 40 years ago...but effectively are probably about the same size...the expansion included lots of areas with false fronts, sides, and backs...and I would guess that some these "false" areas were playable parts of the greens 40 years ago.

In any case, I ended up with a 44 - 45 = 89 hitting the ball fairly well...but these were tough conditions.  I played from the Blue tees, 6141 yards (fairly long for moi) compared with the 2018 US Open's yardage of 7440 yards...meaning I played 82.54% of the US Open yardage.  So a hole that I played at 350 yards, would on average have been 424 yards!!, and if I played a par 5 at 490 yards, it would have been 594 yards in the US Open!!

Going through the history of Shinnecock's rating is interesting.  In 1966 Golf Digest published the first USA Top list...200 Toughest (listed alphabetically).  SHGC did not make this list.  Then it didn't make a Golf Digest USA Top 10 until 1987, the year after SHGC's 1986 US Open (Golf Magazine and Golf Week did not start publishing a US Top 100 until the 1990's...GD had had a monopoly).  Since 1987, its worst USA rating was #6 and highest was #2 (GD 2007).  In terms of World listings, its worst rating since 1990 was in GM (#9 in 1991) and highest has been #2 in top100golfcourses.com in  2018.

The original course, designed by Willie Davis (who built a 12 hole course) and Willie Dunn (who revised and expanded it to 18 holes) hosted the second US Open and US Amateur (both in 1896), as well as the 6th US Women's Amateur (in 1900).  In 1901 the course was redesigned by C. B. Macdonald.  In 1931 the course was redesigned by William Flynn utilizing six of the CBM holes and additional land.  In 2016 Coore and Crenshaw completed a major restoration.

Shinnecock Hills' clubhouse sits high above the course and was designed by Sanford White.  For almost a dozen decades it was a large "summer cottage" with two small separated basements, and no foundation, heating, or air-conditioning.  Recently, the clubhouse was renovated to install a full basement by first raising the entire structure onto stilts and installing the new basements along with the most modern geothermal equipment available.  From the outside and inside on the main floor, it looks like nothing has changed.  Perfect!!

I left the club a bit overwhelmed, and after careful thought, have revised my personal top course list to move SHGC to World #2 (ahead of Royal Dornoch) but still behind Cypress Point.  I need to get back to Cypress and see the "new" Pine Valley now that PVGC has completed its tree removal program.

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Post Script:  After leaving SHGC Joe brought me over to a nearby cemetery to see the final resting places of Charles Blair Macdonald and his wife, Frances Porter Macdonald and Seth Raynor and his wife, Araminta Hallock Raynor.  The grave sites of Messrs. Macdonald and Raynor are about 20' from each other.

Charles Blair Macdonald, 1855-1939

C. B. and Frances (1858-1933) Macdonald

Seth (1874-1926) and Araminta (1876-1949) Raynor

That evening had dinner in Southampton with Dave W. (a GD panelist who I have known for about 5 years and his brother and sister in law, Paul and Cristi W.).  They had played about the same set of courses as I was planning to play but were done (until they added Garden City the next morning) while I was just getting started.

National Golf Links of America, October 4, 2019:  The cold front that ushered in yesterday's rain had passed through overnight, bringing bright sunshine and very strong winds from the east.  My best guess is that the winds were a steady 20-25mph and gusting to 30-35mph Friday at National.  I have not played in conditions like in years...but it was great fun.  The flags looked like they had ben starched and ironed!---as shown below:

Stars and Stripes atop NGLA's windmill from 16th green

Stars and Stripes at Sabonac GC next door from 17th fairway

NGLA flag from 18th fairway

The wind was with me on holes 2, 3, 5-9, against on holes 4, 10-17, and sideways on 1 and 18.  I played a mixture of the Regular Course and the Short Course (basically playing the forward tees against the wind) for a total yardage of about 6020 yards).  To give you a sense of the wind, the 16th hole (Punchbowl) played 310 yards from my tees, and the crest of the hill off the tee was probably 125-140 yards.  I killed (for moi) my drive, but it did not clear and came tumbling back.  My second was a perfectly hit 4-utility...leaving me about 140 yards to the flagstick...my 3-wood stopped about 8' left of the hole pin high.  Alas, I missed my birdie putt (see below):

My caddy approaching my shot into Punchbowl (prior to my missed par)

Still smiling two minutes later on 17th tee overlooking Peconic Bay and River

Since I last played NGLA in September 2015, not much on the golf course has changed.  No need to...the brilliant restoration work happened in the prior 20 years.  So my Post #19 still stands and I will just summarize my round and Top 100 ratings since 2015.

I hit the ball as well as I had all year.  I teed off on #5 and after playing #18, played holes 1-4.  I was by myself for the first 14, and for holes 1-4 played with a member, Bill B., whose father was the Senior Managing Partner at Sherman & Sterling, which was Citibank's principal law firm in the 1970's.  Bill was an interesting guy who at one point worked for The Beatles and since then has been heavily involved in the entertainment business.

Since 2015, NGLA has generally moved slightly up in USA Top 100 listings and moved up sharply in World Top 100 listings as shown below:

USA:  Golf Digest: stayed at #8
           Golf Magazine: moved up from #7 to #5
           Golf Week (Merged): moved down from #4 to #5
           top100 website: moved up from #6 to #4

World: Golf Magazine: moved up from #10 to #7
            top 100 website: moved up from #11 to #7

In summary...a solid performance.  Note that GM and top100 listings for 2019 are not yet published.

I had a solid (given the wind) 40 - 43 = 83 (based on scorecard hole flow) and hit 10 of 15 fairways.  Toward the end of the round I told my caddy that on Monday I was scheduled to play East Hampton GC which would complete the great courses of the east end IMO...he replied "does that include Montauk Downs?"  I realized it did not and I knew I to give it a try.

Montauk Downs Golf Course, October 4, 2019:  So after the round, I collected my things and headed east towards Montauk Point to play this NYS muni.  I teed off at 4:36pm and putted out on 18 at 6:24pm...right at sunset.  Might have been more like polo than golf but got it done.  Decent course in decent shape.  Originally built by H. C. C. Tippett in 1927, it was renovated by R. T. Jones, Sr. and his son Rees Jones in 1968.  Some very good holes but too many that are tight and "cramped"...but, got it done!

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I was very tired upon returning to my hotel, and it was good to get able to sleep a little late.  My Jitney left from right in front of my hotel and was a bit early getting to NYC.

Family reunion went well...almost no political sniping (which is rare for a Rudovsky gathering).  Had lunch and dinner and good walk around Central Park in between.  I got into NY around noon and caught the Jitney back at 8:20pm...arriving back in Amagansett (just east of East Hampton) around 11:10pm.

Sunday morning I met Fergal O. and his wife Karen and Adam M. for breakfast in Bridgehampton.  Good catch up on what we had seen in various courses (but Fergal was on a non-golfing trip to Hamptons).  The three of us generally see eye to eye with regard to golf courses.
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Maidstone Club, October 6, 2019:  Maidstone was founded in 1894 and at that time its course consisted of 7 holes.  In 1899, the course was expanded to 18 holes, and then in 1924, Willie Park Jr. designed a second 18 hole course.  The hurricane of 1938 resulted in the club reducing the golf courses to its present 18 hole East course and short 9 hole West.  Finally, in 2012, Coore-Crenshaw completed an extensive restoration of the property, clearing out decades of vegetation and tree growth that had slowly but surely narrowed the fairways and obscured numerous bunkers, and restoring the greens to their original dimensions.

My first opportunity to play Maidstone was in 1981, and I would guess I had played it a total of about 6 times before this year.  My last time here was in 2011and I played it twice that day.  But this round was my first visit to Maidstone since the Coore-Crenshaw restoration, and IMO its impact has been hugely positive...even though relatively little "dirt" was moved and any effort to lengthen the course (plays today from the tips at 6726 yards, par 72) was limited by the lack of available land and a clear (and appropriate) desire to maintain the current flow and routing.

I was off the first tee around 2pm, and the most noticeable change here was the back edge of the green where a sharp drop off is unavoidable for any approach that is a tad too long.  If my memory is correct, there was rough that used to stop most long shots in the old days.  Much better today.  On #2, a 562 yard par 5, everything looked pretty much the same until I saw the green...which now extends far right and left with false sides on both (as I discovered on then right side)...this was huge difference and again very positive.

The par 3 4th (which starts the routing southward towards the Atlantic Ocean and some fabulous dunes) has a new back tee extends the hole to 242 yards...making it a real bear into the prevailing southerly wind off the Atlantic.  From this point through the 14th hole, the course in simply brilliant.  Bernard Darwin, generally considered the finest golf writer/journalist ever, once described holes 6 through 10 as "the finest stretch I have seen in America."  Today, hole #9 is much better than it was in 2011.  Unfortunately, I had to visit the deep deep bunker to its right and then stare at the top of a flag about 15-20' above my ball.  If I had played out the hole, I might still be playing one-man ping-pong there.  And the cut lines on #10 have improved that hole as well...which was not an easy task.  I actually played fairly well on the back, getting a birdie 2 on the superb par 3 14th, and pars on 15, 17, and 18 to finish with a 44 - 41 = 85...not too bad with a 15 mph wind blowing.

Ratings wise, in World ranking, Maidstone has generally placed around #60-75 in GM and top100 over the past 10-12 years.  In USA listings since its restoration, it has basically moved up from about #85-95 in GD to around #70, stayed in the mid-30's in GM, and actually fell in GW from the 50's in 2005-10 to the 70's in 2011-15 before moving back up to #51 over the past four years.  As they say in NY: "Go Figah!!".

After the round, met old buddy, Paul B. from Sag Harbor for dinner in one of the great old haunts of Bridgehampton, Bobby Vans.  We actually behaved ourselves...I had a last round in the Hamptons scheduled for early Monday.

East Hampton Golf Club, October 7, 2019:  Peter Bistrian was a potato farmer on the east end of Long Island decades ago and slowly accumulated enough land to build the golf course of his dreams starting in 1978.  He was able to build a nine hole course...and the availability of additional land just across the street and a couple go golf architects named Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw allowed for an expansion to today's 18 hole track by 2000.  With only about 115-125 acres available (have seen differing estimates) the overall length is a relatively short (by today's standards) 6414 yards.

Design-wise, the course has two very different sections.  Holes 1-7 lie on one parcel, with holes 1-4 on the parcel's perimeter and holes 5-7 inside.  These holes are very open, with wide fairways, small greens, wonderful bunkering, and a bevy of angles and options on each hole.  Trees on 1-7 essentially lie only along the perimeter.  I loved these holes!

Holes 8 and 9 are tree lined but with reasonably wide fairways.  The 8th is a dogleg right 509 yard par 5, and I actually reached the front edge in two (been a while since that has happened...although my tee measured 441 yards).  At that point you cross the street and head to the other parcel, which runs SE to NW...and 8 of these nine fairways run in this or the opposite direction.  Here, all the holes are heavily tree lined.  The bunkering and greens are just as good as those on the front nine, and the topography much better, but the feeling is very confined.  More importantly, the trees severely block sunlight on much of the property and reduces/restricts air flow.  A couple of weeks earlier the green died at the brilliant downhill short par 3 17th (the green has been re-sodded).  But with all the hills and trees surrounding this hole it has to be almost impossible to grow healthy turf here...and I think similar conditions (but to a lesser extent) exist through the second parcel.  I do not know if the issues are tree huggers or local regulations...but I do not see this issue disappearing unless a lot of trees do so first.

I hit the ball very well here...had a 39 - 39 = 78.  The wind was a far more manageable 5-10mph.

East Hampton has never been included on any USA or World Top 100 or Top 200 listing.

After the round I thanked the folks in the pro shop and headed to the Orient Point ferry.  I was scheduled for the 2pm departure and figured I could probably make the 1pm.  Ended up just catching (by about 45 seconds) the noon departure, and was home by 3:15pm.  Certainly one of there best short golf trips of my life!

I think this completed the "Top Dozen" of the Hamptons (although Friar's is not in the Hamptons)...shown below (in order of my preference) with year first played and last played:

Shinnecock Hills GC                      1976   2019
National Golf Links of America      1977   2019
Friar's Head Golf Club                   2011   2016
Maidstone Club                             1981   2019
The Bridge                                    2015   played 1x
Westhampton Country Club           2108   played 1x
Southampton Golf Club                 1982   2011
Sebonack  Golf Club                      2011   played 1x
Atlantic Golf Club                         1993   played 1x
East Hampton Golf Club                2019  played 1x
Montauk Downs Golf Course          2019   played 1x
Noyac Golf Club                            1993   played 1x