Just got back from a little visit to Rochester, N.Y. Had some unplanned free time and spent the afternoon with superintendent Patrick Gertner at a stunning, amazingly sophisticated Ross layout that I had heard about but never before seen - Monroe GC (1923). They've tinkered lightly with a few greens, and it would benefit from removal of 400 trees - most of them dopey white pines and spruce. But the ground contours on this pure sand soil base are amazing; lovely angles, cross and diagonal bunkers; green platforms that drop right into hazards; and some great shots into greens where the green falls away and you have no support for a slightly wayward line. I was blown away.
Everybody knows that Oak Hill-East is overrated and that there's not a shred of Ross left there - the club's short little West Course is much better. But Monroe is in an entirely different league. it has immediately jumped to my top-10 list of Ross courses. Man, if they cleaned it up and did a mild restoration . . . .
Go visit. It's worthwhile