Bulle Rock - Dye

[George_Bahto]

On the way back from the Seth Raynor Soc. get together at Yeamans Hall last week Tony Pioppi, Geoff Childs and I stopped in Maryland and played Pete Dye's Bulle Rock course, an expensive daily fee compound.

The course is outstanding, the maintenance outstanding, the overall ambiance of the entire complex was a pleasure.  

Expensive to say the least but a public access course of this stature (and the price) has a place in golf ...... it's like leasing a private course for a day without having to pay the expensive upfront costs.

Pete's routing: excellent over a wonderful piece of property.

Lots of Pete sucking you in to his dog-legs and the deception he uses tricking you into thinking you could flirt with his corners was of special interest.

I would be interested in comments by others who have played Bulle Rock.

gb

[Steve_ Shaffer]

George
I have played BR twice. Unfortunately, both were after some rain. The course was soft and the greens were uncut and slow. Bad luck for me. I liked the course,the clubhouse and the food. Holes 2 and 18 stand out in my mind. I would like to experience BR in prime FF condition but it's a 2 hour drive for me and makes for a very long day. By the way, BR is under new ownership and the plans for the second Dye course and hotel have gone by the wayside. That land will be developed for housing. I remember Ron Whitten promoting this course as a possible future US Open site. Perhaps, but maybe in the late 21st century.

Tom Doak's Beechtree is nearby and is preferable to many over BR. Playing both makes for a nice weekend trip.

Steve

[Martin Del Vecchio]

I played Bulle Rock two years ago, in ideal conditions.  And I mean ideal; the weather was perfect, the course conditions were outstanding, and the course was empty.  I was able to play 27 in about 4 hours.

The doglet that got me was #13.  Even though the corner is marked "RAVINE" in the yardage book, and even though the ranger (who turned into a tour guide) warned me, I still knocked my tee shot down to the bottom.

[GeoffreyC]

Martin-  We watched the group ahead of us continuously take on Pete Dye's sucker plays towards the inside of doglegs (like #13) and find big trouble when there is ample room playing away from the most direct line to the hole.

Bulle Rock is a teriffic golf course where every mound and hollow is well thought out.  It shows the great care and shaping done by Pete and his crew. Play the correct set of tees and think about your game and its capabilities and Bulle Rock is very playable and you can score well. Take it on in an over aggressive manner without your A+ game and it will eat your lunch.  Still on holes like #5 where the long uphill approach looks so intimidating on a direct line it is still better with an easier recovery then the bailout to the right where a severely sloping green away from you will make the recovery next to impossible. Great stuff.  There is a balanced mixture of really good short holes (the 14th comes directly to mind) and long SOB's (#5, 13 and 18 come to mind). Bulle Rock is way under rated in my mind and a great destination when in the Baltimore area.  I would play Bulle Rock over Beachtree 7 or 8 out of 10 total plays.  Calling on Ran to seek it out for a course profile.

[GeoffreyC]

Bill

Disagree about par 5  #2. Pete is all about angles and they come into play on most of the courses where he spends a good deal of time. On #2 there is plenty of room but a straight ball or especially right to left leaves the distinct possibility of running through the fairway on the left into trouble. There is lots of room to layup short of the stream which is 70-80 yards short of the green. The green is raised a bit with a roadhole like bunker in front dissecting the two sides of the green. Its certainly a tough hole - mainly requiring thought picking a line off the tee.

[Jerry Kluger]

I think Bulle Rock is a great example of Dye's work and they are doing promotions there during the year for people who want to play it on a regular basis.  The course is on a good piece of property and has a really good variety of holes which allow you to take your chances for a low score but will penalize you if you get too ambitious.  They really do make you feel welcome and they space the tee times out in 10 minute intervals so there is a good pace of play.  They also have a good replay rate so if you play 36 the per round price isn't bad.  I think it would be a good location for a GCA get together for the guys from DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc.

[Matt_Ward]

I've played Bulle Rock about a half a dozen times in the last few years and while I can understand the praise the course receives I have to ask does the layout really advance the portfolio that Pete has produced over the years? On that particular point I'd have to say the course is a wash in my mind.

Clearly, you have the desire by Pete to make a few of the long par-4's really play as demanding holes of this type -- the uphill 5th being one of them. Clearly, the 9th is a brute when played from the back tees. Comments have already been mentioned about the 13th and one should not forget the 18th although I see that hole as a bit of overkill and not really memorable from an architectural perspective.

The best thing one can do when in the immediate area is to play both Bulle Rock and Beechtree. Comparing and contrasting them would be a fun exercise.

For those who prefer to save a few dollars I would also mention playing Mountain Branch in Joppa which is only a few miles away from where the twosome is located. A few layout in a number of ways but likely a clear step behind Bulle Rock and Beechtree.

P.S. It's my understanding that the second 18 at Bulle Rock has been pulled off the table for the foreseeable future. Does anyone have any updated info on that score? Thanks!

[WilliamWang]

Manekin LLC is the new owner of BR.

Homes and mixed use development are going in.  They've already begun clearing land.

[DTaylor18]

Matt, just to clear up one thing, Mountain Branch is actually more expensive than Beechtree!

[Matt_Ward]

Dan:

Thanks ... I still would recommend Mountain Branch for those in the area even if it's a few more $$$.

[Scott_Burroughs]

I would play Bulle Rock over Beachtree 7 or 8 out of 10 total plays.

Geoffrey,

That doesn't have anything to do with being stuck in places like this at Beechtree, does it?  



William Wang,

Long time, no post!  Been busy?

[GeoffreyC]

Scott

Don't insult me by implying that how I play influences what I think about a course. Ran closed out our match on the 17th at Beachtree so I couldn't have played too badly. I like the course but I think there is more to like at Bulle Rock.

While I defended the 2nd hole at Bulle Rock to Bill it was the only hole I screwed up (double) at the course. So much for your theory.

[DTaylor18]

Geoffrey, I'm glad you guys played Bulle Rock and started this thread as it's a good course and is in such stark contrast to Beechtree.  I have only played Bulle Rock once versus many more for Beechtree, so i want to go back and play it again soon, after having read some of these comments.

One negative on Bulle Rock for me was that it was a more difficult walk, but still do-able.  I had always thought of it as a much more difficult course. Clearly, it's longer, but i didn't relaize some of the subtleties just discussed.

I guess my one question would be the greens.  I remember Bulle Rock as requiring more of an arial game.  One ofthe joys of Beechtree is all the different options and green subtleties.  How does Bulle Rock compare in that regard?      

[Scott_Burroughs]

Geoffrey,

Of course I don't think that you would conflict how you played and how you liked a course.  That winking smiley in my post meant that my post was tongue-in-cheek.

I just remembered that pic of you in the bunker on Ran's Beechtree profile.

FYI, I like Beechtree, but have not played Bulle Rock, which is interesting considering I'm in the Baltimore area twice a year to visit family, but never get to play golf.  I played Beechtree as part of a conference trip.

[GeoffreyC]

Dan

There are tons of ground game options at BR. On the 4th hole George ran one in from 30 yards out using the slope while Tony and I all stuck darts at the pin with wedges. We all had birdie putts inside 15 feet.

Many holes had beautifully shaped approaches in front of the green that would permit (and if really firm force) the ground game. The ramp into 14 was a good exaample and from the 330 yard (blue) tee would represent a great risk reward drivable (not for me) par 4.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Scott

Well get the hell out there and play!  No BS excuses!

Bill,

I said I don't GET to play when I'm in the area.  It's not really a choice.  I can't even take up offers to play with guys from the board who invite me to play with them at their course (twice now, and no dice - yes, cue up the whip-crack sound effect)

[Dan Herrmann]

FWIW, the staff at Bulle Rock have always been very nice to my wife and me.  

It's one of the few CCFAD's that actually works.

[mike_malone]

 I agree that #2 is not the best hole,but the overall strategic experience is wonderful.I particularly enjoy how they did it with the land and the angles and not the trees.

[Jim Franklin]

Scott -

You must be contacting the wrong people in Baltimore to play .

[Scott_Burroughs]

Jim,

I don't talk to 'Canes.....

[Jim Franklin]

That's cold . I thought us exBig East boys were going to stick together. DC will get you out there eventually  .