The Golf Club

[Tony_Chapman]

What should my brother expect out of this place? He is fortunate enough to have a business contact who is a member and will be playing there tomorrow.

Ran's review sounds wonderful. I am curious to hear thoughts of others.

[Mike Nuzzo]

He should expect to have a great time.
Probably be alone on the course with the member.
He shouldn't look for the noose on 16, unfortunately.

[Craig Van Egmond]

Mike,

        Are you confusing The Golf Club with Oak Tree?  Or does The Golf Club have a hangman's tree also?

[Craig Van Egmond]

Well its gone from Oak Tree.  

[Mike Nuzzo]

I saw it on the 16th.
I recall a report posted from Mark Fine that it was no longer there.

[Paul Carey]

Not only will you find a wonderful, subtle Pete Dye golf course (my favorite of his designs) you will find a great locker room and bar to rehash the round.  It is quite a place.

[Matt_Ward]

Arguably, Pete Dye's best design and easily among the top 10 modern courses (post 1960) in the USA IMHO.

Also agree with the folks who have said about being alone -- one of the few places where the help outnumbers those playing on a steady basis.

P.S. I can remember playing TGC when Fred Taylor (former OSU b-ball coach served as GM. Not only did you have some of the finest golf to play but talking with Fred about the teams with Knight, Havlicek and Lucas was always a fun addition when in town.

[Ian Andrew]

It's a really quirky layout with lots of intriguing ideas like: a bluegrass ledge in front of a green, a couple of pot bunkers (unusual at the time), the wonderful low profile verticle tie work at the 13th, the use of long views beyond the hole, the railroad car bridge crossing, and bunkers below the pond on #3.

There are so many origional ideas, along with great restraint which makes this course a personal favourite.

This is golf architecture at it's best, and the influence it as on the present is vastly underestimated.

[michael j fay]

Could well be the best course designed in the US in the "Modern Era".

Most of what is seen is the classic golf strategies on a wide and bold canvas, a great set of greens and well placed hazards.

This is my favorite of the Pete Dye collection and one of the very few golf courses that needs no further embellishment. This course could host the Ladies Senior Nine Hole Championship or the US Open and the players would be equally challenged.

IMHO, this is Peter Dye at his best and a benchmark that should be reviewed by every practicing Architect.

[Lou_Duran]

The course is more "crowded" than it used to be.  I think that they do around 10,000 rounds there per year now.  There will be people playing the course.

My prior time there in the late 1970s, membership was around 100 and there was only one other group on the course while we were there on that July 4 weekend day.

For once, I tend to agree with Redanman.  There is a lot more to this course than meets the eye.  Terrific green complexes with great subtlety.  It could very well be the type of course where appreciation grows with each time one plays it.  In my case, I came away with a much higher opinion my second time around.  A player's course without much of the harsh, punitive hazards that catch the slightly off-shot so common in Dye's later works.

The superintendent, a rather young, athletic man, has been there for some 15 years.  He lives in a beautiful "cottage" at the entrance to the property and is often there 24/7.  He began as an intern at TGC and probably knows every square inch of the property.  When nature permits, firm and fast is the rule.  And he plays a very credible game of golf.  

[Wayne Freeman]

It's really a treat to play this course. It certainly was one of Dye's first 2 or 3 courses and has a softer touch with regard to some of his characteristic features.  The course is laid out on 500 acres, but easily walkable. I played on a Weds. with the head pro ( actually the first pro they've ever had there).  The was only one other twosome the whole day with our threesome. The course is great with a wonderful selection of different holes.  They only have 125 members and all the expenses are pooled at the end of the year.  The clubhouse is a duplicate of the hunting lodge at Seminole. The guy who built Double Eagle wanted the membership to reduce to 75, and when they wouldn't do it, he left and bought 500 acres to build his own course, designed by Weiskopf. Deserves to be ranked way up there.    

[Tony_Chapman]

As my brother sends me e-mails throughout the day of his experience I thought it would be fun to share them with the group. It's hard to comprehend my excitement here. My brother is more a bombsquadgolf kind of a guy -- a scratch player who I am trying educate about great architecture. I hope this experience really brings him around.

Quote from Tyler Chapman

I was just struck at how we were the only car in the parking lot from when we arrived at 7:30 until about 10:30 that morning.  The golf course offers everything for the skilled player, length, blind shots, etc..., challenges all parts of ones game.  Fairways were like carpet and greens were pure.  The clubhouse may have been my favorite part.  I signed my name in the guest book like the thousands before me had.  The clubhouse is a replica of the old Seminole golf course.  One big open room with lockers all the way around the outer walls, tables for playing cards in the middle and a few showers and restrooms in the back.  Guys just walk around buck naked while golfers come in and out!!  I couldn't beleive it!  They do have a separate dining area that is really neat.  One of the more interisting facts I found was how they still stand by the original beliefs of Mr.  Fred Jones.  No extra charges for food, shoe shining, club storage and no tipping!  You don't see that much anymore.  Perhaps my most memorable part was when I birdied the last two holes and one some money back for the member who hosted us.  He rewarded me by giving me a black book that has a history of the club, its story and pictures of every hole.  Something I will cherish for a lifetime.  What a place.

[Lou_Duran]

Wayne,

I too played with the head pro a couple of weeks ago.  I am fairly sure he said that they had over 200 members, a number in the national category, and a couple emeritus (I think Dye and Ed Sneed).

The club was very active on the Thursday mid-afternoon we played.  We started on 6 to avoid several foursomes that had gone off, and we went through a few groups.  I am told that members now have a day or two a week to bring up to seven guests, whereas before they were limited to just three.

In no way did having golfers there detract from the experience.  Back in the late 1970s, a member friend used to complain that he had a hard time getting a game.  That does not appear to be the case now, and I had the great pleasure of meeting an extremely nice member who joined us for a few holes mid-way in the round.

Without a question, if I lived near Columbus, TGC would be at the top of my list of places to join.  Wolf Run northwest of Indianapolis would be my choice there (much better than Crooked Stick, in my opinion).    

[Tony_Chapman]

Quote from Tyler Chapman

The more I think about it, the cooler this place gets.  When a guy thinks of Pinehurst he thinks of the greens, that is what makes the place, when a guy thinks of Sandhills its the blowouts and the vasness of the place.  The Golf Club is unique because not one thing makes it stand out, its just the overall quality of the place, the fact that there are more employees there than golfers, a championship layout and a beauty that you just don't find anymore.  The membership should be very proud.  Don't change a thing.

As an aside to this quote I had asked him to compare it to both Sand Hills and Pinehurst #2 (probably the best two courses we have played together). I find his response wonderfully interesting.