Mark Twain Golf Club

[Mike_Golden]

Played this hidden gem for the first time today (playing it again tomorrow).  I'll take some photos tomorrow and will post them in a few days.

Very nice golf course, excellent greens, lots of uphill approach shots, $21 greens fees.  All in all, a really nice day (which would have been nicer had I been playing with some buddies from GCA.  As has been mentioned, 4 uphill par 3, a couple severely uphill.  And all the pin locations today were 3-4 paces from an edge-made for a tough time although I hit the ball pretty decently and actually putted really well.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Mike,

What are you doing in Elmira, NY?  Not exactly a big tourist destination.    Your in the area where I grew up (down the road in Corning).  Played Mark Twain a number of times, including high school matches against Notre Dame HS, Tour pro Mike Hulbert's alma mater.

Yes, I've mentioned the 4 uphill par 3's, which I've never heard of on any other course.....

Uphill approaches are not uncommon on Ross designs, I've found (someone will now give examples where there are none or few   )

If you want to see a muni with a nice set of some wicked greens, play Soaring Eagles in neighboring Horseheads (course Tour pro Joey Sindelar grew up on).  It's only about 5 miles from Mark Twain.

[Mike_Cirba]

Mike,

As I mentioned to you last night, Soaring Eagles is worthy of a visit.

Glad you enjoyed Mark Twain!  Nice bargain, huh??!  

[Mike_Golden]

Scott,

Sheila, my fiancee, grew up in Corning and we're up here visiting her family.  I only had time for 2 rounds and booked Mark Twain twice before finding out about Soaring Eagles so will have to leave it for my next visit.

Mike,

When I walked to the Blue tees on #1 and hit my drive (down the middle, fortunately), the Starter told me to play Soaring Eagles, as did the 80 year olds I was playing with.  By the way, while Mark Twain might be more difficult, Solutia GC is just as enjoyable to play and has a little more variety.  The 4 uphill par 3's seem somewhat over the top since all of them are pretty long.  Even #7, which is only 148 from the back tees, plays about 175 to the middle of the green.  The Blue tee for #11 today was about 215 from the green (the card said it was 182 but is was back about another 30 yards) with a very severe green.  Still and all, I really liked the golf course and would enjoy playing there on a regular basis.

[Ken_Cotner]

Hey Mike,

Glad to hear you like it.  I have a brother who lives in Elmira and enjoys playing there, although he is not a frequent golfer and certainly not a GCA aficionado!

Enjoy.

Ken

[Mike_Golden]

Played my second round there today.  It's a good course but when you have many uphill blind shots to greens and the pin locations are all 2-3 paces from the edge (as were virtually every hole for the past two days) it takes away, IMO, from not only the overall enjoyment of the golf course but also from the use of any kind of strategy other than hit it away from the pin.  Apparently this goes on there all the time and the greenskeeper (who has done an excellent job of conditioning since his arrival a few years ago) claims he cannot get his crew to do it any other way since 'none of them play golf'.

What do the rest of you think about this?

[Craig Sweet]

"Apparently this goes on there all the time and the greenskeeper (who has done an excellent job of conditioning since his arrival a few years ago) claims he cannot get his crew to do it any other way since 'none of them play golf'.

What do the rest of you think about this?"


Shoot em'!!!