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JNC Lyon

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The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel), Brookline
« on: August 22, 2005, 08:08:14 PM »
 I am proposing this as a course for discussion, since I feel many on here have played it, but I read precious little about it before playing it last weekend, and I was thoroughly impressed, especially with the challenging simplicity of the greens. A few points:

-My least favorite of the holes on the Main Course was the 16th. I found the green to be of interest, but the fact that there was no bailout and no room for a run-up, with fescue all way to the front edge, somewhat irked me. This would be quite all right at 150, but the par three is a full 185 from the tips, into the wind. With such a tiny green, I found that the demands of the hole were too stiff

-As the most underrated hole, I select two consecutive holes: four and five. Number four would be hard to overrate, and it is, in fact, my favorite hole on the property. From the neat pulpit tee fronted by a ravine, to possibly the smallest green I've seen on a non-par-three hole, the hole is brilliant. It has so many options for a hole of just 335.

 Number five is different story, as it is 100 yards longer than four, but with a combination of a blind tee shot over a rocky mound and a steeply pitched green from right to left, it is unique from any hole I have played.

-The only change I know enough about to regret is the elimination of the cinder racetrack around nos. 1 and 18, especially the crossing of the track in front of the final green. Even a partial restoration might bring back character to a relatively bland opening hole.
"That's why Oscar can't see that!" - Philip E. "Timmy" Thomas

JNC Lyon

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel), Brookline
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2005, 10:09:23 PM »
No comments at all??? ???
"That's why Oscar can't see that!" - Philip E. "Timmy" Thomas

Matthew MacKay

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel), Brookline
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2005, 11:32:00 AM »
It is strange that this course gets very little discussion.  I loved every minute of it...a great example of undulating topography, small greens, and simple bunkering combining for great golf.  

I would admit that the balance in the routing may be a tad antiquated (2,4,6 are all very short 4's).




Mike_Cirba

Re:The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel), Brookline
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2005, 11:47:46 AM »
The Country Club (Brookline) is one of the courses I've never played that I'm most intrigued about.

Certainly, Ran's profile on this site adds to the allure, and I'm interested to find out more about Flynn's contributions whenever Wayne and Tom Paul finalize their book.  

It seems to me to be a course with an old-world charm that can still be setup to challenge modern players, much like a Merion.  

Someday....

wsmorrison

Re:The Country Club (Clyde/Squirrel), Brookline
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2005, 01:51:26 PM »
There is a great deal more Flynn at Brookline, outside the Primrose nine, than most realize.  The changes that Flynn made to greens, bunkers and a bit of the routing on the original 18-holes was partly due to the fact that Flynn wasn't simply adding a 9-hole course at TCC.  Rather he was adding nine new holes, changing three others and intermingling the new 9-holes with the back nine of the existing course to create three 9-hole loops with only the front nine basically intact, albeit with new greens and bunkers.

The current 16th was a hole Flynn changed.  He moved the 15th green to the south by creating a dogleg right.  With the added room Flynn moved the tees back on 16 and remodeled the green and bunkers.  The Flynn plan had a 45-yard landing area in front of the green with a bunker short and right (not nearly as large as today) and it was built this way.  This was a design that accomodated a greater range of players when built.

As for consecutive holes, I would have added the third as well.  That's pretty darn good.

The fourth hole is a Flynn redesign.  The original tee was to the left of the current one, which is up the hill, more level with the fairway.  The former tee was too close to a rise and hitting the ball directly into the slope was a regular ocurrence.  Flynn turned the into a dogleg left making far better use of the hill to dictate the landing area for a proper visual line and angle into the green.  The original hole went straight out to the corner of the property.  It was called Hospital because there was a hospital directly behind the green.

On five, Flynn remodeled the green and bunkers and added some mounds on the left of the green.

The Country Club is a wonderful place.  I hope to get back there sometime soon to finish doing some research.  Tom Paul was intstrumental in figuring out the evolution of the golf architecture.  It is a fascinating story and one we look forward to telling in the book.

As for the book--I may be optimistic, but I would say the manuscript will be complete within three months.  The editors will have there work cut out for them--we are at 502 pages without pictures.  And counting!

The Shinnecock chapter is being written right now--well when I get back to it in a minute.

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