Dedham's 1915 nine hole course was designed by Ross. In 1920 Herbert Fowler was hired to construct an additional nine holes on newly acquired land. Financial set backs, we think, led to this relationship to be dissolved and Raynor was hired. Raynor was to include Fowler's holes, with Ross', and his own to make an 18 hole golf course. He pulled it all together, saving many Ross greens, but changing the routing and bunkering, and including 2 or 3 green sites that Fowler hadn't finished. This, coupled with the placement of his holes with regard to the terrain, has led me to really appreciate his routing skills.
In the past 10 years there was a bunker renovation with no regard for the history of the course, thankfully the green surfaces were not touched and the bunker locations were not changed (that much). Since then, the history of the club has been uncovered and an appreciation for the Raynor design is building within the membership.
With this new regard for tradition Brian Silva was hired and a new master plan has been designed. The timeline for the plan remains uncertain though.
We have some really cool standards here including a reverse redan similar but not a severe as Charleston's, a Knoll and a Valley holes similar to Yale's, a really neat but short Alps, a punchbowl green like Yeaman's, the best Maiden green I have seen, a road hole, and a single level Biarritz. With the restoration we will end up with a prized dogleg, strategy hole, and a great bottle hole.
The terrain is very similar to the other Boston clubs with rock outcroppings and varying terrain. We are in the process of removing trees to expose these outcroppings and various other land features. We have also been able to expose some great specimen trees. I would say that Dedham is less parkland than Winchester, and it has been years since I have played Brae Burn so I would not make a comparison.
That officially make this my longest post and probably most coherent. I do love talking about this course and its history.