[Noel Freeman]

Tony-

Being one of the minions you refer to, I plead innocence as I was going to Blackrock but sadly had my trip to Boston canceled.. I look forward to getting up there next year.. What are your thoughts on Brian's Rennaissance Club?

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Mike,

Did your friend have cocktails at Black Rock prior to the anwer? That's his opinion and I can't argue with him, well at least not yet. I'd play 9 at Black Rock and 1 at Boston Golf Club; playing just one course would be silly.

Let me know what you think of the book once you read it. Thanks for supporting your local author.

Tom,

The coolest courses ARE 9 holes; I checked for myself just to be sure. That's why I don't look at Black Rock as a wonderful 18-hole golf course, rather it is a club with two wonderful 9-hole golf courses.

Tony

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Noel,

You asked so I'm answering: Renaissance might be the best modern-era golf courses I've played; it's better than the three at Bandon Dunes for sure.

Tony

P.S. You bastard! This is going to open a whole new can of nightcrawlers.

[Dan_Callahan]

Tony,

Are you serious about the quality of Renaissance or are you just trying to stir the pot? I ask because the course is about 10 minutes from where I live, and I have been following its development with interest. I have yet to talk to someone who has played there, however. From what I have seen, it looks great.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Dan,

It's the real deal. Although I enjoying stirring the pot now and again, this is not one of those times. As you know, the first nine opened last year and the second nine in late spring of this year so it still needs to mature, but the design is fantastic. Do you want to play it?

Tony

[Thomas_Brown]

I enjoyed BlackRock very much, but the routing gets a little lost crossing the road.

The Punchbowl feature is entertaining, but not in the same space as Wannamoissett's or Apache's Punchbowl greens.

[Dan_Callahan]

Tony,

I'd love to get over there and play. I've assumed that it will probably take some time for the course to round into shape (although we've had some great early fall weather). It's exciting to hear that even at this young age you think the design is of a high caliber.

[Donnie Beck]

Mike,

Did your friend have cocktails at Black Rock prior to the anwer? That's his opinion and I can't argue with him, well at least not yet. I'd play 9 at Black Rock and 1 at Boston Golf Club; playing just one course would be silly.

Let me know what you think of the book once you read it. Thanks for supporting your local author.

Tom,

The coolest courses ARE 9 holes; I checked for myself just to be sure. That's why I don't look at Black Rock as a wonderful 18-hole golf course, rather it is a club with two wonderful 9-hole golf courses.

Tony

T-Bone,

9-1 Black Rock  It sounds like you prefer carts with GPS over walking. Do you have something against caddies ?

[Jonathan Cummings]

Yes it has $125,000 initiation fee but it also has an attitude that is friendly to raters, raters-to-be, want-to-be-raters and don't-ever-want-to-be raters. My lapdog Geoff Childs and at least one of his pups played Boston Golf Club and couldn't be bothered to even visit Black Rock. Bad dog Geoffrey; bad dog.

The good news is I get a fantastic Italian dinner out of his transgression.

Tony


 

Tony - LOL !

[Kirk Gill]

It was Mr. Morrissett's course profiles that drew me to this site in the first place, and each one that he creates gives me new insight into the individual highlights that make each course uniquely great. Each is a window to a world that I will very likely never experience myself, and this Black Rock piece is no exception.

Many thanks.......

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Mr. Beck,

You are correct, sadly Black Rock does not have a caddy program but I enjoy walking the course. How are the caddies at your place?

Thomas,

I'm a little confused when you said the routing gets a little lost. Granted it's a bit of a walk, but when you've done it once there isn't a problem after that and most walks from green to tee are relatively short.

Dan,

Email me so we can set something up.

Tony

[Martin Del Vecchio]

You are correct, sadly Black Rock does not have a caddy program but I enjoy walking the course. How are the caddies at your place?

I played a Member-Guest at Black Rock in 2003, and we had an excellent caddy who was very familiar with the course.

I have not played Boston GC or Renaissance.  But I am a well-known lover of Red Tail, and I will say that Black Rock shares Red Tail's #1 trait:  it's fun to play.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

So I dug up some pictures I took with my old crappy camera.  First, here are two views of the third hole, which might help show how severe the slope is on the third green:




And I'm not posting this hole first simply because I took this photo from the site of my third shot, and because I got up & down...

[Martin Del Vecchio]

And here's the 4th hole, with the Green Monster.

From the tee; it looks like the green should be to the left, in front of the Monster:


At the foot of the Monster; yes, I am taking this photo from 100 yards behind my partners because I was too excited on the tee, and cold-topped my drive into the woods:


And at the top of the Monster, looking down at the punch-bowl green:

[Martin Del Vecchio]

And the 7th hole, from the tee:


And from the fairway:

[Martin Del Vecchio]

When I played in 2003, I didn't even know what a Redan was...

[Martin Del Vecchio]

Here's what I wrote right after I played:

The 13th is a short (~330 yards), downhill par 4.  The view from the tee (which I didn't manage to photograph) makes it look very tight, and by now the gorillas might be a little shell-shocked, and decide to lay up.  But this view of the green reveals that this hole is begging for the driver.  The green is one of the trickiest on the course.

And here is what Ran wrote in his review:

And that is when the fun begins. An interesting attribute of the hole is that the fairway is widest sixty yards from the green and narrowest one hundred yards from the green. Golfers that gear down off the tee and elect to hit a controlled iron two hundred yards are actually trying to hit the most narrow portion of the fairway. Silva acknowledges that he is messing with the golfer - and loves it!

[Martin Del Vecchio]

And last, here is a picture that illustrates my one criticism of this course.  This is the fairway of the 6th hole, a long-ish par 5.  The green is to the left, by the white truck.

This is one of the holes where the housing really encroaches on the golf course.  On this hole, it felt pretty claustrophobic; hit the drive towards the house on the right, then play around the house on the left.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Martin,

Those are impressive photos, but an up-and-down from off the front of no. 3 is even more impressive. I've been there and I just fly my chip to the back of the green and two-putt for my bogey 5 and move on. I don't even try and pull off that shot.

Anthony

[Martin Del Vecchio]

Those are impressive photos, but an up-and-down from off the front of no. 3 is even more impressive.

Thanks!  My trip to Black Rock just happens to coincide with my lowet handicap index ever.  Maybe that has something to do with my high opinion of the course.

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