Rye ( Devereux Emmet) good profile !

[mark chalfant]

Theres a very nice write up about yet another NYC Metroplitan Area gem created by Devereux Emmet.  Check out Rye Golf Club posted in the Home Course/ my opinion section by Carl Friedrich. Some nice photos by Carl that highlight the rugged terrain, inventive holes and nice vistas. nice work Carl !

[David Harshbarger]

+1

[Richard_Mandell]

Nice write-up about my home course as well, Carl!  I grew up on Rye Golf Club.  Snuck on with my friends to play the 2-7 loop in 8th grade.  COuldn't play eight and nine because they were bein grenovated by Rees Jones back then.  I went legit with a junior membership my Freshman year in high school and ended up playing for Rye High the last three years of high school.  We went undefeated my senior year as I captained the team.  The picture of eleven off the tee does not show the small pond just in front.  That was the same pond my friends and I would troll for used balls in the dark.  Luckily it was shallow enough (and mucky beyond belief) that we could hide from the cops when they showed up when someone called to complain that someone was sneaking out on the course.  We would just sift through the muck and weeds for balls.

The course itself is wonderfully quirky with many blind shots that Carl mentions.  It is an absolutely terrible place to play first thing in the morning as many blind tee shots (4, 6, and 7, ok three but it seems like a lot when you are there) play directly into the sun as you look up into the horizon after striking your tee shot.

I had my first hole in one on number 14, another blind par three that played uphill and was nestled between two rock-outcroppings.  the other par-threes on the back nine (10 and 17) are two of the toughest one-shotters in Westchester, requiring some serious needle-threading.

[Richard_Mandell]

Carl mentions the eighth hole, which could very well be one of the best short par-fours in the county as well. Talk about threading the needle there!  Thi is where I decided to become a golf course architect.  Rye and the other great courses in Westchester were a major influence on my life.

Rye Golf Club is a definite must-play to see such a quirk of a gem.  Tahnks for letting me ramble.

[mark chalfant]

Rich,

Thanks for your personal thoughts about this gem. I love Rye's greens, more than a few tilt front to back ! Number 2,7, 14 and 17 are all full of golfing charm. The little uphill plateau hole that you aced, provides  a stellar contrast the downhill windswept 17th (170 yards) which borders Milton Harbor. Emmet really created a varied set of cool par fours, out of a rather cramped site. Id love to hear your thoughts on #5 and #16.  Five is the rugged hole that is located in the northeast corner of Rye's property. By the way, as Carl stated, CGCS Chip Lafferty is doing a great job with attention to Golden Age nuances. Richard,  congratulations on your  career. Westchester County is a great place for GCA inspriation  !!

Thanks

[Richard_Mandell]

Mark:  Here are my thoughts on #5 and #16 -

#5:

This is a straight uphill hole that is complettely blind unless someone can reach the top of the hill with their drive (which is more likely today than it was thirty years ago).  The hill is probably about fifty feet high.  There is OB along the entire right side of the hole (John Vanbiesbrook, the old Ranger goalie, used to live at the base of the hill on the left many years ago for a short time). 

If one was to design this hole today from scratch they might not get anohter job but it was just a part of working with the property to get 18 holes on a piece of land back then.  It was good practice for us to try to cull from memory the exact location of the green and to remind ourselves to look for where the flag was as we descended the adjacent fourth hole.  Sofrom a golfing standpoint, it had its place.  I am proably too close to this hole emotionally to give a truly fair assessment of it, but it comes down to if you accept the notion of a blind hole or not.

As difficult as the land is, it does its best to fit the ground.  The tees are on a high point and you play to a green on a high point.  Unfortunately, the landing area is either a flat at the bottom of a hill or along a twenty percent slope (Depending on how you hit your tee shot).

The hole was most likely the first I ever played in my life as it was the first of that loop we used to sneak out on to play.  We would go: 5, 6, 7, 2, 3,4.  It was also THE slope to go sledding down .  If you stayed to the left (which would be the OB line along the right as you played the hole), you would literally have about a thirty foot jump to sled over.

[Richard_Mandell]

#16:

This was sort of the opposite of the fifth hole, although it was on the opposite side of the golf course.  It too played to a blind green unless you could hit a long enough tee shot to hit the slope that began about 250 yards out.  The tees were elevated so it played hight point to high point to a green complex which sat low but not in a complete bowl. Back then it was a mighty tee shot, but today golfers are all probably hitting over the crest of the hill.  At that point, if you don't hit it to the bottom of the hill, you would have another twenty percent slope to stand on.

I remember there was a rock outcropping along the left side of that slope with a tree sticking out of it.  it never affected your approach if you stayed on top of the hill but if you were on the slope, it would be an issue.  The puttign surface was a sort of slight bowl with sand left and right (maybe front right too back then?).  It was framed by Milton Harbor behind it as well as the Milton Harbor House Apartments beyond that (where I lived most of my Rye days).

Although this hole was blind, like number five, you could at least go to the crest of the hill to gain a view of the hole much easier than on number five.  Again, this hole worked with the ground as best as possible and it seemed to be a fun experience, yet still a good test when you were trying to break eighty as a kid.