Copake CC N.Y.

[mark chalfant]

This scenic course near the Massachusetts/ New York  border seems to be well preserved with some dramatic terrain.  Is anyone familiar ?

thanks

[Peter Galea]

I've played it throughout the years and like it. It is an old style golf course.
Small greens, elevation changes, sidehill lies, beautiful views and no encroaching homesites.
I can't think of a let down hole on the course. I've posted some photos here before.
The super has done a great job with conditioning and playability.
Copake has some of Steve Curry's "death by fescue", very pretty.
I'll be back there in two weeks, if it's still open, I'll tee it up.

previous thread here: http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,5563.0.html

[Scott Witter]

Mark & Peter:

You may know that Mark Fine and I completed a MP for this course about 1.5 years ago.  We believe from considerable characteristics & features associated with the green sites that Emmet may have been involved, however, our research couldn't confirm this position.  Clearly though, and as you have may have noticed this course wasn't designed by a local farmer.  It is early primative work, but detailed quite nicely, well thought out and provides some thrilling experiences.  We are most fond of holes 2, 3, 4, 11, 12 & 17.

Peter, when you go, please note that the new pond between the 1st and 10th holes was NOT our doing, but the Owner's against our wishes.  The restored and added bunkers on these holes do reflect our recommendations from the MP and they really spice up play.

[Brad Tufts]

This course looks pretty neat, in an area in which I've always been looking for a place to play.  One question (not that it really matters though)....the "mens tees" on the website only add up to 5600 at par of 72, is there a set behind that?

[Chris_Blakely]

Brad,

If I remember correctly when I played, the back tee yardage was around 6100 to 6200 yards.

Also, the course is definetely Emmet.  I have played a lot of his courses and some old cross bunkers are still visible and the green pads are representative of his work.

Chris

[Jim_Kennedy]

Brad,
I was there on Thursday and the place is getting better all the time. The yardage is around 6200, as Chris mentioned.

Scott,
I like the position of the bunkering on 1 & 10 although I can't say I like the puffy and shaggy look of their surrounds. There are only two other holes on the course with fairway bunkers (one is a par 3) and they look nothing like the ones on 1 and 10. 

[Mark_Fine]

Jim,
The reason the other bunkers don't look the same is because they are not finished.  We are working through the master plan a hole or two at the time.   The bunkers below on #10 were only recently rebuilt.  It is a very cool golf course!

[Jim_Kennedy]

Mark,

What I was getting at was that I didn't think the 'puffy' look that is emerging fits the course as well as what's already there.  They don't add anything to the 'look' and the dense grass is only an inducement to slow play, on a course where the existing terrain, thick rough and sequence of holes is enough of a challenge.  

Given the option, why not create fairway bunkers without the heavy eyebrows?



p.s. I am always a supporter of the courses in my area, and frequently recommend Copake.

[Scott Witter]

Jim:

To a certain degree I see your point.  The puffy look has come about by the fact that the super didn't use the right sod  (sorry Mark A.) around the top edges of the bunkers.  I believe he was unable to get the fine fescue sod we wanted and he neede to finish the bunkers, so instead he used a blend of blue/rye and this really doesn't work very well as you can see.  He can always go back and replace with the fescue sod later.  With fescue it would look a bit wispy, but no where near as puffy.

[Mark_Fine]

Jim,
I see Scott already addressed your point.  Mark Anderson is a great guy and as Scott stated, the sod we wanted was not available and Mark made a decision to go with the blue/rye blend.   Below is a photo of what the bunkers looked like closer to the course's inception:



By the way, you may have noticed all the tree removal that has taken place and the work on the greens to bring them out to the edges of their fillpads in their old squarish shapes.  We've also started to address fairway lines and build some new tees.  The work is being done inhouse and we don't get to supervise as much as we like but Mark A. is doing a nice job with the funds he has at hand. 

Again, Scott and I really like the golf course and it is improving nicely but will take time.
Mark

[Jim_Kennedy]

Mark,
Yes, I've noticed many of the changes, probably missed others(although that's a good thing), and Mark Anderson is deserving of much credit.

Something said earlier, about Copake's primitive features, is probably what I am getting at about the bunkers on 1 and 10. They just seem too modern for this course, but so do cross-hatched, highly patterned fairways.

[Mark_Fine]

Jim,
I'm not sure I'd call those bunkers modern looking    Mark just scraped out an area for the bunker and pushed up the dirt in the back.  That is about as primitive as you can get.  Not much shaping going on and they look pretty close to what was once there (from old photos).  He is doing the best he can especially considering his budget.  I think the coffin style bunker on #1 looks pretty old style as well.  If Scott and I had our way, we'd be spending a lot more time there but money is tight.  The key is that work is continuing and the owner knows we can touch things up later.
Mark

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