The virtues of nine-hole courses have been discussed in many forums, most notably in Anthony Pioppi’s book “To the Nines.” A recent Discussion Board thread included debate about whether a nine-hole course belonged on any list of the nation’s best golf courses.
Wisconsin has several notable nine-hole courses: The Eagle Springs Golf Resort, home to the famed “Volcano” par 3 2nd hole; the funky Plum Lake GC, deep in the Northwoods, with a blind punchbowl green and its charming clubhouse; and the Robert Trent Jones Sr. nine-hole (18 with two sets of tees) course on Madeline Island, in Lake Superior near the Apostle Islands (you get there by boat).
Many of the state’s nine-holers, as is common elsewhere, have been expanded to 18 holes, sometimes to their detriment. One expanded nine-holer that held faithful to the original designer’s intent (and is quite good) is Tom Bendelow’s Old Hickory GC, in Beaver Dam, WI, reviewed here:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,36792.msg752829/In revisting Old Hickory after several years, I was struck by how well Bendelow laid out the original nine holes there. While doing some research on Bendelow’s other work in Wisconsin, I came across another Bendelow nine-hole course, built in the Depression era. It’s called Country Club Estates GC, a highfalutin name for a modest course designed in 1929. Having played it recently, I’d suggest it deserves a spot among the very best of the state’s nine-holers. Quite simply, it’s a lot of fun to play.
The course is squeezed in between two better-known neighbors in Walworth County in southern Wisconsin: Bendelow’s well-regarded Big Foot CC is a few minutes up the road, near the Lake Geneva resort town of Fontana. A long-iron east of Country Club Estates is the Killian-Nugent Abbey Springs GC, set on rolling land with views overlooking Lake Geneva. Country Club Estates has neither the cache nor the views of its neighbors, but it does offer some terrific routing over very good terrain. Its most notable feature is a hallmark of some Golden Era courses – several blind shots. On the course’s seven non-par 3s, the golfer is potentially faced with blind shots into nearly every green, or off the tee.
Course details: The nine holes play to a par of 35, at 3,011 from the tips (2,829 from the whites). The course was originally owned by a local homeowner’s association, and for much of its life had little in the way of public play. But it’s been available for everyday public use for about five years.
Holes (yardages from the tips):
No. 1 (par 4, 298)
From a slightly elevated tee, the play is to a fairway that gently doglegs right and rises to a crest 200 yards away. You’d think on a sub-300-yard par 4, you could see the green from the tee. Not here.
Near the crest of the hill, the green remains unseen.
Move a little to the right; there it is.
Only from the very crest of the hill can the golfer see the entire green below.
The green sits in a beautiful, natural amphitheatre; imagine Bendelow first seeing this property and coming upon this landform -- a perfect spot for a green. The green itself is well-bunkered, and tilted somewhat from back to front. It’s a green that the long hitters can reach from the tee, perhaps with some help from the natural roll of the terrain. Those less sure of their swings on the opening tee will be left with an awkward pitch – perhaps blind or semi-blind, and more than likely from an uneven lie. A nifty opener, and one that meets the definition of a very good hole – when I putted out, I wanted to go back immediately and play it again.
No. 2 (par 5, 497)
The longest hole on the course doglegs right to a very wide fairway.
From 200 yards away, the green remains unseen. It’s straight ahead, and the golfer is helped by a tall aiming pole with flag that sits in a grove of oak trees.
Here’s what awaits – the green sits in a small valley, although it’s perched up from the nearby fairway and has significant falloffs on the back and sides, especially left. The too-bold golfer risks losing his ball in the deep woods no more than 10 yards beyond the green.
This is a tough bunker shot, especially to a back pin. The green here, like most at Country Club Estates, tilts from back to front.
No. 3 (par 4, 350)
A long walk back from the 2nd green to the 3rd tee yields this tee shot – the row of pine trees middle-right of this photo, along with the mowing patterns, depict the line of play. The sandy mound (middle) is a new tee being built. The play is toward the modest ridge line above the newly built tee box.
This is from 150 yards away – a directional marker, visible on a line past the fairway/rough border, points the golfer in the right direction toward the green. The top of the ridge is more than 250 yards from the back tees – a decent drive. Anything shorter will leave a blind approach into the green.
Here’s the green – small, surrounded by mounds and steep falloffs all around, a bunker right, and a nicely placed bunker 30 yards in front of the green that, from further back in the fairway, looks like it guards the front entrance to the green (it doesn’t; there is a good 30 yards between it and the green entrance.)
The approach shot into this green, although it won’t be long, must be precise, because trouble surrounds the green. Here’s a look at what awaits the golfer who tugs an approach shot slightly left. Hitting the mounds that surround the green on the wrong side will cascade the ball into further trouble.
No. 4 (par 4, 373)
The only non-par 3 on the course that doesn’t feature a blind element, this par 4 moves over the course’s least-interesting terrain. An offset tee creates a hole that doglegs gently to the left. The play is toward a green that sits in front of the row houses in the distance (middle-left of photo).
Bendelow compensated for the less-compelling terrain here by creating an interesting greensite, surrounded by mounds and traps. Here’s a look at three views near the green – left, back, and a deep bunker on the right side of the green. Bendelow made his bunkers at Country Club Estates play deeper than built by frequently placing mounds directly between the traps and the green.
No. 5 (par 4, 336)
From an elevated tee, the player takes aim at a wonderfully terraced fairway – Bendelow laid out the fairway so that level portions of the staircase fairway can be found near the 200-, 150-, and 100-yard marks.
Another look at the fairway – ideal land for a golf hole.
Approaching the 100-yard mark (red stake), the green remains unseen. It’s slightly offset to the left of the fairway, between the two large trees (middle of photo) and the castle turret peaking out above the ridge line.
A complete look at the green isn’t available until the golfer is 75 yards from the hole – more than 250 yards from the tee. The green here is one of the better ones on the course, titled from back to front, and from both left and right sides toward the middle, with some subtle breaks.
No. 6 (par 3, 180)
The golfer’s first reaction upon reaching the 6th tee might be: “Huh?” But remember that the golf hole was here well before paved roads (in what is still a decidedly rural part of the state) and universal electricity and phone service. The green sits on a line past the tree and telephone pole; the flag on this day was directly between them. The play is actually directly over the tree, to a large green surrounded by mounding.
Thanks for the reminder.
A closer look at the green.
Again, Bendelow effectively used mounding to create a more problematic recovery shot around the green. Why do I find mounding on courses from this era appealing, and modern-day mounding contrived? (I don’t have a good answer…)
No. 7 (par 4, 423)
The best hole on the course, and a terrific par 4. The hole doglegs right around a wooded area to a rollicking, contoured fairway – a real roller-coaster ride.
A closer look at the fairway, from the top of the crest where the fairway turns right. Isn’t this wonderful land for a golf hole? The small green sits atop a plateau – the highest point on the course (middle of photo).
The golfer on this hole, depending on the outcome of the tee shot, could be left with a downhill lie to a green above him, an uphill lie, or a completely blind shot into the green. Here’s the approach shot from near the 150-yard mark – the green sits just to the left of the V-shaped tree.
Here’s a look from near the 100-yard mark, and then a look at the green itself, which features something of a false front and Bendelow’s trademark mounds. A really good golf hole; I’ve played plenty of 18-hole courses (at price ranges well beyond this one) that don’t have a hole as compelling as this one.
No. 8 (par 4, 373)
From a high tee adjacent to the 7th green, the golfer takes aim at a ridge line about 150 yards away. I hit one of my best drives of the day, and watched my ball carry the ridge line on the fly and simply disappear -- how cool is that?
Here’s what awaits the golfer past the ridge line – a sharp dogleg to the left, to a narrowing fairway, with a green perched upon another plateau.
From 150 yards away, the golfer must contend with a marsh and trees left and hold an approach shot to a green that sits well above the fairway.
Looking back toward the ridge line, Bendelow again uses the terrain on this hole to great effect, as the golfer will more often than not have a lie for the approach shot that’s uneven. The fairway at the ideal landing spot also tilts from the woods left to the marshy area right.
This depicts the narrowness of the fairway at the 8th hole. Just past the 150-yard marker, the fairway narrows to 17 yards wide, and it’s not more than five yards beyond the fairway edge to either a red-staked marsh or deep woods. The first-time (or forgetful) golfer on the tee has no idea of the trouble lurking beyond the ridge line that makes for such a tempting target.
No. 9 (par 3, 181 yards)
The final hole is a strong one, a long, slightly uphill shot to the largest and widest green on the course.
Mounds frame the opening to the green.
The green here tilts sharply from back to front.
Tom Bendelow, dubbed the Johnny Appleseed of golf courses, is sometimes criticized in golf architecture circles for his 18-stakes-on-Sunday approach to design and layout. The criticism implies that Bendelow’s approach was perhaps less thoughtful than those architects who labored over their courses for months (and years) on end. But maybe Bendelow knew something we sometimes forget – that for all the attention paid to greens and bunkering and length, the most interesting part of any golf hole is the journey from tee to green. Perhaps Bendelow was most interested in how the golfer got from point A to point B. At Country Club Estates, that journey is both fun and makes for good golfing. Bendelow took a very good piece of land and designed (or more precisely, routed) nine holes of merit – all with at least some degree of interest and/or uncertainty, and a few (the 1st , 7th and 8th) that are true standouts. It’s worth seeking out.