[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I am sure all 10 or so of us who have traveled north to Duluth have seen this
Ross gem. It was a first for this Tiger. I slipped on winter tiger travel cloths for a July round of golf. I found a club that gets it. The concept of firm and fast is alive and well at Northland. My hat is off to the Super team. All of you who have not been there should try too see this grand Ross course before long. cheers to the GCA world and a tear for Watson today.

[ed_getka]

John,
    I will have to take a look when my travels bring me up that way. Did you travel up with the Ross Society group?

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

No Ed, the Ross Society will be there in August. It is a must play in a good state for golf. By the by if one is really lost and wondering around the great north. I really enjoyed our own Jeff Bauer's Wilderness Club on lovely Lake Vermilion in far northern Mn. It is on a tough site with good solid and fun holes. I will talk more about that in a later post.

[Jim Franklin]

Northland was my surprise course during my Minnesota trip a few years ago. I absolutely loved it. Firm, fast, terrific stuff. I liked it head and shoulders more than Hazeltine.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Jim I completely agree with you. However better than the sit eof the PGA Cham. is really not a fair bar for Northland to best. Northland is far better. lol

[Jim Franklin]

Tiger, I would play Northland 9-1 over Hazeltine and I am not sure about the 1  .

[Mike Hendren]

Amazing, isn't it, how these Ross gems just keeping popping up on GCA, one after another.  It wasn't that long ago that nobody had heard of Holston Hills, LuLu, Beverly and Idle Hour just to name a few I've played.  Even Memphis CC remains under the radar screen as well - an absolutely ingenious routing.  I can't help but wonder if the cognoscenti hold his prolificness against him when ranking the greatest golf course architects of all time.  I continue to believe there were none better.  

Mike

[David Stamm]

Amazing, isn't it, how these Ross gems just keeping popping up on GCA, one after another.  It wasn't that long ago that nobody had heard of Holston Hills, LuLu, Beverly and Idle Hour just to name a few I've played.  Even Memphis CC remains under the radar screen as well - an absolutely ingenious routing.  I can't help but wonder if the cognoscenti hold his prolificness against him when ranking the greatest golf course architects of all time.  I continue to believe there were none better.  

Mike

But there are some that were at least equal.



Sounds like a wonderful course. It's discovering unheralded gems like these that make this subject even more exciting.

[Mike Hendren]

But there are some that were at least equal.

Amen.

In my mind, what sets Ross apart, however is his sense of restraint (though he'd occasionally toss in a volcano or punchbowl) and ability to seamlessly drape 18 holes over the landscape - often one of modest features and dimensions.

Bogey

[Jason Topp]

The magical thing about Northland is the setting and the routing.  It is basically routed up and down the side of the mountain but I have never taken a cart nor wished I did.  The views of Lake Superior are amazing.

[Mike Hendren]

The magical thing about Northland is the setting and the routing.  It is basically routed up and down the side of the mountain but I have never taken a cart nor wished I did.  The views of Lake Superior are amazing.

Jason, I find that interesting as I was just thinking about the routing at Ross' Cherokee CC in Knoxville.  All 18 holes are routed on the side of a hill.  It's unlikely I'll ever get up that way, but Northland sounds sublime. 

Kindest regards,

Bogey

[PThomas]

i'm another member of the Northland fan club!

[Michael Blake]

Paging Chris T.  Hopefully he will comment.

Here's his blog:  http://northlandgrounds.blogspot.com/

[Lou_Duran]

Though I like Holston, Plainfield, Scioto, Inverness, Beverly, and a few others very much, I don't consider Ross to be in the class of MacKenzie and Tillinghast.  He was certainly the most prolific, and perhaps with the law of averages in an era of plentiful great sites and no regulation, one would expect a good number of "gems" to have survived.  I have also played a number of courses attributed to Ross which though enjoyable, are rather average.

[Mike Hendren]

 I have also played a number of courses attributed to Ross which though enjoyable, are rather average.

Lou,

That's a heckuva lot better than courses that are below average and unenjoyable, no?  Again, your comment suggests that Ross' prolificness is held against him.  Kinda like saying Nicklaus played a lot of average rounds - which in fact he did.

Mike

[Jason Topp]

Though I like Holston, Plainfield, Scioto, Inverness, Beverly, and a few others very much, I don't consider Ross to be in the class of MacKenzie and Tillinghast.  He was certainly the most prolific, and perhaps with the law of averages in an era of plentiful great sites and no regulation, one would expect a good number of "gems" to have survived.  I have also played a number of courses attributed to Ross which though enjoyable, are rather average.

The volume of courses Ross produced makes it difficult to rank him compared to Tillinghast or MacKenzie.  Their respective bodies of work were created so differently.  A more apt comparison is Bendelow who operated in a more similar fashion.  When comparing those courses, Ross comes out a genius.

[scott_wood]

Jason, I'm curious as to your high regard for the uphill asects of the routing......

as Jim did, I really admired the f&f conditions, thoroughly enjoyed the challenging short game shots, the uniquely gorgeous setting....BUT, even though 2 & 3 and 15& 16 were testing ( esp #2!) fun holes, they esentially were routed staight up the mountain, and straight down...I'm not sure I detect  greatness in that approach..don't get me wrong, NCC is a gem,( probably not even "hidden" anymore) and I'd love to have it for ahome course... but the up/down is kind of basic, yes?

[Jason Topp]

Jason, I'm curious as to your high regard for the uphill asects of the routing......

as Jim did, I really admired the f&f conditions, thoroughly enjoyed the challenging short game shots, the uniquely gorgeous setting....BUT, even though 2 & 3 and 15& 16 were testing ( esp #2!) fun holes, they esentially were routed staight up the mountain, and straight down...I'm not sure I detect  greatness in that approach..don't get me wrong, NCC is a gem,( probably not even "hidden" anymore) and I'd love to have it for ahome course... but the up/down is kind of basic, yes?

I like how the nasty uphill portion of the routing is taken care of in 2 holes allowing further climbing to be spaced apart.  Once you get through those two holes the really hard work is done.

[Chris Tritabaugh]

Tiger et. al. It was fun to meet and gather with a number of you last Thursday. In fact I sat across from Tiger at dinner and had a nice conversation.

As a Superintendent I find its easy to work myself into a bubble as the days go by. This bubble grows bigger and heavier on a daily basis as I see the same problems day after day and here comments from the membership day after day. When a group comes from outside and enjoys the course as much as the group on Thursday it sort of bursts that bubble and I end up realizing that the little things that bother me on a daily basis, on a large scale, are not that big of a deal. That comment isn't meant to dump on our membership in any way just a statement I think most Superintendents will agree with.

I have referred to the changes we have worked Northland through over the past two seasons as a renaissance. The course was obviously designed to play in a certain way and that option of play was non-exist for many years. I told this to the group on Thursday but I think it worth repeating. Somewhere along the line it became more important for a golf course to be maintained for its appearance than its playing conditions. Many sports are played on turf and the one thing you will find with every other sport is the field of play is generally maintained to provide the best playing conditions for the particular sport. Somewhere this idea was lost when it comes to golf courses. The little round ball is meant to roll and bounce and yet more often than not this is not the case. We have worked hard to bring these conditions back to Northland and the results are there for everyone to see and play.

Over the past two+ seasons I have really gained an appreciation for the brilliance of Ross' routing at Northland. There is some discussion of the steepness of the uphill/downhill holes of 2, 3, 15, 16 but IMHO it was an awesome way to transition the course both up and back down a very severe slope. #2 is a shortish 4 with a brutal green certainly nothing easy about it. 3 plays up hill 95 feet, which is a huge number but you really don't feel like its that much. 15 is a pretty basis hole except for the view of the Lake from the tee. Treeing clearing behind the green introduced an element of insecurity on the short approach shot. Finally 16 has a pretty weak fairway bunker but it is otherwise a very strong hole. Add to it that these holes are typically playing into or down wind and they are very interesting holes. Using just four holes to transition about 200 feet without it really seeming too severe is pretty impressive.

Most casual golfers come to Northland and they remember one thing, the Lake. To me one of greatest features of Northland is that our best holes are up the bluff and away from the Lake. The holes with stunning views of the Lake are memorable for sure and hold their own as golf holes but the very best holes really have no view of the Lake. Most, myself included feel the stretch of 7-10 could be the four best holes on the course. Although 18 is a really great hole as well.

Northland has always been a great design on a wonderful property. Now we have added proper playing conditions to create a wonderful threesome.

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