Wherever he goes (last year we profiled his work at The Country Club of Fairfield and Canterbury), Bruce Hepner does as good a job as anyone at teasing the best features back into play on Golden Age designs. Here at Essex County is no exception and his work is augmented by the strong support of the club as well as Green Keeper Eric Richardson's excellent work over the past two years.
Just take a look at the photographs and perhaps you might even wonder along with me if this isn't the best presented Ross course in the game today. Put another way, because of its diversity and how it resists being stereotyped, Essex County is the first course I would take someone to showcase Ross's talent as a golf architect. Yes, Essex County is easily one of the courses that would be in my version of Tom Doak's Gourmet's Choice (which is only appropriate given that Tom did such a great job rebuilding the fourteenth green here), joining the likes of Swinley Forest, West Sussex, the short nine at Morfontaine, De Pan, The Jockey Club, Eastward Ho!, Brancaster, Woking, Somerset Hills and Yeamans. Similar with all these courses, it finds the perfect balance between fun and challenge. That's not meant to sound like a cliché but I'm no wordsmith and that's the highest compliment I know to give.
On a side note, I wish the people down the way at Myopia Hunt would appreciate what the return of width has meant to Essex County - and how their own course would greatly benefit from similar measures.
I intend to be at The Curtis Cup next June. Here is its link
www.2010curtiscup.com and maybe a bunch of us can meet there - it will be a fantastic opportunity to study the course and see how it still challenges the best.
Cheers,