Ever since the greens were expanded from 80,000 sq.ft. to 144,000 sq.ft, Yeamans Hall has received lots of recognition.
At some point, if you cry TOO loud about how much you like it, people assume that you are being swept away by the dirt entrance road, the charming clubhouse and cottages, how well Claude Brusse and his guys look after you, etc.
However, having just spent a few days there, I wonder if the golf course itself is actually even better than what many people give it credit for?
I say that for the following reasons:
1. The fast and firm conditions presented by Green Keeper Jim Yonce are - in all respects - perfect. I only wish more board members from other clubs could/would come here and see what YHC and Yonce are doing. How sweet is it to find a course where the ground game is very much alive and well?! Green counts for nothing there.
2. The putting surfaces as a set must be amongst the dozen or so finest in the country. The Maiden 11th green, the thumb print/horseshoe/whatever at 3 and 10, the ridges perpendicular to the golfer on the 5th, 15th and 16th greens (somewhat like 2 at Pine Valley), the huge, free flowing greens like on the 2nd, 8th and 17th, the false fronts that have to be contended with, the severe pitch of the 18th - the list goes on and on. Huge greens + interesting interior contours = tons of great hole locations. The flexibility of the course set-up is amazing. For instance, the difference between a front right hole location on 8 and a back left one may be as much as three clubs and the kind of shot that you would want to play in would be different as well. What more could a member ask for?? You would never tire of playing there!
3. The entrances into the greens vary greatly. Holes like 4 and 15 scream for a run-up shot as the entire green is open across its front. Other holes like its Redan and Knoll hole provide a partial opening while a couple of holes like the Short and Alps require the ball to be carried onto the surface. The golfer who can play all the different shots has a great advantage and the course will allow/encourage him to show off his ball control skills.
4. Given that the rough isn't irrigated, the variety of lies that you see when you steer off-course is vast. This manifests itself around the greens especially, where one time you may have a sandy lie, the next the ball is sitting on top of some bermuda where it is easy to get underneath it, and the next time you are on hard pan. Playing there on a consistent basis would improve your short game FOR SURE as you would be forced to experiment - you couldn't rely on one stock-standard recovery shot.
5. The greens retain their challenge from any distance and always remain fun to approach ala St. Andrews. Take the 15th green. Hitting the correct half of the green in two from 180 yards out for a 40 year old is no more satisfying than hitting it in three from 80 yards out for an 80 year old. Both shots are equally cool in their own right as you try and negotiate the false front and use the ridge that divides the green into a left and right half to your advantage.
6. You are a mug if you lose a ball there and the need for searching for a ball is minimal. For instance, going for four rounds there, I only packed two sleeves. Playing golf still can be simple.
7. The holes themselves keep getting better as the Club's fine tuning continues. The recently completed restorative bunker work on 14 and especially 17 is excellent.
8. As compared with virtually any Raynor course (including Fishers, The Creek and Shoreacres), its weakest holes are superior. Though it's plenty fine, the Eden hole isn't particularly memorable and the 9th still seems a little loose on the 2nd shot but otherwise, it is one very appealing hole after another. A lot of that is attributable to how well Raynor did with the holes that fall on the flat-ish parts of the property (i.e. holes 5, 6, 10, and 17 are as appealing as holes like 8, 11, and 14 that enjoy the more inspired topo).
9. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, YHC identifies the true golfer. Despite his excellent play, Ted Sturges went down in flames 5&4 and 4&3 in our two matches, a sure sign of a great design
Some people say the course is too loose off the tee but I don't buy it - with greens like that, you have to approach certain hole locations from precise spots in the fairway or else the three putt greens will start to mount.
If only the Club would consider restoring the bunkering off the tee on the Bottle hole, all would be perfect at YHC, one of the world's great places to have a game, whether you are 10 or 40 or 80 years old.
We sorely need more courses like it.
Cheers,