Sagamore Golf Club write up

[Chris_Clouser]

Here is a write up on the Sagamore Golf Club.  I haven't been able to get any pictures posted on the internet.  I've got to learn how to do that.  So here is the verbal part and I'll add photos later.

The Sagamore Golf Club is situated just north of Indianapolis in Noblesville, Indiana off of Stoney Creek Road.  The course is design by Nicklaus Designs and is a “Signature” design by the firm.  The operations are overseen by Troon Golf with the construction being done by Landscapes Unlimited.  The private course is located directly across the street from Stoney Creek Golf Course, a public track.  It is believed the two won’t have problems co-existing as they will not be going after the same market.  The Sagamore is another in a group of courses that have popped up in recent years in Hamilton County.  The list includes Purgatory, Prairie View, Plum Creek and a new Pete Dye design called Bridgewater.  This boom has given Hamilton County an interesting mix of golf that can find an audience from the regular Joe Sixpack all the way to Joe Millionaire.  The one thing that could be argued is that the area lacked a top line modern private club.  This is supposedly the market that Sagamore is going to meet.  With the draw of the Nicklaus name, the course has had high expectations in the area.  

The nature of the course is typical of the area with some gently rolling terrain dotted with a natural pond and some difficult drainage issues.  The land the course is located on was formerly farmland that was purchased for the hopes of developing a top line course with a residential community surrounding it.  In one of his visits to the site (his second) Jack commented, “It’s typical Indiana, pretty flat.  We just need to see what we can do with what Mother Nature gave us.”  In walking the course, several recurring themes rise up and meet the player in the face.  These are discussed in more detail in the following paragraphs.  The course is routed in two loops of nine that uses the terrain in nice manner but may have left some unused potential out on the course.  The pond that exists on the second nine was on site before the construction and was used extensively in the routing of the course.  All the water on the front nine was constructed for the course.  From the tips it is just under 7100 yards and a par of 72.  

As a golfer, I like for an opening hole to be representative of what the course is as a whole.  With this thought in mind, it is easy to say that the first (427 yards) at Sagamore hits the mark.  The hole from tee to green has little elevation change and presents the player right off the bat with a menacing waste bunker inhabited by small turf islands that protects the left side of the fairway.  The fairway has adequate width for the less skilled, the problem with the tee shot is that the hazard runs mostly parallel to the line of play.  Gentle openers are fine, but for such a menacing hazard, more teeth should be showed, especially with the amount of area to bail out to for the player less confident in their first stroke.  The green is angled to more readily accept shots from the left side and is protected on the right by a deep bunker.  The area around the green also features a collection area to the left and behind to for any shots rejected by the green.  The green has a gentle slope that runs from back to front also but nothing extraordinary.  

The second (541 yards) features perhaps the prettiest drive on the course and looks like something that would be at Muirfield Village.  The elevated tee features a drive over a dried out creek bed that has been used to provide drainage for the course.  Two trees on the right side of the fairway though prevent the player from seeing the eventual target.  This hole is the first par five on the course.  The next shot is challenged by a large bunker that runs along the right side of the hole up to the green surface and only provides a chance to stay on the green for the high fade.  The player that lays up though will have a pitch the full length of the green to any pin.  

The third hole (335 yards) is a short par four that provides an interesting tee shot down to the fairway with the terrain sloping from right to left to the green that is located directly beside the lake.  The fairway is pinched by some bunkering but the place to be is just short of the green.  The long hitter can hit a nice draw and use the terrain to roll onto the green surface.  The green runs from back right down to the front left and could cause some chips to run into the pond if the player is coming from the wrong angle.  This again is a nice hole, but nothing extraordinary.  

The fourth hole (186 yards) has a familiar theme and is probably based on Jack’s love of Augusta as the hole “bears” a resemblance to the 16th on that course.  Water runs along the right side of the hole from the tee to the green with the green in the form of a potato chip with the back half running away in a manner not unlike a the 16th at Augusta.  Players going for pins on the back right will want to avoid too much spin on the ball or they will be hitting a third from the drop zone.  To the left side of the green is another collection/chipping area that contains a drainage grate (Oh the humanity!).  This is the third hole out of the first four that the approach has favored a high fade.  Also, the greens have all been relatively the same in style up to this point and makes the player wonder, will I ever find a green that has some interest.  

The fifth (383 yards) is another par four.  This hole again revisits the waste bunker theme.  The right side of the hole plays somewhat longer for the less confident golfer, but the left side features a peninsula that interrupts the waste bunker.  From this location the player finds the best angle into the green that again favors a left to right faded approach.  The right side of the green is protected by a deep bunker in almost the same fashion of the first hole.  

The sixth (422 yards) is a hole that doglegs around a bunker on the left side of the fairway and finally we see a green that favors a draw from the fairway.  But again we are faced with the same green it seems as on the previous five holes with the ridge dividing it with a slight runoff behind.  In a curious move, not only is the left side protected by a bunker, but it also runs down to a collection area that drops the player to a few feet below the putting surface.  In a way this rewards shots that are so bad that they don’t even find the bunker by giving them an shot from the fairway cut instead of the rough.  I’m not sure what to make of this feature.  Perhaps I’ll find it more approvable if my ball ever ends up there.

The seventh (551 yards) is the second par five on the course and is another good solid hole from tee to green.  This hole also features one of the few elevation factors that Nicklaus actually left in play around the course.  A hill along the right side of the hole appears to be the direction the player wants to avoid and try to carry the short bunker on the left side.  This would be incorrect.  The player taking the long road on the right will gain an extra roll off of the hill and get down into position to possibly go for the green in two.  The approach area for the second has a similar formula to the earlier par five but features a pond that is very much in play on the downhill approach all the way to the green.  The player that stays short of the green will have a pitch the full length of the green as with the earlier hole.  The green again is nothing spectacular as it favors a fade approach and has trouble on the right side.  

The eighth (213 yards) is the next par three on the course and runs in the same direction of the previous hole and is the first time that this occurs on the course.  From the tee the slightly uphill par three looks incredibly fearsome with the deep bunkering.  But after the player sees the complete picture they see what could have been a great hole.  Earlier the designer seemed to introduce the idea of the large waste bunker, but for some reason holds back on what could have been an incredibly intimidating chance.  Perhaps along the lines of the 15th at Kingston Heath.  Second, all the bunkering to this point is of the style with the lips being evident from a distance, but a pot bunker is constructed on the left side of the hole that is nothing like any of the other bunkering on the front side of the course.  Also from the tee the opportunity to have an awesome green complex is evident, but again the player is faced with an angled green that receives a fade with a collection area short and left.  With the last two holes the player must feel shortchanged with the potential that existed here.  

The closing hole of the front side (431 yards) is the most boring hole thus far on the course.  Nothing is happening here.  A wide fairway with bunkering on the right side that indicates the preferred line of play.  The approach must avoid the pond that runs along the left side of the second half of the hole.  The only thing different is the green is angled from left to right so a draw is preferred, but again it is the same putting surface as seen on the preceding eight holes a gentle back to front slope towards the hazard and a slight rise in the middle creating a gentle rollaway on the back side of the green.  But hey, there isn’t a collection area this time!

[Chris_Clouser]

Here is the back nine.

The back nine of the course is the area that has had no development as yet for homes.  But this is in the plans down the road.  The opening hole (398 yards) on the back side is located across the street from the proshop.  Thus providing a completely separate paddock for the second set of holes.  The opening hole for this sequence is actually quite a good hole.  The waste bunkering idea again is used on this hole and runs all along the right side and actually presents a nice visual effect with the green appearing just over the last of the bunkering on the right side.  The fairway runs through a saddle in the terrain and a shot that clears the bunkering on the right will have a clear view into the most unique green on the course yet.  That’s right a green with an open front that isn’t angled to the left or right.  Though it will never be mistaken for Prairie Dunes the green does have some movement not seen yet on the course.  

The trek to the next hole is almost 100 yards and when they get to the tee the player must ask, “Why?”  To get to another par three (191 yards) that plays along the edge of the pond with an angled green just like the 4th hole earlier.  To be fair the green is much better on this hole than its predecessor.  The two tiered green is quite nice.  But the designer had best hope the player doesn’t look to the left of the hole as there is some amazing terrain movement that could have been the makings of an incredibly interesting short par four if the tee was located closer to the previous green.  Another lost opportunity?  Possibly but then we wouldn’t have the luxury of having a perfectly balanced par 72 course, now would we.  Oh, for those keeping score this is high fade number 7 that is required from the tee.

The oddest hole on the course and the only one with a cross hazard that is actually in the fairway is the twelfth (367 yards).  From the tee, this is a different hole that I’m sure most average golfers will say, “Where do I hit so I don’t get in trouble?” as the player must carry water to get to the fairway and in the middle of the fairway are two bunkers.  As with the collection area on the sixth, I am perplexed on the benefit of the hazard because of the spacing of the bunkers from the water.  Unless the player hit a fade from the tee the actual space to hit to is limited.  In dry conditions the bunkers will get a workout.  Beyond the bunkers is a slight plateau that will give some extra roll to the longer hitter who can carry this feature.  The green is almost exactly like that on the tenth, previously.  

The 13th (393 yards) presents the player with a much different view as the hole is completely enclosed in trees.  Because all of the fairways have had wide open views it fools the player into thinking they are driving a bus through a mousehole.  But the width of the fairway is ample.  The hole though is the same formula as used on the front side.  Approach the angled green from the left side to avoid the direct carry over the greenside hazard.  

The 14th (576 yards) is the third par five on the course and perhaps the most impressive tee shot on the course.  The fairway shape seems to have been inspired by the 10th at Riviera.  The left side is the more viable option for the lesser player, but if the ace wants to try and cut off a large part of the hole they can attempt to carry the large waste bunker and go down the right side and possibly on the little peninsula of fairway that juts out into the expanse. For the player that took the safe line off of the tee, the second is much more of a challenge as they must deal with a large waste bunker that bisects the fairway.  For the player that made the daring carry though the challenge of the hole is done.  The second is to a wide fairway that runs slightly uphill to a nice green that slopes from back to front.  With a slight false front as well.  When walking the course and not knowing the exact layout of the hole from the tee I thought this would be a great hole as I saw people doing some work.  I thought they were working on the green, but it was the second waste bunker.  If that were the green or if the green were located just past the waste bunker area that would have been an all-world par four.  This is perhaps the fourth time that an opportunity was missed in routing the course to create some superb holes.  

After the disappointing finish of the previous hole the player is smacked in the face with another impressive tee shot.  The fairway for the 15th (467 yards) is pinched on both side with bunkering in a manner unlike anything else on the course to this point.  The ideal drive clears the crest to the blind landing zone. The fairway snakes through a saddle created by two small hills and creates the elevated approach to the first green that was sited on the course.  The green is placed on the edge of a plateau with a steep falloff to the left and in front.  This is the most complete hole on the course from tee to green and provides the start of a challenging finish.  The only complaint about this hole is that many players will have blind seconds over the hill, but there must be some advantage for the longer and straighter player form the tee.

From the original drawings the 16th (442 yards) was to be a version of the famous finishing hole at Harbour Town.  Well, it didn’t end up that way.  The fairway does provide a small landing area to try and hit for the approach into the green, but why?  The player gains no advantage on this hole from going that direction so they should go to the right side and try to make the required aerial approach from the angle that doesn’t require a carry over the water.  The second bunker that appears to be out of place on the course is the one found on the front right of this green.  This appears to have been added to create a hole with a particular shot in mind for the player to pull off.  The 17th (222 yards) hole is almost the mirror image of the 5th hole that we saw earlier with the exception being a bunker in front of the green, that probably shouldn’t be there.  As with many of the holes preceding them, these two holes have the same potato chip style of green.  

The final hole (552 yards) is also the “Signature Hole” of the course.  It is a par five that requires a carry over a lake to the fairway that runs along the edge of the water all the way up to the green.  The only question is how much of the water does the player attempt to carry from the tee.  Other than that the only requirements on the player are don’t put it in the water.  The water does run up directly beside the green and even has an elevated holding pond that looks like something from Castle Pines.  This hole is the perfect capper to a rather difficult but disappointing finish.  Also it seems that at the end of the routing the designer realized they had set up almost every green to be approached with a fade and purposely made them all require draw approaches.  

To look back on the course you should begin with the routing.  Obviously, there were constraints on the use of the land due to the residential development that is the main emphasis behind the project, but there were both good and bad points.  The routing is easily walkable and is well balanced.  There are some solid holes, but too many missed opportunities and way too many bland holes or replicated features to really consider this more than a mail in project.  The par fives on the course appear to be the strength which is an oddity and especially unique for this area.  But they are far from superior.  The par threes feature some great photo ops but the best hole is the only one out of the group that doesn’t have water but seems to just not have been fully realized.  The par fours run the gambit from good to solid to blasé.  

The bunkering on the course is one of the strengths of Sagamore.  The style is unique for the area, especially for the large waste areas.  If allowed to grow in and look like natural waste areas they could really enhance the visual impact of the course.  The remainder of the bunkering on the course, though not inspired is far from lackluster with a few noted exceptions.  The only hole that really should have the bunkering looked at is the 8th.  Create a more fearsome tee shot with that bunkering.  Not hold back.  Take the nature and style of the course and let it be what it is.  

The greens are, as can be guessed from the write up, an area of great distress.  Only 3 or 4 of the greens are truly individualistic.  Several had the same slope and shape.  The only difference being the orientation being angled to the right or the left.  If the greens are the faces of the portrait of this course, then there must be a lot of twins running around the Sagamore clubhouse.