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!