The short opener at Fenway, which posesses one of the great Tillie greens in the Game.After returning from the island after 6 plus days, on Sunday, June 21, I was taken (not by force) to Fenway CC--a A.W. Tillinghast design in Scarsdale, N.Y.
The course has been undergoing a rejuvenation of sorts under the watchful eye of Gil Hanse & Associates, and I have to say, it is clearly evident that Fenway was a course that had literally been swallowed by trees since it was layed out by A.W. Tillinghast some 65 years ago.
The brutally long par 3, 11th. another magnificent green complex surrounded by some pretty scarry sand hazards which are somewhat blind from the tee.The club has bodly gone where many golf courses and clubs fail to go, and that is acceptance that the golf course has lost much of its ability to function as such because of tree growth. If ever there was a prime example of a golf course blinded by tree growth. But the err of ways was seen and trees have fallen--Fenway is one of the best if not brightest examples, right alongside Oakmont and Winged Foot. They have also made huge steps to recover not only the golf course, but the beauty of what is a glorious parkland setting for golf. When finished with this reclaiming, I suspect that many will be banging down the doors to play there. Fenway is everything we love about a Tillie course and more. In fact, it is better, because no one ever knew it as such!
It looks like it took a lot of work to build Fenway. There is a lot of stone around that property, and in some places huge veins of granite slabs pop out of the ground, and mostly none of it comes into play. I would surmize that the 3rd is probably built on a pile of excavated slabs as it literally lifts the green up into the heavens. While there are more trees to be removed to further strengthen the golf hole, (as an example, right of this beautiful 3rd, and concealing what seems to be even more challenging pin locations as originally designed by the Tillie-man.) the contour of that green is even more impressive and deadly.
Back and front views of the 3rd green. A magnificent built-up green with tons of features. In the back and fore grounds is the Sahara-style bunker that had been grassed in, and Gil Hanse had recovered. Some might question that it needs to be seen better from the tee and the fairway, but according to club record it always had been somewhat of a blind, "peaking" bunker. Gil and Co, merely cut out the grass from the shaping that was left for dead some years ago, put in some drainage, then added sand. The club is actually looking into trying to recvoer the back right pin by tree removal and green restoration. It will be a doozy of a pin placement back there.All of the bunkering has been rebuilt at Fenway, and there has been nothing but praise for Gil Hanse & Co from the club. They're finding out that all along, they have one of America's GREAT golf courses, and I couldn't agree more.
Wonderfully restored, but somewhat only in place for the much stronger player off of the tee, this reverse church pew bunker set is pretty cool!
It is rumoured that when building the bunker that seperates the 8th and 12th, ace Gil Hanse shaper, Rodney Hines followed Tillie's original plans that stated the bunker completely surround the island in the center. When digging the new bunker out, Rodney hit some pretty hard rock and had to stop. It had become evident that Tillie stopped there for exactly the same reason when constructing the original!One of my favorite things about Fenway is the routing. You never seem to be more then a hole to hole and a half away from the clubhouse at all times, and once they get the trees removed from the Western side of the property, it will produce a breath-taking view of this beautiful land.
Golf needs to applaude this club for taking what must have seemed like drastic measures in ripping down trees, and they semed to have made all of the right moves in doing so. For that Golf should be eternally greatful to them for opening the way for other great clubs like themselves, who need help with that first step to recovery.
Allellujah!
Also credit one Geoffrey Childs for finding it and opening the eyes of many, by getting them there for a look..