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Frank M

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There are some really great courses in the Rochester area, but my biggest surprise was Irondequoit. Not too many people speak about Irondequoit, neighbour to Oak Hill. The front nine consists of 3 holes of each par while the back nine has only one par 3 and one par 5. The front nine is routed over some very dramatic terrain and the back nine is in spots reminiscent of the Carolina's.

I'm not 100% on the history of this place, although my brief conversation with those at the club indicated Ross laid out most of the course with J.B. McGovern doing some work on the back nine. From what I understand, J.B. McGoven kept a low profile under Ross so it wasn't much of a surprise to me that not too much is known about McGovern's influence on the back.

Irondequoit is a well kept secret with many solid holes and green locations. Although the front and back nine are distinct, I enjoyed both.



Hole 1 - 432 yds Par 4








Hole 2 - 173 yds Par 3






Hole 3 - 522 yds Par 5








Hole 4 - 196 yds Par 3






Hole 5 - 363 yds Par 4










Hole 6 - 130 yds Par 3




Hole 7 - 475 yds Par 5 (that tree is my biggest issue on the course)






Hole 8 - 432 yds Par 4








Hole 9 - 512 yds Par 5










Hole 10 - 415 yds Par 4










Hole 11 - 435 yds Par 4








Hole 12 - 321 yds Par 4






Hole 13 - 434 yds Par 4








Hole 14 - 434 yds Par 4






Hole 15 - 171 yds Par 3






Hole 16 - 390 yds Par 4








Hole 17 - 444 yds Par 4






Hole 18 - 513 yds Par 5







     
« Last Edit: July 04, 2024, 05:19:53 PM by Frank M »

Phil McDade

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2012, 07:38:40 PM »
Frank:

You are both prolific and really good with these photo threads, a rare combination in any endeavor. That front nine looks terrific.

How did it play? One always assume that pictures that feature water sprinklers running at full steam means an over-watered course, but maybe that's a false assumption.

The first 3 holes just seem to grab you right out of the chute with their use of terrain -- I really like that shelf green of the 2nd.


Frank M

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted New
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2012, 07:52:10 PM »
Phil: Thanks for the comments. You are right about the first three holes. They really grab your attention out of the gate and are a quick introduction of what's to come on much of the front nine. Although the back nine is more tame, it was also very good. Holes 10 -13, 16, 17 all good holes. 
« Last Edit: July 05, 2024, 09:14:32 PM by Frank M »

JNC Lyon

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2012, 09:17:10 PM »
Frank:

Glad you enjoyed Irondequoit.  It's a course that flies under the radar, even in Rochester, where it's easily one of the top 5 courses in the area.  The front nine in particular is a treat.  I have never seen land quite like that for a golf course, particularly not in Rochester.  Oak Hill is right next store, and there is nothing like it on either course there.  I really enjoy the par threes at 2 (what a great green site) and 6, as well all three of the par fives.  The back nine, I believe, was built by McGovern after Ross died (I have a 1951 aerial of Oak Hill that shows the back nine of Irondequoit under construction), and it is less interesting than the front.  However, I think 16-18 constitute an excellent finishing stretch.

If you play each of the 6 Ross courses in the area, you'll get to see 6 very different golf courses on 6 different pieces of land. We're lucky to have golf like that in this city.
"That's why Oscar can't see that!" - Philip E. "Timmy" Thomas

Tim Martin

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2012, 09:29:07 PM »
Frank- It is always a treat to loOk at one of your photo threads. The course looks wonderful.

Frank M

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2012, 09:35:25 PM »
Tim: How have you been?

I still need to get out to see Yale...maybe in the fall  :-\

Mark Saltzman

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2012, 10:31:51 PM »
Wow does that front 9 ever look great! Another one on the bucket list...

Ronald Montesano

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2012, 10:41:54 PM »
Xerox Classic was held here for a few years (Nationwide Tour) and the pros liked the course a little.
Coming in 2024
~Elmira Country Club
~Soaring Eagles
~Bonavista
~Indian Hills
~Maybe some more!!

Jeff Shelman

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2012, 11:44:12 PM »
Note to self: If I ever go to Irondequoit, I'll make sure I get there in time to hit a few balls.

Looks like a tough place to go right from the parking lot to the first tee.

Great tour. Lots of interesting looking holes and nice movement to the land.

Lester George

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2012, 11:03:09 AM »
Great pictures Frank.  Only 4 fairway bunkers on the golf course.  A pretty low number.  Is there any evidence of old fairway bunkers being filled in.  As usual with Ross, extraordinary use of terrain and what looks to be a brilliant routing.

Lester

Mike Hendren

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2012, 11:22:13 AM »
If you play each of the 6 Ross courses in the area, you'll get to see 6 very different golf courses on 6 different pieces of land. We're lucky to have golf like that in this city.

What a hit parade of GCA coming out of Rochester and the area.  Thank you Frank.

Bogey
Two Corinthians walk into a bar ....

Doug Wright

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2012, 11:45:19 AM »
Great photos Frank. I grew up in WNY, played some golf at Oak Hill, CCR and Locust Hill in college, but  I don't think I ever heard of Irondequoit. The front nine looks terrific, great topography. The par 3 2d looks like a Ross Volcano hole.

Too bad about all those trees--did they impact play for you as much as they appear to do?
Twitter: @Deneuchre

Tim Leahy

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2012, 01:17:35 PM »
Trying to learn some GCA here. What in these pictures jumps out and says Ross?
I love golf, the fightin irish, and beautiful women depending on the season and availability.

John Foley

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #13 on: July 16, 2012, 01:30:23 PM »
If you play each of the 6 Ross courses in the area, you'll get to see 6 very different golf courses on 6 different pieces of land. We're lucky to have golf like that in this city.

What a hit parade of GCA coming out of Rochester and the area.  Thank you Frank.

Bogey

Bogey - there is ALOT more in the area too you've not seen - from a GCA standpoint it's got a lot going for it!
Integrity in the moment of choice

Lester George

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2012, 01:55:11 PM »
Tim,

The Ross that jumps out of these photos for me is the use of the terrain in the routing.  The first hole right off the bat, looks like the reverse version of the 7th at Westhampton (CCV).  Hole 6 is probably the same green I have seen a dozen times throughout the mid-atlantic.

Lester

Phil McDade

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2012, 07:32:34 PM »
Tim,

The Ross that jumps out of these photos for me is the use of the terrain in the routing.  The first hole right off the bat, looks like the reverse version of the 7th at Westhampton (CCV).  Hole 6 is probably the same green I have seen a dozen times throughout the mid-atlantic.

Lester

Tim:

Re. Lester's note on the 6th, here's the 6th at Ross' Beverly CC in Chicago:



Something of a Ross template -- elevated tee to a green down below, with substantial bunkering around much of the green. I've always thought it was Ross' homage to the Raynor/Macdonald "Short."


Dan Herrmann

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #16 on: July 16, 2012, 08:33:12 PM »
Rochester is a small city with big city golf courses.  Best per capita in the USA?

Keith OHalloran

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #17 on: July 16, 2012, 08:45:28 PM »
Doug,
You may not have heard of it, but you may have seen it. When you played Oak Hill East, if you looked at the course adjoining  the 15th tee, that is Irondequoit. In fact, I was told that Oak Hill owns part of their property, but has granted an easement so long as it is used as a golf course.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2012, 06:56:44 AM by Keith OHalloran »

Doug Wright

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #18 on: July 17, 2012, 12:14:37 AM »
Doug,
You may not have heard of it, but you may have seen it. When you played Oak Hill East, if you looked at the course adjoining  the 14th tee, that is Irondequoit. In fact, I was told that Oak Hill owns part of their property, but has granted an easement so long as it is used as a golf course.

Thanks Keith-did not know. PS did you mean 15? 14 is close to the clubhouse.
Twitter: @Deneuchre

Keith OHalloran

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2012, 06:57:02 AM »
Yes, thanks I modified the post.

Tyler Kearns

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #20 on: July 17, 2012, 04:19:55 PM »

If you play each of the 6 Ross courses in the area, you'll get to see 6 very different golf courses on 6 different pieces of land. We're lucky to have golf like that in this city.

John,

Those 6 being Oak Hill East & West, Irondequoit, CC of Rochester, Monroe & Brook Lea? Is there anywhere else with such a high concentration of quality Ross courses in such close proximity? I'm seeing 5 courses with a 2.5 kilometre radius!! Lucky indeed.

TK

JNC Lyon

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #21 on: July 17, 2012, 05:29:25 PM »

If you play each of the 6 Ross courses in the area, you'll get to see 6 very different golf courses on 6 different pieces of land. We're lucky to have golf like that in this city.

John,

Those 6 being Oak Hill East & West, Irondequoit, CC of Rochester, Monroe & Brook Lea? Is there anywhere else with such a high concentration of quality Ross courses in such close proximity? I'm seeing 5 courses with a 2.5 kilometre radius!! Lucky indeed.

TK

Yes, that's correct.  It's a great area for golf, indeed.  Interesting, though, that the land differs between them.  Oak Hill and Irondequoit are built on the typical heavy soil in the area, but the front nine at Irondequoit is nothing like the other adjoining 45 holes.  CC of Rochester is only a few hundred yards from the back of the OHCC driving range, but the soil there is very rocky.  Monroe is just a couple of miles east, but it rests on a sandy soil deposit, meaning it plays firmer and faster than the other four. 
"That's why Oscar can't see that!" - Philip E. "Timmy" Thomas

Doug Braunsdorf

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #22 on: July 17, 2012, 11:12:55 PM »
John,

  How would you compare Irondequoit to, say, Schuylkill?  The terrain looks slightly different here.  When I see these pictures, I think of Mid Pines and a little of Plainfield, but less so of Aronimink.  Just a gut feeling. 

I am not looking for the typical Raters BS, but just your thoughts on the two. 

And, if you can't tell me about Schuykill, then McKeever's got some 'splainin to do. 
"Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction."

JNC Lyon

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #23 on: July 18, 2012, 08:09:39 AM »
Doug,

Luckily for everyone, I'm not a rater!  Irondequoit and Schuylkill are very different in both terrain and how they play.  Schuylkill plays up and down the side of a mountain in Pennsylvania coal country, meaning that everyone hole features one dominant slope going one direction.  Irondequoit, like most courses in Upstate New York, has no dominant feature like that, but instead it features several micro-contours that create very interesting routing prospects.  What differs Irondequoit from other Upstate NY courses is the dramatic, swooping nature of those contours.  Think of the wild fairway contours of an English links course tossed into a parkland setting.  While Schuylkill gives the player several sidehill lies in the fairway, Irondequoit gives the player all sorts of madcap stances.  As Lester George points out, Irondequoit doesn't rely on fairway bunkers because the terrain is so good and so unique.  To me, this is a major advantage for Irondequoit.

As different as the two courses are tee-to-green, the differences are even more profound at the greens.  Irondequoit relies on smaller (shrunken, perhaps?) greens that are, for the most part, subtle, with one dominant slope or contour.  At Irondequoit, the greens are a complement to the wild terrain.  It's as if Ross looked at the wild land and decided that the greens would occupy the flat spots, and the fairways and greens would occupy everything else.  Schuylkill, on the other hand, relies on big, bold, WILD greens, with all sorts of rolls, counter slopes, and shaved-down falloffs to challenge the golfer.  Thinking about it now, Schuylkill is very similar to Mountain Ridge, both in terms of the piece of property it occupies and the way it defends par.  Mountain Ridge is the better course, but Schuylkill could get there with more restoration and tree removal (c'mon Mark, when are you getting on the grounds committee?)  Another similar one that comes to mind is Mark Twain, which, interestingly, was also built later in Ross's career.

All of these differences are understandable.  The two properties are completely different at Schuylkill and Irondequoit, and they were built at different times.  Also, Schuylkill has a Willie Park element as well.  While I like Schuylkill, I'd give Irondequoit the edge.  It has a lot more variety to it, and the terrain is so distinctive that it merits a special trip to see.
« Last Edit: July 18, 2012, 01:16:09 PM by JNC Lyon »
"That's why Oscar can't see that!" - Philip E. "Timmy" Thomas

Mike Hendren

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Re: Pictorial: Irondequoit Country Club (Donald Ross) All 18 posted
« Reply #24 on: July 18, 2012, 10:55:49 AM »
Way to bring it JNC.  Ms. Swift would be impressed!

Bogey
Two Corinthians walk into a bar ....

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