Crystal Downs Country Club: A pictorial!!!

[Kyle Henderson]

The merits of the Crystal Downs Country Club are well-documented on this website. But, despite the interference of poor lighting and rain storms, I did manage to gather a few images of the course that I thought others would enjoy.

Enjoy.


This may be the loveliest clubhouse/setting combination I’ve ever seen.


1st tee. 460 yards. Par 4. A lovely view, though I dislike the mowing lines. A tough par to start, due to length, an uneven fairway and a brutally-sloping green.


2nd approach (taken from 7th tee). 425 yards. Par 4. Another longish hole heading uphill. Again, the mowing lines seem off.


3rd hole. 191 yards.


4th hole. 409 yards. Pr 4. This is where the course really starts to take flight.


5th tee shot. 353 yards. Par 4. As short par 4’s go, this  one is all-world.


5th approach.


6th tee shot. 384 yards. Par 4.


6th approach


7th tee shot. 335 yards. Par 4. Many will lay back for a better approach lie/distance.


7th approach from up top.


7th green from behind/right.


8th tee shot. 550 yards. Par 5. The fairway bends right over an amazing parcel of tumbling earth.


8th driving zone


8th second shot landing zone climbing to the green. What an incredible fairway.


8th looking back


9th. 175 yards. Par 3.


Looking across the 9th to the front nine.


10th tee . 395 yards. Par 4. Those mowing lines again…


10th approach. The green follows the slope of the hill, to great vexation.


10th from behind/right.


11th tee. 196 yards. Par 3. That back-to-front slope of the green is a score killer.


11th from behind


12th tee. From here the course enters a much different landscape, with an anticlockwise, out-and-back routing until one reaches the adjacent 16th green.


12th green complex.


13th tee. 442 yards. Par 4.


The bend and slope of the fairway just beg for a faded tee ball.


13th approach from an uneven stance.


The 13th green slopes nearly as much as the fairway.


14th tee. 147 yards.


14th viewed from high/left of the tees.


14th close up


15th fairway. 327 yards. Par 4.


15th approach. Strategically placed bunkers and ground contours used in combination to great effect.


16th: 588 yards. Par 5. As with the adjacent 12th, the fairway here is free of substantial complexities.


The 16th green complex makes excellent use of a fronting swale to challenge long approaches.


17th tee. 311 yards. All-world.


There are so many ways to attack this hole – its defenses are equally numerous. That’s Lake Mchigan in the background. From the green, Crystal Lake is viewed just a mile or two to the left.


18th tee. 400 yards. This is actually the view from the 382-yard tee. The back markers are MUCH lower and further left.


A good drive can saw off a bit of the dogleg to starboard.


The 18th approach is rather daunting from the wrong viewing angle.

[Ronald Montesano]

Pictures 4 and 5 are identical.

[Kyle Henderson]

Pictures 4 and 5 are identical.

Fixed. Thanks.

[Nigel Islam]

The coloring on those pictures is amazing. What time of day was that and what month?

[Kyle Henderson]

The coloring on those pictures is amazing. What time of day was that and what month?

Mix of times over two days. The best ones (holes 6-10) were taken around 7-8 pm in mid-August.

[Mac Plumart]

Perhaps your best work, Kyle.  Amazing photos!

Favorite hole?  Why?

Least favorite?  Why?

[JLahrman]

Great pics of a great-looking course, not a lot more to say about it.

Looked pretty busy out there, hopefully you didn't wind up behind any slow fivesomes?

[Kyle Henderson]

Perhaps your best work, Kyle.  Amazing photos!

Favorite hole?  Why?

Least favorite?  Why?

Thanks, Mac.

I'd have to say the 5th was my fav. Trying to pull off the perfect drive (over the centerline bunkers with my carry distance and no wind), is a fun challenge. As a senior, I'd hit a lofted wood over the right tree or lay-up at the bottom.


Once on top, one hopes they have a good angle in -- from the angle displayed, the green tilts severely away to the right.


So many ways to play the hole.

16 was my least favorite. There just isn't much going on until you approach the green and I'm not long enough to reach that one in 2 without a huge tail wind. Thus, I'd probably hit a 5-wood, a long iron and a wedge on most days.

Joel,
It was relatively busy, but the pace was plenty fast.

[Steve Lang]

   saddened, i see a lot of looks from Doak's NLE Highpointe, an afforadable public course that shouldn't have gone to hay

[Josh Tarble]

Terrific photos as always Kyle.

This course just looks incredible.  Of all the top courses this is the one that stands out from the rest for me.

Steve,
Looking through the the pics of High Pointe you can totally see Doaks inspiration from Crystal. It's really uncanny on similar they seem like they would have been.

[Brian_Sleeman]

Did you play twice in one day?  Always the best way to go if possible, especially if that's your first visit.  I see a couple of the caddies played behind you in the late round.  If you stayed ahead of them, you must have been moving quickly.

Great photos.  You caught some great light, and I especially like the shot from back-right of the 10th green, with the 10th tee and 18th valley in the distance.  Any chance you'd be willing to share a higher resolution copy of that shot with me?

[Peter Pallotta]

Thank you, Kyle - excellent photos. They bring back fine memories of what is still the only top 100 course I've ever played. They also remind me: a few days after I played I spoke to a friend who knows CD very well, and he asked me what my favourite parts were and I immediately said the Par 3s and the 8th hole.  He was surprised that I mentioned the Par 3s, and it surprised me that it surprised him. I knew about some of the more talked about holes, but it felt like the Par 3s were just great. Looking at the photos I still think so, but playing even more -- where they are, what they look like, what they ask....all together, to me they are what I remember and like the best (and the 8th).

Peter

[Yancey_Beamer]

I played this course twice with Tom Doak.Both times I was given a running commentary on the architecture and the correct shot.This course is exciting,beautiful and hard to play and even harder to putt.The most exciting hole to me was 8 as there is no logical way to play the hole safely,simply enjoy the roller coaster ride.

[Mac Plumart]

How much better would the course play with adjusted/corrected mowing lines?

[John Kirk]

Nice pictorial, Kyle.  Really great.  It took me a couple of rounds before I appreciated Crystal Downs, but now it just looks like golf heaven.

In your description of hole #17, I believe you misspelled "All-weird" by spelling it "All-world".  Tough tee shot on that one.

[Eric_Terhorst]

Thanks for these pictures Kyle.

More than many other pictorials, these remind me of how much thought and skill are demanded in each shot at Crystal Downs and thus how much fun the course is to play.  That is a tribute to both your pictures and the course.  

[Stephen Davis]

These are some great photos. It is clear that Crystal Downs should be on most peoples must play list. It looks like a treasure and full of strategy.

[Bryan Lewis]

I never tire of seeing picture threads of Crystal Downs.  These are very nicely done!  Thanks for sharing.  I've only driven by the course, but was in awe of the 8th fairway that you can see from the road.

[Jud_T]

Kyle,

Agreed.  The 5th is not only my favorite hole on the course, but one of the best holes I've played period.  That green running at 11, or whatever they have it at, is pretty borderline however.

[Greg Taylor]

Awesome front nine, and what doesn't come out in the pics is how quick the greens are... quickest I have ever played... if I recall stopping any putt from going off the 11th green from above the hole is impossible.

Love the low key clubhouse and window onto the 10th tee too...!

One of the best.

[Adam Clayman]

Kyle, Thanks again for a nice pictorial.

One of my favorite features is the 7th green. One can first get a glimpse of her, as they are finishing up on 5 and walking to the 6th teeing ground. Seeing that right side of the 7th green reminded me so much of the 9th at Cypress, I could barely control myself. Then, was I showed that there was a whole other half to the elbow, wrapping around to the back left, I was floored.

Mac, From my untrained eye, the presentation is required for a couple of reasons. The firm and fast nature that the ground contours call for, and, the native grasses. The added buffer that the first cut of rough provides, and is creating the odd visuals, is needed because the native areas do not provide for easy recovery. It's akin to how Prairie Dunes is presented, trying to stop marginal shots from bounding into dead zones. (I'm not implying all the native areas are unrecoverable.)

[Mac Plumart]

Adam (or anyone)...

Thoughts on mowing the grass around the "Three Sisters" bunker complex right up to the bunker edge rather than surrounding the bunkers with rough?

[Mike Hendren]

Great memories.  I have held out Shinnecock  Hills as the best course I've played, but I'm not so sure Crystal Downs isn't its equal.   Deserves to be considered among the handful of best courses in America.

Mike

[Kyle Henderson]

Did you play twice in one day?  Always the best way to go if possible, especially if that's your first visit.  I see a couple of the caddies played behind you in the late round.  If you stayed ahead of them, you must have been moving quickly.

Great photos.  You caught some great light, and I especially like the shot from back-right of the 10th green, with the 10th tee and 18th valley in the distance.  Any chance you'd be willing to share a higher resolution copy of that shot with me?

Brian, the first day the forecast called for morning rain that never materialized. In the afternoon, we were told that we needed to go out before a ladies tournament -- we got dumped onwhile playing the 2nd and 3rd, so my host rationally called it quits. Those 20 minutes turned out to be the only real downpour of the day, and the ladies cancelled... That was disappointing, but we ended up having a nice dinner instead. After dinner (under sunny skies), I snuck around to take some of these photos (that's why you're seeing caddies playing the course), but the light was fleeting.

The next day, we had to wait until noon (guest play is delayed on Fridays). Thus, I enjoyed one lovely round with my kind host before heading off to Kingsley.

It's definitely the kind of course that takes time to learn and fully appreciate. I hope to have that chance some day, as I'm already quite smitten with the course!

[Kyle Henderson]

Mac,

Adam is probably right about the mowing lines.  But while the rough provides an nice buffer from the native grasses, I would still contend that the buffer is a bit wider than it needs to be in many places but the visuals are disturbed much more than the playability of the course. Splitting hairs of course. CD is presented very well. I just hope they resist the omnipotent quest for faster green speed, as I'd hate to see them level any of the greens to keep them playable.

The rough around the 3 sisters on #5 is probably for ease of maintenance.