Wolf Point Club: A pictorial!!! (18th hole posted)

[Kyle Henderson]

I feel incredibly lucky to be among a select group of individuals blessed with an opportunity to play the ultra-private playground that is Wolf Point Club. Architect Mike Nuzzo and superintendent (and design collaborator) Don Mahaffey’s creation provides far more compelling golf than the vast majority of over-crafted designs found around the continental United States despite its miniscule construction costs. I really cannot overstate what a tremendous job they did, and so I will feel no shame in offering a few pages filled with pictures and unfiltered brown-nosing as a token of my gratitude.

The property was blessed with a meandering  stream bed and several copses of native trees, however the ground itself featured very few undulations before construction. Nuzzo and his team rectified this shortcoming by teasing the ground into naturalistic wave forms modeled after preexisting contours found near the creek and allowing the native flora to disguise the transitions between these altered grounds and the surrounding landscape. The greens were raised and shaped to challenge one’s short game and to promote drainage in this low-lying parcel of Texas grassland. As a set, these greens are unlike any other I’ve witnessed in playing over 300 other courses around the world. Stay tuned for graphic evidence.

The round starts with a short, simple par 4 over ground that also serves as the owner’s practice range.


With a turfed expanse that must be at least 150 yards wide (everything is cut at fairway height except for the native grasses and greens), golfers are free to make a smooth swing. However, the firm turf and short nature of the hole may lull players into over-swinging in the hope of driving the green on calm days. When the wind blows strongly, as it often does, this hole will play much longer and navigating past a diagonal triumvirate of vexing sand traps blocking the line of instinct will require sound tactics.


The green is deeper when approached from near the left-hand lake, whereas the shortest line of attack will yield a trickier pitch over a steep slope flanking  the elevated putting surface.

[David Davis]

Kyle,

Great stuff, having just been there 1.5 weeks ago I'm looking really forward to your pics and this discussion. I too just loved the course and had a blast there.

[Anders Rytter]

Looking forward to this, have spend a lot of time on Mike Nuzzos blog, course looks like a lot of fun.

[Greg Ramsay]

Kyle, thanks so much for taking the time to do this. Mike Nuzzo is one of golf's most talented designers, and Wolf Point was worth the trip all the way from Tasmania, to confirm Mike's capabilitiies, creativity and suitability for 2 exciting projects here in Tasmania, including www.armend.com.au

We only played 1 round at Wolf Point, and i can remember all the holes clearly, which is a credit to any course. I even recall what it was about each one that i thought was a particularly fun or quirky feature. The golf was certainly more memorable than the bar that Mike took me too for dinner and margaritas that night!

[Bill_McBride]

Kyle, thanks so much for taking the time to do this. Mike Nuzzo is one of golf's most talented designers, and Wolf Point was worth the trip all the way from Tasmania, to confirm Mike's capabilitiies, creativity and suitability for 2 exciting projects here in Tasmania, including www.armend.com.au

We only played 1 round at Wolf Point, and i can remember all the holes clearly, which is a credit to any course. I even recall what it was about each one that i thought was a particularly fun or quirky feature. The golf was certainly more memorable than the bar that Mike took me too for dinner and margaritas that night!

That's exciting news!  Timing is everything.  The emergence of Mike as a gifted designer and the crash of the economy unfortunately coincided, otherwise the excellent design by Mike and excellent construction and maintenance by Don Mahaffey would have doubtless led to more commissions.  Lets hope Tasmania is the next step!    I've been fortunate to be able to play Wolf Point twice and never forget just how much fun those holes are to play. 

[Charlie Gallagher]

Kyle,
     As one of the lucky people who has had the good fortune to have played "The Wolf" I am going to enjoy the unfolding tale to come. There isn't a day that passes without me thinking about this amazingly fun and interesting golf course. I thank you in advance for the posting.
  

[Eric Smith]

Thanks for the thread, Mr. Henderson. I've tried to pen a summary of my day there and it is proving to be really difficult. WAY too many adjectives.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Thank you fellas & Kyle
I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures

On the first when I play to the right of the bunkers, away from the lake, the putting surface is at eye level and hard to gage distance, especially when looking over the bunkers.  So my usual approach shot of 75ish yards, from the right, leaves me guessing.
The only par I've made in a while was when the wind blew the ball back down into the hole.

Playing right makes most sense when the flag is right.  That portion of the green is smaller and steeper, and partly why I've made more bogeys than birdies over my last rounds.

When the flag is left the green is bigger and gentler and for me the play is over the bunkers to the left.
It is easy to putt from 60 yards out from there.

I was not expecting that much of a difference when playing from two different elevations that varied only 5 feet.

Cheers

[Paul Jones]

It is sad how little justice the pictures do...

[Ben Sims]

This is not light praise.  Nor is it dumb awe due to the exclusive nature of the course.  I've played Wolf Point around a dozen-ish times (I can't remember because of all the cross country holes we've played on top of actual rounds) and count it among the best five courses I've ever played or seen in person.  That list looks like this.

NGLA
Ballyneal
Wolf Point
Bandon Trails
Pacific Dunes (Oakmont?  Augusta?)

This isn't because of any other factor except that Wolf Point is one of the best courses in America.  I look forward to see what is written about it in the coming pages.

[Alex Miller]

Can we get approximate yardages to go along with the holes/hazards? Much appreciated!!!

[Tim_Weiman]

Greg Ramsay:

All the way from Tasmania to Wolf Point. Wow! I'm living nearby in Houston and still haven't made it.

[Jon Spaulding]

Allow me to pile on here, and agree with Sims

A recent trip to Bandon left me longing for a return to Port Lavaca.

When a fellow nerd asks me for prime examples of width and green contour, WP is on a very short list.

It also passes the George Thomas memory test.

[Cliff Walston]

I can't wait to see more pictures.  I have spent quite a bit of time on Mike's webpage and blog.  Looking forward to learning more.  I can't help but think of all of the mediocre courses I have played in my life growing up in southeast Texas and wonder why it took this long for someone to build something so wonderful, especially given the economics of the construction and maintenance of Wolf Point. 

Mike,

Congrats on the new work in Tasmania. 

[Mike Nuzzo]

Alex
It is any yardage you want.
Depending on how you look at the course there are either very few tees or tees everywhere.
I've hit the green a few times and shooter put his 4 wood over the back in the ditch for a bogey.
Lately I've been driver + wedge.
There is also an area to start from that brings the water more into play - for some of us anyway.

There is not a containment mound anywhere near this large opening green.

Cheers

[Dan Herrmann]

Keep the info coming.  I love threads like this!

[Don_Mahaffey]

Of course I enjoy it when our visitors speak nicely of Wolf Point. And it is very cool that Mike is starting to get some phones calls.
The design and building of Wolf Point was a special time in my life and Mike and I certainly put all we had into the project. But we would be amiss to not credit the man behind the course. Although I will only name him as the "client" he went out of his way to make Mike and I "unafraid".
Outside of a few small directions at the onset, he spent most of his time encouraging us to turn it loose. Once construction started, he chimed in on a few operational and logistic maters, but never entered into the design of the golf course. And he especially made it known that he never cared if anyone but he liked the course. Think about that for a second and it becomes clearer why WP is so damn good.  

[Bill_McBride]

Of course I enjoy it when our visitors speak nicely of Wolf Point. And it is very cool that Mike is starting to get some phones calls.
The design and building of Wolf Point was a special time in my life and Mike and I certainly put all we had into the project. But we would be amiss to not credit the man behind the course. Although I will only name him as the "client" he went out of his way to make Mike and I "unafraid".
Outside of a few small directions at the onset, he spent most of his time encouraging us to turn it loose. Once construction started, he chimed in on a few operational and logistic maters, but never entered into the design of the golf course. And he especially made it known that he never cared if anyone but he liked the course. Think about that for a second and it becomes clearer why WP is so damn good.  

How many clients like that do you suppose there are?

("Not enough" is most likely the answer.)

[Brent Carlson]

Can't even find WP on Google maps.  It's got to be special.  Looking forward to this...

[Ronald Montesano]

It's there...just zoom around a bit and you'll find it.

[Sam Morrow]

Pictures will never do Wolf Point justice, to me visiting Wolf Point is like the golden ticket from Willy Wonka. I think it's better than Sand Hills (flame away) I think it's better than Prairie Dunes (flame away) it's creativity and flexibility are mind boggling. You stand on any tee and find a great hole to play in another direction, the way Mike tied everything together is amazing. The course can be played in reverse, it can be played to same crazy cross country holes, it's everything you could possibly ask for and more. I don't think anyone can visit and with a straight face say they didn't enjoy it. If you told me I could never play another course the rest of my life but Wolf Point I'd be a happy camper. Golf would be a better game if more people would listen to the ideas Don has on maintaining a course.

If you don't think Mike and Don are geniuses then you're missing something.

[Kyle Henderson]

Pictures will never do Wolf Point justice, to me visiting Wolf Point is like the golden ticket from Willy Wonka. I think it's better than Sand Hills (flame away) I think it's better than Prairie Dunes (flame away) it's creativity and flexibility are mind boggling. You stand on any tee and find a great hole to play in another direction, the way Mike tied everything together is amazing. The course can be played in reverse, it can be played to same crazy cross country holes, it's everything you could possibly ask for and more. I don't think anyone can visit and with a straight face say they didn't enjoy it. If you told me I could never play another course the rest of my life but Wolf Point I'd be a happy camper. Golf would be a better game if more people would listen to the ideas Don has on maintaining a course.

If you don't think Mike and Don are geniuses then you're missing something.

Es la verdad, amigo!

[Kyle Henderson]

I'm enjoying the energetic commentary. Hats off to the participants! I'll try to keep the momentum going here...


The 2nd hole continues into the prevailing gale, a par 4.5 of sorts with central hazards placed so as to allow for several different avenues of advancement.


At first glance, the right side appears to be fraught with peril.


But this swath of native grasses should be easily carried for those intent on taking the shortest route home.


In congruency with the qualities of Britain’s finest links, the choice of how to approach the green will depend not only on the day’s wind and pin location, but also on how adept the player is at striking the ball purely off of a tight, uneven lie.


The expansive 2nd green boomerangs around a centralized fronting bunker. As with most of the putting surfaces at WPC, complex ripples abound and place a premium on mastery of the short game to produce any semblance of a respectable score.


Even with a semi-skilled "sixsome" at play, very few short leaves such as these proved to be "hole-able" as the round progressed.

[Colin Macqueen]

Kyle,
Few and far between nowadays are your pictorials but as usual your presentation is excellent and like all things fine is to be savoured.

I have been intrigued by Wolf Point ever since reading about its existence a wee while ago on GCA. The Nuzzo/Mahaffey effort seems second to none and I love the fact that for instance it can be said by Mike Nuzzo "I was not expecting that much of a difference when playing from two different elevations that varied only 5 feet." Is it too bold of me to say that that would be true of another great course at St. Andrews! The open nature of the course looks to my mind like the perfect place for golf. Credit to both these gents for this creation and the fact that the maintenance program seems to align with good sustainability concepts. I had NGLA as my must play American golf course if ever the opportunity arose but in the last year I have been more and more taken with Wolf Point as information has come my way. I suspect this will make it a fait accompli.
To see all the holes and have them described by you (and Mike Nuzzo it seems!!) will be a joy.

Thanks a lot, Colin

[Jeff Spittel]

Good stuff, Kyle. Thanks for posting. It's hard to fathom that there's a course this good in our little corner of TX.