Algonquin CC - St. Louis

[Jason Topp]

My son is playing this course in St. Louis (maybe right now).  From an aerial tour it appeared pretty interesting, albeit pretty heavily treed and with some water that looked like it might be the work of a committee. 

I did not see much in my search of the site other than some positive comments.

How good is it?

[PCCraig]

Jason,

I played it once about 5 years ago. From what I remember it is a fairly short golf course (I hit a lot of 3-woods) not much more than 6,000 yards from the back tees, but that it plays over land with a good amount of movement and was fairly over-planted with trees. There are some really nice looking classic golf holes, and the greens were certainly of the primarily back-to-front and fast variety. If you played it I think you would see a lot of similarities between it and Oak Ridge, for a local example.

It's a nice place to spend a summer day, that's for sure. Hopefully your son is having a good time. 

[Jason Topp]

Thanks Craig.  I advised my son it looked quite a bit like Oak Ridge so it is funny you made that comparison.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Jason,

Its a Bendelow course that was renovated by Brian Silva a few years ago. I believe it was founded in 1903 or so. After the renovation they got it to about 6300 yards. Its not easy by any means, due to the tree coverage. But it isn't overly tight - I find it causes you to play smart. Number 10 is a 450yd par 5 with a 90 degree dogleg, that forces you to hit about 2 225 yard shots.

They have been in discussions for years to buy several houses surrounding the course to tear down and lengthen even more. In a bedroom community with a lot of character and old school feel. Its in my Top 10 in St Louis. From an "exclusivity" factor I'd put it behind St Louis, Old Warson, Bellerive and Westwood. Good people.

[Jim Nugent]

They have been in discussions for years to buy several houses surrounding the course to tear down and lengthen even more.

If they do that, what might they end up with?

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Jim,

From what I remember the member telling me, behind the par 3 13th are several homes they've tried to acquire with the idea to lengthen that hole, as well as push back the green on #12. I can only imagine it adding about 100 yds in total length.

[Tom Walsh]

I grew up one block from the course--caddied and worked on the greens crew during the 70's and very early 80's. Lots of tall oaks. I played it the last time around 5 years ago with my son who was working there at the time. I may be wrong but I think the max length from the tips is about 6100 yards. Whatever the length--it's short and very tight.

It has zoysia fairways now, but back in the late 70's they tried 'Westwood' bermuda. I know-- I cleared the old bent grass sod and rode the bucket from which we fed bermuda sprigs into narrow slits in the soil. Hotter than hell.

The layout still has a good rep here in town, although equipment and the ball make trees and some green contours the course's best defense.

Hope your son enjoyed playing one of the oldest courses in St. Louis

[Jeff_Stettner]

Played there last week, second time since the course reopened after the renovation. I really like the place as a whole... the course is challenging without being overly penal and the greens have plenty of interest. It's a vibrant club with a very active junior program, a rarity in STL these days.
The biggest surprise after last week's round was the firmness of the greens. They are extremely difficult to hold. The zoysia fairways are kept fairly tight (by STL standards) and the bunkers are perfect.
I would expect your son to get bitten by the lack of course knowledge during an initial round. There are a number of sharp doglegs and steep hills that require finesse that would be hard to easily intuit. It's definitely a local's track.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

One of the better caddie programs too - they send quite a kids to Mizzou on the Evans scholarship

[David Amarnek]

Algonquin is a fun place to play and has a fine membership.
Talk about home course advantage, in the Metropolitan Cup matches (St. Louis' version of the GAP team matches) they are hard to beat.
The course really requires some experience to score well, as discussed previously.  There are a lot of doglegs, lots of trees (necessary for safety sake) and the greens can be quite challenging with contour and some difficult approaches, with tree trouble even if you are in the fairway.
It's testy, although very short by today's standards.  I would use driver on #1, 16 and 18 only.
Algonquin has a yearly inter-club match with Westborough CC (The Berry Cup, the name of the road they have in common).  Westborough is the former site of my club, Westwood CC.
Definitely worth checking out if visiting St. Louis.