Yesterday I spent a few hours walking The Country Club in Pepper Pike, courtesy of a friend who wanted to show me restoration work underway on the golf course. I should say from the outset that going to look at such a project would best include discussion with members of the project team. I didn’t have that opportunity, but did get a good look at the course and overall would have to give it a favorable report.
My host did share the fact that Brett Stinson (hope I have the spelling right) from IMG served as consulting architect and that McDonald & Sons was the outside contractor doing about half the work done with in house maintenance personnel doing the balance. Also, to the club's credit, the “project mission” appears to have been a true restoration with documentation of William Flynn’s original work serving as guidance.
FYI, I know Tom Paul spoke to some members about a year ago. So, maybe Tom can comment.
Anyway, the project involved several aspects including considerable bunker work. For those with McDonald’s work at Merion fresh in your minds I would note a point Tom Doak made to me while seeing Atlantic City Country Club last year: McDonald can do some very good work and you have to treat each project differently. I’d hardly call myself an expert on “Flynn bunkers” – again maybe Tom Paul or Wayne Morrison can chime in – but the bunker work looked pretty good to me, clearly an improvement over the last time I played the course maybe four years ago. Many were brought more into play and appear likely to effect playing strategy more. Interestingly, several bunkers were also removed that apparently weren’t part of Flynn’s original design.
Then, too, there appear to be many holes where width was returned to fairways, a feature that is bound to make the course more enjoyable for a wider range of players and introduce more playing angles for certain approach shots.
Country is not a club which seeks or receives much publicity, but I might mention a few things about the course generally. It is certainly built on a nice rolling property, almost perfect for a golf course. The architecture on display reflects the era it was built. You get the impression little dirt was moved and that Flynn spent his time trying to make the best of what existed before he got there. While Country won’t knock you out, there is a very graceful character about the place that makes it a very pleasant place to play golf.
I also want to mention that a couple par threes include the appearance of having very little green to hit a feature that probably makes them intimidating for infrequent visitors, though they are actually quite challenging, I would guess, for the members playing on a regular basis. Also, on several places throughout the golf course Flynn made use of gradual elevation change and I’m betting that lures many a player into club selection errors. I like that feature. I like how it makes one think.
A couple other points to note:
A few years back Country had a major irrigation project and it appears that more water is being put on the golf course than before, maybe too much. It may be a case of responding to pressure to make the course look more green and pretty.
Also, the project did include the introduction of blue grass rough in many areas throughout the course. I know from Sand Ridge that stuff can be tough. It can grind on you and eat away at your score more than you think it should. So, you have more width being introduced, but perhaps also more difficulty when the player strays off fairway and greens.
Was some length added to the golf course? Yes, on many holes there was. I would say it was very tastefully done. The new tees don’t stand out. There is nothing like the mountain built over at Oakmont (#4).
Finally, I should comment on the sand added to the restored bunkers. I’m familiar with this material as it comes from the Best Sand quarry adjacent to Sand Ridge and probably has a brighter appearance than I would prefer. But, the playing characteristics are worth highlighting more. This stuff is usually quite fine and can truly make bunkers hazardous. From a playing strategy point of view I like that quality.
I’ve long thought of myself as a bit anti country club, preferring the environment of pure golf clubs far more. But, Country is a really classy place that is very enjoyable to visit, play golf and have a nice meal. It also retains what have to be some of the finest shower heads in all the world of golf. Just don’t drink a beer first or you may never want to get out.