Rochester,MN (Tillinghast)

[mark chalfant]

Has anyone played here recently?  I believe some significant restoration work has been accomplished. What are some of the most fun holes to play and most memorable green sites or interior contours?



Many thanks! 

[Rick Shefchik]

Mark, I haven't played it since there was significant tree removal (badly needed), but I can tell you that regardless of what was done, elevation changes will always be a huge element at Rochester.

[Tom_Doak]

Mark:  it might be the hilliest Tillinghast course I have ever seen.


One of the members had planted the whole course in pine trees 🌲🌲🌲🌲 sixty years ago and it was quite tight.  Then they sprayed a herbicide on the fairways that had the unintended consequence of killing all the pine trees (although it was a slow death and we still had to cut them down).  It looks very different now.

[PCCraig]

Haven't been back there recently but would love to as the work there looks terrific.


It was always a fine course but they used to have these awesome old aerial photos in the clubhouse which would make you scratch your head as it looked like such a great course. Thankfully the current course looks like those old photos. 

[Niall Hay]

One of the members had planted the whole course in pine trees 🌲🌲🌲🌲 sixty years ago and it was quite tight.  Then they sprayed a herbicide on the fairways that had the unintended consequence of killing all the pine trees (although it was a slow death and we still had to cut them down).  It looks very different now.

"One of the original members who has also left his thumbprint on Rochester Golf & Country Club was Walter D. "Pop" Shelden, MD. "Pop" Shelden had played a great course in Texarkana that was cut out of a pine forest and brought that idea back to Rochester with him. In the early 1930s, he bought 5,000 pine seedlings for ten dollars and started a nursery at the southwest corner of the course. Over 30,000 trees were eventually transplanted to the course over the next fifteen years. Unfortunately, "Pop" passed on before the overall project was completed. He has since been honored by the playing of the Walter D. Shelden Golf Tournament that is now played as our Member/Guest Tournament."

[Jaeger Kovich]

Mark:  it might be the hilliest Tillinghast course I have ever seen.


One of the members had planted the whole course in pine trees 🌲🌲🌲🌲 sixty years ago and it was quite tight.  Then they sprayed a herbicide on the fairways that had the unintended consequence of killing all the pine trees (although it was a slow death and we still had to cut them down).  It looks very different now.

Have you been to Wyoming Valley or Fox Hill? How does it compare to those?

[Tom_Doak]

Have you been to Wyoming Valley or Fox Hill? How does it compare to those?

I've not seen either of those two.


There may not be much more top to bottom differential than SFGC, but you definitely go up and down more often than there.  There are only a handful of holes that don't have a 30-foot elevation change.

[Niall Hay]

Tom, did you keep the 4th a unique three-tier tee? Seems to be pretty uncommon for Tilly.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom, did you keep the 4th a unique three-tier tee? Seems to be pretty uncommon for Tilly.

We changed the tees there, putting one further back, consolidating some of the others, and putting a new forward tee on the far side.  It's a very difficult hole on which to place tees!  The carry over the deep valley off the tee is too much for some, but then there is only limited space in the landing area before your drive starts down the steep hill on the far side, which makes it play very short for long hitters.  It's one of those holes where everyone needs to choose the right tee for it to work as intended!

[Jake Marvin]

Mark - I played Rochester about a month ago and it's pretty impressive. As a native Midwesterner, I don't have much Tillinghast to compare it to, but it is a tough walk.


In terms of holes, I'd start by saying I enjoyed the par fives, which I rarely single out as good holes. There are only two and you're done with them by the sixth. Four bends left the whole way and plays over two valleys to a high green; I found the approach terrifying for some reason. You drive from a hill to the lowest-lying portion of the course. The green impressed me, especially as the recent expansion added a front finger pinched between the fronting bunkers. It's an awesome pin position.


I also really enjoyed fourteen. The set of par threes is more than the sum of its parts on account of the variety in length, direction, and look, but fourteen was my favorite. It's uphill to a hilltop green and misses short, left, or long leave a brutal flop.


A final excellent green site is sixteen. It's on the edge of a hill and affords a cool view of the rest of the property and surrounding land. It also allows the ground game and runs sneakily away from the player.


The rest of the course is of equal quality, and everyone I met at the club was welcoming. I'm interested to see what the consensus is once more people see it. Personally, there are only a few places in the Twin Cities I'd play before driving down there.

[Tom_Doak]

Of note, when I first saw the course in the 1990's, they had built two additional holes, with plans to take the short par-4 13th and the 14th out of play and move the practice range to that location.  The greenkeeper at the time asked what I thought of that, and I said I was horrified.  I guess some of the members agreed, because they never did rip up those holes, and instead wound up moving the practice range down by the entrance to the club (left of hole #6).


The politics there were quite difficult . . . unlike most of the clubs we have worked at in the past ten years, they had not seen other clubs around them make improvements via restoration, and they were deathly afraid that closing the course for any length of time would be the death of the club.  [Even though the work was fully funded without member input!]

[mark chalfant]

The progression of the holes is intriguing. On Rochester's final 12 holes there are 10 two  shotters. The incoming nine is par 34. The sporty 14th which Jake enjoys is 152 from the middle tees. The pint-sized 11th measures only 108 yards! During this same strech of golf there are three par four holes under 355 yards.


Rugged topography and ample variety. Rochester sounds memorable. Thanks to all for the great replies.

[Jason Topp]

I first played the course in 1984 at a college event.   I was near the lead after the first round but very wayward after I had a day to think about how narrow the course was.  Punching out from deep in the trees required you to move the ball siginificantly just to get back on the course.


It took me 5 to get back to the course early in the second round, dooming my score.  It never occurred to me to walk back to the tee.

I returned a few years ago and did not recognize the place.   It was fun with slope rather than pine trees serving as the hazard. 

[V_Halyard]

Tom Doak: "... It looks very different now."

#Succinct