Hyannisport: No Water Hazards?

[Phil Burr]

It’s been at least 30 years I played Hyannisport but I played it perhaps a dozen times in the 80s.  I remember #3 as a cape with marsh left, #4 being a long par four doglegging sharply left around the marsh, #8 as a longish par 3 with marsh left, and #16 requiring a blind second shot over a sharp rise with marsh at its base.  I recall the marsh as being tidal so you might not see a splash if a ball went in at low tide, but it was definitely a wet hazard to be avoided.  I’m perplexed when Links Magazine consistently describes the course as having no water in play.  Have climate change or other factors altered the nature of the marsh that is such a big part of my memory of the course?

[JohnVDB]

Whoever wrote that article must have been drinking something stronger than water.  I’ve never been there, but I just watched the course tour on their website and you have a good memory.

[Tim Gallant]

I've only played it once, but distinctly remember water coming into play on 3 and 4. My folks have a place close to the jetty that protects the marshland - it can get quite low (knee height from memory), but I wouldn't think it would get so low as to let you go in and play a shot alla Brancaster. But would be interested to hear others who know the course better!

[Tim Martin]

Phil’s memory is good for sure. Everything he described is accurate and I would add the carry over a pond on the 4th hole from the tee. Depending on how errant you are the tidal marsh can come into play on a few other holes as well.

[Michael Moore]

I don't believe that any of these wetlands are staked as penalty areas. I remember being confused by this as we went around last year. Either there is a real possibility of finding and playing your ball during low tide and drought, or the club thinks that penalty areas are beneath them in the same way that hole handicaps have become unfashionable in Nebraska.
 
In any event, despite the fact that these missing stakes will undoubtedly add a few strokes to your score, it's easily one of the best walks in New England.

[Phil Burr]

Appreciate the compliments on my memory.  As every other intellectual and physical capability once within my possession erodes, my memory of golf holes is near-scary.


Maybe the Links folks who think Hyannisport has no water instead did a Google Earth overview of Hyannis Golf Club (nee Iyanough Hills), which indeed has no water.


My best memory of Hyannisport involves the neighboring Kennedy compound, whose tennis court to the right of the 18th fairway was thought to be out of play until my cousin and I came through c. 1978.  He hit a giant slice into an adverse wind and his tee shot landed in the middle of a Kennedy family tennis gathering, coming perilously close to adding another tragedy to the family curse.

[Michael Moore]

If Links is claiming that there are no water hazards (now known as penalty areas) at Hyannisport, they are correct.

[JohnVDB]

The definition of penalty area says:



A penalty area is:
   •   Any body of water on the course (whether or not marked by the Committee), including a sea, lake, pond, river, ditch, surface drainage ditch or other open watercourse (even if not containing water), and …


So, unless the course’s Committee specifically chooses to ignore the Rules of Golf by using some kind of Local Rule or marks them out of bounds, they are penalty areas.


I think one of their members once contacted one of 5e USGA rules people about this.  I’ll try to find out more from him.

[Michael Moore]

John VDB -


Your response is most interesting. The areas in question are dried-up marsh where you might be able to find and play your ball. "Where the ground slopes down to form the depression that can hold the water" is unclear, tidal, miles from the fairway, and probably not somewhere you would want to walk to to plant stakes or play your ball. Yes, please find out more about this if you can. The absence of stakes on the edge of the fairway sounds to me like a quirky and ancient local tradition perhaps based on aesthetics.

[Ronald Montesano]

"10 HYANNISPORT CLUB, Hyannis Port There are no water hazards on this Cape Cod course, but water is visible from every hole and the ever-buffeting breezes off the sound have earned it respect as “the toughest 6,200 yards in golf.”"

From this link: https://www.linksmagazine.com/top-10-courses-massachusetts/

As you can see, there was no room in the piece to expound on dried, unmarked marshlands. Alex Findlay built the first iteration in 1901, and Donald Ross, Jr., redid the course in the mid 1930s.

[JohnVDB]

I spoke with my friend at the USGA who had spoken with someone from the club.  According to him, the areas are now marked as penalty areas.  The problem they still have is the the wording for th Model Local Rule for playing a provisional ball when it might be in a penalty area says that you can’t play a provisional if you KNOw the ball is in there, but might not be playable.  Players will know it is in there, but it might not be playable.