assist re Wilmington (del) CC

[mark chalfant]

   Any  thoughts on these  36 holes,

Do you  prefer the Jones or the  Wilson  course.


are  they nice routings on average,   or good terrain ?

which holes stand  out

  do some interesting green complexes remain  here

Thanks

[CHrisB]

When the U.S. Mid-Am was played there last October, there was a thread here about Wilmington CC.

Go to http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=6590

[ChipOat]

Certainly in the Top 10 of "best 36 holes at one club" in US of A.

Not Winged Foot, Baltusrol, Pac/Bandon or American Club but absolutely in the next tier.

Didn't we do a thread about that within the last 12 months or so?

[TEPaul]

I had a good Philadelphia amateur at both those courses one time but that's probably been over 15 years ago now and unfortunately I can just remember the place generally and a few holes but not specifically enough to answer architectural questions. To be honest I don't even know which course is Wilson and which is Jones and I can't even remember which is the north course and which is the south course but I can see them both in my mind's eye. My recollection is the bigger one is the better one but I don't know which one of those architects did which. Wilmington C.C. is a big full service type country club, though, it's quite beautiful and in recent years they've had some very high profile supers, one I think was the son of the super at ANGC---but I could be wrong about that.

I'm not adding much here, sorry about that--maybe I shouldn't have posted. Dick Wilson, though, with one of the Wilmington C.C courses as well as Bidermann nearby has a pretty good architectural contribution in the Wilmington area.

For those who've never been in this area of Wilmington---the rte #52 corridor coming from the west into Wilmington--should see it---it's without question one of the prettiest rural residential areas one can find anywhere. Some call rte #52 the "Dupont corridor", I guess because there're so many big old Dupont farms and estates along it including the truly beautfiul "Winterthur" which is contiguous to Bidermann G.C.

[mark chalfant]

   Tom and  Chipoat,
I appreciate your  help.

Tom   Paul  
 Im glad you did reply,

Part of what makes this passion we all share so neat is
some of  the  scenery  we see on the  way to the course.

One example  is the trip out of SF to   Mackenzies  Meadow Club

in  Marin County, once  you reach   Fairfax, pretty turns into

the sublime.   The  last 3-4 miles  reminded me of lovely

mountain/canyon   regions   Ive  seen in rural  Spain.

Anyway thanks for the tip on  route  52  and the solid
Wilson   courses.



Mark

[Mike_Trenham]

TE Paul

Bidderman is not just contiguous to Winterthur it is largely on the property.  The club has a very long term lease from the estate, 75 years plus.  The 15 holes across the road are all on Winterthur property.  As I understand it the club only owns the property with the practice area, clubhouses and 1, 17 & 18.  

Bidderman and Wilmington CC's South Course were constructed about the same time.  Apparently once Wilmington CC saw the work at Bidderman they changed plans for a second RTJ course.  Story goes that the membership was disappointed with RTJ's responsiveness or something along those lines and elected to go with Dick Wilson.  I am told Joe Lee was the person on site and some people I know in Wilmington refer to these as Wilson/Lee designs.  

Wilmington CC is the ultimate CC experience, two excellent courses, plus all of the other amentites.  While Bidderman is the ultimate GC experience an older membership that is 100% golfers with understated clubhouse.  The only negative comment I can make about Bidderman is its not easy to walk and I am pretty sure there are no caddies.