Whittinsville

[Joe Andriole]

As a "warmup" for Fishers Island I had the pleasure of playing this 9 hole gem in an old Massachusetts mill town of the same name.  The course is vintage Donald Ross (1925) on a lovely piece of rolling land.  The greens are quite remarkable with a few potentially terrifying.  The first a solid par5 580 yd  to a severe elevated green and the ninth a 415 yd par 4 were my favorite holes.  The latter is from a slightly elevated tee to an angled fairway across a water hazard.  A lot of risk/reward since the fairway is severely sloped.  The shorter drive to the left finds a plateau fairway but leaves a long shot to a smally tricky green.  A longer more daring drive challenges not only the water but a severe drop in the fairway. Something less thn perfect leaves a nearly impossible sidehill/downhill lie.  My description does the hole an injustice but it is remarkable.  In short I felt Whittinsville offered delightful thoughtful golf on a bright crisp fall NE day.  I'd like to know what others think.

[michael j fay]

I have played Whitinsville a couple of times and would have to say that other than the Dunes Club in New Buffalo, MI it is the best nine-holer I have played.

The Club owns additional land contiguous to the property and has for over 50 years. They will not build it out because they feel that it would only detract from the original nine.

By the way, golf is inexpensive at Whitinsville. Initiation is $ 500.00 and the annual is $ 1,200.00. Only drawback is that the waiting list is 23 years.

The ninth at Whitinsville is one of the most clever par four holes I have ever seen. It defies description as the elements come at the player from every direction. Suffice to say that five will often win the hole in a fourball.

[John_Conley]

Dr. Joe:

Just hit the Orchards and Longmeadow a few weeks ago.  (Hurricane Jeanne weekend.)  Whitinsville is on my list of places I'll make a point to go to if I get back to Mass.  Would love to see it as I've heard a good bit over the years.

[Tom_Doak]

I took all of my crew there a few years ago when we were on a consulting trip to the Northeast; I had been there once before and wanted them to see it.  It's a special golf course, and more than any, it's the course that makes me want to build a nine-hole project someday myself.

[Adam_Messix]

Whitinsville is super stuff and the guys have pretty well covered it.  Maybe Michael Fay can elaborate on this, but it seemed to me that Whitinsville (a course that I have not seen drawings for) has some features that appear on a number of Ross drawings that I have seen but are no longer there.  As an example, on the 5th hole, there is a cluster of mounds (I believe there are bunkers there, but it's been a few years) at the top of the hill on a blind tee shot that are the perfect aiming point for the drive.  I've seen this feature in Several Ross drawings, but appear to have been removed.  

The finisher at Whitinsville is something else, particularly from the 440 yard tee that forces you to choose how much of the dogleg you want to bite off.  

The members here are a really fun group, and they really seemed to care about preserving what they have and are to be commended.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Oh, I thought this was going to be a thread about the course in Kansas that Ron "Whittin" now owns!  Well, it would be a good name for his course!