Tillinghast's Lafayette outside Syracuse, New York

[Ronald Montesano]

I did a story a few years back on this track and just rediscovered the photos.  The Senior Tour held the MONY championship there back in the early 1980s and the course has bounced back and forth between public and private.  It is a really neat course and well worth the money, high in the hills overlooking Syracuse (or the environs, at the least.)  Here is the link to the photo tour:

http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f140/buffalogolfer/Lafayette%20Hills%20GCC/

[John Blain]

This is course is not in the top 50 courses in upstate New York. It is also now a private club.

It's hard for me to believe Tillinghast was ever on site.

Sorry, Ron, I differ with you on this one.

[Ronald Montesano]

It is not a private club, as the web site reveals:  http://www.lafayettehillsgcc.com/
---whooops, I lied, JP is correct, although my guess is that you will be able to get on if you wish.

I believe that Tillinghast devotees would find much from the man, beginning with the first hole.
---

As always, John, I respect your opinion.

Ron M.

[Garland Bayley]

Looks like a solid Doak 2 or 3.

[Ronald Montesano]

Based on what, my photos?  That might be the most uninformed comment I've read on this site, Garland, so congratulations to you.

[Mac Plumart]

Isn't a 6 a course that you should play if you are in the area?

Why wouldn't it be at least a 6?

[John Blain]

Doak gave Crag Burn a 6 and LaFayette Hills ain't no Crag Burn.

It's likely a 3 on the Doak scale.

It's certainly not the worst course you will ever play but hardly worth a trip.

IMHO.

-John

[Garland Bayley]

Based on what, my photos?  That might be the most uninformed comment I've read on this site, Garland, so congratulations to you.

Ronald,

See the bite me thread.

[Brad Tufts]

Hmm...I guess it was right before it went back to private that I got to play it.

2 or 3? Mediocre to Average?

Pedigree aside, this is a dynamic rolling property with several really interesting holes.  Yes, it needs some loving care.  Yes, some of the hazards have probably disappeared.  And yes, not every hole will be a photographer's dream.

The back and forth on the front nine is a bit tedious, but the back nine is pretty neat.

But we are talking at least 5 on the DS.  With some work, it could even be one of the best in its area.

I think it could sneak into an upstate Top 50 list, depending how the area is defined.

[Ronald Montesano]

I'll remind everyone that the Doak scale is not perfect.  Not every assessment is spot on, as they say in Mississippi.  It is courses like Lafayette that suffer at the hands of the acolytes to the snobbotorium.  No, Lafayette is not a 6, just as Crag Burn is not, neither.  Crag Burn is a 7 or 7.5, while Lafayette is a 5 to 5.5  If the bunkering were to receive a makeover (perhaps as Tillinghast envisioned them to be), it would reach its potential.

It wasn't until I revisited the photos (after Garland irked my chain) that I realized that many of the bunkers have flattened demonstrably.  The piece of property is an incredible one, yet it is the highest pint that is the flattest and most architecturally challenged.  I wish I had more shots of the greens and the rolling lower fairways, but nay, I do not.