[Michael Powers]

Several years ago a neighbor of Essex County Club in Manchester, MA won a court injunction which prohibited play at the clubs par 3 14th hole due to golf balls hitting his house.

The club constructed a completely new green complex approximately 40 yards to the right of the original and shortened the hole substantially.  I must say that I was more than disappointed in the new green.

The old green was a true gem and I would consider it a biarritz green, although it was much more round than the MacRaynor templates such as Yale #9.  My questions are directed toward the achitects in the DG.

1. How would you have handled the situation if you were hired to create the new complex?
2. Considering the historical value of the course, would it have been possible to reshape the hole to nearly the exact specs as the original?
3.  Did Ross design other Biarritz greens or others a la MacRaynor?

 I was astounded that more care was not taken with a green which is located less than 100 yards from Ross' former residence.

[PCCraig]

Michael,

 I was out at Essex this past summer and loved it. A fantastic Ross, who generally isn't one of my favorite GCA's. I remember the 14th as being pretty forgettable...do you have a picture of the old green complex?

 Mass. is a strange state in that clubs are liable for the golf balls flying off their property. Hence the new pine trees on the left side of #2 at TCC Brookline.

 Pat

[Martin Del Vecchio]

The new hole stick out like a sore thumb.  

If you sent the top 200 posters from here to play the course, and asked them to pick out the hole that doesn't belong, I believe that 199 of them would guess correctly.  Even without knowing that it was a par 3, or that it was along the edge of the property.

As for "Mass. is a strange state in that clubs are liable for the golf balls flying off their property."  How is this different anywhere else?  Are you saying that other states hold the individual responsible, but MA holds the club responsible?

[Brad Tufts]

Tom Doak did the work if I'm not mistaken, so perhaps he will chime in.  The old green was wacky with the huge swale in the green, and the fact that it was semi-blind.  The new green's challenges are different, with an homage to the old green in a smaller swale.  The added pressure at the new green is the fall-off on the right side to a steep-banked chipping area and a couple pot bunkers.  I don't think the hole is the same, but the new challenges are equal to the old, and the hole fits in with the layout, so this one is ok by me.

Old thread concerning the story of #14 at ECC:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=16036;start=msg277216#msg277216

And my comment from the thread:

"At Essex, another problem was having to blast an entire rocky hillside away to make a playing corridor for the new hole.  The guy who lived across the street did get his way, and much of his impetus was due to the fact that I believe someone in his family got hit while outside the house.  Many members thought the whole thing was ludicrous, as the hole rarely played 187, as it was more often set up (even the back tees) from about 150-160.  Personally, I played the course when I was about 12, and couldn't break 120, and that house never entered my mind that it was even there.  The new hole is quite nice, though is not really a close imitation of the old green (which is still there in taller grass).  Club members have told me they have gotten their last laugh, as they chuckle every time they tell the story of how the man who started the lawsuit is now in jail for tax evasion!  I don't know how true that is, but its an interesting end to the story."

[Brad Tufts]

Hi Martin,

I dunno if #14 will stick out so far in 20 years when it melds into the surrounding area.  I would agree that it's tough to ignore the 40' tall rock face that was blasted away, just to the right of the hole.  

I can gerrymander (to use a northshore/marblehead-originating word) a way for it to fit philosophically...it was the first Ross course to use heavy machinery and blasting!

I would pick #5 as the odd hole out, as it is really boring as a par 5, but it would make one great 455-yd par 4!

[Michael Powers]

Thanks to all for their comments.

Brad, the swale in the old green made the hole what it was and put much emphasis on club selection because if the hole was located in the back and you hit it on the front it was brutal.  And as I remember it through at least a couple hundred rounds is that the green was not nearly as blind as the much lauded 13th.

In response to the earlier thread, I must disagree with the hole hardly ever playing as short as 150 or 160.  It usually played into the wind and more often than not players would use the same club they used on 11 which is 171 uphill.  I hit everthing from 8 iron down hurricane to 3 iron.  The old card always had it at 172 I think, but it played longer than that with no wind.

The old bunker a good 20 yards short of the green and just infront of the little hill made the green seem closer than it was and the OB left and stone wall always made you aim right and try to hook it a bit.  I will get some pics of the old hole and upload them.

Essex being one of my favs (being from the N. Shore), I was so sad to see the course weakened in this way.  We used to argue which hole was better, the 11th or the 14th, now, unfortunately, there is no doubt.

[Brad Tufts]

Welcome to the board Michael (as much as a 26-year old GCA junkie and former proshop go-fer can welcome a golf industry guy   )  I grew up on the North Shore as well in Marblehead, and I play out of Tedesco.

I would say the old hole (only about 3 plays, as a junior) was more on the ground, whereas the new hole (25+ plays) is very built up.  The current hole is definately one where you want to just hit the green.  I don't think many will be going at back-half pins, especially back right.  The new hole has a bit of "2-or-20" to it, as a shot missing just left or a greenie will make the hole seem simple, but missing short, right, or long will make 5 a possibility.

I was always told that the tees were rarely all the way back for the old hole, but you are probably more accurate on that detail.  I have to say I've always thought that 11 was a better par 3, but my favorite hole is #16.  I discovered after about 30 plays at Essex that the 16th green, while appearing flat, has 3 wide, flat, parallel ridges in its mid-section, each no more than a 1/2-3/4 of an inch high over several feet wide!

[Brad Klein]

There's a very clear photo of the old 14th green at Essex on page 60 of my Ross biography. Sorry, but I'm technically incompetent to post it. In any case, the cross swale is pretty modest, about a 1-foot deep across at most.

Ross never saw the original Biarritz and designed the one at Essex in 1916-1917. (It originally was the 9th until the hole sequence was later rerouted). That was before he might have seen anything of Macdonald-Raynor that was worth emulating.

I wouldn't mistake a swale with an attempt to evoke or emulate a hole.

[TEPaul]

"Mass. is a strange state in that clubs are liable for the golf balls flying off their property."

It is?

I guess that doesn't include other people's property such as cars parked on club property.

The reason I asked is at Charles River on the 9th hole Wayno Morrison who has never exactly been known for his accuracy pulled his tee shot slightly and took out some guy's windshield in the parking lot.

Since we drove up there together, at that point I was going to disavow that I ever knew Wayno Morrison but we were told that the insurance company of the hittee in Mass. took care of those things.

I'm just glad Dave Miller or Eddie Baby Baker didn't tell Wayno that on the tee or he probably would've taken out somebody else's windshield on his provisional.

But back to the subject. I'd think it would be damn near impossible for any club, even one in Massachussets, to actually lose a biarritz green. Those babies are really big mommas and I can't see how any club could actually lose one.

I sure hope the members of Essex CC don't go and lose any of the course's bathtubs.

[Mike McGuire]

There's a very clear photo of the old 14th green at Essex on page 60 of my Ross biography. Sorry, but I'm technically incompetent to post it. In any case, the cross swale is pretty modest, about a 1-foot deep across at most.

Ross never saw the original Biarritz and designed the one at Essex in 1916-1917. (It originally was the 9th until the hole sequence was later rerouted). That was before he might have seen anything of Macdonald-Raynor that was worth emulating.

I wouldn't mistake a swale with an attempt to evoke or emulate a hole.

sounds like permission to post:

[michael_j_fay]

Brad:

If you take the 5th hole on its own it is probablyweaker than it should be and is shorter than the average par 5. But if you look at it in sequence the hole makes imminent sense.

The front side of Essex County Club has two fives. The third hole is 620 yards long, plays into the prevailing wind and often leaves even a good player with as much as four iron into the green. The fifth is the counterbalance. 455 and not horribly challenging it offers the ability for the player to get back the strokes expended at number three. The same could be said for the fourth and seventh holes. Four is 215 over water with a treacherous green while seven is a 125 yard postcard like three par. Ross takes, Ross gives back. This type of balance can be seen on many of his courses.

The real gem on the front side is the eighth, a split fairway par four with marvelous risk/reward in going for the small right
portion of the fairway.

Number 14 was forced on the club. They did everything they could to avoid replacing the hole but the litigious neighbor (he has a history of these types of suits) backed the club into a corner. The new hole is shorter and less difficult yet not totally out of synch with the rest of the course.

Essex is one of the best maintained courses in the Northeast, in my opinion. They cut the tees, fairways and greens and the natural grasses are allowed freeform growth. The contrast all around is wonderful and yet somewhat frightening.

[Michael Powers]

Thanks for the pic Mike.

Michael, I would agree that 8 is the finest hole on the front 9.  I must mention that I believe the 6th to be one of the great short par 4 holes anywhere in NE.  It forces you to hit the ball a specific distance short of the 80-90 yard bunker, then leaves you with a semi-blind approach to a green which is the least receptive one on the course - except for #2, which is particularly nasty when it's dry.

[Brad Tufts]

Hi Michael,

I agree with all of your assessments.  

I singled out #5 as it's the least interesting on a course full of interest.  I agree that its place at #5 balances a front nine full of difficult holes like 1, 3, 4, and 8.  2, 5, 6, and 7 balance the 9 with easier holes, but each has an aspect to grab those looking for an easy birdie.  #2 has its wicked green, #5 has long grass right off the tee, and the stream left of the green.  #6 has the strategic stream placement, and a steep fall-off to the left of the green.  #7 is a true postage stamp, with the meandering stream only 2-3 paces from the front right edge.

Another unique aspect is that the front 9 is the more difficult part of the course, with the back nine shorter and a par 34.  Many New England layouts follow the pattern of short, easy, open front nine with a longer, narrower, wooded back nine.  Essex turns it around, letting you make up shots on the way in.

As for #14, the best-reproduced character aspect from the old green to the new is the sense that putts from the front half and back half are both downhill towards the "swale."  From the back, this is true, but from the front, the optics hide the fact that putting is level or even slightly uphill.

Michael P, I'd have to go with #8 as the most difficult hole at Essex.  A crazy fairway with the best angle to the green closest to OB, the slopes between fairway tiers cut as rough can cause a baseball swing or two from the middle of the fairway...and a wild green where shots hitting in the middle can bound into a pot bunker!  My least favorite shot is the annoying tee shot at #13, but the wildly creative green makes up for it.

[michael_j_fay]

Brad:

I think the reason that Ross routrd the course as it is is because there was some pressure to retain the eighteenth green, which still purports to be the oldest continually played green in the US. Who knows?

Hands down my favorite hole at this magnificent track is the par three 11th. It wins on beauty, difficulty and visual deception. It is one of my favorite Ross threes anywhere.

[RSLivingston_III]

Is the 5th now uninteresting because it has been neutered by technology?

[Brad Klein]

Actually, it's the current third green, previously the old 12th, about which the claim is made that it's the oldest continuously used green in the U.S.  

Essex County Club's routing was changed in 1924 to create two returning loops of nine holes, replacing the old sequence that returned only at the old 4th / current 18th.

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