Yahnundasis –  Utica NY - Walter TravisI had always heard about how great Travis greens were, but had not had the chance to see thme yet. What a treat! Yahnadis is in the middle of the however it is a very good course w/ some of the most amazing greens around. It’s got a great – meandering routing. Only flaw is the last few holes are little too back & forth. The par 3’s are long/short, up/down & flat. It makes great use of the rolling land, espeically the great back to back par 4’s 3 & 4 and the 10th.As you will see the soul of the course is in the fantastic greens. Not sure if our residence Travis expert Ian can chime in on how much of this is still original or what the changes have been, but it’s a great place right now.

Nice quartet of courses this Leaugue Of the Iroquois



Par 4 3rd hole green – a glimse of what is to come.



One of the best naturally rumpled fairways you will find – par 4 4th



From green looking back



Long Strong Par 3 5th



Par 5 6th hole from tee – not a big fan of the water hazard – but they define the holes strategy.



Approach to the 6th green – can you say chocolate drops!



Par 3 7th from behind the green looking back to the tee.  Pretty severly uphill



Great view from the tee on the par 4 8th



Par 3 11th easily the best / wildest green on the course







The short drop shot Par 3 13th



Behind the green of the par 4 14th - can you say punchbowl!



Another great green site – par 4 17th



Another view



The green on the par 4 18th. Miss the wrong side of where the elephant is buried and par is a fleeting dream.



Another view from the back



Something you don’t see on many courses!!





Routing



Utica NY will never be a destination, but Yahnandasis is a fantastic course. More to come on Teugega shortly.

Ok...that's it Foley.  

We're getting together this spring.

If there is a better inland region in the country for what I'll term "micro-contours" than upstate NY, I have yet to see it.

Ryan - The big downside is both Yahnundasis and Teugega are private.

Mike - I know how much you enjoy researching the architecture lineage of these great mysteries like Cobbs Creek & Mt Pocono, but field work in this Western / Central NY area is definetly well worth the time. Have clubs will travel!

Ed - You definetly need to take another tour.

I grew up about a mile from the Yahnundasis. We weren't members, but I did play there a fair amount. Excellent greens, but I mostly recall many, many blind shots. In addition to these two courses, I would add Seven Oaks and Otesaga as CNY favorites.

Ian,

I was this close to playing Yahundasis (is there a tougher course name to spell correctly? ) last summer, but ended up at Seven Oaks with Scott Burroughs and Craig Disher.

Some friends had played it the previous day and were wowed.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this one and Troy this year.  

John - the hole location on 11 was great. It's one of those greens that just chipping & putting around woukld be a blast.

David - It can definely use some tree clearing, but it was definetly not obtrusive at all. IMHO what they have done to remove some tree's has been great.

MIke,

Seven Courses to get a great sense of Travis:

1. Garden City - the ideas are all developed there
2. Cape Arundal - full of great holes
3. CC of Scranton - the best set of greens (15 originals)
4. Hollywood - his Pine Valley, completely different from everything else
5. Yahnundasis - for all the wonderful quirks including the set of punchbowl greens
6. Lookout Point - best examples of his mounding and some great bounce in approaches
7. Ekwonok - where it all began

Ian,

I've been to Garden City, and if you recall, I played Scranton.  

I've also played Hollywood, and although I haven't played Ekwanock, I did play Equinox pre-Reestoration, which was a blast.

Thanks for the tips.

I've played both and they are alot of fun.  The greens are well maintained at the Y and they are especially cognizent of the heritage of Travis and take great care of the course.
 
I have family up there and play both courses frequently, so if you're going up, let me know.  Also we can check out Hiawatha Landing as well.

Hey Foley, how are you coming on the Teugaga write up and photos?  Does anyone want to throw out prospective dates for a meet-up and to play some golf up there?

Finally getting around to updating this. Teugega will be up shortly.

Liar.