Mink Meadows and circular routing

[Michael Moore]

Sweeney recently sent me some pictures and a favorable review of Mink Meadows, the Stiles and Van Kleek nine holer on Martha's Vineyard.

The idea of an off-season Oyster Harbor - Farm Neck -  Sankaty Head - Hyannisport binge has been brewing for a while, but little did I know that Mink Meadows was worth a stop.

It turns out that the holes at The Mink are routed in nearly a perfect circle.

Have you ever seen such a thing?

[Dale_McCallon]

It is not a perfect circle, but there is a course in West Ky called Novadell that the front 9 has a circular feel to it.  There are about 5 holes that build a outer circle to farm land that is still in use.  It almost seemed like the developers couldn't get someone to sell some land so they just built around him.  I've never seen anything like it, but the course itself is pretty fun.

[paul cowley]

Micheal....I've played it many times as a youth, but don't remember the circular element, not that it doesn't exist...being prone to circular travel myself in those days, I probably paid it little notice....do you or anyone else remember the other old course that is now under Farm Neck?...god I wish I could play it one more time for real rather than just in my mind  .

[Chris_Blakely]

I played the course with Farm Neck GC three years ago.  This was before I found this site; however, comparing the course to other Stiles courses I have played, I believe it to have similar greensites and bunkering (all which appear to not have been changed).

The course is semi-hilly which starts on the second hole, the approach shot is to an elevated green.  The third plays slightly up hill.  The seventh hole has a unique feature in that the second 9 plays to a different green site.  I do not remeber if both were Stiles or not.  The eighth and ninth both play down hill to return to the clubhouse.

Since the course was built in 1936 (according to website - see below), it is most likley only a Wayne Stiles course as John Van Kleek and Stiles seperated around 1930. Van Kleek was working for the NYC parks department redoing all of their courses and designing/constructing several others during this time period (second 9 at Pelham, second nine at La Tourette, Silver Lake, Split Rock, and Dyker Beach).

If someone wants to post the aerial/schematic from the website below, you can see the routing map and aerial.

http://www.minkmeadows.com/

[peter_p]

How about the opening nine at Muirfield?

[mark chalfant]

Has anyone played Mink Meadows or Sankaty this year ?

[Brad Tufts]

Mink Meadows' routing is definately unique...you can also add it to the courses that play over a road, a couple of them to be exact.

I played 18 there back in 2005 or 2006, and had a great time.  It's another down-home New England gem where a golfer can lose track of time.  For those playing 18, you play one set of tees the first go-round, and another for the second.  There is also one hole that has two different greens, so that every other playing of that hole can be totally different!

On that off-season foursome idea as well...count me in! 

[Billsteele]

Michael-From the picture on the website, the routing looks more like a "block" O than a perfect circle (or maybe that's just my Buckeye roots showing). If you allow for slight deviations, the back nine at Harding Park is close (plays around the front nine but looks more like a diamond than a circle).

[Tom_Doak]

It's not the same, but one of my favorite routings that I ever saw was for the huge development in Rotunda, Florida (where they used to hold the old "Superstars" TV show in the 1970's).  The land plan for the entire development was a giant expanding circle, and the golf club was right in the center.  The original course consisted of six three-hole loops which each came back to the clubhouse -- on the premise that they would eventually be the starting and finishing holes for SIX SEPARATE COURSES.  But I don't know if they ever built more than the one.

[John Moore II]

It's not the same, but one of my favorite routings that I ever saw was for the huge development in Rotunda, Florida (where they used to hold the old "Superstars" TV show in the 1970's).  The land plan for the entire development was a giant expanding circle, and the golf club was right in the center.  The original course consisted of six three-hole loops which each came back to the clubhouse -- on the premise that they would eventually be the starting and finishing holes for SIX SEPARATE COURSES.  But I don't know if they ever built more than the one.

It would seem they did. 81 holes in one big circular development. Wow.
http://www.rotondagolf.com/

[Jaeger Kovich]

Tom D - That sounds like a starters dream! You can send groups off in every direction.

Michael - I have asked a similar question before about the unusual routing of the club I work at (Quaker Ridge). Apparently this "circular" routing scheme has been dubbed a "Murifield Routing". Our first 8 holes play around the edge of the property, and all have white stakes running up right side of all 8 holes. Do the holes at Mink Meadows play the same way? Slicers nightmare?

[Bill_McBride]

Tom D - That sounds like a starters dream! You can send groups off in every direction.

Michael - I have asked a similar question before about the unusual routing of the club I work at (Quaker Ridge). Apparently this "circular" routing scheme has been dubbed a "Murifield Routing". Our first 8 holes play around the edge of the property, and all have white stakes running up right side of all 8 holes. Do the holes at Mink Meadows play the same way? Slicers nightmare?

The "Muirfield routing" has the first nine running around the perimeter of the property clockwise and the back nine inside. That's a hooker's nightmare, with all the OB left.

Legend has it that C B Macdonald routed Chicago GC that way because he was a consistent slicer!

[Matthew Rose]

It's not the same, but one of my favorite routings that I ever saw was for the huge development in Rotunda, Florida (where they used to hold the old "Superstars" TV show in the 1970's).  The land plan for the entire development was a giant expanding circle, and the golf club was right in the center.  The original course consisted of six three-hole loops which each came back to the clubhouse -- on the premise that they would eventually be the starting and finishing holes for SIX SEPARATE COURSES.  But I don't know if they ever built more than the one.

It would seem they did. 81 holes in one big circular development. Wow.
http://www.rotondagolf.com/

That is bizarre.

I google-mapped this. It looks like a giant gamepiece from a Trivial Pursuit game where someone routed a golf course in each of the six wedges.

[Adam Russell]

My grandparents lived in Rotunda and I learned to play there with my grandfather's cut-down irons on one of the par-3's at dusk. You would never know its a circular development, but it is extremely disorienting because the roads were straight and all the houses are shades of white. The dark segments are canals that paralleled the streets.

[Kalen Braley]

My grandparents lived in Rotunda and I learned to play there with my grandfather's cut-down irons on one of the par-3's at dusk. You would never know its a circular development, but it is extremely disorienting because the roads were straight and all the houses are shades of white. The dark segments are canals that paralleled the streets.

At least the aliens now have thier "target" when they are looking for a place to land!!     

[Ray Richard]

Mink Meadows is located in a quiet section of Martha's Vineyard. In the early 1990's,I spent a spring doing renovation work on this course. It's a low-key club. Every morning I said good morning to a woman they called Rachel. I found out later she was Jackie Robinson's widow. Carly Simon lived nearby, and her son by James Taylor played the course often.

A few years later, a friend told me that Hillary Clinton and Bill played nine holes. Hillary actually hit some pretty shots.

Farm Neck and the Vineyard Club get all the publicity, but Mink Meadows is one of my favorite golf experiences. Many of the Styles features have worn away, but the layout is sound. The circular layout adds challenges to windy rounds.

[Mike Sweeney]

The Par 3 fifth hole (at top away from Vineyard Sound/West Chop) goes backwards. Everything else goes counter-clockwise.



For the full Vineyard effect, stay at nearby West Chop Club which feels like a time warp:


http://www.westchopclubmv.com/