REAL cheap thrills.....upstate NY

[scott_wood]

while traveling to a biz golf outing, I detoured @ 5pm to see/play the 9 hole course at Hamilton Colege (in Clinton NY, not to be confused with Colgate in Hamilton NY).  

The course itself is "not much".....approx 2700 yards, slightly pushed up greens, flat traps set in "non strategic" places, a 250 yd 90% dogleg left etc ......
defintely NOT a course to be confused with the brawny RTJ track 15 miles away at Colgate...
BUT, on an 85% evening, with wonderful upstate NY (and the campus) surrounding you, $5 for ALL the holes you could play just can't be beat!!!

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Scott,
It all sounds like toothpaste to me. I'm an Aquafresh man....

[Craig_Rokke]

Tommy- Your breath IS minty fresh!


I head up to really-upstate NY once a year. Anyone know if Emmet's St Lawrence Univ course or Raynor's Thousand Islands GC are worth a 45 minute drive?

[scott_wood]

I don't , but the extremely quiet 9 hole Ausable Club, 10 miles off I87 on teh road to lake Placid is worth a short detour ......but ONLY open after Labor Day...wonderful setting amidst the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, very rolling terrain,
several doglegs, architecture has evolved ( I beleive...)

[John Foley]

I played St. Lawrence 20 years ago when I was in school in the area. Do't remember a thing. I think TI GC is worth it if your driving by.

Scott - I drove by Hamilton the night of the big flood trying to get to Albany by way of bypassing the thruway. I had the same thoughts.

Someone I know recomended Orchard Creek SW of Albany. Have you seen it?

BTW - You need to get over and see Jim Kennedy at Hotchkiss. I was there last week (and hope to post a few pics) great mix of old raynor & new Bhato

[Doug Wright]

Scott,

I'm SHOCKED   that my alma mater's golf course is being mentioned on this august site. If you can believe it, I played my home college golf on this course, but fortunately we didn't have many matches there both because we played in the mud season (spring) and nobody wanted to play us there. So I got to play some better courses like Oak Hill, Taconic, Colgate, Cornell, etc. Also Scott you'll be surprised to know that the course was actually a lure to get me to attend Hamilton--at the time the 2d green/3rd tee of the course were about 50 yards from the freshman dorm! The course has been re-routed several times due to the ever encroaching construction of classrooms, athletic fields and other facilities. The current 3rd and 6th through 9th were there when I was a student.  When I was there the 2d hole played OVER the baseball field, so we couldn't play it during baseball practice and games. Despite its dog track nature, the course provided me with many enjoyable hours away from the rigor of a Hamilton education.  And it's a beautiful setting as you say.  

[Tim Gavrich]

I played St. Lawrence 20 years ago when I was in school in the area. Do't remember a thing. I think TI GC is worth it if your driving by.

Scott - I drove by Hamilton the night of the big flood trying to get to Albany by way of bypassing the thruway. I had the same thoughts.

Someone I know recomended Orchard Creek SW of Albany. Have you seen it?

BTW - You need to get over and see Jim Kennedy at Hotchkiss. I was there last week (and hope to post a few pics) great mix of old raynor & new Bhato

John--

As regarding Orchard Creek, it's a course I played a couple times in junior tournaments in my youth.  I thought it was hokey back then, but looking back on it now, it was a very interesting golf course with a lot of quirks.  The 6th is a par 3 with a fairly flat, circular green, but for the nearly perfect 2 foot mound smack in the middle.  Another interesting feature is the ~255 yard par 4 14th hole followed by the ~255 yard par 3 15th.  They play up, then down a hill and are interesting half-par holes, followed by the long, tough par 5 16th, then a Moat hole 18th, a reachable par 5.

I hope to have another chance to play it, this time from further back than the short set.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Anyone ever play Nick Stoner GC in Caroga Lake?

www.carogalake.com/Activities/golf.htm

[Scott Witter]

Guys:

The Ausable Club was certainly at one time a true gem, but for many years it has been quite poorly maintained and managed...I would rather bring my fly rod and fish the world famous Ausable River for trophy brown and rainbow trout and have a great dinner in one of the local bistros.

The St Lawrence club has taken a similar path being owned and managed by the university with a bare bones budget and little interest to maintain, let alone restore/perserve the great architecture.

If you are in the area again and are interested in Emmet I would recommend Albany CC, Schenectady CC, Mohawk CC, or Schuyler CC (renovation/restoration by Hanse), you won't be disappointed in any and all are within 15 miles of each other.

Thousand Islands CC does have some very fine features of Raynor, though not the typical hard line pushed up greens with deep bunkering...much more subdued, if I remember right, but it has been 20 years since I was there last.  I think they are speaking with architects about some restoration work, that would be good.

[Dave Bourgeois]

I have played Nick Stoner!  I remember lots of nice rock outcroppings but not much else.

I have also played Orchard Creek and do like it quite a bit.  It was designed by GCA.com member Paul Cowley, so its got that going for it as well.  I wish I could remember more of the specifics, but Tim's assessment is good.  There is also a nice drop shot par three and a few risk/reward opportunities provided you want to challenge he orchard.

Scott,

Do you mean Schenectady Muni?  I was not aware of a Schenectady CC, but played the Muni for $5.00 as an out of county junior ( Late 80s).

[Tags:]

Tags: