Newport Country Club

[M. Shea Sweeney]

recently played Newport Country Club--looking for some info.


Tillinghast or Ross?

Noticed the fairways were extremely tight. Were these tightened for the US Womens Open and left as is?

Could some of the greens be brought back to original size?

Is this the original routing?

sweet place--course is in great shape. one of the members I played with thought the course could use some "water". ground was extremely firm. thoughts anyone?

[JNagle]

M. Shea

Originally Willie Davis then early Ross and then Tillie came in and created 2-8 on the adjoining property.  Reworked a number of the existing holes.  The Redan 14th is Tillies.  Many consider the 5th hole to be one of the more strategic golf holes ever created.  There is a Master Plan in place to recapture the original green sizes and the Club has chipped away at some of the expansions over the years.  Hole 10 was thought to be one of the oldest active greens in use.  The corrugations in the fairways are left over from a Revolutionary  encampment under the Generalship of Lafayette and Rochambeau.  

As for needing a little water.  Newport does not have any fairway irrigation and does not need any.  The club should be applauded for holding off on fairway irrigation.  Such a venerable historic club and no fairway irrigation, you have to love it.  Billy McGuiness, member of Pine Valley and Tavistock tells the story of arriving at Newport for the US Amateur only to find the fairways brown, hard and fast.  He said he loved it.  A little rain prior to the match play rounds and the fairways were fine.


One of the great ones!!!!!

[M. Shea Sweeney]

J-

I thought it was pretty obvious that some of the greens could be restored to original size.

The golf course had such a wild feel to it. hard to explain.

I was dissapointed with the size of the fairways. I felt 4-6 holes were affected negativiley regarding some strategic options.

I thought the 18th hole was unreal.

[Mike Sweeney]

Cousin Sweeney,

This must be started with, it is still one of my favorite places to play.

However over Memorial Day, they clearly had US Open hangover. The fairways are way too narrow, we lost a ball or two a foot or two into the deep rough, which is now "defined" by that silly post and rope fencing in the fairway rough. There should be nothing on the grounds of NCC other than flags, tee markers, and an occasional bench for the older members. Balls can be cleaned with spit and a towel on your bag!!

I have no idea how involved David Fay is there as a member, but it appeared to be right out of US Open 101. Hope it changes back, but obviously it has not done so to date.

The good news is the clubhouse renovation was done perfectly, and the back 9 lower holes continue to drain much much better than the days when I caddied there.

[Willie_Dow]

Jim: You must have read the Newport History issue, Alan T. Schumacher's "The Newport Country Club: Its Curious History" Spring 1986, Number 202 put together by Eileen H. Warburton, PHD.  A wonderful collection of information.

You are right on, as usual !

[Willie_Dow]

By the way, Jim, the pub does read that the links were laid out in 1894, by W. H. Lawton Jr.

This is probably the topo map of W.F. Davis course at Rocky Farm, when the Havemeyer nine, designed in 1890 on rented property at Brenton Point was moved to the King property.

[Mike Sweeney]

More info can be found when GCA star Tony Pioppi makes his appearance at NCC this weekend at the Tailer Cup:

http://www.projo.com/sports/paulkenyon/sp_golf_pk26_07-26-07_O66GMSE.3028428.html

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

Mike,

Thanks for the plug. Man, are you quick.

Tillinghast really reword the existing course at Newport, more than just adding holes 2-8 to the land that was acquired to expand the course after T. Suffern Tailer shamed them into it with his Ocean Links layout next door.

What is now the driving range was used for holes in the Ross routing and the 18th site was approached from what would now be from the right, looking at it from the fairway. The area was abandoned because it was, and is, very, very wet. The hole on what is now the 16th played in the opposite direction on the Ross layout. The 14th predates the Tillinghast design and goes back to the Davis routing. If Tillinghast reconstructed the green, that is unknown.

Anthony

[Mike Sweeney]

Tony,

Enough of this architecture stuff, how many women will be at this book signing!?

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

I heard event organizers are expecting up to a couple thousand. There's going to be shuttle services in from nearby Fort Adams State Park. It's going to be crazy, but I'm ready. Do you want to be part of the security detail? Dr. Childs says he can handle it himself, but I'm not so sure.

Tony

[M. Shea Sweeney]

Mike-

Don't get me wrong-I loved the golf course. Theres just such a variety out there. The 18th hole blew me away.

I loved the greens as well as some awesome driving holes. Some of the hole locations were unbelievable.

There was really a premium on angles. Which is why I was scratching my head at times. (fairway widths)

[Mike Sweeney]

The 18th hole blew me away.

[M. Shea Sweeney]

the course looks alot different right now (good in my op)

Mike-

have you seen it form the top tee? I believe the land was owned by a gentlemen who gave it to Newport CC and is now allowed to play golf there. The tee makes the hole even that much better.

[JNagle]

If my memory is correct, that rear tee on 18 was put in after Woods hit two (easy) irons to the green during the Amateur.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

The first is one of my absolute favorite opening holes anywhere, a par-4 1/2. I never feel bad walking away with a 5 to start my day.

Tony

[mark chalfant]

A brilliant  example of tactical bunkering, some wonderful   angles. I am sorry to hear about   narrow  fairways, but still one of most memorable golden age courses in the United States, with many  holes worthy of study  I truly love 5,6.8,  
13, and 18

[Michael Ryan]

The rear tee on 18 was built in advance of the 2006 Women's US Open...as for Tiger hitting two "easy" irons shots from the lower tee, he absolutely smoked a 2 iron onto a fairway that was as hard as concrete.  The entire field was hitting driver on that hole all week.  Remember, he used to hit it even farther...by his own admission.  '94 am final he hit sand wedge into the 17th at Sawgrass, he was hitting 8 iron a few years later.  The tapes of the final have been on the Golf Channel a few times lately, the course was playing incredibly fast during the '95 final, drives on 10 were leaving players wedges into that par 5.

I played it for the second time in early June, and I was also disappointed in the fairways on a few holes being so narrow (1, 9, 15) and found the rough to be impossibly thick.  I think that had more to do with decently wet spring than anything else, although they did have the ropes up to keep carts from trampling it down.  I also played it with a strong wind out of the North that made it play extemely difficult...

I believe Pat Mucci feels the 5th is one of the better par 4's in the country and recently referenced it in another post on shouldering mounds.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Noticed the fairways were extremely tight. Were these tightened for the US Womens Open and left as is?

I can't speak to the height of the cut, but, Mother Nature plays A, or THE dominant role in fairway conditions.

I've played it when it's bone dry and I've played it when it was lush, and the conditions when it was dry were vastly superior to the conditions when it was lush.[/color]

Could some of the greens be brought back to original size?

I had understood that Ron Forse has been working with the club, gradually restoring many of the features.

What greens appeared to be shrunk, and where ?[/color]

Is this the original routing?

sweet place--course is in great shape.

one of the members I played with thought the course could use some "water". ground was extremely firm.
thoughts anyone?

He's either a relatively new member, or, he watches too much TV.

Newport comes to life without water.
The combination of wind and firm & fast conditions make for unique exciting, challenging and enjoyable golf.

# 5 is one of my favorite par 4's, with great strategic options.
I love the golf course, it fits into my sporty category and has one of the great assets in golf, the WIND.

Sadly, the club didn't return their fairways to their pre-Open width.  It's become an unfortunate syndrome amongst clubs that host big tournaments.

Newport is one of those courses that you could play every day and never tire of it.[/color]

The land where the current  back tee resides was not Newport's land for the U.S. Am, they subsequently acquired it.

[michael j fay]

Newport is mostly Tillinghast. Ross probably had something to do with the routing of the back side but the features are very Tillie in nature.

I have been lucky to play this wonderful course three or four times a year for the past several years. It has become my favorite golf course in New England.

There are some stupendous holes on this layout. #4 is one of the best 200-220 yard par three holes in existence. It plays into the prevailing wind and demands a well gaged and well executed tee shot to a very difficullt and ponderous green.

The bunkering on #5 is as good as any I have seen on a par four. The fairway bunkers off the tee can get anyone. If you bite off more than you can handle the near bunkers will get you, If you nail a tee shot in the wrong direction the second fairway bunker will just plain ruin your day. The green is the proper size but resides dangerously close to the out of bounds left.

Number 7 is a gra par five with a fairway bunker complex that is as strategic as they come. The right side of the hole is a long stretch of fescue that is a true one shot penalty so you cannot play the hole without having to deal with the fairway bunker complex.

Number 9 is a really difficult test with a crass bunker in the driving area for most players and a long difficult uphill shot if one lays back.

Number 11 is a marvelous short four par with a quirky small green. The out of bounds left and long will make you think.

Overall this is the best bunkered course I have ever played. Cross bunkers test you off many tees, greenside bunkers protect the putting surfaces and like all Tillie bunkers are not bail out areas. The horseshoe bunkers on 6 and 14 are true works of art.

The lack of an irrigation system enhances the shot making values on this course tremendously. The rough is very trying, often fescue with substantial undergrowth. The fairways are generous but the combination of the hard ground the penal rough and the invariable wind make the player careful not to fade or draw the ball excessively.

Add to this great test of golf one of the truly premier clubnouses in the game that you can see from nearly everywhere on the course and you have a golfing experience second to none. Add to that the fact that Newport CC does not run a food service (a caterer makes sandwiches) and the Club operates profitably at reasonable dues.

Ron Forse and Jim Nagle redid the bunkers a few years back and did a hell of a job.

Newport is a course well worth groveling to play.