Aerial of the Day #139 - 8 Jul 2002

[Scott_Burroughs]

Believe it or not, I planned to do this course today before the
recent thread on it and the somewhat related event that
happened Friday morning.

I don't recall seeing bunker shapes (from above) quite like
the ones in the far left hole.  One reminds me of a musical note.

[Mike_Cirba]

It looks like a big green monster!!  

However, what you can't see from the aerial are the amazing green contours.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Did this architect hit one out of the park on this one?

Did this course inflict bad luck on itself by trading it's
promising, do-everything super, George Herman something-
or-other, away a long time ago?  Some say a curse is still there....

[Jeff_Lewis]

The 14th in the upper left and the 3rd in the lower right are two of the best bunkered holes one will ever see. Too bad that the restorer of this course didn't get a shot at BPB.

[GeoffreyC]

Jeff

That's the 14th in the upper left not the 12th.

The 12th is more top center and it has a unique shared bunker complex with the 8th.  Great stuff!

Agree with you about the restoration architect.  

[Jeff_Lewis]

Isn't that what I said?

[Scott_Burroughs]

Did the Yawkeys run this place for 69 years?

Several here say that trimming additional trees from this
place would place it in top 50.

Did Yaz, Dewey, Pudge, Splinter, Petro, Rocket, Babe, and
Pesky roam this place?

[corey miller]

Geoff C gets excitied when he talks about this no longer hidden gem.

[GeoffreyC]

Jeff

You're messing with my head. I thought I had lost my eyesight until I saw that wink.


Corey -  Seeing the greens at PD this weekend and thinking they may be better then the set on this course has me excited.  - Cirba - bring your trusty wedge game  

[J_Olsen]

Hate to rain on this parade, but...this course is on a pretty challenging piece of land. What the overhead cannot show is that much of it is kind of on the side of a hill. There are a number of relatively indifferent holes here( 1, 11, 17, 18 )and the property is very small. Tree removal can only go so far here as a lot of it is actually necessary to maintain safety between holes that are surprisingly close together. Tillinghast did a great job with the routing, given how challenging the piece of ground was.

[Mike_Cirba]

Geoffrey;

I'm sharpening my wedge as we speak.  I may have to fall on it if I don't start hitting the ball a little more consistently before then.

JOlsen;

What's wrong with 11?  

[J_Olsen]

It just seemed to me that if he didn't have to use that big uphill slope, he wouldn't have chosen to. Almost blind up the hill, and the fall off left and beyond the green to out of bounds, it all just adds up to a relatively odd hole, for me. Not to say that it is easy, just not my fancy.

[corey miller]

this aerial is a surprise to me as the course looks MORE open than I would have thought.  9th green is a really wonderful 2nd shot and it is completely hidden by the trees in this photo.

11 is too darn hard play 11 and 6 both par 3's even par and feel VERY VERY fortunate.

[Scott_Burroughs]

This course is located in Diet Central circa 20 years ago, but
all the fat housewives had to do in this area was double bag,
two loops a day during the summer on this hilly course, and
watch the pounds melt away!

This course also has hosted PGA Tour events in the past.

A former head pro was on the 1947 Ryder Cup team.

[SPDB]

Scott - legend has it that that particular diet was not easy, murderous I've heard.

[Scott_Burroughs]

This is of course Fenway GC, in Scarsdale, NY, by the
aforementioned AW Tillinghast.

clues include:

"Green Monster" = Fenway Park's famed left field wall = "hit
one out of the park"

Friday's somewhat related event was the passing of
legendary Red Sox LF Ted Williams, who roamed Fenway.

other Red Sox references include:

"Yawkey" = long time owners of the Red Sox

Curse of the Bambino is the famous trade of "George
Herman" Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919.

Yaz, Dewey, Pudge, Splinter, Petro, Rocket, Babe, and
Pesky are all former Red Sox Carl Yastrzemski, Dwight Evans,
Carlton Fisk, Ted Williams, Rico Petrocelli, Roger Clemens,
Babe Ruth, and Johnny Pesky.

Diet Central circa 20 yeare ago refers to the Scarsdale Diet.

1947 Ryder Cupper was Herman Barron.

Played host to 1938 "Westchester 108" (boasting the then
highest purse on the PGA tour), the Westchester Open, and
the Westchester PGA tour events of the past.


here's the GCA write-up:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/fenway1.html

and Fenway's web site:

http://www.fenwaygolfclub.com/

And everyone MUST go to the club's web site "Course
Reviews" link here.  Look familiar?:

http://www.fenwaygolfclub.com/coursereview.htm

How about those scorse from The Mittlemark tournament?  
Par 3 11th had and average score over 4, the toughest on the course.