I had the great pleasure of playing one of the truest "hidden gem" golf courses I have ever seen--Copake Country Club in Copake Lake, New York (about 90 minutes WNW of my hometown of Avon, CT). The golf course dates to 1921, originally designed by Devereux Emmet. According to the gentleman in the pro shop, the golf course was "going to seed" as recently as 15 years ago, but a new owner took it over and has put a good deal of money into the place. From the looks of it the bunkers have all been renovated pretty recently, and the greens have been expanded/restored back towards their original shapes.
The golf course is about 6,200 yards from the tips, par 72. Three of the four par 5s are a bit under 500 yards--I reached one of them with a 5-wood and a PW--you'll see why below. These are the holes to make hay on, in addition to three par 4s of 281-288 yards, all of which are reachable and excellent.
The opening hole at Copake is a wonderful introduction. Holes 1-3 and 10-13 parallel each other, but only 1 and 10 are similar. And that's okay, because they are both delightful holes. #1 is about 360 yards from the back tee, straightaway. It's that charming type of hole where you can see far more from the tee than from the landing area. It is one of only two holes on the course with bona fide fairway bunkers (the other being the 10th), which is just fine, due to the great terrain the course occupies. That angled fairway bunker is perfectly placed--a big hitter can consider driving over it, or lay up short with an iron or fairway wood. You will notice that the fairway runs straight into the sand--perfect. The little eyebrow ridge-type structure that juts out into the fairway can be found in a couple other places on the golf course. It seems like a throwback feature; I like it. The green is open in front, allowing a run-up shot (conditions at Copake were about as ideal, firmness-wise, as on any course I have played in the US), as are many at CCC.
#2 is the only par 4 on the course longer than 400 yards. It's 435 from the long tees, but plays downhill. The approach is basically blind. There are two spectacle bunkers about 20 yards short of the green. The ground beyond them slopes away hard, meaning that a shot that just carries them will tumble down onto the green, which is one of many that slopes from front to back. I can't recall another golf course I've played where more greens slope front-to-back.
#3 is about 390 yards but plays a lot shorter, since the tee shot is way downhill. The green is possibly the most treacherous on the course: not very big, but a lot of left-to-right pitch. Nasty greenside bunker to the right. There's also a Lester Georgian "dragon's tooth" hat could ensnare an overly caution approach to the left.
#4 is a C-shaped par 5 of only about 470 yards. But you can cut off a bunch of yardage by challenging the trees down the right. I hit 5-wood, PW. The green is steeply pitched from back to front and left to right, and it's elevated above the fairway such that it is possible to leave a ball short and have it roll back by 40 yards or more. They're building a new back tee, but the hole will forever be extremely reachable by the longer hitter. And that's okay.
Even though there is only one par 4 over 400 yards, Copake is as close to a complete examination of one's golf game as a 6,200 yard golf course can be. Holes like the 228 yard 5th are part of the reason why that is the case. It is probably the toughest par on the course with an undulating, rather domed green. Great, tough hole on the heels of a rather easy one.
The 6th is the first of three very drivable par 4s at CCC. It's 281 yards, with two greenside bunkers that could not be placed any better. Like many holes at Copake, this one requires a game plan--you can't just wail away as I did, or you'll make a stupid bogey, as I did.
Number 7 is the third of four consecutive holes under 300 yards, a bunkerless 288 yard par 4. The tee shot is blind, and should be played just left of that wee gnarled tree in the foreground (my best friend and high school golf teammate Adam is running up to get a better look, as is his father in the cart). The green is built up a bit in typical Golden Age fashion, and s sufficiently undulating to cause headaches. I was pin-high with a 3-wood, but I walked away with a par. Awesome, maddening. It's one of the best viewpoints on the course, looking out over Copake Lake as you wonder how you threw away a birdie on such an innocuous-looking hole...
The 8th is a 151 yard par three where you can only see the top of the flagstick from the tee. Like the 5th, the green is gently domed. To boot, it runs gently from front to back. If you like some quirk with your golf course, you should love Copake.
The longest hole on the course follows the shortest. The 9th is 524 yards and wanders off gently left and downhill. With a helping wind, I hit driver-7 iron. The green is sufficiently lumpy, though, and defends itself nicely.
After a longish walk that allows you to mentally beat yourself up for all the missed opportunities on the front nine, the 348 yard 10th is a welcome bit of familiarity. Playing dead parallel and to the right of #1, it's just different enough so that it seems like a variation on a theme, rather than a close copy. Again, high-low-high with two fairway bunkers left and a great greensite.
The 11th is a bunkerless, 347 yard par four that curls lazily left to right. The green is open in front and slightly elevated (complete with false-front), making the approach (a wedge or short-iron, in all likelihood) tricky. Few courses offer more wedge approaches and fewer resultant short birdie putts than Copake. This is a testament to Emmet's excellent greensites. Many golf courses relent once you are near the putting surface; that's where the real fun begins at Copake.
Number 12 is a drop-shot par 3 of about 160 yards. Anther pair of spectacles greets the player and once again, a shot that lands up to 20 yards short can find the putting surface comfortably. In fact, this is perhaps the preferred shot type, as any ball that lands right and/or long will likely careen over hard, broken ground into the woods. My friend's father putted from about 25 yards short of the green. Did I mention the tough greens at Copake?
The 13th might be my favorite hole, mostly because it is the most unassuming hole (ground features-wise) on the course and comes at the perfect time in the round for a palate-cleansing. It is bunkerless, 285 yards, and dramatically downhill. The green and greensite are really quite flat, which only adds to the temptation to challenge the green off the tee. But of course, the closer you get to the green, the more those woods and a stream at woods' edge creeps to the promised land. Brilliant hole, IMO.
The first picture of the 14th hole (365 yard par 4) does very little to help the uninitiated understand how uphill the hole is. It somehow reminds me of a few holes I've seen on Sean Arble's photo tours of interior Britain's courses. The green is pitched A TON from back to front, so much so that the grass on it was a little longer than on the others. Only one bunker guards the hole.
The 15th is a downhill, 472 yard par 5. Again, it was driver-short iron for me, but the green is small and runs away, requiring a near-perfect shot to hold it in two. If you are familiar with the pitched 7th fairway at the Cascades, this one is similar, but in the opposite direction. Lovely hole, and a birdie chance. I wish I had gotten pictures of the wonderful greensite, but the mystery should incentivize your own visits to the course!
16 is an uphill par 4 of 383 yards. Even though the fairway is oriented similarly to that of number 14, the holes are different, I assure you. There is a false right edge to this green that will shed a wedge shot hit with too much spin.
The penultimate hole is a 188 yard par 3 whose green is slightly hidden from view from the tee. There are bunkers left and right, and the green is open in front. The green is banked a good bit from left to right, such that a ball that traverses the high left side of the green can and should curl down to a right-middle or right-rear pin.
The closing hole is a 485 yard par 4.5 (5 on the card), playing downhill and concluding with another steeply pitched green. That green is kind of far from the clubhouse, but the walk back affords some opportunities for last admirations of the scenery of the area. Many players are surely tempted to clamber up the first tee box and start the journey again.
If you can't already tell, I have a huge crush on Copake CC. It's short by modern standards, but I think I could play it every day and not get tired of it. Since it resides in a town where people spend their summers, it has to be intriguing to repeat-customers. To boot, it has to be one of the very best public courses in the country, value-wise. See here:
http://www.copakecountryclub.com/rates.htmlIf at all possible, play this golf course. You'd be nuts to miss out and you'd be even more nuts not to thoroughly enjoy it after playing it. That's my opinion anyway.
Cheers.
--Tim