Thanks to Kevin L for hosting on Monday, and I finally got to play with the two legendary Buffalo GCAers.
Byrncliff is a course I knew very little about until the other day. Driving through Western New York farmland on Route 20 to get there, I was not thrilled with the land. Then, turning South to go through Attica (site of an infamous prison riot at the state pen), the land changed drastically, merging into the long, narrow North-South valleys that define the Southern Tier from Jamestown to the Catskills. Byrncliff slides back and forth across one of these valleys, and it contains some dramatic golf because of it.
One of my favorite features at Byrncliff was the collection of benched, hillside greens at holes 2, 4, 5, 8, and 13. The first, and arguably the most dramatic, comes at the par five second, with a giant two-tiered green hidden back in the forest. The 2nd hole, with its roller coaster layout, is the first of four phenomenal par fives at Byrncliff. Most bargain-basement public courses fall short on the par fives, but Byrncliff has one of the strongest sets I've seen in quite some time. The 7th hole plays down a narrow valley and features two centerline bunkers and a creek at the perfect second-shot interval. 14, as Ron says, is a grand hole, which uses no bunkers and instead relies on the sweep of the terrain. It's one of those holes where the architect used plenty of fairway to take advantage of dramatic land, leading to a very fun succession of shots. Finally, 15 is another rolly-poly affair that ends in a brilliant Dell green site.
Byrncliff also has a Trent Jones component to it, using sharp doglegs to create heroic and conservative options on the short par fours. Holes 6, 13, 18 all offer the possibility for fireworks off the tee, but they also can lure the golfer into backfiring and taking a big number. Byrncliff should follow the example of an Upstate New York Trent Jones course, Seven Oaks, and take down a few trees on these holes to open views of the green. However, these holes all require decision-making with the use of very simple architectural features.
Holes 3 and 10 are also of tremendous note as good par fours. 3 has a thrilling downhill tee shot where the golfer needs to stay on the high side of the fairway. 10, as Ron and Kevin outlined, is a very solid par four with wild terrain in the landing area and completely unique green. The green has three tiers, each shaped in a V and offset from one another. I didn't play the hole with the tree in front of the green, but I can't imagine the loss of the tree has taken away too much from this first-rate green complex.
Like many public courses, Byrncliff has its clunker holes. The first 8 holes are exciting, but the course is uneven from there on out. 9 and 11, 12, and 16 are vanilla bland, and 17 is a very strange long par four with a blind pond in the landing area. These five holes greatly diminish the overall quality of the golf course, but it remains a very solid public layout. As a group, we felt Byrncliff fits into a 4-5 range on the Doak Scale, and it's definitely worth a play (especially at the price!) if you are traveling down I-90 in Western New York.