Re: The Evolution (Demise?) of NGLA's Practice Ground

[Will Lozier]

The first time I played Cypress Point, I remember clearly the first shot of the day - as everyone does.  To premise, our warmup was scarfing down a piece of fresh lemon marangue pie and a Coke at the employee dining table overlooking the 16th! - not hitting balls or putts.  I was told by my gracious host to take it straight over the right-hand clump of Cypress with a slight draw, which is exactly what I did, hitting one of the finest opening tee shots I'll ever hit.  I asked if it was alright - as the landing area is blind - and he said it was...as long as I wasn't playing a Strata?  I wandered what in the world he was talking about until I caught sight of the hundred or so brand new practice balls in the first fairway.  Ultimately, after about 2 minutes of looking, I found it and proceeded to drive the ball as well as I ever had (or possibly have since even with my old steel shafted 43 inch Titleist) and get round in a lovely 79 with numerous 3-putts and a 6 on the 18th (which I really like by the way).  I also remember how tiny and limited the CPC practice ground was (it isn't a "range").  Being one who hasn't hit a warmup shot in probably my last 20 rounds, I find it a charming characteristic of the layout and club while most Americans at least would frown and find it a drawback.

Looking at some old aerials (1954) of NGLA trying to find those lost waste areas/bunkers to the right of #5 talked about on a previous thread, having (I think) seen their practice ground today which seems to be similarly minimalistic, I found what looks to be three target/practice greens down by the beach.  In subsequent pics, those forms erode.  I am very interested to hear if anyone can shed any light on what was there, if anything, and why it has been abandoned?  The link to the aerial is below:

http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=4E-6&lat=40.9157206936795&lon=-72.453389&year=1954

[jkinney]

Will - The field by the beach is the landing area of practice field. The tee sits on the bay side of the 18th fairway, slightly elevated. It was reclaimed and enlarged about 12 yrs, ago. About 8 players can be on it at once. The field itself has no greens, only several target flagsticks. The tee is located by the service road to the pro shop, and it sits about 15' above the beach with marvelous views of Peconic Bay. A new chipping green w/bunker is under consideration for the small field adjacent to Sebonack's 19th hole green. Both these sit on the edge of the bluff overlooking the bay near National's pro shop, with the property line between them.

[Bill_McBride]

CBM built three target greens in that field, an Eden, a Redan and a Short, at appropriate distances.  I couldn't see any remnant of them during the five minutes I spent there warming up.  Sounds like they are still visible from above. 

[Will Lozier]

jkinney - Thanks much for the detailed description.  The satellite images from Google maps show just that without any idea of the elevation differences.  It sounds like a perfect place to hit a few short irons to warm up for a truly unique round of golf!  The closest I can claim to seeing NGLA was when my dad took my whole family on a road trip from Ohio to Long Island immediately after seeing Shinnecock on TV at the '86 Open....just to pull up the class Stanford White clubhouse after 10pm and deny my request to take the "Home of the 1986 U.S. Open" sign in the drive!  Disclaimer: I was 14.


Bill - That is fascinating...yes, you can see them very clearly on the 1954 aerial I posted the link to.  In the '60, the two of those greens, Short & Eden, seem to be in use while the Redan looks to have been abandoned or washed out (the back half is gone).  By '69, there is narry a trace!  

Could this have been a source of inspiration to Fazio and/or PV with their short course...building greensites based on shots to be encountered during the round?  It even looks like there where infinite places (within a finite area, of course) from where to approach these greens, another important characteristic at PV's short course.