Huntington CC (1910; Dev Emmet; Huntington, NY): a photo tour (all holes up)

[Joe Bausch]

For a couple of years I'd been wanting to see Huntington CC, but my schedule and Bob Emmons were seemingly orthogonal.

But a couple of weeks ago I woke up at 3:30 AM to make the drive up to Long Island for a 7:30 AM start time.  Bob and I were joined by Mike Cirba and Mark McKeever.  The iffy weather and rain delay after 6 holes did nothing to dampen our enthusiasm for a truly wonderful layout.  At 6432 yards, this par 70 layout is plenty long for me.  And the two par 5's suggest the sure hand of William Flynn Dev Emmet.  

Bob was green chairman for many years in the last decade and oversaw the pretty much in-house restoration of the course, together with superintendent Glenn Creutz.  Ron Prichard was consulted as well.  The course was basically taken back to what it was in 1930.  The cooks in the Huntington kitchen were Dev, then Dev again, then Tull.

Here is the hole sequencing from a March, 2012 Google Earth aerial:



Lots of neat stuff I think:

1.  This isn't no ordinary bunkering, as the photo tour will hopefully capture.

2.  I love the triangulation of the routing on the front nine (1-3, 4-6, 7-9).

3.  A wonderful mix of 2 shotters.

4.  Some more dramatic elevation changes on the back nine, yet still easily walkable (they have a strong caddy program).

5.  A neat "road hole" (par 5 7th).

Let's get this started today with holes 1-3.

#1.  Dogleg right par 4 (390 yards).

View from near the beginning of the fw:



Better angle in is from left of this location:



There's a little cross bunker to play havoc with a duffed 2nd shot:



A look back to the slightly elevated green on the way to the 2nd tee.



#2.  Dogleg right par 4 (377 yards).

I really like the challenges the tee shots HCC presents.  Here, your better player will likely just hit 3 wood as the holes bends and tightens up at about 250 yards.

View from near the forward tees:



The approach shot runs a bit downhill:



From just over the green:



#3.  Par 3 (192 yards).

Tee view:



More of the neat bunkering:



From over the green:



Three more tomorrow.

[Mike Hendren]

Uncle!  Just when I had decided the eastern terminus of the 2013 Hillbilly Tour would be Troy, this thread pops up.  Gee, thanks Joe

Can't wait to see the rest of your tour Joe.  You're the best.

Bogey

[Michael Goody]

I had the pleasure of playing Huntington last fall with Bob through the Dev Emmet Society outing and thought the course was really wonderful. Can't wait to see the rest of your pictures. The 10-16 stretch was particularly exciting, interesting and excellent.

[Keith OHalloran]

Joe,
I am excited to see the tour. I have played a few Emmet's lately, and look forward to seeing Huntington.

[Andrew Lewis]

Joe -

How far out from the front of the green is the cross-bunker on #1?

Since I started playing hickories, features like that have become increasingly interesting to me.  As you mention, it would most likely only catch a duffed shot for a player using modern equipment, it appears to be in the landing area for a player trying to run up a longer club (spoon or mid-iron), which would probably be the case with vintage clubs.

Thanks.

-Andrew

[Joe Bausch]

Joe -

How far out from the front of the green is the cross-bunker on #1?

That bunker is about 30 yards short of the front of the green.

[Joe Bausch]

Holes 4-6 today.

#4.  Dogleg right par 4 (336 yards).

Tee view, where many will just play something 225-ish and leave a short iron in:



You must hit it far enough and be left in the fw or have tree issues:



What that picture above also shows are small flags just above the bag on the left.  That is a practice green, but is in fact the original green to the hole.

Approach shot view:



From just short of the green:



From just behind the green:



Here is the picture of the original green, now part of a practice facility:



And one last pic showing the original green in the foreground with the current green in the distance:



#5.  Slight dogleg right par 4 (379 yards).

Tee view, where the church pew bunkers are on the left:



Close up view of those bunkers:



From short of this very large bunker:



From short and right of the green:



#6.  Par 4 (420 yards).

You head back to the clubhouse here.  Tee view (as bad weather is approaching):



Approach shot view:



From short of the green:



From the back tee box of the upcoming fantastic road hole 7th:



I'll try to do three more over the weekend.

[Robert Emmons]

The new 4th green was built inhouse in 1962. Original 4th is a practice area...well over 2,000 trees have been taken out since 1995, most were white pines and Norwegian maples planted between fairways and behind greens....all greens were expanded back to original footprints...course can be tipped to 6,500 yards...generally one main tee and a forward tee...greens next to the tee's...course opened in 1910, Dev fine tuned through the 20's with a full renovation in 1929 by Emmet, Emmet and Tull...Tull handled construction in 1929...more to come...RHE 

[Joe Bausch]

Just one hole today, but it is a good one.  Emmet's road hole.

#7.  Par 5 (553 yards; the No 1 stroke hole).

Elevated tee shot to a fairway that steadily climbs for awhile at the landing zone:



2nd shot is blind, the line being the nice tree in the background by that house:



Approach shot view to a long, narrowing green:



From just short of the green w/ the very fun all-the-way back pin:



From far left of the green:



From over the green:



What a neat hole!

More tomorrow.

[Ronald Montesano]

I commented on the back bunker on #10 at Lookout Point the other day, about the possible reasons for its existence. I'm going to write now that Huntington has the most interesting collection of green-rear hazards I've ever seen. I think that I'd worry about going long on this course in earnest.

[Robert Emmons]

Rear bunkers can be found on 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11 and 12. With greens working away they are very difficult...course set up, greens at 10.5 every day, primary rough at 2.5 inches, 1st cut at 1 inch, fairways 7/16th, approaches and collars at .25 inches...RHE

[Dave Falkner]

Emmet must have loved the tough back bunker  at St Georges there are tough ones on 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 18

the one on 17 is quite dauting wspecially considering what lies in front of the green

[Joe Bausch]

Let's finish the front nine this morning.

#8.  Slight dogleg right par 4 (332 yards).

Tee view, where the beginning is slightly elevated.



Approach view:



From just short of these bunkers that aren't up at the front of the green:



From the back edge of the green:



#9.  Slightly uphill par 3 (212 yards).

Tee view, with lots of bunkers and humps along the right side and right of the green:





From just over the green:



More of the mounding to the right of the green:



The equally good, more varied terrain back nine starts tomorrow.

[Mark McKeever]

Thanks for starting the tour Joe.  The front nine being 3 loops of 3 holes is very unique and the road hole is really good. 

I think I would rather be in that back bunker than the front edge of the green!     Although there are a few holes where long is just flat out scary...

Mark 

[Robert Emmons]

Number 9 was built in 1962 by RTJ Sr. Very much in the mold of Dev's other holes at HCC. A new parking area made the move needed...RHE

[Mark McKeever]

Agreed Rob.  Hole 9 fits in really well.  A solid long par 3.

Mark

[mark chalfant]

Joe,

Thank you for this fantastic tour. So many singular holes and memorable green complexes. Huntington is heaven any time of the year, its fun to see some fescue.  Rob Emmons and Glen C. have done such a great job restoring and protecting the integrity of this  exemplary  Emmet golf course..

Mark

[Joe Bausch]

Thanks Mark.

I'll start up the back nine hopefully soon.  Lately I've been unavoidably detained.

Sincerely,

C. Spackler

[Joe Bausch]

#10.  Slight dogleg right par 4 (444 yards) with a downhill approach.  A real nice hole.

Tee view:



You must hit a pretty good drive to get a good look at the green:



The green sits down pretty far below the drive landing area:



Neat little bunker here:



From just over the green:



#11.  Par 4 (333 yards).

Tee view, where staying left is preferred to not deal with the right tree on the approach:



From the right side/rough one must negotiate this tree:



From short and right of the green, where this little ribbon bunker wraps most of the way around the green:



From just over the green:



#12.  Par 3 (192 yards).

Tee view:



Big depression here short of the green:



From just over the green:



More tomorrow (maybe!).

[Mark McKeever]

10 has got to be one of my favorite holes out there. The photos don't do the elevation change and land movements justice.  I really like that they started to mow the fairway flush into the cross bunker.  My tee shot ended up just short of it, but I imagine longer hitters really need to think about it as it would make for a very difficult second shot.

Mark

[Robert Emmons]

12 is a 142 yard par 3, built in the '29 renovation. Originally had a bridge across the valley, till it fell...RHE

[Joe Bausch]

12 is a 142 yard par 3, built in the '29 renovation. Originally had a bridge across the valley, till it fell...RHE

Oh man, a neat thin bridge like ones at Lancaster, Rolling Green, or Phoenixville would look pretty nifty!

[Joe Bausch]

Pretty nifty part of the property for the next three.

#13.  Par 4 (419 yards).

Elevated tee shot:



The second shot is uphill:



From about 75 yards out, when a bit of rain fell for a few minutes:



Fun two-tiered green:



A view back down the hole, where you can see the next par 3 green to the right:



#14.  Par 3 (186 yards).

Tee view (aside:  Did Dev do any redans, as the land right here looks suitable...):



Love the looks of the bunkers and surrounds here to the left of the green (with the fairway of the next par 5 in the background):



From right of this more subtle two-tiered green:



From over the green:



#15.  'Down-then-up' par 5 (474 yards).

Elevated tee view:



Uphill, blind 2nd shot:



Approach shot view:



From just over the green:



I'll finish the tour tomorrow.

[Mark McKeever]

15 was a really neat green.  It gets narrower and less forgiving as you pin it further back.

Mark

[Joe Bausch]

Let's finish up HCC this morning.

#16.  Par 4 (404 yards).

I called this "Emmet's Alps".

Tee view, where you can see the left side of the green:



From near the beginning of the fw, where the flag is partially visible (where that drive is located you cannot see the green):



From the top of the Alps:



From the back of a very large green (with a neat bump at the back):



#17.  Par 4 (426 yards; No 2 stroke hole).

Tee view (thanks to the supe for this pic!)



From short of the green:



From left of the green:



#18.  Slight dogleg right par 4 (413 yards).

Tee view:



Approach view:



From the neat bunkers short and right of the green:



From just short of the green:



I hope you enjoyed the tour.  

A big thanks goes to Rob for graciously hosting us and showing that HCC is a fantastic golf club.