Canoe Brook CC - Local Knowledge

[Jim_Kennedy]

A young friend of mine (Josh Bate, asst. Pro at New Haven CC) is going to caddie for his friend (Billy Street, new Head Pro at Whitney Farms CC) at the USGA Sectional Qualifier held on the N&S courses at Canoe Brook CC.


Josh asked me if I knew anything about CBCC and I said that I didn't, but I was pretty sure I knew some guys who did. 

They'll be playing 18 on each course, so if any of you have any local knowledge that you'd like to share about the courses please do so here as  Josh will be looking in for the next week.

Thanks

[Tommy Williamsen]

I only played one of the courses years ago and don't remember which one. I remember that it didn't seem very difficult, that there was room off the tee to be a little wide, and that the greens were relatively benign. It is one of the courses where you can say, "Everything is just out in front of you."
I don't think you need a lot of local knowledge.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

I was fortunate to play in a few of those qualifiers,  plus a Met Open years ago.  The North is a stern Charles Alison with some very tricky greens.  I definitely beat the field keeping the ball short on 12,16, and 17 due to serious green severity.  They can get the greens very firm with a 12 stip=automatic 3 putt from above on the above mentioned greens.  Not sure why, but on the par 5 8th, a lot of balls go OB left when going for green in 2.  I  find that green pretty tough for an up and down, so I  always layed up, you probably need to be close enough to hit a towering hybrid or less.  The South greens are mostly Rees, and the original ones are not too tricky.   South is the course that should be eaten up, and the North requires patience. 

[Anthony Gholz]

Robert:


You indicate Alison for the north course.  I've had a hard time confirming which course Alison designed in 1922 and with the surrounding road construction history have had difficulty confirming that anything of Alison remains.  Anything you might be able to lead me to regarding Alison's involvement would be appreciated.


Thanks. Anthony

[Jim_Kennedy]

Thanks for the replies.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

Maybe there might be an architecture attribution issue, but the greens on the North play very much like Fresh Meadow and Century.  That being said, Rees, put his stamp on the 3rd a d 5th greens. 

[Sven Nilsen]

Anthony:


I think instead of asking "which course Alison designed" the better question is to ask if there is any evidence of Alison's involvement at all at Canoe Brook.


The North course was a Travis 1916 remodel, and the South course was a Isaac Mackie design with the greens being remodeled by Maj. R. A. Jones.


Where the Alison connection comes from I have no idea, as there is nothing I've seen in the historical record supporting their involvement other than the C&W entry.  Any Willie Park participation has been discussed elsewhere.


Sven

[Phil Lipper]

Both the North and South courses have undergone major renovations in the past 15 years. The North actually went thru two major renovations in all cases Reese Jones was the architect for the renovation. During the first renovation on the North they moved around the routing in order to finish on 3 strong holes. The last renovation on the North involved moving the 10th green and making the slope less severe among other things.
As far as key local knowledge, one thing to make sure you pay attention to is the sand. Reese had them put the same sand they use at Montclair and its different and takes some getting used to. The thing mistake most player seems to do during qualify on both courses is to play South too aggressively, its not a long or hard course for the better player but you see people get into trouble there. When they had British open qualifying Ricky Barnes shot a 66 or 67 on North and blew up on South by trying to over power it. If he had left the driver in the car he probably would have made the cut.

[Anthony Gholz]

Thanks Sven.  I agree re who did what and thought maybe the highway work did the most "renovation."   I'd hoped (still do hope) there might be someone with "local knowledge" regarding the course pedigree.  I will keep my eyes open. Anthony

[Ronald Montesano]

How to turn a "Local Knowledge Request" thread into an "Origins" one -- post it on GCA.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Well, it's back to work for Billy Street, but thanks for the tips.

[Keith Phillips]

I was there watching this morning - a lot of great players for only 6 spots - I followed Jim Herman for a few holes and it was nice to see him qualify...genuinely nice guy.  Lee Janzen, Johnson Wagner among those a few strokes out.  I was impressed with how Canoe Brook handled the deluge of rain the day before the qualifier.

[Philip Caccamise]

A friend of mine got through for the last qualifying spot by making a 40 foot bomb on the last after driving it into the wrong fairway. What a way to get in! First time someone I actually know that is playing in the Open.