Your home club--where is it?

[JBStansell]

Greetings, folks.

I've been a lurker here for many, many months.  Having prepared myself by reading George Thomas's Golf Architecture in America and Tom Doak's Anatomy of a Golf Course, I'm now ready to "get in the game."  

My "home course" is Brae Burn, a private 9-hole par-3 track located 2 minutes from my house in Redmond, WA.  Believe it or not, Brae Burn offers the perfect venue for a quick 1-hour round every afternoon for my two boys, ages 8 and 10, and me.  

When I'm not refining my short game on Brae Burn, I tend to tour the "public access" facilities located around the greater Puget Sound area.  In my view, we have a good variety of courses here, including designs by Cupp (Newcastle, Coal Creek and China Creek); Graves (Port Ludlow); Foster (Druids Glen); Fought (Washington National and Trophy Lake);  Harbottle (Gold Mountain, Olympic), Overdorf (Classic Country Club and Hawks Prairie, Woodlands); and Panks (Trilogy).

[Craig Van Egmond]

Welcome Joe,

   I never got to play Brae Burn while I lived in Issaquah, but I got to play its neighbor Tam O'Shanter quite a few times. Have you had a chance to play Trilogy yet? I saw it briefly this summer but was wondering if its worth playing.  How would you rank it compared to the other courses you listed?


Thanks

[GeoffreyC]

Home Course

The Course at Yale- Seth Raynor/Charles Blair MacDonald/Roger Rulewich

[Scott_Burroughs]

Geoffrey,

Shouldn't it be:

Seth Raynor /Charles Blair MacDonald / Roger Rulewich

[JBStansell]

Craig,

I was prepared NOT to like Trilogy (because of its high green fee, if for no other reason), but was pleasantly surprised.  The greens putt true, and are a real joy.  The routing is terrific, with the possible exception of the 13th hole, which may nevertheless turn out to be the course's biggest draw.  You cannot see the green from the 13th tee, and unless you hit a precise drive of about 220 yards or so, the shot into the green will also be blind as the hole drops dramatically down into a canyon.  

I place Trilogy pretty high on my personal list of area courses.  I played Newcastle (China Creek) and Druid's Glen the two days just before Trilogy, and compared to them, Trilogy was the clear stand out. (Druid's Glen was in awful shape at the time.)  My all-time favorite, nonetheless, is Gold Mountain.  That course is a gem (and to all within 100 miles, worth a special trip).  

[Mat Ward]

The Course at Yale? That surely has to be a mea culpa? Isn't it Yale Golf Club?

[Scott_Burroughs]

faux Mat,

Based on the club's web site, it's what Geoffrey said:

http://www.yale.edu/athletic/Facility/Golf/course.htm

[GeoffreyC]

No Matt-  

Its The Course at Yale.  Brad Klein had a word to say about this name in his Golfweek article of September 27th.

http://www.cis.yale.edu/athletic/Facility/Golf/course.htm

[Gene Greco]

Southampton Golf Club
 Seth Raynor 1925

[SteveTL]

Brae Burn is a wonderful little golf course - I lived in Seattle from 1976 until 1991.  There are many unusual "little" golf courses in the Seattle area (Sand Point CC, Wayne GC, Tam O'Shanter, etc...)

To the question:
St. Johns G & CC
St. Augustine, FL
2001 - Clyde Johnston
very ordinary - but excellent firm conditions

[Chris Kane]

Commonwealth Golf Club
South Oakleigh
Melbourne, Australia

Sam Bennett and Charles Lane (1920's)
Sloan Morpeth (1967)
Kevin Hartley (1990)
Tony Cashmore (2003)

[Steve Sayers]

LuLu CC
North Hills, PA

Ross: 1915 9 Holes
Ross: 1919 Expanded to 18

The course is currently undergoing a restoration following the Master Plan developed by Forse Design.  I hope to initiate a thread soon with before and after photos once I relearn how to post em’.

[Robert Thompson]

Like Mr. Ian Andrew, I too am an annual member at Highlands Links, Cape Breton's Stanley Thompson gem. Second time I've been lucky enough to have a pass, though I've only played the course six times.
I guess my real home course, at least where I play more than 10 rounds a year, is Angus Glen's South course, a fine Doug Carrick design that hosted the Canadian Open in 2002.

- Robert

[blasbe1]

The Seawane Club
Hewlett Harbor, NY
Devereux Emmet 1927

Some of you may already know but we are in year 4 of a 5 year, 18 hole, restoration project (13 of 18 already done, 2 more will be done by Spring '04 with the remaining 3 by Spring '05).  Once complete, it will be a modern twist on the links gem that Emmet first designed.  The routing and putting surfaces will not be touched and every bunker is being  redone, although most bunker locations remain true to Emmet's original design some bunker relocation is being done to account for gains in distance.  If you haven't played the course in a few years, the first change you notice is the tree removal.  While not without some discussion, most of the trees that were planted well after Mr. Emmet's day are being removed, especially certain types that don't grow well in the sandy soil and high water table.  The trees that remain serve either design and/or safety functions.  With the wind, you can play three different courses on three consecutive days.

BTW, look out for next month's Met Golfer, I heard the project (and/or restoration projects at large) is the cover story.



 

[Chris_Blakely]

blasbe1

Have you noticed the differences between holes 6, 7, 8, 9, 15 and the rest of the course?  Diagonal carry bunkers jutting into the fairway, bunkers that are NOT amoeba-like, greens with Emmet mounding around them and breaks in the greens that often times occur at greenside mounding, there is also a lack of something the other renovated holes have no built-up containment mounding between holes.  This is not by any means a retoration, Stephen Kay is doing the work and is calling it a renovatoin as is your head golf profesional. The sad part about it is the holes that have not been renovated are absolutely amazing and pure Emmet, false front bunkers, diagonal carry bunkers jutting into the fairway and two very very good par 5's in the 9th and 15th and a very good mid length par 4 in the 7th and a classic Emmet short hole in the 8th.  In the case of the 9th hole, you have a green with a pot bunker short right and a green that used to be completely surronded by sand in the back and slopes back to front which presents some tough recovery possiblities is one were to go for theis short par 5 in two and be long.  The 15th has a quassi Principle's Nose bunker complex that appears original and comes into play from the back tees on one's second shot.  Additionally I counted 12 that is right 12 bunkers from 40 yards in on the left side of the green that wrap all the way around to the back of the green and have been grassed in.  THe green slopes severely from digonally left to right away from the bunker complexes on the left and would have made an up and down recovery very dificult.  According to the head golf professional, these bunkers are to be built over, chippings areas mounding and a couple bunkers added.

I only hope that what has been done to the 10th, 11th and 12th is not done to these remaining holes.

[davism5]

Auburn University Club
Auburn, Al
Bill Bergin

Windyke Country Club
Memphis, Tn

[blasbe1]

Chris:

Your observations are astute but I would argue off the mark.  10-12 are much more interesting to play now and 6-9 and 15 are some of our weaker holes.  In fact, #9 is likely the least interesting tee shot we have.  While I'm not a fan of mounding, given the property we have it provides a seperation between holes that prior memberships tried to create with trees.  Some of the best use of mounding (in my opinion) is that seperating 1 and 18.  

While clearly more than a restoration, the project is intended to "restore" the links nature.  BTW, while Kay draws the plans and consults we have done most of the work in-house and it is very much a collaborative effort.  

Another interesting note, I too wished to see the bunkering on 15 "restored," b/c it appeared to have been grassed over.  I have been told that those were not originally bunkers but were added as grass bunkers overtime.  In any event they are gone and I think you'll find the approach to 15 will be more exciting.  

I too would like to see some cross bunkering in the remaining holes.        

[SteveC]

Brook Hollow Golf Club
Dallas, Texas
A. W. Tillinghast
1920

[Steve Lapper]

Hamilton Farm Golf Club
Roaring Fork Club

Family:
Aspen Glen Club
Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage

[cary lichtenstein]

Admirals Cove: Robert Von Hagge
The Ritz Carlton: Jack Nicklaus Signature

Both in Jupiter, Florida

[brad_miller]

Slapper, when did you move to Aspen? It did say "home" didn't it?

[hp@hc]

Royal Portrush, Co. Antrim, N Ireland

A better "natural" test of golf you will not find.  The bunkers were made by the sheep huddling from the cold Sea breeze, and the course rewards good golf, and punishes the wayward.  There is a reason Darren Clarke is a member (he asked to be a member, he was not invited) and he calls it his favorite course around the world!

Go on the Port!

[Benn Davies]

My home club is the Miami Valley Golf Club located in Dayton, OH.  It is a Donald Ross design (1919) and hosted the 1957 PGA Championship--the last PGA held using the match play format.  It is a wonderful classic course sitting in the middle of the city.  If any readers out there have played Miami Valley I would be interested in your comments.

[Tim_Sylvia]

Country Club of New Bedford
North Dartmouth, Mass.
Park 1902, Original nine
Ross 1924, Remodeled nine, added nine
Par 70, 6416 yds, one par 5, three par 3's
Several renovations in 40's, 50's 70's
Recently completed full restoration(tees, bunkers, tree removal, clubhouse, entirely new staff)

[velardeseniorpga]

  My home course is Black Mesa by Baxter Spann and I get to play it daily.  This is such a great design that the pleasure is now from how the weather makes the course play so very different.