Luckily my ability to converse is better than my ability to hit out of a wet bunker! As Jon said, it was a good afternoon of golf and talk. He's a fine fellow and I hope to golf with him again sometime.
The course itself is a curiosity, particularly the routing. It's been worked over several times (Tom Bendelow-1905, Nugent/Killian-1969, David Esler-2001) which accounts for that. In a nutshell (good, bad or otherwise): Crazy long walks between 2/3 and 12/13, back-to-back par 3s on the front, you make the clubhouse turn after 8, you get teleported to a completely-different-feel golf course for the 13th and 14th holes, no cart paths to speak of.
Pics of some of the more interesting holes, all original Bendelow's:
470 yd, par-5 2nd hole: Plays downhill most of the way, particularly the final third, where the green is protected by a prominent bunker on the right and (now) trees on the left.
A fall away green, not something you see alot of in the US, makes the approach tricky.
400 yd, par-4 5th hole: Slight dogleg right into a deep, narrow green set at a subtle angle. Approach requires a carry over an angling creek about 35 yards short of the green.
350 yd, par-4 16th hole: Jon and I chatted a bit at the tee about the options presented here. The same creek from the 5th hole has meandered it's way across the property and snakes through the 16th fairway. Laying up right to an open green approach seems reasonable, but its very narrow down that side. Carrying the creek up the left doesn't require a big hit but it will leave you with a heavily guarded approach. A bomb up the left might find the bunkers, which would be a challenging up-and-down. Fun stuff.
