Hi all! It was exciting to see some of you talking about Rutland! It is an outstanding golf course and one of Stiles best efforts in the region. Tom gave it a 6 in his newest Summer edition of the Confidential Guide, but I would push to argue for another look and see that it is a solid 7. Since I am working and advocating for the Club, I will argue away!
If you are within 100 miles of Rutland, to start, there isn't much comparable golf at Rutland's level...even Hooper a nine hole course designed by Stiles received a 7. With Rutland you have 18 varied and unique holes with rugged character throughout. Golfers cross the beautiful east creek multiple times during the round and can experience a thrilling tee shot on the 7th hole with a diagonal carry over the creek. The fact the course is on the shorter side, is made up for some sharp changes in elevation on a few approach shots and the constant undulation of the fairways, some more severe than others. With a great set of greens, a good mix of short holes and a few long ones like the par 5, 13th, Rutland more than holds its own to any golf course in the region. In addition rutland is a walkable golf course and one I could see myself playing everyday.
We have a wonderful 1927 plan of Stiles original design, with tons of detail, including wide fairways and much less trees between holes. My plan with the club is focused on restoring the fairway bunker strategies and building them to the proper scale. We will also be expanding greens and looking at some which simply do not function at todays green speeds.
The 5th hole, Par 3 , 223yards, for example has a fortress of a green built atop a steep plateau which averages a slope of 5-6% from front to back across the entire green! This is an iconic hole at Rutland and one which everyone loves to play because of the challenge. In my conversations with members and club leaders I have advocated to slow this green down so it would be more enjoyable for the majority of golfers and also allow the pin to be moved around. I believe a green pitched at 4% with small pockets of 2.5 - 3% slopes makes this hole so much more enjoyable and consistent with the rest of the golf course and still honors the design intent.
Holes 17 and 18 also suffer from monotonously steep putting surfaces which I also believe should be altered in the same sympathetic fashion. 1: to relieve to the green staff who are not able to moves pins during certain times of the year and 2 : for golfers who have been dying to see some different approaches to these fun green sites.
The greens at Rutland are not big but we want them to play as big as possible by recapturing the edges and getting some short grass up the banks on holes 3,8,11,12,13,14.
Lastly, we just completed a tree removal and fairway bunker restoration on the 18th hole. Before the work, there were 4 large spruces practically growing in the fairway! We have received overwhelming support for this work and it has
greatly improved the hole and brought drama back to the finishing tee shot. Instead of punching out, golfers are invited to challenge the right side in the expanded fairway, with a better angle but slightly longer approach. Stiles had a bunker drawn about 300 yards but I imagine that would have been for the second shot. There is a maintenance road which crosses there now, so we shifted the bunker back to a range which was relevant to the tee shot of todays golfer. No matter if you think Rutland is a 6 or 7 or 8 it is a must play in New England and we hope to continue to make the case with new irrigation plans and a restored Wayne Stiles golf course in the coming seasons. I look forward to hearing more people make the trip!!Follow this link to see a few photos of the work, my plan for 18, and some aerials from 1962: [size=78%]
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tH31W8LJQzc6WALT8[/size]