Taconic Golf Club - Williamstown MA

[John Foley]

Had the pleasure to go around Taconic in Williamstown MA this past week. Even though I lived in the area for a while back in the 80’s I never had the chance to go up and play. It’s was private (though now access for the public is available, but limited - it’s not cheap or very affordable @ $145). It was just one of those places I always said I’ll get there someday and never took the time.

A few high level thoughts, the work of Hanse & Co to recapture some greens, clear out some tree’s (they did a lot and could do more, but understand that doing an Oakmont would be difficult) restore some bunkers and add a few more is nothing but the expected world class work. Comparing the pics in Ran’s review & the old yardage guide I have to what is there on the ground now is astounding. The visit’s that are now open are fantastic.

The greens are old, canted, lay of the land (for the most part) types where being above the hole is a disaster. The speeds we’re reasonable, they sure could have been faster, but they would have been very very tough to play then.

The routing is intimate (hat first tee may be one of the closest to the clubhouse I’ve seen) and very walk-able. The green to tee transitions are easy (even if confusing at times for a newbie) and the distances (6800 back 6400 from where we played) give you the tough holes, the long holes and the birdie opportunities along with enough strategic options.

The only downside is on the routing. There are an awful lot of very straight holes out on the back (10,11, 15, 16 & 18) which run in a similar direction NE-SW or SW-NE. The other issue I have is that the front is approx 500 yards shorter than the back. The property is small and not much unused space (there is no range) so I’m not sure how that could have been remedied. Have others who have played there noticed?

I would highly reccomend a visit if you are in the NE and can get there later this summer.

Now pics of the holes.

Hole #1 –Par 5 - 490 yards – nice opener to ease you into the round. Slightly downhill all the way.
Short of the green


Hole #2 – Par 4 - 406 yards – dogleg left, new bunker on the inside. Tough uphill approach to a large, well bunkered very interesting green.

Tee shot


Approach from landing area


View back to the tee.


Hole #3 – Par 4 – 421 yards – slight bend to the left – new bunker to the right to guard the 4th green site.  Lots of tree clearing down the left hand side. Need to play short of the swale in the fw or face a tougher approach..

View from the tee.


Hole #4 – Par 4 -358 yards – a bunch of options off the tee. Iron to stay in the fw, 3wood would be optimum– Driver to leave a pitch in. Green slopes severely back to front. Fairway bunker on right is new.

View from the tee.


From the landing area.


Green close up.


Back up the hole.


Hole #5 – Par 3 – 178 yards from the tips. Well bunkered & sloping green which lays nicely onto the start of the hillside.

View from the tee.


View of the 5th green & 4th green in the distance


Hole #6 – Par 4 - 372 yards – very much uphill so can play longer. Very very sloping green built into the hillside.

From the fairway landing area.


From back of the green – very tough.


Hole #7 – Par 4 – 402 yards – dogleg right w/ enough tree’s left to cause some troubles w/ a missed drive.

Need to stay short of the new fairway bunker nicely placed right in the landing zone.


Form behind the green w/ the 13th in the distance.


Hole 8 – Par 4 – 394 yards – another dogleg right – mounds on the left & new fairway bunker inside the dogleg define the tee shot –

View of the green with the 8th fairway and Williams campus in the distance.




View off the tee
View from the landing area with the smokestack & Mt. Greylock in the distance. Pretty cool vista.


Tougher bunker between the 8th & 11th


Hole 9 – Par 3 – 178 yards – very downhill. Very cool hole to end the front – Looks easy, but miss the green and you will pay the price.

From the tee


From behind the green


Hole #10 – Par 5 – 506 yards – downhill off the tee then slightly uphill with a jog to the left. New bunker in the landing zone.

View off the tee.


From the approach short of the new bunker


View down the fairway from behind the hole


Hole #11 – 478 par 4 slightly uphill all the way. Tee shot is open , but you wont get much roll due to the uphill and a stopping swale. Very tough, large, well bunkered green.

View down the hole


Green w/ shared bunker


Hole #12 – 377 yards – Par 4 – very narrow , for most of the round the tee balls are not that difficult to execute, but here it hits you in the face. Uphill tree’s left, side hill and OB left. Miss your drive and the big number comes. Trust me I know.

From the tee


From the back tee which is lower down the hillside (I think this is new) – What a pucker factor this shot is.


Hole #13 –  403 yards – par 4. Down hill then back up to the coolest green on the course. Best line is down the left but it brings in the OB.

From the tee


From behind the green. Three tiers and tough.


Hole #14 – 163 yard – Par 3. Downhill to a well positioned smaller green.



Hole #15 – 441 yards – Par 4. Downhill tee shot – putting in some drainage so no other pics than from the tee.



Hole #16 – 460 yards – Par 4. Uphill second shot to a smaller well bunkered green.

Sorry – No picture.

Hole #17 – 246 yards – Par 3. Very difficult green – you can bounce it in - somewhat redanish. New back tee is tough.



Hole #18 – 545 yards – Par 5. very reachable with a good drive.

Sorry – No picture.


Here is a copy of the plan of the renovation from Hanse & Co.

[Jay Flemma]

Just lookin at that [expletive deleted] makes me ache.  [expletive deleted] kicked my [expletive deleted] in a 1988 NESCAC tournament.  I came in dead last.

Glad I didn't go to Williams!   

[Jim_Kennedy]

John,
I had a hard time recognizing holes, 4, 5 6 and 7. That seems to me to be the place where most of the trees were removed. I noticed some new bunkers, but I haven't been up there in a few years so my memories of the place aren't up to date.

Can't say I remember the convex bunkering between holes 8 and 11, looks somewhat out of place to me.

A few of the greens can be so fast that putting right off, and finding yourself 80 yards away(like #10), is a distinct possibility.

Nice photos.   

[rjsimper]

Dead last in a NESCAC tournament? Really? Doesn't it take something north of about 120 to finish DFL in the NESCAC?

Biggest noticeable changes to me are the trees removed from behind 5 and 6, the bunker on 2, and is it just me or are the slopes more severe on the 13th green now?

And yes, the 12th tee is new and that was a pucker shot even before that new tee was added. In four years of playing at least 2 and sometimes as many as 4 tourneys a year there, I never once missed 12 to the left, but spent many shots in the trees right because it's so damn scary.

The mounds through the fairway on 8 look goofy.

The bunker on 2 seems to make that hole a good bit tougher. I made a fair number of birdies and/or easy pars from the rough right where that bunker appears to be - right was ALWAYS a better miss than left on that hole.

[Jay Flemma]

Dead last in a NESCAC tournament? Really? Doesn't it take something north of about 120 to finish DFL in the NESCAC?

Biggest noticeable changes to me are the trees removed from behind 5 and 6, the bunker on 2, and is it just me or are the slopes more severe on the 13th green now?

And yes, the 12th tee is new and that was a pucker shot even before that new tee was added. In four years of playing at least 2 and sometimes as many as 4 tourneys a year there, I never once missed 12 to the left, but spent many shots in the trees right because it's so damn scary.

The mounds through the fairway on 8 look goofy.

The bunker on 2 seems to make that hole a good bit tougher. I made a fair number of birdies and/or easy pars from the rough right where that bunker appears to be - right was ALWAYS a better miss than left on that hole.

93-91.  Ugly.  DFL.  I like that acronym.

Middlebury-Trinity...two great tastes that taste great together.

[Richard Hetzel]

I too would like to play there someday, and looking at the terain makes me REALLY MISS living in New England. WOW, $145.......

[John Foley]

Jim

The bunker between 8 & 11 was in the original Stiles & Van Kleek plan.

Not sure if it was lost / filled in over time, but I really like the feature now.

Ryan,

The mounds are a little out of place only for the fact that other than the right of 12th green, I don't recall seeing any others.

The fairway bunker on 2 along w/ the fairway bunker on 7 and the layup one on 10 are all recent additions.

For a while Gil's individual hole notes from the restoration we're posted on the Taconic web site, but they appear to be removed or just not accesible. Bummer as I would love to go through them now and compare the changes.

[Jim_Kennedy]

John,
I think you may have misread my post. I said I didn't remember the convex bunkering between holes 8 & 11. I didn't mean the bunker between the greens.
The answer you gave to Ryan, that they are a little out of place, works for me.

[Ronald Montesano]

I'd be interested to know what the members think of the work.  Not all reworkings are welcomed, especially if they are pushed through by a small but powerful group of power brokers.  I played Taconic last August, a week before the reno began.  What I remember most is the speed resulting from tilt of the greens, especially numbers 3, 6, and 13.

The two par threes on the front are devilishly difficult to hit.  When (not if) you miss them, miss short, as lateral misses ensure bogey.

John, did they build the cross bunker into the hill on number two fairway?  They indicated to me that they planned to do so.

[ChipOat]

I played Taconic twice in the summer of 1973.  To this day, I still consider it the best "short" course (i.e. 6000 yards) I've ever seen.

[Ronald Montesano]

What tees were you playing?  It goes beyond 6800 these days.

Here is the link to Hanse's notes:  http://taconicgolf.com/course-information/golf-course-master-plan/

[John Foley]

Ron - Yes the fw bunker on 2 was built into the hilside. It is somewhat staired where it rises to the bunker then flattens out after. Not sure if that area was shaped that way or it just fits.

When I drove south into Pittsfield I saw the bork at Waubeeka - dooing some bunker reshapping - didn't look like any work was going on at the greens currently.

We played Gold marks @ 6400+. There is a Black set which is 6800+.

[Brad Tufts]

Ditto Simper's history....I was another Midd Golf Teamer for all the tourneys he played in.  The last time I played out there was in the 05 Mass Am...

My biggest reaction is that it doesn't look that different.  The bunker on #2 is a plus, that tee shot never had to be that precise before.  The bunker in the crook on 8 is a good addition too, as balls used to bounce under the trees out into the fairway, so that will create more layups and longer approaches.  Also, the new tee on #12 will be very tough.  Not much to look at from down there.  With the new bunker on the right on that hole, I think there will be more layups there too.  I remember many guys trying to hit driver as far up the hill as they could, but now with that bunker, it will be a fairway wood or iron, and a longer approach.

They have successfully added "effective" length with some bunkers, and some pure length in places like #17, where they didn't need it!

[Ronald Montesano]

The new tee on 12 gives it a different look, but it can still be sited on the upper deck.  For a three-round event, placing it down there once ought to be enough.  From what a former player (and Williams '08 grad and varsity captain) tells me, the 16th and 17th are now beyond formidable.  Yowzaa!  18 has a new back tee that brings the puddle on the left into play.  It's now a three-shot par five from back there.  What was a difficult finish now can rank much higher and more "difficulter."

[Doug Wright]

I too played a NESCAC tourney at Taconic for the Hamilton Continentals in the early '70s. All I remember is being -1 after 1...    and the 2d round being washed out (why did we play only spring golf back then?).  Actually I don't have a lot of recollection of the course vs. the photos other than the small sloping greens.  A beautiful course in a beautiful part of the world.

[Chris_Blakely]

Thanks for the pictures - I played Taconic about 6 or 7 years ago.  Absolutely loved the course.  Is Hanse done with his work?  The tee shot on the 12th hole is intimidating, new the hole immiediately wihtout reading your description!!!

Chris

[John Foley]

Chris,

From what I could tell they only work still going on was a few holes are finishing up some drainage work(15-16), tee boxes on 14 we're not yet open and some of the peripherial fescue work was still on-going. Other than that everything else looks complete.

JF

[Chris_Blakely]

John,

Wow that seems quick or I lost track.  Seeems to me that I posted the thread and link a year of so ago about the restoration / renovation by Hanse what he proposed to the members (maybee my memory is off).  After Taconic, I went out of my way to seek out other Stiles and Van Kleek golf courses and have not been disappointed.  If you are interested in another great Stiles and Van Kleek course, check out Rutland CC in Vermont.

Thanks,
Chris

[Rob Rigg]

The purple ephs are lucky - great tour!

[Ray Richard]

Thanks for the pictures. I didn't know Gil Hanse built subtle bunkers. Nice look without over-fescued bunker faces.

[Ronald Montesano]

Suspicion:  Hanse builds what the members ask him to build.

Suggestion:  Taconic just became my second favorite course in northern Massachusetts.  I had the privilege to play Orchards in South Hadley (owned by Mount Holyoke College, administered by Palmer Group) and now understand why it deserved to host the 2004 USGA Women's Open.  Whereas Taconic has two week holes (6 and 18) in my estimation, Orchards has none.  Maybe favorite is a poor choice of words.  If Middlebury's course were like either of these two, I would have worn it out during the summers I spent at the Spanish school there.  The Ralph is a decent track, but nothing like Taconic nor Orchards. 

[Dan_Callahan]

I agree Ronald. I played the Orchards about a year before the Women's Open and it was in the worst shape of any course I had ever played. I told friends that the place was going to embarrass itself when it hosted a major. I was lucky enough to play it again about a week before the Open, and it was incredible. Somehow, they managed to get grass to grow on that first fairway down by the creek where previously it was all dirt. For a short course, it is incredibly challenging, and I love the use of the creek on the opener to force you to start thinking right out of the gate.

In my mind, 1, 3, 6, 7, 13 and 18 are as good as any holes I've seen.

[Brad Tufts]

A Ralph shout-out!

I don't think there is much beard-pulling stuff at the Ralph (or Quag-Myhre, as it has become to be known), but it was a decent course to have on campus.  In the past few years, they have bought a greens-roller, and taken out a few of the stupid trees on the periphery, which has made the place more fair.  Midd has some Steve Durkee-generated plans to build a new golf course, while keeping only a couple holes as currently constituted.  Who knows if they ever will build it, as they are still filling out the campus with dorms and new dining halls...

To stay on-topic, Taconic is sublime, and probably an 8/10, where the Ralph is a 3 or 4/10.

As for the Orchards...I was a regional member last year, and enjoyed my several rounds out there.  My favorite holes are 1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, and 18.  I thought 11, 12 and 16 were weak-ish. 

I don't think Taconic has any weak holes...1 or 4 would be "weakest," but I don't really see them as weak.

[rjsimper]

Wow, imagine the shock I had that the Quag-Myhre got some love on this site. I, for one, wouldn't extend it such courtesy, but it was a great convenience to have it on campus.

I am surprised you'd identify 6 and 18 as weak holes at Taconic...I really don't think there was/is a weak hole there. There are weak shots (the 2nd on 18 comes to mind so maybe this is where your opinion is rooted) but that's a heck of a tee shot.

Having played Taconic and the Orchards both, I'd probably set Taconic ahead of Orchards, but both are indeed great places and would love to spend a September/October at each of them.

[Ronald Montesano]

Brad and Ryan, I'll do my best to elaborate.

I think that the approach to 18 at Taconic is not challenging.  It's a wedge if you laid up.  The second shot is not very difficult, although it can be blind from down in the dale.  The tee shot (from all but the new, wayback tee) is also not all that difficult.  The green, as I recall, does not move very much.  All in all, a benign (a la Bandon Dunes) finishing par five.

Six is a fairly easy drive and a fairly easy approach.  The problem occurs when you get above the flag.  You simply cannot hold the green in that case.  Three also has a tilted green, but not nearly as severe as six.  Six is a case where a mundane hole is protected by a nearly-preposterous green.  I don't feel that four is weak, as one suggested.  The drive is not for the faint-hearted, the approach must be struck with courage, and the rest plays out.  I had forgotten number one, but discovered that the recent work has certainly brought it at least up to the difficult of its neighbor, number 18.

On to Orchards.  11 is a worthy short dogleg.  If you position your drive up the more dangerous left side, you have a wedge in that allows for a run a birdie.  The green has a variety of pinnable spaces, yet has an appropriate amount of movement.  12 is unique in that it runs against the grain of most of the other holes.  It is one of those fairways that run along the ridge, rather than up or down it.  The drive is forgiving, owing to the fact that it's a 460-yard haul from the tips!  There are two fairway bunkers in the drive zone to keep you honest.  I came in with a five iron and left it short left.  I hit a chip shot ten feet left of the hole that ran down inside two feet.  Subtle undulations on a green that readily accepts long iron or hybrid.

In closing, the holes that I like most at the Ralph are two and three, fourteen and fifteen, and ... that's it.  The rest can be plowed under.  Here's to the Durkee plans seeing the light of day, without Patty Sheehan's input.