The Town & Country Club, Saint Paul, MN, USA (1888)

[PCCraig]

The Town & Country Club, Saint Paul, MN, USA
Background

At the time of The Town & Country Club’s inception, Saint Paul, MN was one of the fastest growing cities in America with its population increasing over 70% from 1880 to 1886. (1) As a way to disapprove of a New York newspaper reporter who had described Saint Paul as “another Siberia, unfit for human habitation in the winter” local businessmen and politicians organized a Winter Carnival to showcase the City. 


Attractions at the early Saint Paul Winter Carnivals included an ice castle and “blanket tosses”
Town & Country Club was formed in 1888 as a year-round derivative of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, originally housed in a clubhouse on Como Lake, just four miles northwest of downtown Saint Paul and six miles due east from downtown Minneapolis. Originally a social club used primarily for its dining, the club’s early membership included prominent railroad businessman (2) James J. Hill and Lucius P. Ordway, who would go on to co-build the company that is now known as 3M (3).

In 1890, in order to attract more members with a more centralized location, the club decided to purchase a plot of land almost directly between the two downtowns on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The land previously used as a cattle farm was situated on a bluff overlooking the river and primarily featured rolling land and a large ravine. The membership commissioned a new clubhouse which was designed by Cass Gilbert (4). The club has been situated at this location ever since.


The original Town & Country Club clubhouse
In 1893 a transplanted Scotsman named George McCree simultaneously created both the first golf course as well as played the first round of golf in Minnesota. He created a rudimentary design by hitting a golf shot or two and placing the flagstick where his ball ended up. The nine-hole course was located on pastureland where the present golf course sits today. 


A view of the Mississippi River near the original site of The Town & Country Club Clubhouse
As golf’s popularity at Town & Country grew, so did the demand for a more formal golf course with mounding, bunkering, and greens. The nine-hole course was updated in 1897 and in 1907 the golf course became the first eighteen-hole course in Minnesota. While the course’s 18-hole design was long accredited to George McCree and Robert Foulis, recent research by local historian Rick Shefchik has shown that the primary designer was club member Ben Schurmeier. Schurmeier was one of the State’s best golfers at the turn of the 20th century and was the second President of the Minnesota Golf Association. While the current golf course has undergone some minor changes, primarily in 1926, the routing of the course is essentially unchanged and exists as it did in 1907.


An early aerial view of the back nine at Town & Country Club
Town & Country has a long history of hosting championship amateur golf. The course was host to the 1951 USGA Women’s Amateur, the 1937 Women’s Western Amateur, eight Minnesota State Amateurs, and four Senior Minnesota State Amateur tournaments among many other events. The club was also selected to host the 1940 Walker Cup, in between hosts St. Andrews and Pine Valley, but the matches were canceled in the months leading up to the event due to World War II.

As the first golf club in Minnesota, Town & Country had a tremendous effect on the early growth of the game in the state. Founding and early members of the T&C would later leave to start their own clubs, such as Clive Jaffray did when he helped found The Minikahda Club six miles due west in Minneapolis or when Charles Gordon left to hire Seth Raynor to build the nearby Somerset CC.

Town & Country continues to thrive as a family golf club on the same property that early club members selected in 1893. What was then located in the “Country” is now located in the middle of the Twin Cities metropolitan area in a largely residential area of Saint Paul. The golf course, largely unchanged since 1927, remains as a throwback to a different era of golf course architecture.



Golf Course Tour to follow.



(1)   http://www.winter-carnival.com/about_us/history/
(2)   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/streamliners-hill/
(3)   http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3427200011.html
(4)   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Gilbert 

[Jason Topp]

With footnotes! 

The Minnesota contingent held a West v. East match play event yesterday evening and were able to enjoy the course and all of the changes that have been made over the last few years.

 

[Dan Kelly]

Pat --

I hope your photographs will be 3-D. Mr. Mucci thanks you in advance!

Have you (or Rick) ever seen this article -- alluded to in the March (I think) 1943 issue of Minnesota History magazine?

The "History of Town & Country Club" in St. Paul is sketched briefly
by Gil Foster, its greenkeeper, in the GreenXeepers' [sic?] Reporter, a golfer's
magazine published at St. Charles, Illinois, for September-October. He
relates that "golf was played at Town and Country Club as early as
1893," placing the St. Paul club among the earliest in the United States.

Here's my favorite picture from yesterday: Shane Wright playing up the hill (WAY up the hill) to the No. 5 green. That hill must be one of the steepest hills anywhere on which golf is played.



And here's my favorite hole on the course (at least until the demise of the arborvitae behind the par-3 No. 3): No. 11, a nearly 200-yard (from the back tee) par-3 -- high point to high point, to a green that slopes sharply from back down to front, with OB to the left and a steep, sharp dropoff (to what is apparently known as the "Valley of 5") on the right.

Never an easy par. Often not an easy bogey.

Pat will surely have closer-range pictures, but here's what it looks like from the back tee.

[Shane Wright]

One of the pleasant surprises from T&C yesterday was how firm it was playing.  As a course known for its quality conditioning (typically very green), it was very fun to play it with some brown.  Not only were drives rolling out further, but the greens demanded very precise irons.  Any shot played from the rough almost required the ball to land short to hold the green.  That was fun.

[PCCraig]

The Entrance to the Golf Course
First hole, 324 yards, “Birches”;

The first hole at Town & Country is a short par-4 of 324 yards which plays much more difficult than the yardage would indicate. The fairway cants dramatically from the right to left, toward a stream that runs the entire left side of the hole.


Players that decide to play conservatively away from the water are faced with a lie with the ball well over the players feet and a shot that must carry a bunker. The green slopes severely back left to front left, therefore it is very difficult to hold the right side of the green when approaching from the right.


However, if the player decides to take a more aggressive line by using the fairway slope to roll their ball to the left side of the fairway, the player is awarded with a relatively flat lie and a more receptive angle toward the green.


Some very long drivers of the ball may elect to hit a more aggressive tee ball which if struck well will result in view such as this for their approach.


The view from behind the hole further  illustrates the dramatic tilt of the fairway.


Walking off the first green, the player walks up the face of the ancient ravine toward the second tee.



Second hole, 110 yards;


After climbing up the stairs, the player is greeted by the short par-3 second hole. The hole plays no longer than 110 yards, although the hole is uphill and plays about a half club longer than the yardage would indicate. Typically, the putting surface is blind to the player and given the uphill shot many balls will roll toward the back of the green if not struck well. The front of the green slopes hard toward the tee, while the green flattens a bit toward the back. Large bunkers guard the putting surface from the tee, while shots hit hard right will careen down a long slope toward the first fairway and the push up nature of the green makes anything long or left a difficult up and down.

The view  from the tee:

Looking back at the tee box

From behind the second green, the player begins to feel the intimacy of Town & Country’s routing where the third green, forth tee, eighth green, and ninth tee are all visible.

[Rick Shefchik]

Pat --

I hope your photographs will be 3-D. Mr. Mucci thanks you in advance!

Have you (or Rick) ever seen this article -- alluded to in the March (I think) 1943 issue of Minnesota History magazine?

The "History of Town & Country Club" in St. Paul is sketched briefly
by Gil Foster, its greenkeeper, in the GreenXeepers' [sic?] Reporter, a golfer's
magazine published at St. Charles, Illinois, for September-October. He
relates that "golf was played at Town and Country Club as early as
1893," placing the St. Paul club among the earliest in the United States.

Dan -- I've never seen that piece, nor have I heard of Greenkeeper's Reporter. I'll try to dig it up.

[Tyler Kearns]

Pat,

Looking forward to the tour, it's been nearly 20 years since I played T & CC in our annual Manitoba vs. Minnesota Junior Team Matches.  My foggy memory is becoming clearer with each photo posted, although Rick's photo of No. 11 is much more intimidating than I recall. 

TK

[Jason Topp]

I do not have as much experience with the course as Pat but probably have played it 20 times.  I will weigh in when my perceptions vary from Pat's description.  I do so not so much out of disagreement but to show the difference in perception that can arise from limited and infrequent play over a course compared to the intimate knowledge Pat and other members have.

1 is a great opening hole.  As Pat's pictures show, the slope of the green (from back right to front left) creates plenty of interest although I perceive the interest as related to the question of how aggressive one wants to be with the 2nd.  The player knows he wants to be below the hole but it is a short shot and the temptation to hit it close is always present.  The slope of the green is significant enough that even the uphill putt is a challenge.  You need to hit it hard but also know that going long raises the possibility of a four putt. 

I have never perceived the disadvantage of bailing out right off the tee to be significant because the hole is so short.  I have thought of the decision off the tee to relate more to distance than line.  The fairway squeezes together at driver length. 

The creek left of the fairway is artificial.  Generally, I am not in favor of such contrivances but it does make for a very appealing hazard that looks and plays much better than the muddy bog that would probably be there otherwise.  If one wants to see an example of a nice fake creek this is a good one to study.


Pat - did they take down trees around 2 green?  It seems much more exposed to wind now than I remember it being in the past.

[PCCraig]

I do not have as much experience with the course as Pat but probably have played it 20 times.  I will weigh in when my perceptions vary from Pat's description.  I do so not so much out of disagreement but to show the difference in perception that can arise from limited and infrequent play over a course compared to the intimate knowledge Pat and other members have.

1 is a great opening hole.  As Pat's pictures show, the slope of the green (from back right to front left) creates plenty of interest although I perceive the interest as related to the question of how aggressive one wants to be with the 2nd.  The player knows he wants to be below the hole but it is a short shot and the temptation to hit it close is always present.  The slope of the green is significant enough that even the uphill putt is a challenge.  You need to hit it hard but also know that going long raises the possibility of a four putt. 

I have never perceived the disadvantage of bailing out right off the tee to be significant because the hole is so short.  I have thought of the decision off the tee to relate more to distance than line.  The fairway squeezes together at driver length. 

The creek left of the fairway is artificial.  Generally, I am not in favor of such contrivances but it does make for a very appealing hazard that looks and plays much better than the muddy bog that would probably be there otherwise.  If one wants to see an example of a nice fake creek this is a good one to study.


Pat - did they take down trees around 2 green?  It seems much more exposed to wind now than I remember it being in the past.

Jason,

Thanks for sharing your perspective, which is welcome given that you have played the course a number of times over the last ten years or so. I hope you continue to contribute as this thread goes on.

I would agree with your take on #1. Given that the hole is not overly long, and that the tee shot is relevantly "tight" for an opening hole, I usually hit a 2-iron from the tee to get something in play. If the hole was later in the round, and I had already had a chance to hit a few drivers, I would probably hit a driver off the tee to leave myself a short pitch. A 2-iron usually leaves me with a 50* wedge shot for an approach. I typically like to have something more than a 56* wedge in my hand because for me it is easy to spin a sand wedge off the green toward the left green side rough.

From my experience, the right side of the fairway and/or right rough creates a more difficult approach shot primarily due to the likelihood of having a lie where the ball is above the players feet and a chance that the trees on the right might require a lower trajectory recovery shot. The "hook lie" on the right side of the fairway getting close to a middle-right pin (as shown in the pictures above) a more difficult task than the left side of the fairway, closer to the hazard.

As for the 2nd hole, there have been a number of trees removed around, and primarily behind, the green. Their removals have resulted in better turf on the putting surface as well as create a more intimidating target, in my opinion, even for a short par three.

[PCCraig]

Pat,

Looking forward to the tour, it's been nearly 20 years since I played T & CC in our annual Manitoba vs. Minnesota Junior Team Matches.  My foggy memory is becoming clearer with each photo posted, although Rick's photo of No. 11 is much more intimidating than I recall. 

TK

Thanks Tyler, looking forward to hearing your thoughts as to how the course has changed over the last twenty years.

[Jason Topp]

As for the 2nd hole, there have been a number of trees removed around, and primarily behind, the green. Their removals have resulted in better turf on the putting surface as well as create a more intimidating target, in my opinion, even for a short par three.

I agree with the intimidation factor of removing trees.  Number 5 at the U of M had the same effect when it lost a bunch of trees due to dutch elm disease.  I know there is additional exposure to the wind but setting that aside the holes look substantially more difficult.

[PCCraig]

Third hole, 163 yards;

The routing at T&C takes its first unusual turn as the player is presented with back-to-back par three holes. The third hole requires a mid-iron approach to a greensite that is slightly downhill from the tee.

The view from short right gives a better view of the greensite.

A close up view of a greenside bunker looking over the green, toward the fourth tee and down the eighth fairway.

Fourth hole, 490 yards, “Springs”;

The fourth hole is a short par five of 490 yards. The tee shot plays dramatically downhill to a fairway that slopes hard from right to left. Most players can decide how badly they want a birdie by deciding which club to hit off of the tee. A long iron or hybrid club will land in the widest portion of the fairway approximately 230 yards off of the tee, while a driver will have to find the narrowest portion of the fairway approximately 260 yards off of the tee. Regardless of club choice off of the tee, players must play the slope of the fairway as a draw that lands on the left side of the fairway has a chance of catching the creek that runs down the left side of the fairway.

Once down in the fourth fairway, the wild movement in Town & Country’s property becomes evident when the player looks left and up toward the site of the 5th green.

A well struck drive will leave a blind, uphill, 230-240 yard approach to the green that must carry a small hill.

Players electing to conservatively lay up on their second shot will encounter an approach from a plateau that sits about 75 yards from the green.

While most lower handicap golfers treat the reachable fourth a quality birdie opportunity, aggressive second shots must try to avoid the deep left greenside bunker.

[Jason Topp]

On 3 -  I recommend a Christmas Tree sale!


Also - it is interesting that the green size has shrunk dramatically as the pad extents at least 10-15 feet behind the current back edge.  I am not sure the extra green would make for a better hole but it would look better.  


I believe 4 has improved as much as any hole from the time I first played it.  It used to be a tunnel of trees.  It has been significantly opened up on the left side so that a shot left risks water and an awkward layup but not a lost ball.  There is also a lot more air in the valley.  I can remember feeling like I was in a sauna down there, even on a day with some wind.

One aspect Pat does not mention is that the hillside on the right features - no mow grass, a potential lost ball and a chip out.  Thus - an aggressive play off the tee needs to risk that junk or else bounce left into another chip out.

I really like the 2nd shot on this hole - even though it is completely blind.  To get to the green you need to take on a bunch of stuff that you can avoid with some more discretion.

This hole tempts from tee to green.  One can play three conservative shots and have a reasonable shot at birdie (or an almost certain par unless you putt like a schitzophrenic gnat as I have lately).  Doing so feels like a visit to your great grandmother - you know you should do it but you do not look forward to it.

One downside of the tight property is that the bail out 2nd to the right corresponds with the bail out tee shot on the 7th.  Because the 2nd on this hole is blind, it is a pretty dangerous situation.  I do not think you could get away with it on a public course but with some reasonable discretion, I imagine members handle it just fine.

Annother potential downside is that very long hitters are constrained by a hill at about the 270 mark.  I am not sure of the carry to get to the top of the hill.  I only think of that on the 2nd shot.  Pat - has there been any thought of making that hill fairway to tempt such players to squeeze the ball up top?  

[Sven Nilsen]

Pat:

The following appeared in the May 1913 edition of The American Golfer.  Any idea if the changes discussed incorporating the new land were ever implemented?

[PCCraig]

Pat:

The following appeared in the May 1913 edition of The American Golfer.  Any idea if the changes discussed incorporating the new land were ever implemented?

Sven,

Yes. The new land was used to tweak the current 10th and 11th holes. The following passage is from Rick Shefchik's From Fields to Fairways:

Town & Country acquired additional property along Otis Avenue and Pelham Boulevard to the north and west of the course in 1913, and moved the tenth and eleventh fairways. The tenth hole was originally a 120-yard par 3 named Brook, but was changed to a 372-yard par 4. Eleven, originally an uphill dogleg left with its green just below the current seventeenth tee, became a 165-yard par-3.

[PCCraig]

Pat - has there been any thought of making that hill fairway to tempt such players to squeeze the ball up top?  

I'm not sure, Jason. The distance required to reach the top fairway would have to be in excess of 310 yards of carry. And given the amount of slope, I would think that if converted to fairway the slope would just bring most balls backward 30-40 yards toward the tee?

[Dan Kelly]

I'm with Jason. That wall of green behind No. 3 has Got to Go! It serves absolutely no purpose, does it?

How much cooler would that hole look without the background! It would remind me even more of this beauty (which itself could stand to lose  more background trees, perhaps): No 11 at Minikahda.



What I particularly like about No. 4 at T&C is that, unlike on some other holes there, the Long Hitter takes as big a risk from a mis-hit as a Shorter Hitter takes. Long left can be wet; long right can be lost in the weeds. Both shorter and longer hitters, playing conservatively, can make par or birdie; both, screwing up, can make 7 pretty easily.

[PCCraig]

Fifth hole, 353 yards; “Billows”

The fifth and sixth holes at Town & Country play on and over some of the most severe land forms on the property. While only 353 yards, the fifth hole is demanding in that it requires two quality golf shots to ensure a par. The tee shot plays through a chute of trees to a narrow fairway below.  A successful tee shot only needs to find the top of the hill approximately 175 yards away from the green as balls will roll and find their way down to the bottom of the fairway.

The view from the top of the hill in the fairway shows the slope that most tee balls roll down and to the right toward the final resting place of most well struck shots. Club legend has it that Walter Hagen had laid up to this spot in past exhibitions as he claimed that he preferred to have a longer approach with the target visible versus being at the bottom of the hill for his approach with none of the putting surface visible. The picture below also illustrates the trouble that a player can find themselves if they spray their tee shot left or right.

The removal of a number of trees behind the fifth green in recent years has restored the skyline green feature at the fifth. After a well struck tee ball, a player is faced with this unnerving wedge shot to a target that consists of nothing more than a flagstick. Approach shots hit heavy have a habit of rolling back to the player’s feet, while shots hit over the green lead to a near automatic bogey.

This photo from just short right of the putting surface does not do the slope in the green justice. The green slopes severely back to front, with what amounts to a false front for the first 20% of the putting surface.

The below picture shows the limited room a player has over the putting surface.

While the following photo illustrates the punishment for hitting an approach shot just ten yards off the back of the green. Given the sever back-to-front nature of the green a bogey or even double bogey quickly becomes a good score on the fifth.

Sixth hole, 468 yards, “Boomerang”;

After a number of moderately short holes to start the round, the player is presented with what is perhaps the most difficult hole on the course. At nearly 470 yards, most players hit a driver downhill toward the fairway.  

After finding the fairway, the player will encounter this view from roughly 200 yards out for his second shot. For scale, see the approximately 2.5 to 3ft tall, white, 150-yard marker in the left center of the picture. The approach, while severe, is heroic and very exciting. The hill is tall enough that a high, well struck long iron or metalwood is required to carry the hazard.  

Looking back from the top of the hill toward the tee.

At the top of the hill, the player is relieved to find that the approach is actually downhill toward the green.

The sixth green has a significant amount of internal movement which is dominated by a significant slope on the left portion of the green where the pin is located. The photo below also illustrates how now the 7th tee, 6th green, 13th tee, and 12th green are connected by fairway cut.

Looking back on the sixth hole from behind the green.

[Rick Shefchik]

The 6th at T&C might be the most difficult par 4 in the Twin Cities. I hit my best drive there Sunday and was faced with an almost 200-yard shot that had to get straight up at impact to clear the hill. After failing to pull it off, I realized that I just don't have that shot. Laying back off the tee might help a bit, but I'm not sure I could get a three-wood high enough to clear the fairway ridge. Next time I play it, I'm just going to go with a 6- or 7-iron from the lower fairway and try to position the shot to leave myself a short wedge to the green. The green is extremely firm, too -- my gap wedge on Sunday landed short of the hole and released some 35 feet to the back fringe. It's just a tough, tough hole -- but a very good one.

[Jason Topp]

When I think of Town and Country I think of the 5th and 6th.  Many people will complain about both holes but they are unique, dictated by the land on which they rest and present a series of interesting shots. 

The 5th green is so steep that it presents an almost impossible dilemma - you want to make sure and get it on the green but if you go long of the flag you may not keep your putt on the green.  I accidentally wound up on the Hagen spot off the tee this weekend after a poorly hit but straight drive.  I can see some merit in his purported choice to play from there.

The 6th defies any conventional notions of par.  It seems to play shorter than the listed yardage but still should probably should be played as a 3 shot hole by most.  Getting the 2nd in the air is a challenge although it is easier from the far left side of the fairway as I learned this weekend. 

Background trees used to give one a sense of the location of the 6th green.  Now you do not know where it is.  I would not something back there to give some frame of reference.   

I like the short grass around the green.  It seems to have a big effect on the character of the green.  I never noticed how the rear of the green slopes to the back before the short grass. 

[Dan Kelly]

The 6th at T&C might be the most difficult par 4 in the Twin Cities. I hit my best drive there Sunday and was faced with an almost 200-yard shot that had to get straight up at impact to clear the hill. After failing to pull it off, I realized that I just don't have that shot. Laying back off the tee might help a bit, but I'm not sure I could get a three-wood high enough to clear the fairway ridge. Next time I play it, I'm just going to go with a 6- or 7-iron from the lower fairway and try to position the shot to leave myself a short wedge to the green. The green is extremely firm, too -- my gap wedge on Sunday landed short of the hole and released some 35 feet to the back fringe. It's just a tough, tough hole -- but a very good one.

I've played T&C seven or eight times, I suppose, and every time but one, I've hit a good drive and then a hard-hit hybrid or FW wood that has skipped off the hill and stopped well short of the green.

After I did it Sunday, I turned to Pat and said: "I just can't make that shot." I believe he took it as a criticism of the hole. Far from it. As you well know, I am quite capable of self-criticism. I hastened to add that I was finding fault with myself, not with the hole.

As for the hole: It's a damned hard par, and the epitome of quirk. You are probably right that the smart way for us to play it is as a three-shotter, hoping for a 30-yard pitch and a one-putt -- but I can't help myself. I'll get one over that damned hill if it kills me. And it might.

As for No. 5: Jason nails what it's all about.

[Ed Oden]

Pat, thanks for doing this thread!  I look forward seeing it unfold.  I really enjoyed my one play at T&CC.  Full of quirk and fun with a some really tough holes like the 6th and 11th thrown in here and there.  For some reason, I've always been drawn to courses on severe sites and T&CC certainly fits that bill.  I agree that some further tree work would benefit the course, particularly behind the 3rd green.  I would also love to see the short grass presentation of the 6/12 green and 7/13 tee area carried out in other spots around the course.  But those nits don't detract from the overall experience in my opinion.  At the end of the day, T&CC is just a really fun place to play golf.

Ed

PS - What was the name of the burger joint we went to?  Well worth the decade it took off my life expectancy!

[John_Conley]

I enjoy the pictures.  Thanks for posting.  The only club in the Twins that I have not played or seen as a caddie.  I've always been mildly curious about it, but until now the reviews summarized the course as peculiarly interesting, but not spectacular. 

I need to see it if I'm ever back in the summer.

[Dan Kelly]

I need to see it if I'm ever back in the summer.

In the winter, it's something to see, too.

The 9th fairway (open to the public) is certainly one of the best sledding hills in the Twin Cities.

[PCCraig]

PS - What was the name of the burger joint we went to?  Well worth the decade it took off my life expectancy!

That would be the nearby, and epic, Blue Door Pub. If that burger took a decade off your life expectancy then I only have hours to live! 

http://www.thebluedoorpubmn.com/