NY Road Trip

After spending lots of time in airports on my recent adventures on the west coast and Nebraska, I decided a driving trip to play some of the great courses in the greater New York area was appropriate.  I stopped along the way in Virginia and North Carolina and added a couple Ross courses to my total.  I continue to be amazed by the depth of quality courses in the greater New York area.  

Round Hill Club.  My favorite course from the trip

My drive to New York began with a stop in the Richmond, Virginia area.  I was here to check out Lake Chesdin Golf Club which was designed by Ault, Clark & Associates in the late 90's.  The reason I settled on this particular course was that it was the last course on the list of the top courses in Virginia on the top100golfcourses.com website that I hadn't played yet.  While I sometimes detest the pursuit of a list, I do like the sense of completion that finishing a list gives me, so this was a necessary stop for me.  My last stop of the trip had similar motivations, but more on that later.

Lake Chesdin Golf Club, Par four 5th hole

I spent the night at my parents house in Virginia and got up very early the next morning to head to the Pocono Mountains.  If you follow my blog with any regularity, you know that I am in pursuit of playing every golf course designed by Donald Ross.  I use the Ross Society list as my guide.  I have been a little lax in my Ross additions the last few years so I was very excited to add two Ross courses in the Poconos.  First up was the East Course at Pocono Manor, which was worked on by both Ross and another golden age luminary, William Flynn.  The East is now the only course at Pocono Manor as the West course is now the site of a major indoor waterpark resort, 😭

Pocono Manor Golf Club, the 2nd green (foreground) and 18th hole (background)

To say that Pocono Manor is unusual is an understatement.  The first par three on the course is blind and requires you to aim at a flag on a hill.  You better hope your shot is accurate as any shot short of the green will hit the hill and bound over the green into the thicket, as will anything that lands on the back of the green.

A look back at the blind 150 yard par three 3rd hole at Pocono Manor

The most well known hole at Pocono Manor is the drop shot 7th hole.  At a mere 77 yards you wouldn't expect the tee shot to be blind, but you would be wrong.

the view from the tee of the 7th hole at Pocono Manor

A better view of the very short 7th hole at Pocono Manor

A very short drive to Buck Hill Falls brought me to my next Donald Ross design, Buck Hill Golf Club.  This course has 18 holes from Ross and 9 from Robert White.  I played the Ross nines, and as always was amazed by his strength of routing a course over very hilly terrain.

Buck Hill Golf Club, Par three 9th hole

I headed to the New York area after my round at Buck Hill.  Westchester County was where I would be staying for the rest of the trip and was also the location of the last course on day two, Century Country Club, designed by Harry Colt and Charles Alison.  Ben Hogan was once the head pro here, and the course has the misfortune of being in such a golf rich area that it doesn't get the attention that it deserves.

Century Country Club, Par four 13th hole

Day three began with a beautiful drive into the woods of northern Connecticut.  I undertook the drive to pay homage to Seth Raynor.  Hotchkiss School golf course is an important place in the history of golf architecture.  Not only does it possess a nine hole Seth Raynor designed golf course, it is also the place where Raynor met Charles Banks.  

Hotchkiss School Golf Course, Par three 5th hole

Banks was a teacher at Hotchkiss when Raynor was on-site designing the course, and would ultimately become Raynor's apprentice.  He was responsible for building many of Raynor's designs after his sudden death in 1926.  Banks kept the Raynor/Macdonald template style going after the two innovators were gone.  If you are a fan of their design style, a visit to Hotchkiss is a must.

Hotchkiss School Golf Course, Par three 8th hole

On the drive back to Westchester, I decided to check out a little nine hole course in Pawling, New York called Dutcher.  The course is very short and doesn't have fairway irrigation.  In the current drought that most of the Northeast is going through, it made for some very interesting tee shots!

Dutcher Golf  Course, Par three 3rd hole

Greenwich, Connecticut was the final stop on day three.  Round Hill Club, designed by Walter Travis, was my destination, and would prove to be my favorite course on the trip.  Travis designed some of the wildest greens in golf, and Round Hill with it's dramatic land movement was a great example of his work.

Round Hill Club, Par four 9th hole

The third day of the trip began in Scarsdale, New York at the recently renovated Sunningdale Country Club.  Seth Raynor originally laid out the course, with work being doing later by Walter Travis and A.W. Tillinghast.  Mike DeVries has been doing work here for a few years now, and the end result is a wonderful mix of short and long holes with the front nine having the strongest holes on the course.

Sunningdale Country Club, Par five 7th hole with the stone remains that serve as the club's logo in the background.

I headed east to Connecticut for the rest of the day.  I found myself with a little less than two hours to kill before my next round, so I found a local club in Norwalk, Silvermine Country Club, which had a nine hole executive course, called the Pro Shop 9.  The course features a very fun mix of par threes and reachable par fours.

Silvermine Country Club, Pro Shop 9, Par three 7th hole

I made a short drive to Darien for my next round at Wee Burn Country Club.  Wee Burn was designed by Devereux Emmet in 1925.  I wish I was able to play that version of the course.  A few years ago, the club hired Tom Fazio to carry out significant revisions including doubling the amount of bunkers on the course.  What is on the ground today feels more like a Fazio course than a Golden Age Emmet classic.

Wee Burn Country Club, Par three 4th hole

On the fifth day of my trip I headed to Northern New Jersey.  My day started at the approriately named North Jersey Country Club.  Designed by Walter Travis on a wonderfully rolling piece of property, the club has benefited from recent restoration work by Brian Schneider on the front nine.  

North Jersey Country Club, Par three 6th hole.  Brian Schneider restored the green.  His work really brings out the brilliance of Walter Travis

Work will continue on the back nine later this year.  Like Century, the course is overshadowed by more famous neighbors, and would be in the top 10 of many states, just not New Jersey.

North Jersey Country Club, Par three 13th hole

I was excited to see the next course on day five, Hackensack Golf Club, designed by Charles Banks.  The most notable template holes at Hackensack are the par threes.  

Hackensack Golf Club, Par three 3rd Hole, Biarritz

Banks' version of these templates tend to be a bit bigger and bolder than either Raynor or MacDonald, as evidenced by the enormous kicker mound on the Redan 12th hole below.

I drove back to Virginia after my round at Hackensack.  I arose early the next morning and headed to Durham, North Carolina.  I was meeting a friend at the George Cobb designed Umstead Pines Golf & Swim Club.  Playing this course completed the top 100 courses in North Carolina list on the top100golfcourses.com website.  I have played 322 courses in the state of NC, so finishing the top 100 in the state felt like a necessity.

Umstead Pines, Par four 15th hole

 FLAGS

SCORECARDS