Saturday
Trip to Vermont and New Hampshire
Back a couple weeks ago, I finally worked out a time that Tony Pioppi and I could play. The capstone course of the day trip was Hooper, ranked the seventh best nine hole course in North America in Tony's book The Finest Nines, available here. From there, I found three other nine hole courses in close proximity to Hooper. One of them was discarded because of time constraints. On the day, we played Bellows Falls, Hooper, and Pine Grove Springs.
Bellows Falls was fantastic. Tony is vigorously researching as I write this to find out who designed the course. Whoever did the design knew what he or she was doing. The first two holes are incredible holes. I'm trying to remember if I've ever played two opening holes as good as these; I can say with certainty that the opening two at Bellows Falls are better than the opening two at Bethpage Black. The course could handle a bit of work, not even something a course architect would be needed for, just an expansion of mowing lines, a little tree thinning, and a good aeration/topdressing of the greens. That said, the course is stellar. Common statements during the round were "whoever designed this knew how to build golf holes" and "how has no one ever told me about this place?" It's not often that a true gem can be found by chance, but it certainly happened here. Full review forthcoming.
Hooper was the capstone course in the trip and did not disappoint. All the holes are good holes and the round works up and down, with easier shots followed by difficult shots. The opening par 5 is a fantastic hole. Well placed shots can give an excellent opportunity for birdie to start off the round. The holes have great variety, very long par 4s and short 54s, a good spread in yardage on the par 3s, and solid variety on the two 5s. This course was just purchased by a new owner, hopefully he can do some good work with the course. This is certainly a nine hole course worth a significant trip to see. Full review forthcoming.
Pine Grove Springs...Hole 1 and hole 9 are good holes with really good greens. The turf on the greens here was the best of the three courses we played. I don't want to write a mean-spirited review, so I'll just leave this one here.
Hooper was the best of the trip, but, in my opinion, not by a wide margin. Bellows Falls was very good. I asked Tony on the 8th tee if Bellows would be an honorable mention for his best 25 if it goes for a second addition or even in the top 25. I have not played all the courses, but I will say that I certainly think Bellows Falls is better than one of the courses on the list that I have played. Fantastic courses and a great trip. Oh, and the BBQ joint in Brattleboro, VT, Top of the Hill Grill, has decent pulled pork, good ribs, good brisket, and stellar scenery. Eat there. Great trip...Bellows Falls, Hooper, and Top of the Hill, I'd do that again.
Bellows Falls was fantastic. Tony is vigorously researching as I write this to find out who designed the course. Whoever did the design knew what he or she was doing. The first two holes are incredible holes. I'm trying to remember if I've ever played two opening holes as good as these; I can say with certainty that the opening two at Bellows Falls are better than the opening two at Bethpage Black. The course could handle a bit of work, not even something a course architect would be needed for, just an expansion of mowing lines, a little tree thinning, and a good aeration/topdressing of the greens. That said, the course is stellar. Common statements during the round were "whoever designed this knew how to build golf holes" and "how has no one ever told me about this place?" It's not often that a true gem can be found by chance, but it certainly happened here. Full review forthcoming.
Hooper was the capstone course in the trip and did not disappoint. All the holes are good holes and the round works up and down, with easier shots followed by difficult shots. The opening par 5 is a fantastic hole. Well placed shots can give an excellent opportunity for birdie to start off the round. The holes have great variety, very long par 4s and short 54s, a good spread in yardage on the par 3s, and solid variety on the two 5s. This course was just purchased by a new owner, hopefully he can do some good work with the course. This is certainly a nine hole course worth a significant trip to see. Full review forthcoming.
Pine Grove Springs...Hole 1 and hole 9 are good holes with really good greens. The turf on the greens here was the best of the three courses we played. I don't want to write a mean-spirited review, so I'll just leave this one here.
Hooper was the best of the trip, but, in my opinion, not by a wide margin. Bellows Falls was very good. I asked Tony on the 8th tee if Bellows would be an honorable mention for his best 25 if it goes for a second addition or even in the top 25. I have not played all the courses, but I will say that I certainly think Bellows Falls is better than one of the courses on the list that I have played. Fantastic courses and a great trip. Oh, and the BBQ joint in Brattleboro, VT, Top of the Hill Grill, has decent pulled pork, good ribs, good brisket, and stellar scenery. Eat there. Great trip...Bellows Falls, Hooper, and Top of the Hill, I'd do that again.
Monday
Bethpage (Yellow) - Farmingdale, NY
Easily
the 3rd Best at Bethpage, which is a pretty good compliment give the
quality of the Red and Black courses. It's not far behind the Red in
terms of quality and far, far superior to the Blue or Green courses.
The first hole is very wide off the tee and has a centerline bunker
about 200 yards from the tee. I'd almost call this a Bottle hole, but
the preferred angle to the green is from the wider side of the
fairway rather than the narrow, more difficult side. The 5th hole is
also very interesting in that the fairway slopes sharply from right
to left at about 200 yards from the tee and then the green is
elevated about 20 feet above the fairway. The 11th hole is a very
cool short par 3, topping out at just over 300 yards, the fairway
pinches in significantly at around the 200 yard point (note the
abundance of hazards at 200 yards from the tee...the course was built
in the early 20th century and has remained fairly original) and leads
to a very good green. The highlight of the course, however, is the
set of par 5s. It's not often that a course can be said to be
highlighted by par 5s, but certainly that is the case here. Holes 7
and 17 both dogleg to the left, but they are far from the same hole.
7 plays downhill off the tee and level to the green. 17 plays through
a valley, but the landing area for the fairway is at the same level
as the tee. Both holes are fantastic and both right at the reachable
in 2 range. The 10th hole is the other par 5 and is a real 3 shot
hole. Both the tee shot and second shot must be played with precision
to have a good 3rd shot. The hole is a double dogleg, playing right
off the tee and then left back to the green. The green is on the same
level as the fairway, but 50 yards short of the green leading up to
the front edge, there exists a significant valley that can make the
third shot very difficult. This is certainly not a hole where the
second shot is just "another" shot to be blasted at.
Overall, I'd actually say that this set of par 5s is the best set on
all the courses at Bethpage (consider on the Red course, the 5th hole
is incredible, but the 16th hole is, quite frankly, just bad. Then,
on the Black course, the 4th hole is world class, and could be
better, but 7 is very average and 14 is just a mundane slog). I love
the Black course, but this course is really, really good.
Variety
of Design: Par 5s have good variety in yardage, one is reachable
in 2 with a decent drive, one is on the edge even with a good drive,
the other is outside the range to be reached in two. Par 4s have
relatively good variety, ranging from 429 to 313 in yardage from the
back tees. The par 3s have less variety in yardage, only spanning 166
to 188 yards. For variety in direction, 4 holes dogleg right, 4 holes
dogleg left, and 7 holes are straight. (That adds to more than 14
because the 10th hole is a double dogleg) Solid. 6 out of 10
Flow
of the Course: Course flows well. Difficult holes are generally
followed by holes where the player can have a bit of a break. No
abrupt changes in the course. 6 out of 10
Course
Conditioning: Solid. A few small patches here and there with bare
spots. Overall, OK. 5 out of 10
Walkability:
Easily walked. Has some small hills but nothing that would make
for anything really difficult. 8 out of 10
Atmosphere:
None. In fact, almost a negative number. Bethpage is very unique, but
on busy days, the Yellow and Blue courses can be like zoos. 1 out
of 10
Total
Score: 55 out of 100. Easily the third best course at Bethpage
and probably a better value for the money than the Red course for out
of state visitors.
Thursday
Course #250
A few weeks ago I was able to play my 250th different course. I was fortunate to play at St. Catherine's Golf Club in Canada, which was also my first course outside the US. In keeping with the post that I made after #200, Let's look at some stats and interesting tidbits.
From Course 100 to Course 200 took less than 3 years, from 200 to 250 took 4 years and 9 months. So I'm playing new courses at a slower pace, several reasons for that.
Played 2 new courses in one day: 11
Played 3 new courses in one day: 2
Played 4 new courses in one day: 1 (no change, this is a difficult feat)
Colors: Silver, Emerald, Gold, Scarlet, //Red, Black, Blue, Green, White
Water features: Creek, Bay, Harbor, Brook, Lake, River, Bayou, Loch, //Spring
Land features: Park, Banks, Shoreline, Point, Hills, Landing, Farms, Ridge, Hollow, Meadow, Plantation, Farm, Mountain, Valley, Canyon, Trails, Dunes, Beach, Isle, Shores, Dunes, Pit, Forest, //Trail, Shore, Dale, Cove, Orchard
Plants and natural objects: Pine, Cypress, Rock, Palms, Stone, Sage, Azalea, Peach, Dogwood, Oak, //Magnolia, Marshwood, Cedar
Animals: Rockfish, Hummingbird, Eagle, Quail, Fox, Bear, Raptor, Rooster, Callippe, Horse, Moose, Fish, //Shark
21 States, 2 nations
Courses beginning with every letter in the alphabet other than X, Y, and Z. (No change)
From Course 100 to Course 200 took less than 3 years, from 200 to 250 took 4 years and 9 months. So I'm playing new courses at a slower pace, several reasons for that.
Played 2 new courses in one day: 11
Played 3 new courses in one day: 2
Played 4 new courses in one day: 1 (no change, this is a difficult feat)
Colors: Silver, Emerald, Gold, Scarlet, //Red, Black, Blue, Green, White
Water features: Creek, Bay, Harbor, Brook, Lake, River, Bayou, Loch, //Spring
Land features: Park, Banks, Shoreline, Point, Hills, Landing, Farms, Ridge, Hollow, Meadow, Plantation, Farm, Mountain, Valley, Canyon, Trails, Dunes, Beach, Isle, Shores, Dunes, Pit, Forest, //Trail, Shore, Dale, Cove, Orchard
Plants and natural objects: Pine, Cypress, Rock, Palms, Stone, Sage, Azalea, Peach, Dogwood, Oak, //Magnolia, Marshwood, Cedar
Animals: Rockfish, Hummingbird, Eagle, Quail, Fox, Bear, Raptor, Rooster, Callippe, Horse, Moose, Fish, //Shark
21 States, 2 nations
Courses beginning with every letter in the alphabet other than X, Y, and Z. (No change)
Tuesday
Francis A. Byrne GC - West Orange, NJ
This is a municipal course in Essex County, New Jersey. It is also designed by Charles Banks, making it one of the few golf courses that the average person can play designed by the Macdonald/Raynor/Banks crew. The course is not perfect and is certainly not National Golf Links or Fisher's Island. That said, it is easy to see what once was a tremendous golf course if you take the time to look. I've worked a bit with Anthony Pioppi, Executive Director of the Seth Raynor Society, to try and determine what template holes exist on the course. Years (scores of years, even) of degraded maintenance practices make this difficult. Indeed, the forward part of the Biarritz green was already in disuse as early as 1954 according to some old aerial photographs. So, a tentative listing of template holes:
1. Road (confirmed)
2. Biarritz (confirmed)
3. Punchbowl (partial, tentative)
4. Sahara (tentative, severely degraded)
5. Short (confirmed)
10. Bottle (tentative)
13. Cape (tentative, green only)
14. Eden (Confirmed)
15. Raynor dog-leg (tentative)
18. Home (Confirmed)
There are several other holes that I believe are likely template holes, but I can't yet place them certainly enough in a category to include them. With that, on to the ranking:
Variety of Design: The course has only one par 5 and it's the first hole, the Road. That hurts the course a bit. The par 3s have great variety, ranging from 235 to 140 yards. The par 4s range from 360 to 465 yards, so a fair variety in distance, but limited variety in direction. Of the 15 holes, 10 are straight, 3 work to the right, and 3 work to the left. The green sizes, while shrunken and degraded from their original sizes, all fit the shots required and work well. 7 out of 10
Flow of the Course: The course ebbs and flows through the round quite nicely. The start is difficult with the only par 5 followed by a very difficult par 3, but the course gives the player a break on the 3rd hole. The Short hole appears as the 5th hole and, while severely degraded from its original state, still mandates precision from the player. On the back nine, the holes alternate between difficult and moderate from 10 to 13, before playing the final par 3 and then 2 very difficult holes before coming out for a nice closing set in the 17th and 18th. 7 out of 10
Course Conditioning: Not very good. The fairways were reasonably smooth, but they were still spotty and were very damp. The greens were very soft and bumpy as well. The greens are maintained at slow speeds in an effort to improve pace of play; that should be commended. The course was just fair in condition. 4 out of 10
Walkability: The course can be walked very easily. There were a few significant hills, but one of the players in my group was in his 60s and was able to walk the course fine. There were a few slightly longer walks, but nothing major. 7 out of 10.
Atmosphere: None. It's a standard municipal course, not really the place to go expecting some cool vibe. Just pay the fee and go. And that's fine. 1 out of 10
Total: 58 out of 100. In my opinion, this is the best public golf courses I've played in New Jersey. I've played 3 courses in Gulfweed Magazine's Top 15 best in state (Neshanic Valley, Hominy Hill, and Galloping Hill). This course tops all of them by a pretty wide margin.
Pictures and a hole-by-hole look at the course will come shortly.
1. Road (confirmed)
2. Biarritz (confirmed)
3. Punchbowl (partial, tentative)
4. Sahara (tentative, severely degraded)
5. Short (confirmed)
10. Bottle (tentative)
13. Cape (tentative, green only)
14. Eden (Confirmed)
15. Raynor dog-leg (tentative)
18. Home (Confirmed)
There are several other holes that I believe are likely template holes, but I can't yet place them certainly enough in a category to include them. With that, on to the ranking:
Variety of Design: The course has only one par 5 and it's the first hole, the Road. That hurts the course a bit. The par 3s have great variety, ranging from 235 to 140 yards. The par 4s range from 360 to 465 yards, so a fair variety in distance, but limited variety in direction. Of the 15 holes, 10 are straight, 3 work to the right, and 3 work to the left. The green sizes, while shrunken and degraded from their original sizes, all fit the shots required and work well. 7 out of 10
Flow of the Course: The course ebbs and flows through the round quite nicely. The start is difficult with the only par 5 followed by a very difficult par 3, but the course gives the player a break on the 3rd hole. The Short hole appears as the 5th hole and, while severely degraded from its original state, still mandates precision from the player. On the back nine, the holes alternate between difficult and moderate from 10 to 13, before playing the final par 3 and then 2 very difficult holes before coming out for a nice closing set in the 17th and 18th. 7 out of 10
Course Conditioning: Not very good. The fairways were reasonably smooth, but they were still spotty and were very damp. The greens were very soft and bumpy as well. The greens are maintained at slow speeds in an effort to improve pace of play; that should be commended. The course was just fair in condition. 4 out of 10
Walkability: The course can be walked very easily. There were a few significant hills, but one of the players in my group was in his 60s and was able to walk the course fine. There were a few slightly longer walks, but nothing major. 7 out of 10.
Atmosphere: None. It's a standard municipal course, not really the place to go expecting some cool vibe. Just pay the fee and go. And that's fine. 1 out of 10
Total: 58 out of 100. In my opinion, this is the best public golf courses I've played in New Jersey. I've played 3 courses in Gulfweed Magazine's Top 15 best in state (Neshanic Valley, Hominy Hill, and Galloping Hill). This course tops all of them by a pretty wide margin.
Pictures and a hole-by-hole look at the course will come shortly.
Sunday
Quality Nine Hole Golf Courses Revisited
Five years ago, I wrote a post about nine hole golf courses. In the time since then, I've played a few more nine hole courses. I've sought out nine hole courses mostly due to a number of online conversations with Anthony Pioppi, writer of the book To the Nines, available here. The book is very good, I highly recommend it. Overall, I've played 10 nine hole courses: Monticello, Fletcher's Landing, Meadowbrook, Annapolis, Lambert's Point, Links at City Park (Portsmouth), Northwood, Fishhook, Sweetens Cove, and Fenwick. Of these, Monticello was renovated and made into an eighteen hole facility, while Meadowbrook and Annapolis were closed (as I write this, I looked up Meadowbrook to find that it's reopened; it was listed as closed earlier this year). Three of these, Northwood, Sweetens Cove, and Fenwick, were profiled in Anthony's book. Of all these, only Sweetens Cove falls into the area of what I'd call a very good golf course. It does have some negatives and I'll talk about those in a profile shortly.
While there are very good and great nine hole courses, there are few of them relative to the total number of golf courses and, in my experience, they generally exist in smaller communities with lower budgets. Of the courses that I've played, only Lambert's Point and Links at City Park are in a large metro area, that being the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. The others exist in much smaller communities.
When I wrote the original post, I referenced the Golf Digest article here. This list is still the only significant ranking of nine holes courses that I can find. As I mentioned before, I've only played two courses that made the list, Northwoods and Annapolis. Sweetens Cove had not yet been built, so was not on the list. For Northwoods, I still do not see the love for the course. In his book, Anthony had high praise for the 1st and 6th holes. I can agree with that. My issue is that the rest of the holes around it, perhaps save the 8th, are very mundane. Also, the trees make the course nearly impossible to play...with exception of 1, 6, and 8 which play outside the trees; no secret why they're the best holes.
Annapolis is closed, that is probably not a bad thing.
Fletcher's Landing was built in 2001 as part of a driving range and batting cage complex. The courses charges $10 to walk 9 holes. For that, it's fantastic. It's an inexpensive place to get out and play golf. It's the finest course in Onslow County, North Carolina that the daily fee golfer can play for $10.
The Links at City Park in Portsmouth, Virginia is a small executive course and serves the purpose well. For municipal golf, it's great. The facility has a range and an inexpensive course.
Fishhook is a very rustic course outside Palmer, Alaska. It is privately owned, making it one of the few privately owned courses in Alaska. It has some fun holes.
Fenwick...Anthony spoke very highly of this one. It's not the finest in terms of design, but for total atmosphere, it's fantastic. The course is a lot of fun to play, has some pretty cool design features, the berm on 6 and the pimple bunker on 8 come to mind, and has tremendous history. If you're in Connecticut, I definitely recommend playing here.
Meadowbrook is a fun course with a lot of history. It was opened in 1958 as a private club for African-American individuals and families in the Raleigh area; it doesn't take extensive research to determine why the African-American community needed its own club in the 50s era South. As I recall, the course was extremely fun to play.
Lambert's Point...given the tight land that was given, it's amazing that a course was built at all, much less a good one. Every hole has views of the water. Often players can see Navy warships coming in and out of port. I'd say this course holds up well against any course in the Hampton Roads area; south of Williamsburg, anyway.
Sweetens Cove. Utterly fantastic. I do think the greens, as a whole, are a bit much. Individually, they are great, as a whole, I thought they got tiring. That said, the course is fantastic. I would say that it could hold its own against the courses at Bandon, it really is that good.
So, a ranking
1. Sweetens Cove, 7. Not even close.
2. Lambert's Point, 4
3. Fenwick, 3
4. Northwood, 3
5-8 Links at City Park, Fletcher's Landing, Meadowbrook, Fishhook, All rated 1
Annapolis closed and Monticello converted.
Of these, I would like to revisit Meadowbrook. When I assigned the ranking numbers, the course was in a major state of flux, being closed, then reopened, and closed again. It might well be higher than a 1, but probably not higher than a 2 baring a significant amount of work being done.
I intend to add to this list of courses as I want to actively seek out new nine hole courses to play. There are several to play in and around New York, so I will see if I can sneak away to get to those.
While there are very good and great nine hole courses, there are few of them relative to the total number of golf courses and, in my experience, they generally exist in smaller communities with lower budgets. Of the courses that I've played, only Lambert's Point and Links at City Park are in a large metro area, that being the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. The others exist in much smaller communities.
When I wrote the original post, I referenced the Golf Digest article here. This list is still the only significant ranking of nine holes courses that I can find. As I mentioned before, I've only played two courses that made the list, Northwoods and Annapolis. Sweetens Cove had not yet been built, so was not on the list. For Northwoods, I still do not see the love for the course. In his book, Anthony had high praise for the 1st and 6th holes. I can agree with that. My issue is that the rest of the holes around it, perhaps save the 8th, are very mundane. Also, the trees make the course nearly impossible to play...with exception of 1, 6, and 8 which play outside the trees; no secret why they're the best holes.
Annapolis is closed, that is probably not a bad thing.
Fletcher's Landing was built in 2001 as part of a driving range and batting cage complex. The courses charges $10 to walk 9 holes. For that, it's fantastic. It's an inexpensive place to get out and play golf. It's the finest course in Onslow County, North Carolina that the daily fee golfer can play for $10.
The Links at City Park in Portsmouth, Virginia is a small executive course and serves the purpose well. For municipal golf, it's great. The facility has a range and an inexpensive course.
Fishhook is a very rustic course outside Palmer, Alaska. It is privately owned, making it one of the few privately owned courses in Alaska. It has some fun holes.
Fenwick...Anthony spoke very highly of this one. It's not the finest in terms of design, but for total atmosphere, it's fantastic. The course is a lot of fun to play, has some pretty cool design features, the berm on 6 and the pimple bunker on 8 come to mind, and has tremendous history. If you're in Connecticut, I definitely recommend playing here.
Meadowbrook is a fun course with a lot of history. It was opened in 1958 as a private club for African-American individuals and families in the Raleigh area; it doesn't take extensive research to determine why the African-American community needed its own club in the 50s era South. As I recall, the course was extremely fun to play.
Lambert's Point...given the tight land that was given, it's amazing that a course was built at all, much less a good one. Every hole has views of the water. Often players can see Navy warships coming in and out of port. I'd say this course holds up well against any course in the Hampton Roads area; south of Williamsburg, anyway.
Sweetens Cove. Utterly fantastic. I do think the greens, as a whole, are a bit much. Individually, they are great, as a whole, I thought they got tiring. That said, the course is fantastic. I would say that it could hold its own against the courses at Bandon, it really is that good.
So, a ranking
1. Sweetens Cove, 7. Not even close.
2. Lambert's Point, 4
3. Fenwick, 3
4. Northwood, 3
5-8 Links at City Park, Fletcher's Landing, Meadowbrook, Fishhook, All rated 1
Annapolis closed and Monticello converted.
Of these, I would like to revisit Meadowbrook. When I assigned the ranking numbers, the course was in a major state of flux, being closed, then reopened, and closed again. It might well be higher than a 1, but probably not higher than a 2 baring a significant amount of work being done.
I intend to add to this list of courses as I want to actively seek out new nine hole courses to play. There are several to play in and around New York, so I will see if I can sneak away to get to those.
Saturday
Two years in Review
So I was watching the Tour Championship on TV today and it occurred to me how little I have written here since I played East Lake for my 200th course over a year and a half ago. Since then I've played 22 new golf courses and three of those are now in my top 10. That's not a bad stretch of golf. I've also moved to New York City which opens up a huge number of golf courses to play. It also opens up Bethpage Black on a regular basis and, for $65 as a resident, I intend to play there at least once a month. I've also competed in two tournaments this year, one at Salem Glen where I finished third and another at Brookville CC on Long Island where I finished far worse than third because I got destroyed by an incredible set of greens. To be honest, Brookville likely had one of the two or three best set of greens that I have ever played.
Another highlight of the past 18 months was playing TPC Sawgrass (PLAYERS Stadium). I played this with a good friend from work. We left Mobile, AL at 4am, drove to Jacksonville, played 18 holes, and drove back to Alabama. Perhaps not something I would recommend to others, but it was a great day.
Hopefully I can post more here going forward. I've simply been lazy and not been writing.
Another highlight of the past 18 months was playing TPC Sawgrass (PLAYERS Stadium). I played this with a good friend from work. We left Mobile, AL at 4am, drove to Jacksonville, played 18 holes, and drove back to Alabama. Perhaps not something I would recommend to others, but it was a great day.
Hopefully I can post more here going forward. I've simply been lazy and not been writing.
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