New England Trip

I have been slowly but surely chipping away at the best courses in New England over the last twenty years.  Last year we took a wonderful trip to the Springfield, Massachusetts area.  This year Cape Cod was the main focus of the trip, with a few side trips to Boston and Rhode Island.  Donald Ross courses and a special milestone were the big reasons for this trip, but there were also some wonderful surprises along the way.

Warwick CC in Rhode Island

We drove to New England from our current home in the Baltimore area, so day one was about finding a couple courses to break up the drive.  Our journey took us to the Hudson River Valley.  The first round on the trip was at Hollow Brook Golf Club in Cortlandt Manor, New York.  The course was designed by local NY/NJ architect Eric Bergstol in 2004.  Bergstol is most know for his work at Bayonne Golf Club in New Jersey.  The course is very much a target golf style golf with lots of fairway islands and elevated greens.

Hollow Brook Golf Club, Par three 5th hole

We headed about an hour east to Ridgefield, Connecticut for a round at the very recently renovated Silver Spring Country Club.  The course was renovated nine holes at a time by Brian Schneider, with the front opening this year.   I am a very big fan of Brian's work. Both his original work like Old Barnwell, and his renovation work, like New Haven and Tamarack, so it was a must that I check this place out.  I was not disappointed.  Brian introduced some great bunker schemes and wonderfully undulating greens to this original Robert White Design.

Silver Spring Country Club, Par four 14th hole (foreground), and Par three 15th hole (Background)

Day two of the trip took place mostly just south of Boston.  First up was a very early morning round at Granite Links in Quincy.  Granite was designed by John Sanford on a very wild piece of property that features incredibly severe elevation changes.  I was impressed with how Sanford kept it playable despite the challenges with the elevation.

Granite Links, Milton Nine, Par four 1st hole

I used the impending weather to my advantage for rounds two and three on day two.  A very large rain storm about the size of New England was headed our way and that scared off most people at the Municipal Donald Ross designed Ponkapoag #1.  I was able to get off the back for a quick nine in under an hour and managed to dodge the rain.

Ponkapoag #1, Par four 18th hole

The rain finally moved in, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from playing my final destination on day two, TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts.  TPC Boston began life in 2002 as an Arnold Palmer design, but was radically transformed by Gil Hanse in 2007.  Gil actually shortened the course and introduced drivable par fours and risk/reward par fives.  The results were spectacular, and the course hosted the Deutsche Bank Championship on the PGA Tour for a few years.  I had the place to myself because of the rain, and was very impressed by how well it drained in the constant downpour.

TPC Boston, very wet Par three 11th Hole

Day three of the trip began at a top fifty in the world ranked nine hole course, Milton Hoosic Club in Canton, Massachusetts.  Milton was designed by Willie Park Jr and is absolutely one of the best nine hole courses in the country.

Milton Hoosic, Par five 8th in the foreground, Par four 9th in the background

I headed south to New Bedford, Massachusetts for round two.  Whaling City Golf Course is a Donald Ross design that has changed a lot over the years.  The loss of property to a highway and a recycling center has resulted in many re-routings over the years, and truthfully, there probably isn't much, if any, Ross left.  However, the Ross Society still lists it as a Ross design, so I had to play it.

Whaling City, Par four 4th hole

The last course on day three was another Ross municipal course, Triggs Memorial in Providence, Rhode Island.  Triggs is a muni in that it is owned by the city, but you wouldn't know it based on the conditions.  It is conditioned better than most country clubs, which is incredible given the overwhelming amount of rounds it gets every year.  I teed off at 3 pm, paired with three others, and the tee sheet was full until 6, on a Monday!

Triggs Memorial, Par five 6th Hole

The fourth day of the trip began on the coast of Rhode Island.  Warwick Country Club is a Donald Ross design where you can see the ocean from every hole.  The course works it way up from the clubhouse, and moves gently back and forth across the slopes.  Nine and eighteen finish very dramatically back at the clubhouse.

Warwick Country Club, Par four 18th hole in foreground, Par three 9th hole in background

Before we headed to the Cape for round three, we stopped and enjoyed the nine hole Harbor Lights Golf Course, just north of Warwick.

Harbor Lights, Par five 4th hole

We drove to the western side of Cape Cod for the last round on day four. Pocasset Golf Club, designed by Donald Ross, was one of the biggest surprises of the trip.  With Ross courses, you never really know what you are going to get.  Some are well preserved, both in routing and in green size and shape, others have been altered over time.  

Pocasset Golf Club, Par four 7th hole

Private clubs sometimes tinker with the greens because they don't understand the genius of the man who designed them.  I was happy to discover that Pocasset has just finished a multi-year restoration project with Ross restoration expert Ron Forse and the course looks and feels like a genuine Ross.  This is great to see because the property is spectacular.

Pocasset Golf Club, Par four 5th hole

We returned to the Cape for day five of the trip.  We began the day fairly close to where we ended the previous day.  Sacconnessett Golf Club was designed by Rees Jones and opened in 2007.  The course began life as The Golf Club of Cape Cod.  It is set on dramatic property, and Rees did well moving the course through the hills and valleys to create a thoroughly original design from a man that sometimes builds the same things over and over.

Sacconnesset Golf Club, Par four 17th Hole

We stayed on the cape for our next round on day five.  Wianno Club was originally designed as a nine hole course by Len Biles.  Donald Ross added the other nine four years later and re-modeled the existing nine.  Gil Hanse has been consulting with the club for over ten years and what is there today is a short, under 6000 yards, but delightful, test of golf.

Wianno Golf Club, Par three 3rd Hole

We headed back off the island, but still on the coast for the final round on day five.  The Country Club of New Bedford was designed by Willie Park Jr. with work done by Donald Ross at some point.  This was another big surprise for me.  This course really flies under the radar in a state with so many classic designs.  The course moves effortlessly through different parts of the property and finishes with a very strong collection of holes moving up and down the hills south of the clubhouse.

Country Club of New Bedford, Par four 16th Hole

The sixth day of the trip began with a very important milestone. George Wright Golf Course in Boston was the site of my 3000th golf course played.  You can read all about my experience playing 3000 at George Wright here:  Story of 3000

George Wright Golf Course, Par three 17th hole

After our early morning round at George Wright, we headed to the coast for a round at The Bay Club at Mattapoisett. Brad Booth in conjunction with PGA Tour Pro Brad Faxon designed The Bay Club.  The parkland design weaves through the forest and creates many excellent holes.

Bay Club, Par three 13th Hole

We headed onto Cape Cod one final time on day six for a round at the Donald Ross designed Bass River Golf Club in Yarmouth.  I would not call Bass River the most preserved Ross course, but it has enough Ross to keep your interest, and like a lot of quality munis in the state, it is booked from dawn to dusk!

Bass River Golf Club, Par three 15th hole

On the final day of our trip I returned to a course I hadn't seen in fourteen years.  Yale University Golf Club recently completed a fifteen million dollar renovation by top architect Gil Hanse.  Yale was already in my top fifty favorite golf courses played, so I was very excited to see what improvements this big dollar renovation would make.

Yale Golf Club, Par three 13th hole, Redan

Unfortunately, besides the greens getting significantly bigger, I didn't really notice much difference.  It played very firm and the greens were a good speed, not too fast.  That is very important because with the size of them, you are guaranteed to have some very long putts.

Yale Golf Club, Par three 15th hole, Eden

The ability to lag putt will go a long way to determining how your day is going to go.  Luckily, I had a very good day lag putting, and dramatically improved on my scores from my previous visits to Yale.

Yale Golf Club, Par three 9th Hole, Biarritz

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