Sunday 22 September - Old Sandwich

Old Sandwich.  Sounds like we should be in England right? Sandwich Massachusetts (est. 1637) is the oldest town on Cape Cod and was named for the seaport of Sandwich in Kent, England. Plymouth Massachusetts, the location of the club, is one of the earliest settlements in America having been founded in 1620. The two settlements were relatively close together and as would be expected the 17th century settlers in these towns would have occasion to travel between Plymouth and Sandwich. The trail that they used came to be known as Old Sandwich Road and is now the oldest continuously operated unpaved road in the United States. Old Sandwich Golf Club is located just off this road, and so the name pay homage to this.

The Club opened in 2004, and sits on a sandy piece of land in the area known as the Pinehills.  The famous team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were responsible for routing and building the course.  Similar to their other layouts, like Friar's Head, Coore and Crenshaw created a course with great width, to create strategic options on a firm and fast track.  Greens are large and undulating; hazards are ample, but avoidable to the higher handicapper;  and the course is fun and visually beautiful.
The pleasant stroll from the clubhouse to the first tee is across a peaceful lake, however, this is not to be a feature on the course itself.

Coore and Crenshaw are not fans of moving earth unnecessarily.  The par five 1st hole, is the only area in which this was done.  The hole works its way through a dune, that was blown out to create the valley you drive through.  The materials from this dune were used on the course to build greens and tee complexes.

The bunkering is a great feature of the course.  Evident to you as you reach the fairway on the par four 2nd,  A brilliant complex in the centre of the fairway as the hole turns to the right.

The first of the par threes is a real test.  Coming in at approximately 210 yards, the 4th asks plenty of questions of you, both from the tee, and at the large green.

The short par four 5th hole is one of the best on the property.  A brilliant short cape style par four, enticing you to bite off more of the carry than you probably should.

 If you do successfully reach the fairway, it is a huge hog's back, throwing the ball toward the ravine anyway.  A flat lie is virtually impossible to an infinity green surrounded by bunkers.  Such a good little hole.

The par four 7th is another brilliant hole.  A shot of about 230 yards towards the tower in the distance is required to keep the ball in the fairway.

The approach needs to then work it's way past this.  A bunker that stretches about 80 yards from the fairway all the way to and around the green.  You know it is a big bunker when there is a walkway created within it.

The view from behind the green shows very well the grain within the greens here.  A place where the grain plays a huge role in the pace and line of your putts.  Caddies are vital to getting you somewhere near close to the hole, and even those guys, who are really experienced with the course need to take a second look on occasion.

The 11th is the first of three par threes on the inward nine.  And it is a beast requiring a shot of 217 yards.

The par five 13th is a beautiful hole, with a great little green complex.

Views like this make you feel like you are at one of the heathland courses of Surrey.  It is such a peaceful and idyllic golf environment.

The view from behind the green on the 13th.

The par three 15th.  Although relatively short, the green is well protected.

The final par three, the 17th.

The approach to the par four 18th hole, a really strong hole to finish with, making you earn that first drink on the terrace back at the clubhouse.

Sharon Marks was our winner today.

Saturday 21 September - The Country Club

The Country Club.  The name sounds a bit arrogant, but it really is not.  It was the first Country Club in the United States, and so the name was absolutely appropriate.  The club was founded in 1882, but it was not until 1893 that golf formed part the of the offerings at the club with a Willie Campbell designed 9 hole layout.

In 1894 The Country Club was one of the five charter clubs which founded the United States Golf Association. The original purpose of the USGA was to sponsor an undisputed national amateur championship, which was first held in 1895. The first U.S. Open (almost an afterthought) was held the following day.

Golf had continued to become more popular, and by 1910, Campbell had extended the course to 18 holes.  With golf being an afterthought, there were many disputes between members regarding use of the club facilities.  The golf course actually used grounds occupied by the club horse racing track, and it remained this way for a long time.

One of the best holes on the property appears early in the round.  The beautiful par four 3rd hole.  Surrounded by pieces of local "pudding stone" and a pond at the rear, the view into the green is one of the great vistas (excluding ocean views) in golf.  In winter, when the pond freezes, it is used as an ice skating rink for the members.

The Country Club is famous for some impressive events in golf history. The first of note being the 1913 US Open, held only 3 years after becoming an 18 hole facility.  It is in this event that a little known, 20 year old amateur, and former Country Club caddy, Francis Ouimet, defeated greats Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in an 18 hole playoff.
Ouimet loved this hole, the par four 4th. Teeing off from the lower tee to the left, all you see is a grassy embankment.  In Ouimet's day, there were no unplayable ball rules, you kept playing it until you got it out.  This embankment could ruin a round before it had even really started.

The green sites are quite small, and brilliantly bunkered.  This is what you are faced with when you reach the green at the 4th.  The Country Club has hosted 3 US Open's, the latest being 1988 won by Curtis Strange (who's locker I used for the day) and the infamous "Battle of Brookline" Ryder Cup in 1999.  The Country Club will be host of the 2022 US Open, with work already underway in preparation.

There are only three par threes here in normal play (the 2nd converts to a par three in tournament play), and this, the 7th, is the best of them all.  A stunning double plateau green, on what is essentially the original version of Campbell's hole from 1894.

The green site of the par four 8th.

The par four 9th hole, the first of two holes back to back that are not part of the championship course.  In fact this becomes the practice fairway for the tournament,.

The green site of the short par four 10th.  A brilliant little hole, with a tough approach to a small, steeply sloping back to front, green.  A shame it is not in the tournament layout.

This hole certainly is in play.  The par five 11th. It becomes a par four for tournament play.  An elevated tee shot encourages you to go for more than you should, as the fairway cuts off at driving distance.  And when I say cuts off, I mean cuts off.

Go too far and you are in this.  An outcrop of pudding stone.

This stone when looking back from the green provides a great feature across the hole.

The view toward the green site.  The 11th is one of the best holes here at TCC.

The short downhill par three 12th.  This hole is currently being reconstructed, with the green being laid only the day before our visit. A very small target, surrounded by bunkers.  I like the look of it.  Has a 7th at Pebble vibe, without the ocean obviously.

Oddly, for all of its history and charm, the championship course at The Country Club was considered very good, but hardly great, until architect Rees Jones restored it in 1985. He rebuilt and expanded the greens, relocated the bunkers, rebuilt the tees, lengthened the course and incorporated different types of grasses.

Gil Hanse has been entrusted with the next phase of the club's history, and the work he has done thus far has been perfect.  There has been quite a bit of strategic tree removal, but not the full stripping away that some clubs have done.  There are still enough trees to help frame the place, but it no longer feels crowded, or indeed heavily shaded by an overgrowth.

These two shots are of the par five 14th.  A great par five requiring a well shaped shot from the tee.  Should you get far enough down, or even when you approach with your third, then beware.  The green has a false front, and anything not pin high will likely come back off the green.  When it comes back, it also rolls 60 yards back down the fairway.

The short par four 15th, Liverpool.  Hanse has added a longer tee in recent years.

The famous par four 17th.  Famous for two reasons.  Firstly it was here that Ouimet gained control of the playoff over Vardon in 1913.  An over aggressive Vardon got caught in the fairway bunkers guarding the left side of the fairway, and made bogey.  Ouimet made birdie, and went on to win.

Secondly, it was here that Justin Leonard holed his long (40 foot) birdie putt in his 1999 Ryder Cup singles match against Jose Maria Olazabal.  The ensuing eruption and celebration from his teammates, prior to Olazabal attempting his putt, were quite controversial.  Olazabal missed his putt, and birdied the last to halve the match.  This gave the US a 14.5 to 13.5 victory, and some significant celebrations on the balcony of the locker room.

The stunning clubhouse looking over the 18th green.

We had a magnificent day, having been hosted by 12 Country Club members.  A lunch before golf, and some drinks on the lawn behind the 18th afterwards allowed for a really friendly and relationship building day.  One of my favourites on the tour.

Wendy Pullar was our winner today.

Thursday 19 September - Fisher's Island

Our day today started in Mystic, Connecticut.  A small town made famous in 1988 by the film starring Julia Roberts, Mystic Pizza.  For those that know the movie, yes it is a real pizza shop in town.

Mystic is an old whaling village, and has great history, and even a drawbridge.

It was also a day where the mode of transport to, and from the golf course, was far different to normal.  We took a water taxi from Noanck, to our course for the day, the very exclusive, Fisher's Island Club.

You arrive at the dock alongside the 17th hole, move to the awaiting golf carts, and then head to the clubhouse.

Fishers Island is a 1926 Seth Raynor design.  As such, it is full of excellent template holes — Redan, Biarritz, Eden, Short, Knoll, Cape, Road and Double Plateau are all present, and arguments can be made for several templates as the best in class.  Fishers Island remains largely unchanged from Raynor’s day.

Raynor however, never got to see the course open for play.  He died of exhaustion and pneumonia, 6 months before the course opened.  Perhaps the 30 or so projects he was working on at the time took their toll.

Above is the view of the par four 4th hole, The Punchbowl.  It is more an Alps / Punchbowl combination. A blind approach is played with the large Fisher's Island flagpole situated behind the green as an aiming reference, and the position of the pin is indicated on the board at the tee. 
You can see the board (black with a white cross) in the shot above.

The punchbowl green is one of the more substantial I have seen, with the walls up to five feet high in places.  The green also has a ridge run across the middle, making putting very challenging.  It is a truly special hole.

As you walk off the green, ring the bell so that the players behind know that it is clear for them to hit their approach shots.

The par three 5th, is a Biarritz.  It is also a stunning rendition of the template hole.

Short is probably the best miss here, and even then, you still encounter working your way through the biarritz.

The tee shot at the par 5th 6th. A blind tee shot over the crest of the hill, leads you down the embankment toward the green.

This also reveals some of the more extreme undulations on the property.

Next is the par four 7th hole.  This takes you to the furthest East portion of the course, nearly to the tip of the island.  It also provides an infinity type green, and a thought that is you are even a little long, you are in the Long Island Sound.  It is nearly true.

The par five 8th hole, the Road Hole template.  The sound acts as the "hotel" forcing a drive to the left, but with a fairway cambered to the left.  The further right you stay, the better approach you have.

The green at the par four 9th hole.  The double plateau carries some wicked undulations, making pitch shots and putting, very difficult.  It is hard to capture in photos at the time of day we played the changes in the level of the green, but it is substantial.

The par three 11th hole, is the Eden hole.  A beautiful par three, with the sound as it's backdrop.

The uphill par four 12th features a reverse redan green, one that is more substantial that the redan green of the par three 2nd hole.

The approach into the par four 13th.

Jeff Faure prepares to tee off on the par four 14th.  Yes, that is the green just near his head.  A very difficult hole for the average golfer, as it requires negotiation of water from the tee, and then a long carry across water on the approach.

This is the carry faced on the approach shot.

Yes there is a fairway there somewhere on the par five 15th hole, and once you get to the top of the rise, it is actually quite wide.

Just some of the spectacular views you are afforded all the way around this course.

Marilyn Cookes gets ready to fire at the green on the beautiful par three 16th hole.

The views just to the right side of the par four 18th hole.

Sue Hovell plays her approach into the par four 18th.

Fisher's Island is a Raynor masterpiece, and fully deserves the accolades that it gets.  It is a course that allows you to appreciate it more and you sit and contemplate, and certainly as you look through the photographs.

Bernard Cassell was our winner today.

Off to Boston!