Concord Country Club - Massachusetts

Review of the Month July 2018 – Myopia Hunt I was amazingly fortunate to play two of America’s gems within a twenty seven hour period. What a way to start a week, Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts on Monday and The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts on Tuesday. The history of Myopia Hunt Club is a little bit fuzzy and depending upon who you talk to you may get a different historical vignette (especially if they are from The Country Club). Some believe that the club originated in baseball not golf, hunting or equestrian. In 1870, a group of men including four sons of Frederick Prince, who eventually became the mayor of Boston, formed a baseball team. The team was called the Myopia Nine. This was attributed to the four Prince brothers and another teammate who all wore glasses because they were nearsighted. Even though the group was nearsighted they did not lack vision. The Prince brothers and friends would often host competitions and events with their friends in Winchester at their summer cottage. Eventually, they formed the official Myopia Club with baseball, tennis, water sports, racing, hunting and steeplechase. In 1879 they built a clubhouse on a hill overlooking Mystic Lake in Winchester, Massachusetts. Fittingly, the building was dedicated on in May of 1879, with a baseball game. Of interest, in 1902, the site overlooking Mystic Lake ultimately became the Winchester Country Club. A fine club in its own regard, Winchester initially opened as a nine hole course and in 1916 it became 18 holes and was designed by the one and only Donald Ross. Frederick Prince introduced the sport of foxhunting to the Myopia club with the support of Hugh Allan, a Canadian. The hunts became quite popular. It quickly became apparent that the Winchester property was unsuitable for these types of hunts. A proposal was floated to move the hunts to either Ipswich or Hamilton. In the fall of 1881 the Myopians were able to reach an agreement with Mr. Gibney in Hamilton to rent his farm. However, several charter Myopia members wanted to move the club closer to Boston. This ultimately led to the founding of The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. More on this later. In 1882, hunters outnumbered ballplayers and they were renamed the Myopia Foxhounds. At one point, the club passed a bylaw that for every golfer joining the club two equestrian members would be admitted as well. However, one viewed the club, be it hunting, golf or social, it flourished until 1891 when Gibney passed away. This created some uncertainty, but ultimately the club purchased the property from the estate for $20,000. This included the farmhouse, stables, barns and almost 150 acres! Amazingly, $20k in the 1890s would only be worth about $600k today. While this real estate transaction cannot compete with the purchase of Manhattan for $24 worth of trinkets, it still was a heck of a deal for the members. Once the deal closed the remodeling started, the farmhouse’s oldest rooms with the original fireplaces were converted into a library and most importantly a dining room with a bar. Thank goodness for priorities. Foxhunting still takes place today at Myopia August through November. They do not utilize live foxes as a live fox hunt can take up to six hours and is illegal in Massachusetts. Instead of a fox they use something called the drag, which is a laid scent over an 8-10 mile course. I did not know squat about foxhunting prior to this, but my favorite quote on the topic comes courtesy of Oscar Wilde, “The unspeakable chasing the uneatable” With a golf course that has the distinction of being the only course in America to have two of the top 100 signature holes in the United States, and a Master of the Hounds who mans the hounds for hunts three seasons of each year, and the oldest continually running polo field in the country, there is a lot to be seen and said about Myopia. In season, polo is still played on Sunday afternoons and is open to the public for a small fee. Myopia has hosted the U.S. Open four times 1898, 1901, 1905 and 1908. As the 1898 host, Myopia is one of only five courses that have hosted the U.S. Open in the nineteenth century. The first Open at Myopia in 1898 was the first US Open to be played over 72 holes. The previous three were only 36 holes. At the time, Myopia was only a nine hole course, hence the field had to play the same nine holes eight times. The winner was Fred Herd, a native of St. Andrews, Scotland, who shot a smooth 328! It was Fred’s only tour victory and he grossed a cool $150. However, Fred had a reputation as a hard core drinker. The USGA was concerned that Herd may hock the trophy to buy booze. Hence, they required him to make a deposit before he was allowed to have the championship trophy! How about them apples, John Daly?! As a side note, Fred Herd’s brother, Sandy, won the 1902 British Open. The 1901 US Open saw a record established that in all probability will never be broken. They say records are meant to be broken, and they are. I try to avoid absolutes, but, I feel pretty confident about this one. The 1901 champion was Willie Anderson who shot a 331 to claim the $200 prize money! Even that was not enough. He needed to defeat Alex Smith in a playoff, 85 to 86 to secure the victory. Patience is a virtue as Willie had to wait as the playoff was delayed until Monday because Myopia was reserved for member play on Sundays. Willie’s caddy was none other than Myopia’s club pro John Jones Willie Anderson was a tragic hero. He was born in North Berwick, (more on this later) Scotland and immigrated to the United States in 1896. He dominated US golfing circles for several years, being the first back-to-back winner, the first 3-time winner, and the first 4-time winner. He is still the only golfer to win the U.S. Open three straight years, 1903-1905 (1905 at Myopia); and he still shares, along with Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus the tournament record for wins with four. Sadly, he died at the age of 31 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While the official cause of death was epilepsy, many people felt he drank himself to death. Other tasty tidbits from the 1901 US Open, coming in 21st place was another Scotsman named Donald Ross, yes that Donald Ross. Willie Anderson’s caddy, the Myopia club pro John Jones, finished twelfth. Yes, that is, correct, Jones caddied for Anderson AND PLAYED at the same time! I hope John didn’t give Anderson any bad reads or misclub him. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Steve Williams. The second nine at Myopia was completed in time for the 1901 Open and Herbert Corey Leeds was the designer. Leeds had little to no prior golf course design experience. The last US Open championship at Myopia also went to a playoff. Ultimately, Fred McLeod prevailed over Willie Smith 77 to 83. Fred was the antithesis of the other Scottish US Open champions. While he was also from North Berwick, his father was involved in the temperance movement. McLeod immigrated to the US in 1903 and became the club pro at Rockford Country Club in Illinois. McLeod was a small man, 5’ 4” and when he won the Open he weighed less than 110 pounds. To put this in context, according to his biography Corey Pavin is 5’9” and weighs 155 pounds. I am not sure if there is any significance to this or not, but McLeod did live to 94, but I am not sure about the quality of those last few years…… Now to the course, while “only” 6500 yards, it is not for the faint of heart. Additionally, even the longest hitters must play from the red tees. The red tees are the tips. Unlike, most modern courses, Myopia has three sets of tees, yellow (ladies) 5500 yards, white, 6100 yards and red. The first hole is relatively benign. It is a short uphill 274 yard par 4 with a slight dogleg left. The second hole, while it is a relatively short par 5, 487 yards, the fairway is completely dissected twice. You must focus on the yardage and your distances or you may end up in the gunch. For those of you who are scoffing at the distance of the course, the third hole, a 253 yard par three is a real gut check. Not only is it long, it is well protected with 3 small greenside bunkers and one large one at about 200 yards off the tee. The fourth hole is a dog leg left with a soufflé green. While the green can be difficult, it is a feat to have the opportunity to three putt for a bogey. On the tee, one must be careful not to drive through the fairway as well as being too aggressive and failing to cut the corner. Either can be cataclysmic. Perhaps that is why it has consistently been rated one of the toughest 100 holes in the United States. The sixth hole is one of my personal favorites, a short par 4 that is only 260 yards. One must decide whether to try to carry the stream and the corresponding muck and mire and be about twenty yards short of the green or layup at 80 yards. That is not why it is one of my favorites, but rather this is the hole where golf aficionados will park their cars and sneak onto the course. Believe it or not, Myopia typically has less than 12,000 sanctioned rounds per year. The 9th hole is a brilliantly deceiving par three at 136 yards. Traditionalists would call it a postage stamp green, but I do not think it qualifies. This green is only nine yards wide and thirty yards long, hence I think an appropriate moniker would be a “bar code green”. The ninth is named Pond, where on the tee shot one must carry a pond to have a shot at par. I would be remiss if I failed to mention the seven bunkers that surround the green. Myopia is quite proud of its Scotlandesque deep bunkers (although they are but dimples compared to Bethpage Black). The ninth hole has also been cited as one of the toughest 100 holes in the country. As tough as the fourth and ninth hole are my money is on the twelfth as the toughest hole. It is the number one handicap hole and plays 446 yards off an elevated tee with a panoramic view. Do not get too comfortable, as it has a tight winding fairway surrounded by rough gone to fields and a wicked crowned green. After the daunting challenge of the twelfth hole, the thirteenth hole seems almost playful. It is a 349 yard slight dog left. Big hitters can hit it through the fairway. The approach shot is uphill and plays at least two and perhaps as much as three clubs more. The 16th hole is a downhill 192 yard par three that plays back toward the clubhouse. The pro shop is approximately 50 yards to the left of the green. One of my player partners had caddied at Myopia in the 1960’s. Caddies were paid $2 a bag at the time. He shared the following story with me. When he caddied there was no bunker to the left of the green. However, sometime in the 1970’s, a golfer hooked his tee shot (or sliced if they were left handed) and the ball hit the pro shop. The errant shot took a fortuitous bounce back towards the green, rolled onto the green and into the hole for a hole in one! I suspect that this particular member was not all that well liked because shortly thereafter a bunker was added between the green and the pro shop. When you play Myopia you will occasionally see or even end up on bridle paths (I know I did) crossing or paralleling various holes. One of the local rules is that you can take a free drop. This is just another attribute that contributes to the uniqueness of Myopia. By Colin Braithwaite, author of “A Good Walk Unspoiled” Review of the Month July 2018 selected by Editor-in-Chief, Keith Baxter – click to read more about Myopia Hunt.

From Furyk to Bryson: Mungeam's defense of Olympia Fields When the PGA Tour returns to Olympia Fields Country Club this week for the BMW Championship, penultimate stage of the Fedex Cup Playoffs (Aug. 27-30), the most interested observer will be Mark A. Mungeam, the architect who spent nearly a quarter century renovating, then restoring, but always defending this historic Willie Park Jr. design from muscle-bound, technologically enhanced assaults on par. Mungeam, owner of Massachusetts-based Mungeam Golf Design, first reckoned with the competitive resilience of the North Course at Olympia Fields in 1992. That master-planning process led to his direction of renovations prior to the in U.S. Senior Open, in 1997, then more prior to the 2003 U.S. Open, won by Jim Furyk. Thereafter, when the club opted for a full-on restoration — after discovering key period photography — Mungeam directed that refurbishment, as well. His prep efforts continued prior to the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship, at Olympia Fields, claimed by a young, svelte Bryson DeChambeau. In 2017, Danielle Kang won the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship there. But it is DeChambeau who has emerged post lockdown bigger and longer — the new embodiment of golf’s uncomfortable relationship with length. He and his PGA Tour colleagues would appear ever more indifferent to the scoring safeguards Mungeam created over the course of 20 years. Olympia Fields North course 3rd hole photo by Gary Kellner “You can’t take it personally — I certainly don’t,” said Mungeam, ASGCA, whose more recent tournament prep involved rehabilitating a pair of Donald Ross-designed, City of Boston classics — George Wright GC in Hyde Park and Franklin Park GC in Dorchester — for the 2019 Massachusetts Amateur. “I can remember adding a bunker on the left side of what plays during championships as the par-4 18th hole at Olympia Fields, what the members play as no. 9,” the architect says. “It was 310 yards from the tee in 1999. Back then, we thought of it as an aiming bunker! Today they’ll be flying it, or trying to. They were doing that in 2015, during the Amateur. “There is a randomness to the bunkering in places like Scotland that keeps those hazards relevant through changes in technology and length, but it’s not enough to deter professionals today. The fairway bunkers at 18 on the North Course are deep enough that they are plenty penal. But the rough, should they miss the fairway, is ever more punishing. It has to be. At Olympia Fields and elsewhere, it has become a risk/reward situation from the tee, the sort of dynamic we associate with severe U.S. Open-style conditions. Is that better? Well, it’s better than it could have been, had we done nothing.” Located just outside of Chicago, the North Course at Olympia Fields opened in 1923. Two years later, Walter Hagen won the PGA Championship there. In 1928, Johnny Farrell captured the U.S. Open title on the North Course, besting Bobby Jones in a playoff. The club would host another PGA in 1961. The Western Open — considered alongside golf’s major tournaments into the 1960s (the BMW Championship is its 21st century incarnation) — was played here five times. In preparation for the 1997 Senior Open (won by Graham Marsh), the club engaged Mungeam to effectively renovate the North Course for 21st century tournament use. The USGA needed a championship venue in Chicago, the nation’s second biggest population center and television market. This was the first of several distinct renovation phases, Mungeam says. “That second renovation in 1999 was complicated — we were preparing for a U.S. Open Championship in 2003, for goodness sake — but it was a renovation. We didn’t have any period photography or plans from Park Jr. detailed enough to allow for restoration. That all changed in 2013 when someone found a program from the 1928 Open, with pictures of every single hole! That document was a goldmine. It became the practical basis for our sympathetic restoration work prior to the 2015 Amateur — the basis for the course we’ll see this week. “Without those photos, we would not have those magnificent cross-bunkers on the 5th, 8th and 17th holes, for example. The old photos were also crucial to full expansion several green surfaces. And, of course, they helped guide some tree removal.” Mungeam’s interaction with the North Course during all these tournament engagements has run the gamut. In 2003, he became the first architect who prepared a U.S. Open site to ever work the same course as part of the grounds crew: Mungeam raked bunkers, filled divots and fluffed rough for then superintendent Dave Ward, starting at 4 a.m. — before watching championship play from the maintenance shed. “I had been working alongside that crew for nearly 10 years by then. They were my friends,” Mungeam explains. At the Amateur in 2015, the architect observed DeChambeau up close, walking the course from what then passed for a responsible distance. After 24 years, Mungeam’s association with the club ended in 2018. He will watch this week’s tournament from the sofa inside his 1850s farmhouse in central Massachusetts. “This winter I ran into the current Olympia Fields superintendent, Sam MacKenzie, and he confirmed that nothing much has changed since 2017,” Mungeam says, noting the layout still maxes out at 7,343 yards (Par-70), up from the 7,180 yards it played for the 2003 Open. “All the same, I’ll be interested to see where they maintain the fairway edges. We modified them — to narrow things down beyond those fairway bunkers. And I’ll be interested to see how long and thick they keep the rough in those areas, where there won’t be galleries trampling the rough down. “The only real deterrents to Bryson and the Bombers these days are the roughs and the wonderfully sloped Willie Park Jr. putting surfaces, which many of these guys haven’t see before (though Bryson has). In the end, the greens make this course what it is. I’m sure Sam will have them rolling pretty quick.” Jim Furyk, never a long hitter, shot a then-record 8-under par to win the 2003 U.S. Open. “If the BMW winner doesn’t double that,” the architect says, “I’ll consider it a moral victory.”

US New England Division Best in State Rankings 2018 Finally, the ninth and last divisional update of our biennial Best in State listings for the United States of America is upon us. In this article, we revise the ranking charts for the six states located in the northeast corner of the nation, namely Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. We embarked on this biennial exercise back in April on the west coast of the USA when we reappraised the courses situated within our Pacific division. Now, four months later, we’ve arrived on the opposite side of the country, having assessed and evaluated nearly two thousand courses along the way. A total of 145 courses are featured across this division, with ten of the layouts also listed inside our US Top 100. New England might be one of the smaller geographical areas in the United States – with less than 5% of the overall population – but there are plenty of great golf courses to be found within the region. Connecticut In the Nutmeg State, The Course at Yale in New Haven retains its place at the top of the listings, a position it’s held since we introduced Best in State charts in 2012. The course was one of a dozen “Gourmet Choice” selections made by Tom Doak in volume 3 of The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses when the author had this to say about it: “Upon its opening in 1926, the Ray Tompkins Memorial Course at Yale was reputedly the most expensive course ever built, at a cost of $400,000. What’s most impressive about the course is the huge scale of it all… no education in golf architecture can be complete if you haven’t played it.” Two courses make significant leaps into the Top 10. The first of these is TPC River Highlands in Cromwell (up five to number 6), host venue for the well-attended Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour, where Pete Dye redesigned the course in the 1980s and Bobby Weed subsequently remodelled it. The second big mover is A.W. Tillinghast’s late-1920s redesign of the 18-hole layout at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield (up thirteen to number 10) which held the US Women’s Open in 1979, followed by the US Senior Open eight years later. The highest of three newcomers enters the state chart at number 9 and it’s the Geoff Cornish-designed course at Connecticut Golf Club in Easton, a track that first opened for play in the mid-1960s. Described by the club as “a golf retreat in the middle of a stunning new England landscape, far removed from the busyness of daily life,” the course was built by real estate developer and philanthropist Lawrence Arthur Wien, with Brian Silva carrying out renovation work on the layout at the start of the new millennium. Rank/ Click the link to see full details of all courses in our latest Connecticut Best in State rankings Maine There’s quite a bit of movement within the Top 15 chart that we maintain for the Pine Tree State. Indeed, the only non-mover is Maine’s number 1 course which Donald Ross designed for Portland Country Club in Falmouth when the club moved to its current location at the start of the 1920s. Tom Doak certainly thinks it’s positioned in a nice spot next to Waites Landing: “With the clubhouse commanding a fine view across the golf course to the Atlantic shore, Portland is a magnificent setting for golf.” Half an hour’s drive south of Portland, the 18-hole layout at Prouts Neck Country Club in Scarborough is another coastal course that now careers into the state standings at number 2. The course was originally laid out with nine holes in 1907 then extended to an 18-hole track by Wayne Stiles in 1924. In recent years, former Renaissance Golf Design associate Bruce Hepner has been improving sight lines and course conditioning to return the property to the look and feel of nearly a century ago. Two Donald Ross-designed courses at opposite ends of the state both climb five places to enter the Top 10: the William Wilson course at York Golf & Tennis Club (at number 7) lies close to the border with New Hampshire whilst 179 miles further north – less than a hundred miles from the International Boundary with Canada – sits Penobscot Valley Country Club (at number 10). The former has been termed “quite difficult for the lesser player” with the latter called “a classic Ross routing that puts a lot of beautiful undulation to good use” Click the link to see full details of all courses in our latest Maine Best in State rankings Massachusetts Courses occupying the top eight positions in the Bay State chart are also ranked within the US Top 100 so that gives quite a good idea of the quality to be found in the top tier of our Massachusetts listings. The Clyde and Squirrel nines at The Country Club in Brookline hold onto the number 1 slot in the state’s Top 50, where the original Willie Campbell course from 1894 has been revised down the years by a number of architects, including Geoff Cornish, Rees Jones and Gil Hanse. The venue for three previous US Opens, the club will again host this prestigious event when it returns in 2022. The course making the biggest upward move is the 18-hole layout at Vineyard Golf Club in Edgartown (up eleven to number 8) which Tom Mackenzie laid out during his time with Donald Steel’s design company in 2002. It’s just been completely remodelled, emerging as “a magnificent Gil Hanse masterpiece” according to our US Consultant Fergal O’Leary, who also thinks it is “one of the best courses in New England that people have never heard of.” It might not be that well known just now, but Fergal is of the opinion that “once people get exposed to the results of Gil’s work, this course will receive endless accolades”. The best placed of six new entries at number 30 is Brian Silva’s multi-million dollar renovation of the former Al Zikorus course at Hampden Country Club, which has now become a completely reworked design for the Antonacci racehorse family at GreatHorse. A substantial amount of soil was shifted when fashioning the fairways on the new track, especially on the hillier parts of the course like the opening and closing holes on the back nine, but the overall transformation of the old layout is nothing short of sensational. Click the link to see full details of all courses in our latest Massachusetts Best in State rankings New Hampshire The Granite State of New Hampshire has a new number 1 and it’s the Mount Washington course at the Omni Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, which rises three places to the top spot. It’s a Donald Ross design from 1915 that was upgraded by Brian Silva a few years ago and our regular contributor M. James Ward posted a review for it last year, saying: “the restored layout is a fun course allowing freedom off the tee but only at the expense in having a much more demanding approach to green sites that provide a range of vexing puzzles for the player to figure out… fun golf is alive and well at Mount Washington.” The Donald Ross-designed course at Bald Peak Colony Club in Moultonborough soars a remarkable fifteen places to number 3 in our revised state listings. Set inside a large, 850-acre wooded property next to Lake Winnipesaukee, the 18-hole layout dates back to 1922, when it was inaugurated by a 4-man International Exhibition match between USA and Great Britain. Francis Ouimet and Jessie Giuldford tied against J.H. Taylor and Sandy Herd in the morning foursomes but the visitors suffered a 3 &1 defeat to the home team in the afternoon. The first of three new chart entries, the course at Hooper Golf Club in Walpole swoops in at number 4. A Wayne Stiles design from the late 1920s, it features in Anthony Pioppi’s book The Finest Nines , where it’s listed as one of twenty-five highly-regarded 9-hole layouts located in North America. As the author states, “Hooper presents a challenge to the highly skilled while remaining eminently enjoyable for the less adept… (with) an array of challenging holes that along the way test all facets of the golfer’s game”. Click the link to see full details of all courses in our latest New Hampshire Best in State rankings Rhode Island The Top 15 for the Ocean State is now led by a new number 1 as the course at Shelter Harbor in Charlestown eases up one place to top the chart. It’s no real surprise to see this Hurdzan and Fry design head the Rhode Island standings as it also broke into the US Top 100 at the end of last year, squeezing into the national rankings at number 98. The course is a regional favourite of our New England correspondent Steve MacQuarrie who says: “among the many outstanding features at Shelter Harbor, two stand out: bunkers and rocks. The bunker locations add interesting challenges (and) stone walls also abound, most constructed from the rocks pulled from the New England soil that drove so many farmers to the more fertile Midwest.” Another five courses make small positional gains within the new state chart, four of which are Donald Ross designs. The other (non-Ross) track moving up the table is the course at Wanumetonomy Golf & Country Club in Middleton (up one to number 8), a Seth Raynor layout built in 1923 that has been under the restorative care of Ron Pritchard for some time now. Our man Fergal O’Leary likes it a lot as his comments from a his visit last year might indicate: “it’s certainly a thrill to see the square greens, iconic bunkers and a routing that takes advantage of the splendid views over Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. There are many beautiful trees mostly in all the right places, and with 16 of the original 18 Raynor greens still in play today, it’s a pleasant walk you won’t forget anytime soon.” Click the link to see full details of all courses in our latest Rhode Island Best in State rankings Vermont There are four non movers in the Great Mountain State listings and the foremost of these is the 18-hole layout at Ekwanok Country Club in Manchester, which retains its number 1 billing in Vermont. Set out by Walter Travis and John Duncan Dunn at the start of the last century, the course has been tweaked by a number of architects – most notably by Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones and Geoff Cornish – though it still retains most of its old school charm. More recently, Bruce Hepner upgraded the layout when he was with Renaissance Golf Design, removing trees, reworking fairway bunkers and expanding greens to their original size. Four courses move up the table and the most eye-catching of these climbers is the semi-private 18-hole track at Rutland Country Club, progressing eight spots to the number 3 position. George Low designed the club’s original 9-hole course when it moved to its present location on the old 382-acre Baxter Farm in 1902 and this layout was doubled in size twenty-five years later by the renowned design partnership of Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek. Today, the course extends to a modest 6,134 yards from the back tees, with par set at 70. The only new entry at number 7 is one of the least known historical courses in the country and it’s the 18-hole layout at Dorset Field Club, “the oldest continuously operating golf club in America” according to its website. The club celebrated its 130th Anniversary in 2016 as it can trace its origins back to 12 September 1886, when a 9-hole course was first established under the name of Dorset Golf Links. Unfortunately, the club wasn’t formally incorporated for another decade, by which time fully accredited clubs like Foxburg Country Club (1887), St Andrews (1888) and Shinnecock Hills (1891) had been formed, leaving the club from the backwaters of Bennington County largely in the shade. Click the link to see full details of all courses in our latest Vermont Best in State rankings We’ve never claimed to produce “definitive” rankings but we think that we publish the “most informed” listings that you’ll find in print or on the internet. Your opinion is of great value to us so if you feel we could have done a better job with any of the six reappraised US Best in State charts above then please click the “Respond to this article” link at the top or at the bottom of this page to let us know your thoughts. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses