Glens Falls - New York - USA

You can always tell when Donald Ross was on a property or not. Did he visit the land, walk the property, visualize the green-sites, experience the routing with his own eyes? At Glens Falls – the answer to each of these questions is absolutely Yes!

Expanding the course from a 9 hole to an 18 hole course circa 1920 is essentially the course we play today.

Prior to my arrival, I had little exposure to this course in terms of information or reviews. I walked away from it wondering how in the world it stays hidden from fame.

The setting for the opening tee box is truly spectacular with a wooden bridge taking you to the teeing grounds framed with beautiful trees and Round Pond meandering all around you. While the setting is stunning, the architecture is even better. I don’t always love par 5s as the starting hole, but this one is a beauty. It’s a raised dog-leg right with a blind landing area and the fairway is split into two sectional landforms. Your opening tee shot is across the pond and leads you into the framed dog-leg.

After crossing Warren County road, the presentation of the index 1 second hole will take your breath away. It’s a long par 4 that heads downhill from the tee before sweeping back up to the right. Bunkers short and adjacent to the nicely perched green-site are a fierce deterrent. Playing through the corridor of trees, especially with Autumnal colours is truly beautiful. In every direction, Glens Falls CC gets off to a blistering start. The par 3 3rd hole is set into the corner of the property and is framed quiet beautifully with the surrounding mounds and trees.

Upon reaching the par 5 4th hole, you get your first exposure to the many blind tees shots at Glens Falls. There is a very large ridge (hill) that traverses across the golf course with at least 7 holes running back and forth across of it (4, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15). On each of these holes, the landing area is essentially blind until you reach the crest of the ridge and can see over the hill. Many of the views down to the greens are delightful, and it takes a lot of local knowledge to know where to land your approach shot on sloped terrain running away from you. You may think that almost half of the golf course is repetitive back and forth over the same hill, but that couldn’t be further from the truth given the shot-making variety that I felt you needed to hit the greens. The Ross design and angles on each of the holes is among the best I’ve seen, and holes 1, 2, 6, 9 and 17 (to name but 5) are on the short-list of the best holes that Ross has ever designed – anywhere!

The major area for improvement is the need to eliminate thousands of trees, especially along the parallel holes running over the ridge. When I think of the many other high-profile Ross courses around the US (especially in similar climates/growing conditions) of this same vintage, almost all of them have been restored – or at least a masterplan in progress. Glens Falls CC has never gone through a dedicated restoration, which would immediately eliminate trees. The potential on this site is bursting at the seams, and in my humble opinion, the justification for a restoration is sitting on their laps.

I understand that the par 5 16th green had to be moved, and I do agree that the walk to the 17th tee is much longer than it needs to be (especially having to cross a road), but this was really the only significant disturbance to the routing flow. Finishing on a par 3 back over the Round Pond is thought-provoking despite playing away from the clubhouse and walking back again. The land that Ross was gifted with at Glens Falls is superior than 90% of the Ross courses that we are all familiar with – and it’s with this basis, that I was blown away by this hidden gem. I fully agree with Ran’s inclusion of this club in the ‘147 Custodians’ and would further support the theory that no player’s education is complete without a trip to see this absolutely spectacular underrated golf course with endless possibilities for greatness.

Some Donald Ross courses open with a “play away” hole, a simple one that allows the player a bit of leeway to get the round started. Glens Falls is not one of them. On the opening tee shot, the golfer is faced with a forced carry over a lake. Though it’s not a long carry, it’s a challenge to remove the looming lake from one’s thought as the club is drawn back. The second shot may be blind and this challenge is repeated over and again throughout the course. I counted four blind tee shots and four more where the green was not visible on my approach. I understand that they’re only blind once, but the phenomenon does not enhance one’s round.

I recognize that this is a review of the golf course, but having a player cut in front of me on the 7th hole and then spend part of his afternoon wandering around a green talking on his phone while I was waiting to hit didn’t enhance the experience either.

The routing is not strong, with four occasions where there’s a long walk to the next tee. And the 18th finishes by taking the player away from the clubhouse. Glens Falls is an enjoyable enough course, with some strategic choices and some interesting greens, but there aren’t enough to make me think it’s anywhere near one of New York’s top couple dozen courses. There are more than that in Nassau and Westchester counties alone.

One of the benefits architects had in the early part of the 20th century was being able to select land on behalf of deep pocket benefactors and not have to concern themselves with the slew of environmental rules and regulations that existing architects most routinely face.

Glens Falls will likely escape the radar of many. The course is near to Albany, New York's capital, but the course has maintained a very low-key profile and will likely be unfamiliar to many.

Ross faced a major challenge in getting a routing over and around a major hill that plays a prominent role in how the holes are featured. The 1st hole serves quick notice on what lies ahead as you face an uphill blind dog-leg right tee shot. The bold play can go for the corner and attempt to reach the par-5 hole in two shots. For many, the prudent play is taking the more conventional route.

The 2nd is a superb hole -- playing a good bit more than then 399 yards listed. Once again it's uphill but the challenge is entirely in front of you. The 6th and 7th are also very good. The former plays 399 yards and features a blind drive and then asks for a keen approach to a fine green. The latter is a drivable par-4 but that can only be accomplished with a marriage between power and accuracy. Failing that, the likelihood of birdie is far from a sure thing.

Glens Falls has one major weakness – the final hole. It's a quaint short par-3 hole that simply is lackluster. When courses opt to go with a par-3 closer, I think of such quality holes as the 18th at Garden City Golf Club or the finale at The Geronimo Course at Desert Mountain. The better option for Glens Falls would be to have the 17th hole serve as the closer since it's already near the clubhouse now. The existing 18th could be switched to the 1st hole and simply have it out of the way sooner than occupy the closing position it does now.

Ross did a fantastic job in creating a routing that maxes out the entire footprint of the property. Yes, the holes are close to one another but the separation between them avoids any claustrophobic impacts. The greens are also varied with all sorts of falloffs and a series of internal contours that will test one's ability to read greens and execute with precision. The same holds true when missing with one's approach shot – you’d best have a deft touch to leave unscathed.

Glens Falls was never really on my radar screen until I read Tom Doak's comments in his updated Confidential Guide series. I had to see firsthand if what was said of the course is anything close to his thoughts. I enjoyed the course immensely and urge anyone who happens to be in the neighborhood and can gain access to play it. Given the penchant for mindless slog courses with little more than formulaic designs Glens Falls is truly a special place.

M. James Ward

A below the radar design of Donald Ross that shines. The course features many blind shots starting from the first tee, which asks the golfer to hit his tee shot up a huge hill with no flag visible anywhere. The fourth, sixth and tenth also feature blind tee shots, and approaches to six, seven, eight and several more holes are also blind. Ross used multi-tiered greens in abundance and incorporated swales, hollows, dips and punchbowls into the putting services to great effect. The routing flows beautifully through the hilly property, with nary an uneven lie. Especially noteworthy is the stretch of holes beginning with the sixth and ending at the ninth which fit into the landscape perfectly. Although the last three of them are short (a par four of 292, a par four of 362 and par three of 146) because of the hills and the green designs they command total precision and respect. A course that you would be lucky to call your home and to play every day.

John Sabino is the author of How to Play the World’s Most Exclusive Golf Clubs