Irondequoit

Ask someone what golf course Donald Ross was working on while he was in Rochester, NY during 1916 and odds are the answer will be “Oak Hill.” While correct, that’s only half the answer...Ross was also busy creating a nine-hole layout for the Irondequoit Country Club just down the road.

Although the two clubs are now neighbors, that development only occurred 30 years after Ross had left, when Oak Hill sold an extra parcel so that Irondequoit could complete its 18-hole route, which was designed by Ross associate J.B. McGovern. Now, when playing No. 14 at Irondequoit, consider that players on the East Course at Oak Hill are playing No. 16, a par four running parallel for almost the same distance, separated by just a thin strip of trees.

The opening nine at Irondequoit, the original group created by Ross, features some interesting tidbit for a Ross design. For one, there are three short holes within the first six holes, at a range of distances — representing his “volcano” and short hole among them. The No. 7 par five also features an oak tree growing within its fairway...a plant that must have been just a bud when the Scot came through!