Meadow Brook - Rhode Island - USA

Meadowbrook was very nice. I recently visited and had low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. The course is public and is in nice shape. The green complexes are relatively flat but have some size. The course covers some interesting land and offers a nice day out. The only major difficulty is the substantial distance from the clubhouse to the 1st tee and then the return from the 18th green. The story was that a new clubhouse was to be built near where the course starts and finishes. For the cart rider, no big deal but for those of us that slog our bag.......

The more I have studied golf architecture, the more I have fallen in love with courses from the golden ages, and the elements of those courses found in modern minimalism today. Some of those include width for playing angles, natural grading of fairways over the ground, variety in length, and bold, undulating green complexes. Despite Meadow Brook fitting few of categories, I found myself returning year after year when I still lived in New England!

Bottom line up front: Meadow Brook not for the faint of heart. At 7,400 yards from the tips, and lengthy yardages from the other tees, this course is an absolute monster. My close friends and I typically would travel to Meadow Brook at the end of each summer as one final test of our improvements over the season. We were almost always humbled by this beat-down of a golf course.

Admittedly, Meadow Brook’s bunker style is bland, the property is fairly flat, and the green complexes are altogether unmemorable. However, the pride from hitting successful heroic shots throughout the round is utterly intoxicating. There is also a hidden secret that makes the course slightly more manageable than the scorecard suggests: wonderfully firm conditions that allow for significant rollout not found on many other area courses.

My favorite holes at Meadow Brook include:

• #1: The tee shot on the first feels like a narrow, Augusta-like chute, yet the Meadow Brook veteran knows of a large opening to the right. The next shot plays over the bumbling ‘Meadow Brook’ itself to a green complex a chipping area on the right.

• #2: Despite its fairly flat nature, and proximity to the road, the 2nd provides interest with bunkers guarding the fairway at the perfect driving point, and rumples in the layup area.

• #3: Carved back into the forest, this par four curves beautifully down a slope to a narrow, deep green.

• #4: A 263 par three with a deadly pot bunker fronting the green. Deadly, and yet probably similar to the way so many classic par threes played in the golden ages.

• #5: This slightly uphill par four sits at 481 yards from the tips and is among the narrowest on the course. It is a brutal test.

• #10: The island green 10th appears more challenging than it plays due to the exceptionally large putting surface and rough around the green complex.

• #12: This par five is among my favorite of ~3500 holes played to date. It plays to a whopping 603 yards, but the green is perfectly visible from the tee box. In a way, it is sort of inspiring to literally see what 600 yards looks like, all right in front of you. Fairway bunkers require strategic thinking through the green.

• #15: Among the most narrow holes I have played anywhere, the 649 yard (!!!) par five 15th is memorable for its unrelenting challenging. There is no room to bail out, and virtually no area to lay up either. It is an outrageous test of optimism.

• #18: A fitting end to the round, this hole’s tiny fairway hugs a lake, and the green offers no relief with water in front and pot bunkers behind.

Meadow Brook is not a course I would enjoy playing every day, though I am sure it would lower my handicap. Perhaps it might be more highly rated if the holes offered variety in lengths, if bunkering and greens were made more interesting, and if a significant amount of trees were removed. However, these things simply do not align with Meadow Brook’s brand. Meadow Brook owns its identity as a long, difficult, well-manicured test. If you are ready to step up to its challenge, you will find a great value golf course in a very quaint part of Rhode Island.

This was a great course! Challenging, fun, excitement on every hole. I would highly recommend this course to anyone at any level.