Winged Foot (West) - New York - USA
Fennimore Rd,
Mamaroneck,
New York (NY) 10543,
USA
+1 914 381 5821
1 mile N of Mamaroneck
Members and their guests only
Colin Burns
John Buczek
Championships hosted:
PGA Championship,
U.S. Amateur,
U.S. Open,
Walker Cup
The West and East courses at Winged Foot Golf Club are the work of A.W. Tillinghast, one of America’s greatest golf course designers, and the West is Tilly’s finest creation. In a similar vein to many of the USA’s finest courses, you’ll need an invite to play here but persevere, because it’s worth the effort. The West is one of the nation's most demanding layouts, which is routed across fairly ordinary but heavily wooded meadowland. A few members of the New York Athletic Club founded Winged Foot in 1923 and the name originated from the athletic club’s emblem and now Winged Foot is synonymous with a everything American and it’s a true classic. Tillinghast has certainly created a serious golf course with no weak holes. Expect to use every club in the bag, Winged Foot's West possesses a number of severe par fours, ten of which stretch out well beyond 400 yards. The closing six holes are brutal, starting with the 13th, a 210-yard par three an followed by five par fours all measuring in excess of 400 yards. The closing hole is perhaps the finest finishing hole in the USA and the 10th hole is one of the best par threes in the world. In The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses
Tom Doak commented as follows: “There is nothing unique about the contour or
the scenery; it seems like you ought to be able to build a course just like it
on any good parkland site, yet no one has. It’s a clay soil counterpart to
Pinehurst #2: the architecture from fifty yards in and including the greens is
amazing, although the topography isn’t.” During 2016-2017 Gil Hanse (Tom Doak's first employee) restored the West course in readiness for the club’s hosting of the 2020 US Open, which Bryson DeChambeau won comfortably, securing his maiden major title. |
Reviews for Winged Foot (West)
Winged Foot West which is part of a 36 hole facility which contains two superb courses is a special place. If you arrange an invite and get on the property they are exceptionally welcoming. This is one of those courses which caters to players. You could get around it as a higher handicap but predominantly to enjoy this course at all you need to bring a lot of game. My once around I'm not sure I miss hit a shot. And yet I shot 80. Quite often as you set up on the tee box you'll be presented with a slight dogleg left or right. Most of the time that holes fairway will slope gently in the direction of the dogleg. I don't know how many times I hit what I thought was a superb drive only to have it hit dead center and then bound and roll into the rough by a foot. It was then a bit of a chore just to find it. The rough is always very thick. The conditions are perfect. Having a ball a foot in the rough and your only play. unless you are really strong, is to wedge it forward. The green complexes are exacting. This is one of Tillinghast's best if not best. Everything sits right in front of you and demands precision and length. Drop everything if given a chance, they don't get any better.
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Winged Foot West has a storied history which adds to its high ranking, however it is a classic parkland style course that lacks in interesting topography and scenery. The golf course is for purists and the greens are quick and tough. This is a quintessential golf course that is certainly worth a trip if you are in the region, however don’t expect to be blown away by views or visual presentation.
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I had played this one way back in 2007 and came back in 2016 to play the East while they were doing the restoring of it for the 2020 US Open (which I predict will be just brutal if they set it up tough). Some weeks ago I was back for my rematch with the West and I was totally outplayed by the course, from 1 to 18th except a couple of good wedges, a great 18th hole not much more.
In 2007 I didn’t feel the course was so tough and my first question was if I was a way better player back then and except for moving from 33 to 45 years old, I don’t feel like that and surely my wedges and putting have improved. Maybe it was just a bad day, but she kicked my butt all day. No excuses, a nice sunny day, some wind maybe (Hit driver, spoon and 7 iron on 600yds 12th) and maybe some nerves as I played with 3 golfers I didn’t know. I was helped to get the invite by the Member I am friend with, who hosted my 3 friends later that day.
The warm up time is perfect, that net on the back of the Range makes you hit not that long shots but who cares! Putting green gives you just a hint of what you are going to face, as it does not have the slopes of the course greens but yes the speed.
Back to the course, we played maybe 6900+ yds and as in Bethpage, many holes had at least 40-50yds extra when we looked backwards and with tougher angles. So if they set it firm, fast and hard this can be the repeat of the 1974 Massacre. The redoing was performed by Gil Hanse and he did an amazing job, the course was in pristine shape and there are some changes for 2020:
- Par 5 5th played as 5 in 2006 and it will be now a very long and tough 4.
- Par 5 9th played as 4 in 2006, now a 5 from a longed and different angle tee will make it a 590yds monster.
- Par 3 10th will use a piece of grass which is not actually the tee box (see picture) as the tee of a monster 210yds par 3 (an opener for those starting on that hole).
- New tee on 16th makes it another monster, a 5 for Members but one of the toughest holes for them.
It is said that WF is the best Golf Club in USA and I can closely agree if we put Oakmont and Merion in the same level, taking into account Cypress Point is a different thing. I can totally agree with that and after having played Oakmont only 4 months ago and with the smell of the grass still fresh in me I am not 100% sure which one is tougher. It is also said that Oakmont could host an Open tomorrow … Winged Foot West too! Just one single shot to show it: par 3 3rd vas playing 225yds into the wind and I was not able to get there with my 2 iron, the tee box had 40 more yards back of where we played!!
Fairways were tight and firm, not the usual Bermuda grass I am used to! Rough not extremely penal but no long irons from there for me. Greens we in heaven condition, very fast and like carpets with some breaks I didn’t remember from 2007.
Although we had a tight flight schedule, a very nice lunch at the Club House with our friend Teddy and the amazing sensation of having been tested to the limit, maybe something we’ll see next year with the Pros.
One more thing to highlight is the Proshop, with a lot of stuff from 2020 … if you are one of those who will empty your cashier in a place like this, you have many choices! And this is one great thing about these private venues, as they are special they give you the chance to get as many souvenirs as you want.
Hope to be back for The US Open, it looks like it may happen and why not redemption by a 50 years old Phil?
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The marching orders were succinct and to the point -- "Build us a man-sized golf course." And architect A.W. Tillinghast dutifully fulfilled that request with not just one course -- but two.
Winged Foot is a 36-hole layout located in Westchester County -- roughly about 45 minutes north of Times Square. The West Course has rightly earned a clear reputation as one of the most demanding of all championship courses and rightly so.
Just six years after opening the West hosted its first US Open -- won by Bobby Jones in a 36-hole playoff but not until the Georgian had holed a testing 12-foot downhill curling putt on the final hole to get into the playoff. Other national championships followed but it was the famed '74 US Open -- dubbed, "The Massacre at Winged Foot," that forever etched in stone the reputation of the West Course. The winning score was 287 -- seven-over-par by a talented up and comer named Hale Irwin. The most recent US Open came in 2006 when several key players lost an opportunity to win the event -- the most notable being Phil Mickelson surrendering a one shot lead with a concluding double-bogey on the 18th hole. A 6th US Open is planned for the West Course in 2020.
Unlike other notable courses in golf-rich Westchester County -- Winged Foot is on fairly mundane parksland. There is a bit of ground movement but no one would call it remotely hilly. The strength of the course comes with the utra-demanding putting surfaces. Tillinghast created pear-shaped greens with abrupt slopes from back-to-front. There are internal contours as well to contend with too. The greens are ably defended by flanking deep bunkers pushed ever so closely to the putting surfaces. Missing a tad either right or left results in demanding recoveries. Hitting too far into the greens to secure a more wider landing area can mean vexing putts await.
In the '74 US Open Jack Nicklaus hit the 1st green in regulation -- having a birdie putt from 25-feet. His next putt was 28 feet coming back to the hole. Two additional putts had the Golden Bear flummoxed as he left the green.
The West begins with a fearsome quartet of holes. There is no "warm-up" hole on the West. The opener is 450 yards and turns ever so gently right-to-left in the drive zone. The drive is demanding but the approach is even more so. Failing to land the approach near enough by the pin location almost ensures a quick three-putt -- akin to what Nicklaus endured.
In the next three holes you encounter two additional long par-4's sandwiched between a demanding long par-3 that features a smallish green that looks even smaller as two bunkers push ever so close to the target. To make matter even more interesting out-of-bounds is right behind the green. In the '59 Open winner Billy Casper wisely layed-up in front and was able to make par with a chip and putt strategy.
Since the West plays as a par-70 during key events it has only two par-5 holes and a quartet of par-3's. However, it is the strong two-shot holes where Tillinghast pushes the player to deliver time after time. Nine of the twelve are at 450 yards or more. Unfortunately, the club has decided to keep fairway widths close to 25 yards and the rough encountered is often dense and quite deep. Why this is done is beyond me. The West doesn't need to be "helped" given the inherent design characteristics.
Unfortunately, there seems to be the belief among too many clubs worldwide -- Royal Portrush does similarly with Dunluce in Northern Ireland as does Muirfield in Scotland -- that additional demands must be included by preparing rough to be a full shot penalty. The recovery shot -- an element central to the playing of the game -- is then frankly eliminated unnecessarily. Widening the fairways in the range of 30-35 yards would add more versatility providing for more playable angles into the greens. The straight razor-cut fairways frankly only allow a predictable "one-way" dynamic and a number of the fairway bunkers are actually not in play because of rough that envelopes them and prevents stray tee shots from running into them.
That's not to say there aren't interesting holes at the West. The short par-4 6th is often undervalued. At just 321 yards the bold play is for strong golfers to give it a go for the green. That's often the wrong strategy. The green is positioned like an upside down letter "L" with a sizeable and deep frontal bunker. Landing the approach on the green when the pin is cut anywhere near the right will demand the surest of wedge shots to both hit and hold the target.
The long par-4 8th at 475 yards is another fabulous hole. The tee shot must be faded on this dog-leg right. The green, like the others, is ably defended and cannot be missed to either side.
The inward nine at WF / West begins with one of America's best mid-length par-3 holes at 190 yards. Ben Hogan was famous for saying that hitting the 10th green was the equivalent in using a 3-iron to land into someone's bedroom. Named "pulpit" by the membership -- the 10th is something to behold when standing on the tee. Getting the right yardage is complicated because unlike the other holes on the West which go on a north-south axis -- the 10th runs in an east-west direction meaning unpredictable crosswinds can happen.
In order to bolster its reputation the club decided to extend the par-5 12th to 640 yards. The added length did not mean a better hole -- just one that mandated three predictable shots to reach the green.
It is the final five holes where the West has earned its reputation as a stout no-compromising course. Each is a par-4 hole and none can be taken lightly when playing for a championship or just a friendly wager. The 14th provides a striking elevated green pad that like so many others on the West plays smaller than it appears. The par-4 15th is superb mid-length hole sliding downhill and then climbing to a magnificent green diagonally angled from lower left to back right. What many may not know is that Fred Corcoran -- the man responsible for the creation of what would become the modern PGA Tour -- had a house immediately adjacent to the green and when in residence would be quick to invite players to his home for a mid-round celebration. Some never returned to the course.
The long par-4 16th adds even more demands -- mandating a very long and well-positioned tee shot on the dog-leg left. Played as a member's par-5 the hole again provides for a small putting surface ably defended by sand. The penultimate hole goes the opposite way -- calling for a controlled fade to a very deep and long green.
The final hole -- aptly named "Revelations" -- is one of the strongest concluding holes in American golf. A lone right fairway bunker is there to push players back to the middle and is well-positioned. The approach must then carry a false front that can derail many a player. One need only ask Colin Montgomerie whose approach at the 72nd hole in the '06 Open came up woefully short after deciding to take one less club when Monty's original decision was likely the right call.
The final green on the West is demanding to accurately read and arguably is the finest putting surface Tillinghast created.
What makes the West so unrelenting is how difficult it is to get near the pin on so many holes. Without finding the fairways the wherewithal to hit greens in the regulation stroke becomes near impossible with the ever present coffin-like rough. The club sadly has decided to hunker down on the ornery side in terms of course preparation and, as mentioned earlier, is totally unnecessary, given the inherent elements Tillinghast beautifully created.
Playability is compromised on the altar of sacrificing players with unyielding difficulty. A pity. Truly, less can be more in this specific instance.
By M. James Ward
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The rough presents a real challenge but is also a point that I would be critical of. I would argue it should be trimmed back opening up the playing alleys, I don’t like to see the rough keep balls out of the bunkers, ie. hazards protecting hazards. The course is difficult enough that creating more space would greatly increase the fun and playability for members really emphasizing the use of strategy and angles of approach.

Finally, the finish at Winged Foot is second to none. The last 4 holes all play very tough. 17 is a long, dogleg right par 4 requiring a perfect drive on the short grass which leaves a long iron to fairway wood into a smallish green sloping left to right. 18 is a long dogleg left requiring another prefect drive and then a truly perfect approach into a crazily undulated green with a massive false front. Just add some excellent putting and you could walk off with par or better. As history would have it many greats have collapsed on this closing stretch and more specifically this last hole. Notably Mickelson and Montgomerie who both let US Open chances slide away here.
An invite to Winged Foot is an opportunity not to be missed however, I will offer one solid piece of advice, pick the right tees for your ability. Trying to play this course too long may well result in a torturous round of golf.
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The average green at Winged Foot is 5,100 square feet, small by today’s standards. In his book about Winged Foot, Doug Smith says that there are basically two types of golf course architecture: strategic and penal. Penal is basically one line to follow to your target; if you don’t follow it you’re penalized. A strategic course is one where the golfer has several options to meet his goal, as long as the ball stays in play. Smith says both Winged Foot courses are classic strategic courses. The East course has more water and more doglegs than the West course. Many members swear the greens are tougher on the East, but the West hosts all the big championships and therefore gets all the notoriety. It’s a busy place, but the club has a no-tee time policy. Just show up and play. I had a good round, shooting in the low 90s and putting very well. By the fourth hole, all of us had chipped one in from off the green. By the end of the day, Steven had invited me to play golf at the private estate of his Rockefeller family, which I haven’t had a chance to take him up on, but you bet I will. Ninety-eight down, two to go. Larry Berle
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