Quaker Hill Country Club

Pawling, NY; www.quakerhillcc.com
• 6,010 yards • Par 70

Many clubhouses in the Hudson Valley are blessed with fascinating artifacts from the early days of the game. Only one, however, can boast a fragment of limestone from the palace of Sargon II dating to 700 BC; a tilefrom Jamestown, the first English settlement in Virginia; and a stone from the Peary Monument that stands 1,500 feet above the Polar Sea in Greenland. These are just a few of the wonders built into the fireplace of the Quaker Hill Country Club, founded by adventurer, traveler, broadcaster, and bon vivant Lowell Thomas in 1940.

Thomas was also an avid golfer, so he brought his friend Robert Trent Jones, Sr., to the fertile farmland of Dutchess County to lay out a nine hole course on top of a plateau where the views never end. Sam Snead, Gene Sarazen, and Jimmy Demaret were among Thomas’ friends who played the course, as were New York Governors Thomas Dewey and Nelson Rockefeller. So was Babe Ruth, who is pictured in a clubhouse montage arriving on a motorcycle.

The course continues to challenge golfers today with tiny undulating greens and two full sets of tee boxes that allow for a complete 18-hole round without repetition. Even though you cover the same ground twice, you never play a hole the same way due to vastly different shot angles introduced by the distinct tee boxes. Even the par threes aren’t just longer or shorter — the fourth/13th hole, for example, makes you approach the green from two completely different directions. The number one handicap hole, the 403-yard par-four fifth, becomes a short but treacherous 455-yard par-five the second time around as the back-nine tee box brings out of bounds into play on the hole.

Probably the most striking thing about Quaker Hill, though, isn’t the 19th-century barn converted into a clubhouse and museum full of history, or even the delightful and perfectly maintained golf course. It’s the casual, friendly atmosphere of a small family club without pretensions.

» Next country club: Manhattan Woods Golf Club, West Nyack, NY

 

 

Manhattan Woods Golf Club, Hole 7 Photograph by Jim Krajicek

Manhattan Woods Golf Club

West Nyack, NY; www.manhattanwoodsgc.com
• 7,109 yards • Par 72

Rolling hills, protected wetlands, and devilish greens are the hallmarks of Manhattan Woods, although a view of the eponymous skyline to the south helps define the club as one of the metropolitan area’s finest golf experiences.

Gary Player designed the course, which opened in 1998. He carefully fit 18 holes into the wooded terrain, squeezing fairways between marshy wetlands and hillsides covered with knee-deep fescue while carving bunkers into the most challenging places. Five sets of tees stretch it from 5,090 yards to a championship-caliber 7,109. Choose your launching pad carefully. From the blues it’s less than 6,400 yards, but the course rating is a hefty 72.2 with a 141 slope.

You’ll also want to look before you leap on several holes, since many of the natural features can suggest strategies that aren’t wise. Several forced carries aren’t as long as they look, and many of the hazards have bail-out areas that are actually good strategic choices. On the other hand, sometimes there really is trouble everywhere you look, like on the 13th hole, a short (508 yard) par five where the bunker that lies between your second shot and glory is every bit as menacing as it appears. And the oh-so-innocent-looking par three seventh hole, just 168 yards downhill, can make club selection a nightmare when the wind is whirling and swirling around. Miss that green in any direction, and a five or six is entirely possible.

The Manhattan Woods greens are among the most difficult in the Hudson Valley. Not only are they strongly contoured, they have exceptionally pronounced grain that add an entirely new dimension to reading breaks. If you are trying to putt cross-grain your ball will break more or less than you think, while going down-grain is like rolling your pill on the hood of a Mercedes. You can’t rely on your eyes, either. If your caddie says your putt breaks uphill, believe him—he’s reading the grain.

Another thing you’ll notice the first time you play Manhattan Woods is what happens when your ball finds the hole. You won’t hear the usual satisfying rattle that comes when you hole out, but rather a distinctive “ping” that comes from the unique cups designed to let your playing partners know you didn’t give yourself that little two-footer while they had their backs turned.

» Next country club: The Sedgewood Club, Kent Lakes, NY

The Sedgewood Club

Kent Lakes, NY; www.thesedgewoodclub.com
• 6,010 yards • Par 70

When you cross the rustic wooden bridge that brings you into Sedgewood it’s like entering another place and time. Hidden among 1,200 acres of protected woodlands is a community of getaway homes, spring-fed lakes plied by quiet fishing boats, Tilden-era red-clay tennis courts, and an 80-year-old golf course that’s still fun and funky.

Because the golf course is laid out on the hills above a lake, there are plenty of twists and turns, elevation changes and sloping, slanting fairways and greens to contend with. The first hole, for example, is a short but severe dogleg left. The second climbs relentlessly uphill, so you can be faced with a blind second shot into the tiny green if you’re a little short off the tee. The tee box for the 453-yard par-four fourth hole sits high, offering beautiful vistas of the surrounding country. At 267 yards downhill, the sixth hole is eminently driveable — as long as your tee shot is laser guided. You’ll be teeing off through a narrow chute of trees even the slightest fade will put you in a place you don’t want to be.

The course is just perfect as a nine-holer, although two sets of tees change the lengths and, in some cases, the shot values for several holes, making an 18-hole round possible if you absolutely must. For a quick, challenging game, though, it’s hard to beat a good nine-hole layout like this one.

» Next country club: Otterkill Golf & Country Club, Campbell Hall, NY

Otterkill Golf & Country Club

Campbell Hall, NY; www.otterkillcountryclub.com
• 6,860 yards • Par 72

Looking for a Hudson Valley golf challenge? Try Otterkill. It’s long, it’s tough, and it’s got more trouble than just about any two courses you can name.

“You’ll use every club in your bag,” says head professional John Schmoll. “Fifteen through 18 are known as ‘Amen Corner’ around here, and if you can get around there in par, you’re definitely beating the golf course and your competition.” Water, mostly from Otterkill, the creek from which the club gets its name, comes into play on 12 holes, while strategically spotted fairway bunkers, demanding carries off several tees, and large, undulating greens add to the fun. Just to make things more interesting, landing areas on several fairways are less than 20 yards wide.

The number one handicap hole is the 438-yard par-four fifth, which demands both length and accuracy off the tee, since the fairway turns a full 90 degrees left. Assuming you make the dogleg from the tee, you’re faced with an approach over water to a sharply contoured green. The hardest hole for many players on the front nine, though, is the 196-yard third hole, a par three that plays at least one club — maybe two — uphill. The odds of short-siding yourself are tremendous, too, since the green runs away on three sides.

The real heartbreakers at Otterkill are the last four holes. Fifteen is a dogleg right par-four. Your approach has to avoid water right and short, sand on both sides of the green, and even out of bounds near the green (one of the largest on the course) so you should double-check the pin position before you fire. Sixteen is a short (324 yard) but nasty par four with water, water everywhere. During the 2008 MGA Ike qualifying tournament, it played as the hardest hole on the course.

Seventeen looks like an easy par three at only 189 yards, but short is wet, left leaves an impossible up and down, and even getting on the severely sloped green in one shot doesn’t guarantee a two-putt par. Your tee shot on the closing hole, a 412-yard par four, is key to making par. It’s easy to drive into the trees on the right, but don’t even think of trying to cut the left corner unless you brought your scuba gear.

» Return to Hudson Valley/Westchester Golf Guide 2012

When Peter Allen wrote “Everything Old Is New Again,” he could have easily been talking about Pinehurst Resort, where the recent restyling of famed Pinehurst No. 2 has breathed new life into the venerable North Carolina must-visit golf destination. Today, you won’t find men playing golf in ties and top hats, nor many women wearing bustles and shoes with a dozen buttons, but you will be able to play a unique and exciting golf course, much the way it was originally envisioned. And the experience will delight you.

You’ll also find an enchanting village with a host of amenities and activities ranging from stellar restaurants to lawn bowling, croquet, and horseback riding; tours of historic homes; and a festival of some sort nearly every weekend. But golf is the main attraction. The Pinehurst Resort is home to not just one course, but eight, each one distinct and providing golf fun for players of every level. If those eight aren’t enough to scratch your golf itch, there are dozens and dozens of other courses within easy driving distance.

The big draw, though, is Pinehurst No. 2, fabled for its turtle-back greens and as the site of countless championship tournaments, including two U.S. Opens (1999 and 2005), the PGA Championship (1936), and the Ryder Cup (1951). Walking the same fairways trod by Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Payne Stewart, and other luminaries of the game adds a whole other dimension to your round on No. 2. In 2014, today’s stars will light up the course as it sets another record, becoming the first venue to host both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open Championships within a week of each other.

The course the pros tackle will be completely different from the one where Payne Stewart punctuated his win of the U.S. Open in 1999 with an iconic fist pump that’s memorialized by a statue overlooking the 18th green. Today’s No. 2 has been restored so that it plays the way Donald Ross intended in the mid-1930s. Architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (who also managed the rebuild of Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle) took a long hard look at photographs of the course from that era. They discovered that the modern course, with its lush fairways; even lusher Bermuda grass roughs; and sharply-defined bunkers, greens, and tees, was nothing like Ross’s original design. The duo kept the routing and the basic green contours, but changed — for the better — just about everything else.

There is no more rough on Pinehurst No. 2, but before you start celebrating, take a close look at what replaced the 35 acres of thick but boring grass off the fairways. Now you’ll find sand, pine needles, hardpan, and hundreds of thousands of wiregrass plants, spiky tufts of toughness that will eat your errant ball and maybe even the club you used to hit it. Bunkers that had been covered by turf over the years were reclaimed, while some of the existing ones were tugged further into the fairways to squeeze landing areas and torment those who dare challenge the layout. The characteristic Pinehurst No. 2 greens were restored to profiles that more naturally tie into the surrounding grades, although they remain distinctly turtle-backed and can be devilishly cruel. The result: there’s simply more to deal with on every shot.

The course not only plays differently, it looks different, too. The number of sprinkler heads was cut by more than half so that water reaches only the center of the fairways, which in turn blend into the sandy soil the way nature (and Donald Ross) originally intended. Tee areas, fairways, and even the aprons around the green are all mowed to the same height, making for a visually stunning and unique golf experience.

(Continued on next page)

The second hole, which played as the most difficult in the 2005 U.S. Open, represents everything the restoration was meant to accomplish. As a 503-yard par four, it’s obviously long. What’s not so obvious from the tee, though, is exactly where you’re supposed to hit the ball. Aim straight for the green, and you’ll end up in the hardpan or in a clump of wiregrass. And plan your approach carefully, too, since this is the first of the true turtle-backs on the course. More than one golfer has rolled off, chipped over, bounced back over, and more — all before getting a chance to putt.

It’s tempting, but don’t spend all your golf time on No. 2. There are seven other courses at Pinehurst that are well worth exploring. More than 140 pot bunkers will complicate your round on No. 4, a 6,658-yard par 72 Tom Fazio redesign that was the site of the 2008 U.S. Amateur. It’s definitely a must-play. Traditionalists should also play No. 5, designed by Ellis Maples, where you’ll encounter more water than on any other course at the resort. No. 6 was renovated in 2005 with new bunkers and faster greens, making it a real test. Hudson Valley golfers will feel right at home on No. 7, where elevation changes, wetlands, and large, undulating greens add to the challenge designed by Rees Jones. Tom Fazio built many traditional dips and swales around sloping greens to daunt players on the 6,698-yard No. 8, which commemorated Pinehurst’s centennial in 1996.

With so much golf to play and so many other things to do, Pinehurst is a place worth more than a three-day weekend. Available accommodations include the historic Holly, a boutique hotel with charmingly decorated rooms and public areas; the original grand copper-roofed Carolina; the Manor, a sportsman-style lodge; and numerous condominiums to handle groups of all sizes and budgets. Complimentary shuttle service throughout the property is responsive and efficient.

For lunch and/or libations, the Ryder Cup Lounge is hard to beat. Combine a Carolina Peach Tee (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, peach schnapps, and sweet tea) with a Pretzel Panini stacked with chicken breast, bacon, and Monterey Jack and slathered with aïoli mayonnaise, and you’re set for the day. For dinner, the best choice is the 1895 Grille at the Holly Hotel, the only Four Diamond restaurant in the area. The lobster mac and cheese with broccolini is not to be missed — it’s the perfect accompaniment to prime filet mignon.

One other thing not to miss at Pinehurst is the Carolina’s extensive display of artifacts and photos chronicling the resort’s history. The team pictures from the 1951 Ryder Cup with Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Burke, Jr., et al. is fascinating. The wide-angle shot of Payne Stewart pumping his fist on the 18th green just months before his death will send shivers up your spine. But there are fun displays, too, like the photos of Annie Oakley, who ran the Pinehurst Gun Club from 1916 to 1920 and gave exhibitions at the hotel twice a week. Makes you wonder what kind of golfer she was, doesn’t it?

Pinehurst Resort
80 Carolina Vista Dr., Pinehurst, NC
855-235-8507; www.pinehurst.com

Fly to Raleigh-Durham International Airport (75 miles from the resort) Shuttle — $65 each way
The Classic Golf Package, as of spring 2012, starts at $241 per person with overnight stay, one round of golf (on course No. 1, 3, or 5), breakfast, and a sleeve of Titleist golf balls. (See Web site for 30-percent-discount applicable dates.)
The Pinehurst Golf Package, including accommodations, one round of golf per night (choose course No. 1, or from courses 3 through 8), breakfast, use of practice range, club storage, and a sleeve of Titleist golf balls starts at $361 for double occupancy at the Manor, and $466 for single occupancy.

» Return to Hudson Valley/Westchester Golf Guide 2012

Click on the gallery of images below to check out our favorite golf gear this year:

» Return to Hudson Valley/Westchester Golf Guide 2012

The next time you tee it up at one of Westchester’s country clubs, don’t be surprised if you spot a celebrity or two on the course with you. Just remember to wait until after they sink that knee-knocker putt to ask for an autograph.

The famous (and infamous) practically have their own wing in the locker room at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff. Chief among them is former Commander in Chief Bill Clinton, aka the president of the United States (his handicap is a state secret, as are his tee times).

The Donald himself not only belongs to the club but owns it, of course, and carries a 3.7 handicap index — for real! Other denizens of the Trump locker room include former Yankees manager Joe Torre (we diehard fans refuse to recognize that other job he recently held), as well as actors Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood, although they’re usually seen on courses on the other coast.

The most successful writer on the planet, James Patterson, calls Sleepy Hollow his home during the warmer months. You’ll find Caddyshack’s Carl Spackler — er, Bill Murray — there, too.

New York’s Mayor Mike (Bloomberg, that is) occasionally can be found at the Golf Club of Purchase when he’s not playing with President Barack Obama on Martha’s Vineyard.

As you might expect, several New York-based sportscasters play their pasture pool on Westchester courses. Nearly fanatic golfer Bryant Gumbel, host of HBO’s Real Sports, belongs to both Whippoorwill and Hudson National. NBC’s Jimmy Roberts can be found at Westchester Country Club when he’s not covering the PGA Tour (among other great assignments), while WNBC sports anchor Bruce Beck tees it up at Fenway.

Looking for stars of the big and small screens? Entourage headliner Kevin Dillon belongs to Winged Foot, carrying on a devotion to the game he got from his father, Paul Dillon, whose contributions to golf were recognized with the 2010 MGA Distinguished Service Award.

Chris O’Donnell, star of CBS’s NCIS-Los Angeles, is a member at Westchester Country Club.

Plenty of celebs chase the little white ball around the Hudson Valley, too. Among them: The Fighter’s Mark Wahlberg and NFL star and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad, both members at Manhattan Woods; actor Aidan Quinn can be found at Rockland Country Club.

It’s not all famous men and boys out there on the links, either. Fashion diva Vera Wang often plays at Pound Ridge Golf Club, the Pete Dye masterpiece her brother opened in 2008.

Westchester Hills

Pete Canepa, Manhattan; Victor Nolletti, White Plains; Jim Bilotta, Sr., Mamaroneck; Vito Iezzi, Harrison

One of the longest-running matches in county golf takes place Wednesday mornings at Westchester Hills in White Plains. That’s when Jim Bilotta, Sr., and Vic Nolletti (79 and 74 years old, respectively) tee it up against Vito Iezzi and Pete Canepa (69 and 60, respectively). Three of the four have been playing together at the club for nearly 40 years. Canepa, the youngster in the group, took his place in the foursome about 15 years ago. They often play weekends together, too.

The usual game is a five-way, three-dollar Nassau, but you’d think thousands of bucks were on the line if you heard the trash talk during the round. “Just when you think you’ve got the hole won,” Canepa says, “Vic or Jim will drop a putt and start laughing. They’re always complaining about how old they are, but, at the end of the round, I always seem to be giving them money.”
Nolletti responds, “It’s all friendly, but you still try to beat the other guys’ heads in.”

Regardless of the rivalry, Iezzi says, “These are good people — on and off the golf course.”

Leewood

Mary Schoner, New Rochelle; Ann Persico, Scarsdale; Geri Bertolini, Crestwood; Linda Arnone, Yonkers

“We laugh, we cry, we just enjoy a good round of golf,” says Mary Schoner, who has been playing for about 10 years, most of them with three friends she met at Leewood Country Club in Eastchester. Linda Arnone and Geri Bertolini are 20-plus-year golf vets, while Ann Persico took up the sport about 12 years ago. The group plays Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays as a regular foursome, but gets together other times, too.

All four say they’re pretty serious about their game, but, Persico adds, “When we play, we have the best of times.” When Schoner holed out a pitch shot on the seventh hole one day, according to Arnone, Persico flopped down into the fairway with her legs waving in the air shouting, “I give up!”

Handicaps ranging from 15 to 30 even out the matches and make dollar skins an exciting wager. But the real action takes place between shots, when the four socialize as they stroll down the fairway. Arnone, who is the reigning women’s champion at Leewood, explains, “We chitchat about the game, our husbands, and where we’re going to have our next cocktail.”

Sprain Lake

Larry Dais, Mount Vernon; Mel Williams, Bronxville; Ralph Dawson, New Rochelle; Craig Foster, Yonkers

Long-term friendships not only start on the golf course, they often migrate there as well. Ralph Dawson went to Yale with Craig Foster, then went to Columbia University where he met Larry Dais, who was friends with Mel Williams. That all happened more than 30 years before the four men set aside time from their hectic lives as management consultants, college administrators, lawyers, and talent representatives to take up golf.

They found the game not only strengthened the already-tight bonds of friendship, but helped in other ways, too. “This is a great group of guys for helping you ‘reset’ after a tough week,” says Dawson, a 62-year-old attorney. The foursome reserves a time every Saturday morning at Sprain Lake Golf Course in Yonkers. It’s a congenial group, but that doesn’t mean some serious ragging doesn’t occur. Dais, 65, who recently retired as an assistant vice president at Columbia, says with a smile, “Some of these guys are mathematically challenged. We have to audit some of the scores frequently.”

Williams, 68, and Foster, 63, say scores don’t count for much, despite the ribbing. “We all shoot around one hundred, but we have a good time,” Williams says. •

Dan Berger writes about golf and other sports from his home in Rye Brook.