Scioto Country Club, Ohio
By: Jeff Lyttle Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, will forever be indelibly linked with one of the greatest golfers of all time: Jack Nicklaus. It was, however, another great—Bobby Jones—who put Scioto on the golf map. Jones came to Scioto’s then par-5 18th hole in the final round of the 1926 U.S. Open needing […]
The Orchards Golf Club, Massachusetts
The great golf secret of the Berkshires was the achievement of Donald Ross at the Orchards, followed by the unspoken tale of the course’s decline. A round of applause, then, for its stirring comeback. On New England woodland that creaks, slants and upwells into drumlins and ridges, Ross was always able to see the future. […]
River Oaks Country Club, Texas
River Oaks Country Club illustrates two of the main themes in the evolution of course design in America. Donald Ross’ original layout of 1923 was a classical example of his strategic style of design, while Joe Finger’s redesign of the late 1960s combined modern engineering with elements of the penal style to stiffen the […]
Plainfield Country Club, New Jersey
Scotsman Tom Bendelow, whose 1898 layout survives in part at Plainfield Country Club, bore the unfair burden of this dismissive catchphrase supposedly describing his course-design methodology. The Plainfield we’re most familiar with today is a tough-but-fair Donald Ross design, but its link to the pre-Ross era only adds to its historical significance. Most tradition-minded […]
Augusta Country Club, Georgia
Like the guy who married Halle Berry, Augusta Country Club is notable for who it stands beside. The Country Club and Augusta National Golf Club share a fence, a famous creek, a valley and a couple dozen members. Their histories intertwine, too, as histories always do in little Southern towns. While the rest of […]
Pittsburgh Field Club, Pennsylvania
During the 2007 U.S. Open, one of the world’s greatest courses was occupied, wearing down the best players in the world. But savvy visitors to Pittsburgh were able to enjoy a round at Pittsburgh Field Club just a few miles from Oakmont, across the Allegheny River. While it doesn’t have nearly the bite of […]
Wykagyl Country Club
Measuring a mere 6,702 yards, Wykagyl Country Club does not intimidate on paper, but since it was built more than a century ago, its relentlessly hilly, rocky terrain has provided a worthy challenge for the game’s best. And if not for a location in the heart of New York’s golf-rich Westchester County, where neighbors […]
Upstate New York: An Overshadowed Golf Region
When it comes to golf in the state of New York, most of the attention is focused on the New York City metropolitan area—for good reason. After all, it is home to U.S. Open sites Bethpage, Shinnecock Hills and Winged Foot, not to mention courses like National Golf Links of America, Maidstone, Garden City and Quaker Ridge that […]
