I have enjoyed something of an embarrassment of riches when it comes to golf these past few weeks. That’s because I was able to play three championship courses. By that, I mean tracks that host actual championships and not lesser layouts misidentified as such by marketing mavens and PR flacks.
The first of those courses was TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, the longtime site of the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship, which will be played next week. Then, I had the pleasure of playing the iconic West Course at Winged Foot, which last week hosted perhaps the most esteemed four-ball in amateur golf, the John G. Anderson Memorial. Next up was Wannamoisett, a Donald Ross gem in Rumford, Rhode Island, that next week is once again the venue for the venerable and highly competitive Northeast Amateur.
It was a treat to tee it up on such well-designed and truly challenging tracks, even though they bruised my ego and rattled my confidence. That was in spite of the fact I had hit the ball pretty well and made sure to play the tees that in each case matched my increasingly ragged game.
I also appreciated the opportunity to see these layouts in near-championship conditions, with deep, thick rough and greens that were becoming as hard and slick as polished marble. Among other things, the experience reminded me of how tough these courses play when they host tournaments of that caliber and how skilled the tour professionals and elite amateurs who compete in them really are.
And with the U.S. Open upon us, it also seemed an especially appropriate exercise to undertake.
Consider River Highlands, where the rough running along the fairways was so gnarly that my playing partners and I had a hard time finding drives that had missed the fairways by mere feet.
Or the West at Winged Foot, where the greens seemed even a bit slicker than usual – and where I three-jacked on at least half a dozen occasions.
And Wannamoisett was a bear, with its gaping and very well-placed fairway bunkers and greens that were exceedingly difficult to hit – and hold. Another factor: the par-69 course has only one par-5 and four 3-pars, meaning that the other 13 holes are par-4s. That puts such a premium on hitting solid approach shots, many of which were in the 170- to 190-yard range, for any hopes of scoring well – and real pressure on someone who is not exactly automatic when it comes to stiffing 5-irons.
Boy, am I glad I don’t have to make a living going low on these types of tracks.
John Steinbreder
E-MAIL JOHN
Top: The rough at Wannamoisett Country Club
TRACI EDWARDS, PGA OF AMERICA VIA GETTY IMAGES