Plainfield #70 According to Golf Magazine

Plainfield Country Club, NJ, USA
Green Keeper: Greg James

More so than all but a very few Ross courses, Plainfield has genuine stand-out golf holes. Pictured
is the green complex for the 145 yard 11th, perhaps Ross's finest short one shotter.

While Donald Ross courses have been famously (or infamously) altered in order to host major championships, the vast majority of his courses have endured more passive forms of change over the decades. The four most commonplace occurences are:

1. Overzealous tree planting, which reduces Ross's wide fairways and compromise his intended playing angles.
2. Fairways that have been shifted to accomodate the tree growth, with one result being that many of Ross's fairway bunkers have become detached from the hole's playing strategy.
3. Bunker faces that were inconsistently maintained, with many acquiring flashed-up sand faces as opposed to their original grass face.
4. Ross's large-ish greens have shrunk 1-10 feet around their perimeter, thus losing many of their more interesting hole locations.

The above is as true for Ross courses in the middle of the country like French Lick and Beverly Country Club as it is to the south like at Hope Valley Country Club as it is to such New England gems as Charles River CC and Metacomet Country Club.

Plainfield Country Club, which has hosted such national events as the the 1978 Amateur and the 1987 Women's Open, had also fallen prey to the above, but unlike many clubs, Plainfield decided to do something about it.

Green Keeper Greg James first started selectively restoring the bunker faces to their original grass faced version in 1995. Given his success, the Club started to consider broadening the scope of such renovative work. To that end, they conducted interviews with several leading architects who had previous experience in working on Ross courses. They ultimately selected Hanse Golf Course Design to prepare a Master Plan to address each of the four points referenced above and in 2000, the Club committed fully to the project.

Ross aficionados were particularly pleased at the prospects of Plainfield being properly restored because it possesses as ideal topography upon which Ross ever worked. And while everone always applauds Ross for his routings, this one is a particular standout. For instance, as Gil Hanse points out, Ross's varied use of the same ridge in the creation of the 1st green, 6th hole, 7th tee, 9th tee, and 8th hole is nothing sort of brilliant.

Ross's superb routing over the property's rolling hillocks yielded many singularly distinctive holes to the point where Plainfield doesn't remind the golfer of any other Ross course. Within the eighteen holes, there are the three first rate starting holes, the mighty 7th which is one of Ross's all-time best, the tiny one shot 11th, and two sterling three shot holes on the second nine.

The old mowing pattern is evident with the fairway at one point having ended at the right edge of the
bunker, thus leaving this bunker detached from play. Hanse shifted the 1st fairway mowing
pattern ten yards to the left as per Ross's final plans. The ideal angle into the
back right to front left pitched green is once again from near this bunker.

Unfortunately, the evolution of a few of the other supporting holes tended to obscure the excellence of these standout holes. For instance, trees on the inside of the dogleg 4th had ruined the strategic merit of that hole. Hanse replaced the trees with bunkers and once again, if the golfer is willing to flirt with the bunkers and the nearby out of bounds, he will be rewarded with the ideal approach into the angled green. Further examples of improvements include the 8th fairway being shifted back to how Ross's final plan and selective tree removal on the inside of the 17th hole.

Hanse replaced trees with these bunkers on the inside of the uphill dogleg 4th hole.

Holes to Note:

1st hole, 430 yards; Not exactly a typical Ross handshake hole as an opener, nonetheless this one makes for an inspired start as the hole stretches past the clubhouse and across tumbling ground to the green below. The green is unlike any other Ross green that the authors can recall, with its fierce slope from back right to front left, save for an interesting back right shelf.

Hitting greens in regulation is not enough at Plainfield. The golfer must continually seek to
position himself underneath the hole on such sloping greens.

2nd hole, 450 yards; Tree planting was particularly popular in the northeast of the United States in the 1960s and 1970s and Plainfield was not immune to this phenomenon. Its effect on the 2nd hole was two fold. Firstly, the trees planted along the fairway masked the rolling nature of the property by giving it an enclosed feeling. Secondly, several trees were planted directly behind the green which aided the golfer with depth perception. Following Hanse's advice, the Club removed such ornamental trees and with no trees behind the green, the golfer is more keenly aware of how the green is perched on a knob and that to go over the green is to court a double bogey.

A running draw is ideal for the approach into the 2nd green. Note the clean look behind the green.

3rd hole, 180 yards; The end to what the authors consider as Ross's toughest three hole opening stretch, the pond to the right forces many players to bail left, which is precisely where Ross hide a five foot deep bunker. The resulting recovery shot back toward the pond across the left to right sloped green is not what the golfer was hoping for on the tee.

If just left of the 3rd green looks like the safe play off the tee...

...guess again!

Somerset Hills Named Top 100 Golf Courses by Golf Magazine

Somerset Hills, NJ, USA

7^th hole, 445 yards: The downhill approach with a long iron to the inviting, sloping green is one of the most appealing shots on the course. Most players do not enjoy long-iron shots, but Tillinghast had the unmatched ability to make long iron shots appealing. As with the 8^th at Pebble Beach, the relatively uninteresting tee shot becomes more significant as the player wants to catch one so he can enjoy the approach shot. The second shot is inviting, encouraging a good, aggressive swing. It is so easy to picture the proper shot landing just short and chasing up the sloping front half of the green toward the hole.

11^th hole, 415 yards: On this dogleg right around a creek, the player in control of his driver can fade his tee shot to the corner, leaving him only an 8-iron into the green. However, most will elect to hit 3-wood off the tee to the center of the fairway and take their chances with a 5-iron to this large but wildly undulating green. Either way, the golfer faces another most appealing approach shot.

12^th hole, 145 yards: A treasure in American golf; there are few more natural or appropriate water par threes. The lake short and left of the green grabs the player's attention, but the sloping green from right to left is the hole's real defense. The farther right and away from the water the golfer plays, the less his chances of making par. Conversely, many a member can perfectly use the green's slope to feed the ball toward the left hole locations. Tillinghast believed the quality of a course's par threes went a long way in determining the overall quality of the course in general. The one-shotters at Somerset help place the course among his two or three finest designs.

15^th, 365 yards: Even more so than at the 11^th, the player has a choice off this tee: play a big fade with the driver around the dogleg and down the hill to have a pitch into the green or hit a 3-wood down the center and have a 6- to 8-iron left. While the hole does not appeal from the tee, the player faces one of the best views in inland golf as he comes around the corner to look down at the angled green set inches behind a babbling creek and tucked into the trees. If there was not a golf hole here, thinks the player, this would surely be part of a garden. The green is ample to accommodate the longer approach but has more than its share of rolls to fend off any undeserving pars.

What is a recent course built that the informed golfer would describe as charming? Not many spring to mind. Why don't more architects instill the variety found at Somerset into their own designs? Why the pre-occupation with length?

One frequently heard comment about Somerset Hills is 'Boy, would I like to play there every day!' Tillinghast would have smiled.

Pine Valley Remains Top Cours in America according to Golf Magazine

Pine Valley Golf Club, NJ, USA

The approach to the 13th green embraces the best that golf course architecture offers: the golfer is
presented with strategic options ranging from playing safely to the right to attempting an
heroic carry onto the green by going left over the penal sandy scrub.

Pine Valley has long attracted superlatives. It is continually judged as the finest course in the world in large part because many would argue that a) it possesses more world class holes than any other course, b) the finest eighteen green complexes of any course, c) the finest collection of three shotters, d) the finest collection of two shotters (especially those under 370 yards), e) the finest collection of one shot holes, f) the finest three hole start and g) the finest three hole finish. In between, it has a great halfway house!

In addition to it being a famous test of golf, Pine Valley served as a central gathering point for architects to discuss and analyze specific design features during the Golden Age of golf course design. Starting in 1912 when George Crump acquired the property, a who�s-who of architects came, saw, and in some cases contributed to its design: Harry Colt, Hugh Wilson, George Thomas, William Flynn, Charles Blair Macdonald, Walter Travis, Robert Hunter, A.W. Tillinghast, Alister MacKenzie, Donald Ross, William Fownes, Charles Alison and Perry Maxwell. They all appreciated that Pine Valley raised the standard for golf course architecture and these same architects account for the majority of the great courses found in the United States.

And though Colt was paid as an advisor by Crump, and though Crump consulted with many of the architects listed above, and though Crump died before the 12th - 15th holes were put into play, there is no mistake that Crump deserves the vast majority of the credit for the incorporation of so many classic design elements. Crump is the man who found the property, who lived on site and scoured it week after week to find the ideal routing, and who oversaw the detailed construction of fourteen of the holes.

The initial 184 acres that Crump found that set the stage for this course is indeed remarkable. Set on sand dunes that bordered the ocean thousands upon thousands of years ago, the property was wind swept and scrub covered when Crump first saw it in or around 1909. One of the first architects to come see it with Crump was Charles Blair Macdonald who immediately noted, 'Here is one of the greatest courses - if grass will grow.'

And Macdonald knew what he was talking about as the property that he found for National Golf Links of America is the only other property in the world of golf that can attempt to match Pine Valley's for diversity and inspiration over the full eighteen holes. The same cannot be said for the property at Cypress Point or Royal Melbourne (West) or Royal County Down or even The Old Course at St. Andrews, each of which features nines of unequal merit. However, at Pine Valley, the level of excitement remains at an unsurpassed high from the 1st tee to the last putt on the 18th green, as we see in the hole by hole description below.

Holes to Note

1st hole, 425 yards; Considered the finest 19th hole in golf, the 8,300 square foot green starts as an extension of the fairway and ends as a peninsula with sharp fall offs on all three sides. The demand for clear thinking is immediate: with the front portion of the green ample in width, is the golfer content to be on the front and take two putts to get down? Or is he confident enough to chase after the back hole locations where the green narrows? A wonderful dilemma posed by a bunkerless green site.

As taken from the right side of the green complex, an approach lost slightly right is kicked away
from the green and towards death. A similar fate awaits on the left side and over as well.

2nd hole, 365 yards; Some selective underbrush clearing has recently occured on a hole by hole basis with the view that finding one's golf ball and then hitting it is an integral part to the spirit of the game. The search process for a lost ball is quicker and indeed the golfer is more apt to have a recovery shot that he could attempt. The benefit of this clearing was seen when a play-off of six men for two spots arrived at the 2nd tee. Two of the six posted a bogey and a double bogey - and they advanced! The other four men had driven poorly and found their teeballs in the sandy ruts that line either side of the 2nd fairway. They then tried miraculous recovery shots which alas proved their undoing. While this fairway is perhaps the most imperative one to hit on the course, the real terror of the hole for the class golfer is its mammoth putting surface, with its series of waves that run from left to right across the pitched green. Why the contours of this green haven't been emulated at other courses is a mystery.

The green contours that make putting so treacherous are evident from the right side of the green.
The caddie's feet are well below the day's back hole location.

3rd hole, 180 yards; Because of its high right side, the general right to left sweep of the green, and the bunker that protects the left side, many people consider this hole a Redan while in fact it is not. However, it may well offer more options than a Redan. Its front right hole location can be nightmarish but its back left one is lots of fun as the golfer watches from the elevated tee as his draw releases across the green towards it.

The imaginative shape of the 3rd green offers numerous interesting hole locations.

4th hole, 445 yards; Crump was a master at fitting the green to the hole. Given that the 4th is the second longest two shotter on the course behind the 13th, it therefore comes as no surprise to find the green is open in front and is one of the biggest on the course at 9,700 square feet. The green itself follows the general slope of the land, which is from front to back. Having one's approach finish near the front hole locations is tricky (as the ball wants to wander to the back) but the the golfer who takes on the dogleg off the tee gains a real advantage by coming into the green with a shorter club.

Because of its famous island fairways and greens, Pine Valley has been misunderstood as accepting
only an aerial game. The approach to the 4th green is a clear example of the importance
that Crump associated with the ground game.

5th hole, 230 yards; At Harry Colt's suggestion, Crump pushed the green 60 yards further up the hill, thus creating a long one shotter that is considered by many as being the supreme long one shotter among inland courses along with the 9th at Yale, the 13th at The Addington and 6th at West Sussex . Some golfers more closely associate this hole with Pine Valley than any other thanks to its heroic and penal nature. However, other golfers who appreciate Pine Valley first and foremost for its strategic dilemmas may find a dozen or so holes on the course more readily appealing. Regardless, the hole is another example of Pine Valley's sterling routing as it gets the golfer from the lower 4th green by the clubhouse up to the ridge that the 6th hole plays along.

The famous view of the one shot 5th, whose green is well elevated above its tee.

Nothing good happens to the golfer if he misses the 5th green to the right. However, some of the
underbrush has been cleared since Gene Litter found misery in there during his 1960s
Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match. Note the fairway short of the green.

6th hole, 390 yards; This dogleg to the right features one of the game's finest angles of play. To carry the scrub straightahead off the tee is only 140 yards, but that would leave the golfer well over 200 yards into the green. Conversely, the boldest line requires a carry of 275 yards but the golfer would be left with a little wedge into the green. Regardless of which line the golfer takes, the closer his tee ball hugs the inside of the dogleg (i.e. the closer it is to the trouble), the better angle he has into the green, which is protected on its left front side by a bunker.

The golfer must elect which line to pursue from the elevated tee. The further right he goes, the
shorter approach shot he'll have and the better angle into the green.

7th hole, 580 yards; Relatively speaking, this hole occupies the flatest stretch of property on the course, so to give the hole life, Crump left what would become probably the course's single most famous hazard - Hell's Half Acre, which bisects the fairway from the 285 to the 380 yard mark. A.W. Tillinghast was mightily impressed and would later incorporate such a Sahara bunkering scheme into several of his finest three shot holes including the 17th at Baltusrol Lower, the 14th at Five Farms course of Baltimore Country Club and the 3rd at Fenway Golf Club. While Hell's Half Acre puts pressure on the second shot, it's actually the tee ball that is crucial for the good player: if the golfer doesn't find the fairway, he knows that his only play will be to pitch out short of Hell's Half Acre. The green contours are often overlooked but are among the finest on the course.

Hell's Half Acre - with such natural hazards, Pine Valley enjoyed a timeless look from the outset.

8th hole, 320 yards; Given Pine Valley's fearsome reputation around the world, many first time players are surprised to find that they are likely to have a short iron approach shot into at least four holes (here, the 10th, 12th and 17th). George Crump believed in testing the full range of shots AND he also understood that a ticklish wedge shot could be just as worrisome/vexing as a full blooded wood or long iron shot. Since Crump's death in 1918, Pine Valley has never once fallen prey to the false quest for length that first gripped America in the 1960s and that is currently ruining such designs as Augusta National. Crump brilliantly kept the 8th short in length, thus guaranteeing that the golfer would have a pitch shot off a tricky sidehill, downhill stance. To compound matters, the tiny green measures a mere 2,900 square feet and now features a false front that Perry Maxwell built. Crump could have easily located the green some 30-40 yards further back (i.e. where the 9th tee is today) but that would have negated the need for the golfer to handle an approach from an awkward stance.

This photograph captures the 8th hole's primary defenses: the sloping fairway and its tiny green.

Nicklaus/PGA teaching grants awarded to 18 chapters of The First Tee - Two NJ Chapters are Recipients

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- The PGA Foundation, in conjunction with golf legend Jack Nicklaus, has begun the 2008 golf season awarding teaching grants totaling $90,000 to 18 chapters of The First Tee representing 14 states.

To date, 155 of the 206 active chapters of The First Tee nationwide have been recipients of either a PGA of America or Nicklaus/PGA teaching grant. The combined PGA and Nicklaus/PGA grants total $1,810,000.

Since 2001, The PGA of America and Nicklaus have partnered to create a $2 million endowment to provide teaching grants to certified chapters of The First Tee that utilize PGA Professionals for instruction.

"The PGA of America is proud to kick off this New Year with our partner Jack Nicklaus to extend Nicklaus/PGA Teaching Grants coast to coast," said PGA of America President Brian Whitcomb. "The wonderful messages and reports we receive are that these grants continue to produce success stories in communities. The First Tee momentum has helped grow the game of golf and brought many young people into the game."

The program continues to highlight The PGA of America's commitment to partner with its PGA Professionals to grow participation in golf.

The current Nicklaus/PGA teaching grants totaling $5,000 each have been awarded to The First Tee Chapters in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.

Since its inception in 1997, there are 206 chapters of The First Tee in operation and 264 golf-learning facilities that have introduced the game of golf and its values to more than 2.2 million participants and students (which include the students of the National School Program). The focus is to give young people of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop, through golf and character education, life-enhancing values such as honesty, integrity and sportsmanship.

The PGA Growth of the Game Program is one of a number of initiatives administered by The PGA of America through its PGA Foundation

The PGA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity, is dedicated to enhancing lives through the game of golf. The Foundation provides people of every ability, race, gender, and social and economic background an opportunity to experience the game and learn vital life lessons. The PGA Foundation achieves its mission through programs which provide instruction and access to playing the game of golf along with enriching those lives by providing educational, employment and scholarship opportunities.

For more information about the PGA Foundation, visit www.pgafoundation.org, or call (561) 624-7612.

Nicklaus/PGA of America Teaching Grant - $5,000 awarded to each chapter
The First Tee of Greater Trenton - Hamilton, N.J.
The First Tee of The Tri-Valley - Pleasanton, Calif.
The First Tee of Myrtle Beach - Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The First Tee of Columbia Basin - Pasco, Wash.
The First Tee of New Orleans - New Orleans, La.
The First Tee of Albany - Albany, Ga.
The First Tee of Clearwater - Clearwater, Fla.
The First Tee of Modesto - Modesto, Calif.
The First Tee of Metropolitan NY/Essex County - Newark, N.J.
The First Tee of Northern Nevada - Reno, Nev.
The First Tee of Eagle County - Edwards, Colo.
The First Tee of Idaho - Boise, Idaho
The First Tee of the Lake Norman Region - Cornelius, N.C.
The First Tee of Central Louisiana - Pineville, La.
The First Tee of Harford County, Md. - Aberdeen, Md.
The First Tee of Metropolitan NY/Nassau County - East Meadow, N.Y.
The First Tee of Metropolitan NY/Golf Club at Chelsea Piers - New York, N.Y.
The First Tee of Brazoria County - Lake Jackson, Texas

Since 1916, The PGA of America's mission has been twofold: to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf.

By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, the Association enables PGA Professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them as experts in the game and in the $195 billion golf industry.

By creating and delivering dramatic world-class championships and exciting and enjoyable golf promotions that are viewed as the best of their class in the golf industry, The PGA of America elevates the public's interest in the game, the desire to play more golf, and ensures accessibility to the game for everyone, everywhere.

The PGA of America brand represents the very best in golf.

Classic Courses: Pine Valley Golf Club

© L.C. Lambrecht
Pine Valley, New Jersey
By Pamela Emory At Pine Valley there are two standing bets: 1) An average player won’t break 100 or a good player 90 the first time he plays the course. 2) On at least one hole the player will score more than five shots above par. Once, somebody played holes 13–15 in 7-1-11. His opponent won the 15th hole with a 10. Another player who often shot in the mid-70s had his second shot to the short par-4 8th hole bounce off the green. His opponent was on the green in two—but putted off. The hole was halved in 11. In the 1950s Woodie Platt, a very good golfer from Philadelphia, began one particular round 3-2-1-3. Platt, then six under, stopped at the bar in the clubhouse adjacent to the 5th tee to recount his accomplishment. There he remained for three hours and later explained: “Why go on? I couldn’t do any better—only worse.’” What makes Pine Valley so difficult is that the course was carved into the Pine Barrens of south New Jersey, so scrub pines vie with natural sand, which has been used so effectively in the course’s design, for dominance. One bunker is affectionately called “Hell’s Half Acre,” but it really covers three times that. In fact, there’s so much sand at Pine Valley that the club has its own sand and gravel pits. But it’s the proportion and arrangement of sand and “grungle”—a combination of scrubby, twisting vegetation, Scotch broom, honeysuckle, cacti and imported heather growing in the sand—that give the course the look of an Army training ground. For the accomplished golfer Pine Valley is relatively short at 6,999 yards. It also has wide fairways, no out of bounds and huge, sloping greens. To top-caliber players, the typical Pine Valley tee shot isn’t alarming: An airborne shot must carry some 140 to 184 yards in order to reach the desired fairway. As for the first-time visitor, take either of the standard bets. Nowhere are golf’s mind games put more to the test. Just knowing that the first slightly mis-hit shot may ruin your score can easily paralyze you, waiting for disaster to happen. God made Pine Valley, some argue, but the human most responsible for the brilliant layout is George Arthur Crump. The miracle Crump achieved is the result of his ability to allow nature to exist without too much meddling, his knowing exactly what he wanted before he started, his willingness to listen to other people’s design ideas, and a result of the era not being fully mechanized. When harsh weather closed Philadelphia golf courses, Crump and his friends sometimes headed for Atlantic City where they knew courses would be open for play. By the fall of 1912 the group had decided it was time for a year-round course close to Philadelphia. Crump was put in charge of finding the land. It seems, according to club lore, that on one Atlantic City trip Crump pointed out the train window and said to his pals, “That’s it! That’s the place for our course.” Another version has it that Crump knew of this parcel of land before the search began because he had hunted on it for years. Yet another has Crump owning the land, apparently having inherited it from his father. Anyone familiar with golf and this land would have seen it contained a number of natural elements we now commonly associate with a good, interesting course: rolling terrain, water, trees and a sandy-based soil. Immeasurable credit must go to Crump for not thinking he could improve on what nature had already put there. According to The Pine Valley Golf Club—a Chronicle, Crump knew exactly what he wanted his year-round prize to be: “He abandoned parallelism. He desired to keep each hole free of view of any other. He wanted no more than two successive holes in the same direction. He believed a course should ‘box the compass.’ He felt a layout should provide every ‘shot in the bag.’ He thought that in fairness to a long shot the player should have ample green to hit to, a smaller shot (deserving) a smaller green. More than anything else, he believed that a good shot should be rewarded and a bad one penalized—even if severely.” Not only did Crump listen to and adopt some of Englishman Harry S. Colt’s design ideas (Colt designed the New Course at St. Andrews and revised the English Course at Sunningdale Golf Club in England), he also invited other good players, especially those with an eye toward architecture, to Pine Valley to get their impressions about his early work in progress. In the early 20th century Philadelphia was home to some of golf’s greatest architects, including A.W. Tillinghast and George C. Thomas Jr. Their praise for Crump’s work was unanimous. The first thing you come to after crossing the same railroad tracks that took Crump and his pals to Atlantic City is a small white building with a simple sign that reads: Borough of Pine Valley. After that, it all seems reminiscent of a trip to summer camp. You are welcomed by tall pine trees, more white buildings and a narrow road winding around lily-covered ponds. Where the road turns and the pond comes into full view, the enormity of Pine Valley hits home. To the left looking up the hill is the 18th tee and fairway, but you’ve never seen such a wide green, closely crisscrossed-mown and cared-for fairway. Through the trees ahead you catch a glimpse of the clubhouse, an understated stucco edifice. Soon you pass by another pond—where Crump had his bungalow—and directly below the clubhouse is the famous 5th hole, the 232-yard par 3 that’s played uphill to a severely sloping green. Perennially ranked first in the world, Pine Valley remains the most coveted invitation in golf. Not long ago in the Las Vegas airport, two men were overheard introducing themselves. One said to the other, “I’m from the Delaware Valley and I’ve played Pine Valley once.” He didn’t need to say more.