The fabled rumor that to become a member here you have to show evidence from ancestory.com that your kin were passengers on the Mayflower has not been proven, but I will say that you must bring some old school experience of seaside golf to play this marvelous course effectively. The links are configured in the shape of an hourglass and the clubhouse sits on the highest ground in the narrow waist of this layout. Nine holes go eastward toward the Atlantic which is visible throughout the outward half. The second nine meanders to the west and it is closely tied into Pleasant Bay.
The recent restoration of this course by Keith Foster brought back the openness of the playing areas and the amazing vistas of the Atlantic Ocean and Pleasant Bay. This seaside proximity conspires with the wind and the extreme topography of the site to make the day a defensive struggle against par. Whatever you know about club selection adjustment for uneven stances, elevation change, and wind effect will come into play as you must carefully choose on every shot to play safe or safer to protect your scorecard.
The challenge of the day is apparent standing on the first tee staring out at a prominent centerline bunker that is your target and certainly in play. If you are on short grass for your approach you get the combination you will see all day of a severely elevated approach to a perched green complex with a dramatic false front. Regardless of the day’s pin location you have to elevate approaches on this course a third of the way into the green to get them to stay on the putting surface.
The next two four pars have wide open driving areas but the segmentation of the landing areas and the sharp turn of the holes at the point of inflection require a very precise line of intent to give you a good look at the green complexes set above you. As you can read in the linked hole-by-hole descriptive detail at the end of this posting, the second green has an inverted contour that favors a ground approach coming from the right. The third green is a long narrow affair tucked hard up against scrub and O.B. on the right. If you reach the fourth tee within one of par you are probably one up on the front nine bet.
For me the par threes are the most memorable holes of this course because the elevation changes combined with the seaside back drops make it extremely hard to focus on the shot precision required on each. Though not very long the fourth is the wildest ride of the lot. Only a short to medium iron, this long and narrow multi-tiered green is incredibly evasive to what should be a stock knock down shot into the prevailing breeze. A 60-yard long affair this is really two greens bisected by a deep Biarritz type gully across the center.
As you walk to the green from the cart path the green contour looks like the Villanova logo so putting from one sector to through the valley is a three-putt you are trying to avoid. Take a moment to appreciate the stunning vista looking off the back of the green of an endless bay with pleasure boats bobbing in the distance.
The biggest challenge in the design of this course was the severity of the topography that needed to be negotiated. William Fowler did a brilliant job in this regard and it is very evident in his routing from 5 through 9. The holes go up and down severely hilly terrain but the placement of tees, landing areas, and green complexes make it very playable in spite of that challenge. Given that the course was designed during an era where hickory clubs dictated play closer to the ground this makes playability he presented all the more of an accomplishment.
After a fairly rudimentary scoring opportunity on the Par 5 fifth, the sixth is the number one handicap hole and may provide the most stirring shot making of the day. From a splendid vista on high teeing ground this signature hole sweeps hard to the left between a couple tall hillsides, and a well struck tee shot aimed at the island in the distance tumbles down the hill toward the low point on the hole.
The approach requires a towering middle iron to a small green complex perched up to the right with one nasty bunker flanking the right. The surf is lapping 50 feet below the green on the left so there is really nowhere safe to hit it but on the green. As scenic as this hole plays on the way from tee to green it is worth one more look back from the green to admire the view from where you came.
The eighth, which mirrors the first, gives you a wide landing area with a centerline bunker to aim at off the tee and a similar elevation to scale with a semi-blind short iron into the green.
The finishing hole on the outward half is pure eye candy as it sneaks up on the clubhouse set on the hill. From the proper drive position right center of the fairway you are likely standing on a plateau on level to a narrow green sandwiched by bunkers. The green complex sits across a dip in the fairway, so you must elevate a longer club all the way to the green’s edge.
Grab a snack from the little room tucked in the side of the clubhouse next to the driving range because the inward nine will be just as demanding as what you just experienced. You will need full sustenance and hydration to handle what lies ahead.
When you step on the tee box at the tenth it looks like an on level 175 yard shot but the devil is in the detail of the green complex. It is an inverted hour glass set on a 7 to 1 angle that does not present you very much width to work with. The front of the green is open but there is a decided pitch right-to-left once the ball is on the surface. As with so many of these Fowler approaches you must enlist the ground to be your friend to control line and distance on the roll out of these shots.
What follows is a shortish, funky five par with a bit of deception on each shot. Driving area is slightly above the tee and it looks very generous, but the proper line is up the left to avoid the ball drifting right into a low area. The second is a blind shot over a hill to a lay up zone about 75 yards from the table top green complex. As detailed in the hole-by-hole link below, this is a very shallow green so some grip on the approach is needed to give you a scoring opportunity.
The short par four that is next is a fooler because it appears unduly wide from the tee to the green but you need to mind a line up the left to reach a flat area for the short iron approach to the green set to the right. This green is an inverted bowl that will deflect balls in all directions. Even greenside recovery pitches are very hard to keep on this putting surface.
From the 14th tee to the house is a run of the most quixotic holes you play all day. The blind “Elephant Hole”, a massive grass two-story crater down the left of the driving area, is a sure path to double or worse. If you drive safely past this chasm the green sits below you with a resplendent backdrop of the bay in the distance. This green has another false front that requires your approach to land in the first third of the green to stay aboard.
The next one is the most photographed of the three pars on this course but I actually think that if you look through the eye candy it is the easiest of the lot. The three tiered green sits on a bit of a concealed diagonal so shaping it into the wind to reach the proper tier is the task at hand.
You are basically playing the steep contour of the adjacent 14th hole in reverse on the 16th so you can add a solid 20% for the hill and the prevailing wind to an already sizeable challenge. The width of the hole on the left is helpful but like the approach into the 12th you are probably facing a blind shot into this green.
Turning back to the club house for the last two the wind should be at your back. It is important to play up the left side of the penultimate hole to avoid the grab of Cahoon’s Hollow on the right and give yourself a manageable lay up past the fierce Fowler Bunker which shadows the layup area just inside of 150 yards from the green. This approach into a tight green setting is one of the coolest shots you will hit all day.
With a helping wind the home hole provides you a chance to let the big dog eat and carry the ridge across the fairway that can throw your drive well down the hill another 50 yards. As you have experienced all day the final approach is straight up the hill to a false fronted green complex at the foot of the clubhouse. Even with wind aid it is a club and a half extra to reach and stay on the putting surface.
From the green take a moment to look to your left for one last jaw dropping shoreline view across the bay at the 5-Star Wequassett Resort in the distance.
Chatham, Massachusetts
Architect: William Herbert Fowler (1922) Keith Foster (2004)
. Par Rating Slope Yardage
Black 71 72.8 142 6524
Blue 71 70.8 137 6159
Gold 71 69.4 133 5802
White 71 66.9 117 5323
Green 71 66.2 116 4710
If you would like a printable PDF of this posting including a yardage book quality hole-by-hole description of how to play the course hit the link below.
moegolf 