Hyannisport Club

I am finally catching up on old posts from rounds played this past summer and highlight a low-key club that remains a prized invitation in the world of golf.

The Hyannisport Club was established in 1897 in Hyannisport, Mass on Cape Cod. Hyannisport Club is not ranked in the top 100, but then again neither are many other fantastic golf clubs like Whippoorwill, Myopia Hunt Club and Piping Rock. The club is located within walking distance of the Kennedy compound in Hyannis and JFK used to play here when he was on the cape. The course has world class views of the water and the surrounding tidal marshes looking out into Nantucket Sound.

The course itself was designed by Alex Findlay in 1901. Findlay was born to Scottish parents while on board a ship coming in America in 1865. It was re-designed by Donald Ross in 1936 and plays from a yardage of 6,348 yard from the tips. The course has a set of small, very fast greens. Many of the greens are quite narrow as well with bunkers on long side of the greens. More than once I found myself in a bunker and if you don't hit the perfect high shot you will find yourself in a bunker on the other side of the green.

The course begins with a relatively straight 448 yard par four, a gentle opener. This is followed by a 265 yard par four that is also relatively easy. The third features a dogleg left that plays at an angle off the tee to a fairway set over a tidal marsh. The fourth is a 410 yard dogleg  that plays around the same body of water.

The par threes on the course all feature a landing pad in front of the greens that at first slopes away from your line of play and then slopes upward. This makes the approach shots to the green very tricky because if you land your shot just a bit short and it hits on the downslope then it will likely shoot across the green. Factor in the wind and it becomes even trickier. Particularly good par threes include the 195-yard eighth, which plays into a cross-wind coming off the Sound. The fifteenth, a 177-yarder and the seventeenth, a 141-yarder play directly into the prevailing wind. All three are good golf holes.

Another hole of note is the 476-yard par five sixteenth which plays through a dramatic left to right sloping hill. Your tee shot is blind as is your second over the hill. Although you will likely have a very short iron into the green, it is also highly likely that you will have a uneven lie as the terrain slopes on the entire hole from left to right.

The holes along the water and marsh reminded me quite a bit of Maidstone in East Hampton, and many of the approach shots play the same way they do on the holes that border the pond at Maidstone. Aside from a couple of holes on the front that play over marshes the course has no water hazards.

Kennedy golfing at Hyannisport

John Kennedy followed Eisenhower as president and the latter played over 1,000 rounds while he was President. Camelot was sensitive to this fact and positioned himself as a contrast of the old guard Republicans who played golf all the time. Thus, he would normally play with little fanfare and would sneak out without the media present. He would often play a short loop of holes at Hyannisport, the first and second followed by sixteen through eighteen, all of which are near the clubhouse.

The finishing hole looks easy on the scorecard at 310 yards but it plays straight up a big hill and features a narrow tee shot. A view from above the eighteenth green overlooking Nantucket Sound and the marshes is below. One of the things that is so unique and pleasurable about golf is to be able to play where your idols have played before you. What a thrill to walk and play where JFK used to.

Kennedy on the final green at Hyannisport (photo courtesy JFK Library, public domain)