Winged Foot, Baltusrol and Bethpage

A.W. Tillinghast has eight courses ranked in the world top 100, more than any other architect. I have just recently completed playing all of A.W. Tillinghast's courses that are on the top 100 list. Six of his top 100 are located within 30 miles of Times Square. Nowhere in the world is there such a large concentration of courses in the top 100 by the same architect. The next closest is Alister MacKenzie's body of work in Australia.

Before reviewing the New York area Tillinghast courses, I would point out that his best design might be one of his earliest efforts - San Francisco Golf Club. Tillinghast's major New York area courses are: Winged Foot West (ranked #18 in the world), Bethpage Black (ranked #30 in the world), Baltusrol Lower (ranked #45 in the world), Quaker Ridge (ranked #61 in the world), Winged Foot East (ranked #66 in the world), and Somerset Hills (ranked #69 in the world). Not surprisingly, Tillinghast did a lot of his work in the New York area since his practice was based in New York City and Englewood, New Jersey. Tillinghast was a legendary figure. He never graduated from college, liked to drink, and was a sharp dresser with a flamboyant personality.

When you play a golf course designed by A.W. Tillinghast, you know it. Tillinghast's oeuvre is distinctive. His courses have what is called a "Tillinghast Polish". They are visually dramatic, especially his use of bunkering; his courses are a pleasure to look at.

Bethpage Black

The only public course of the six, Bethpage Black is the clearly superior of the New York area courses. It is built on the hilliest terrain of all his local courses and has the most variety. The 4th hole at Bethpage Black (pictured below) is a par five with three levels of elevation and is unquestionably one of the best in the world. A dog-leg left, you have to hit three good shots to get on the green. And you have to hit them to the appropriate side of the fairway, the right side being the more favorable coming in on your third shot. This great hole is immediately followed by the 5th hole, a very hard par four where you need to hit the ball a good 220 yards, albeit, downhill, to hit the fairway. Good luck if the wind is blowing at you as it was when I played. Your second shot plays very hard uphill. The beauty of the hole, among its visual splendor, is that the best shot off the tee should be played left to right and the best shot to the green should be played right to left.

The world-class par five 4th at Bethpage Black

The difficult 5th at Bethpage from the tee box

Bethpage doesn't have an easy (or a bad) hole on the course. Another beautiful example of Tillinghast's design style is the par four sixth which plays 408 yards from the back. The tee shot is blind and the second shot is down hill to this well protected, beautiful green guarded by a swale.

Bethpage Black's sixth green

Bethpage doesn't feature any par three's where you hit a short iron. The 161 yard par three fourteenth is as close as you'll get to an easy shot. If you consider a green this well bunkered easy, that is.

Bethpage Black's par three 14th hole

The fifteenth hole at Bethpage is a 470 yard par four that plays MUCH longer than the yardage indicates. It is not a terribly difficult fairway to hit, but the second shot plays as uphill as any shot you will ever play. It's almost straight up-hill. Definitely one of the hardest shots I have had to hit (and hit and hit) thus far playing the top 100. To give you some sense of scale, the green sits about four stories above the level of the fairway.

The exceedingly difficult 15th hole at Bethpage Black

I didn't experience any of the legendary waiting in line that the course is famous for. Nor did I have to sleep in my car the night before. I played with a friend who is a New York state resident and can book tee times up to a week in advance. I would comment that the Long Island male, though, is a unique breed. They are a cross between two distinct and not necessarily complimentary personality traits. Half the time charming, funny and entertaining and the other half in-your-face obnoxious. Staying to have a beer in the clubhouse after the round is mandatory so you can soak up the true attitude of the Long Island male in all his regal splendor. You will no doubt remember it.

Winged Foot

The opposite end of the universe from Bethpage from a social status standpoint is the Winged Foot Golf Club located above New York City in Westchester County. Along with St. Andrews, Pebble Beach and Pinehurst, it is an undisputed golf Mecca. When you turn off Mamaroneck road, Winged Foot has an impressive winding entry drive and a dramatic, beautiful clubhouse that sits in the middle of the site surrounded by tall trees. You know you are someplace special when you arrive at Winged Foot.

The fifth green at Winged Foot West

Winged Foot has perfected that uniquely American art of the country club. There is a ritualized process to everything about the club. You arrive and the caddie master takes your clubs out of your trunk and welcomes you. After you park, you go into the locker room where the attendant organizes a locker for you and offers to change your spikes if needed. While playing, he cleans your street shoes off. Next, your caddie awaits to guide you around the course. After the round, you enjoy some food and drink in the grill room where the elegant wooden boards proclaim the past winners of championships held at the course. You are served by employees that have perfected the art of service and making you feel at home. Winged Foot is known for being very generous with its employees, many of whom have been in long service at the club and are treated like family. When Henry Longhurst wrote "one of the great unpurchaseble assets in any golf club is the continuity of staff", he must have been thinking of Winged Foot.

The entry drive at Winged Foot

Winged Foot is the only club with the distinction of having two courses ranked in the top 100. I played the East and West courses at Winged Foot on different days and at different times of the year: The West on a brilliant summer day. The East on a cool, drizzly, fall day. Both times I very much enjoyed sitting around the clubhouse, the first time on the outdoor patio, under the awning, with its signature green-and-white stripes near the 18th green, at the end of a great day's golf. The second time, in front of the over-sized fireplace in the grill room with the fire crackling as the outside temperature dropped and a slight drizzle was falling. Sitting in that room with the dark woods and rich tones is a nice way to take the chill off and savor the overall Winged Foot experience.

Winged Foot Clubhouse

Despite the grandeur and majesty of the club, however, I would not rank the West Course at Winged Foot as one of my personal favorites. After the round as I tried to think back about the holes, many of them blend together as being tree-lined par fours and fives with slight doglegs. I know certain fellow aficionados and technical analysts pile on to anyone who doesn't love Winged Foot West. They will sight how the genius of the course is in the green complexes, and I understand how dramatic and artful they are. But even if you take that as given, it leaves 80% of the golf course as being not all that distinctive and somewhat repetitive.

The par three 10th hole at Winged Foot West

I don't hate the West course. I think the par threes are among the best in the game, especially the 3rd and 10th holes. And the 11th hole is a very interesting and memorable hole. Sixteen is also quite a good hole as well. Thus far, it is my only eagle playing the top 100. Overall, I didn't come away awe-struck by the West Course. When a course ranks in the top 25 in the world, I think it should have a distinctiveness that jumps out at you like at Merion, Sand Hills, National Golf Links or Crystal Downs.

Even if you disagree with my assessment of the West Course, you must admit, points are to be subtracted from any club that has Donald Trump as a member.

Baltusrol

In the same vein, Richard Nixon was a one-time member of Baltusrol. The club is also old, exclusive and proper and like Winged Foot has a brilliant club-house. Baltusrol, along with Cypress Point, Augusta, Los Angeles Country Club and San Francisco Golf Club requires long pants to play, although they recently loosened up the rules so that you can wear shorts between the 4th of July and Labor Day. The Lower course at Baltusrol is a lot like Winged Foot West. A lot of relatively straight tree-lined holes without much variety, in my view. Again, yes, interesting and challenging greens, which is why the USGA likes both courses.

These two courses are frequent hosts to major championships and have revered history and no doubt I'm missing something, but to me, they lack that special quality that distinguishes them from some of the other really good and interesting courses on the list. Both get an A+ for conditioning and fast greens, but I wouldn't put either on my short list of courses to play again quickly. Bethpage Black is a course I would return to. It has better terrain, more change in elevation, a more varied and interesting routing and is a more imaginative design.

The East Course at Winged Foot, by comparison, is an under-rated course, especially compared to the West. I found that the East Course had more shot variety and more interesting holes. I especially liked the par three 13th hole with its elevated green and massive fingered bunkering.

On my own personal rating scale I would place the courses in a different order in the world rankings and rank the West Course somewhere in the thirties or forties and the East in the fifties. If I returned to Winged Foot, I would play the East course again ahead of the West. I would rank any number of courses ahead of both Winged Foot West and Baltusrol Lower including Carnoustie (#26), San Francisco (#27), Kingsbarns (#65), Sunningdale Old (#44) and Royal St. George's (#32), to name a few. Like at Baltimore Five Farms, Quaker Ridge and Somerset Hills, I feel that some of Tillies best work was done on courses that are not as well known as those that play host to major championships.

Interested in learning the methods I used to play all these spectacular golf courses around the world? then my forthcoming book may be of interest, in details how a mortal golfer may be able to do the same. The book is available from Amazon.com. Click on the image of the book below to order on Amazon:

Quaker Ridge Golf Club

I am blessed to live within a three hour car ride of fourteen of the top one hundred golf courses in the world. For someone seeking golf's holy grail, there is no better place to live. I recently played Quaker Ridge Golf Club (ranked #61 in the world) on a beautiful, crisp fall day. I have now completed playing all eleven of the world-ranked courses in New York.

Quaker Ridge is located in New York's Westchester County, immediately adjacent to Winged Foot, in Scarsdale, New York. Scarsdale is an extremely affluent suburb of New York and has a bit of a New England feel to it with its rolling terrain, low stone walls bordering many properties, and its stately, mature trees. Quaker Ridge takes its name from a group of Quakers who used this land for farming beginning in 1726. The "ridge" part of the name becomes obvious when you play the course. Quaker Ridge is blessed with much better terrain that its nearby neighbor Winged Foot, which is on more-or-less flat ground.

Quaker Ridge is one of the least well known of the world's great courses. I like to research courses prior to playing them and had a hard time finding much information about Quaker Ridge. They have published no club history; it is hard to find pictures of the course and they shy away from publicity. As is their right, the members like to keep it a low-key affair.

John Duncan Dunn designed a nine hole layout here in 1916, and A.W. Tillinghast was brought in during the 1920s to redo the course and expand it to eighteen holes. Tillinghast is responsible for the course we find here today. The course was rebunkered, and some other minor alterations were made by Rees Jones before the 1997 Walker Cup matches, which were held here.

The defining characteristics of Quaker Ridge are the trees, the out of bounds and the greens. The greens are very good, subtle and very fast; sixteen of them slope back to front. The course is in many ways a typical course found in Westchester County, which are all tree-lined. I mean this in no way to be a negative, because Quaker Ridge can hardly be described as a typical course. The other thing you notice about Quaker Ridge when you begin playing is that the angles you take coming into the greens are of paramount importance. This is the sign of a brilliantly designed and thoughtfully laid out course.

Approach to the 4th green

A good example of why the angles coming in the green are important can be illustrated with the fourth hole above. The fourth is a 384 yard par four with a narrow fairway and a green that falls sharply off a hill on the left side. As you can see above, if you are on the right side of the fairway, the trees come into play, making your approach shot likely to fall off left of the green in a large bunker. In the interest of good blogging, I actually field tested this scenario (by design, of course!) and ended up in the bunker.

4th fairway from the tee

The smarter play on this hole is to hit the ball to the left side of the fairway off the tee. Well, that's easier said than done. When you stand on the tee, you see a big grass bunker that slashes across the fairway, creating an intimidating line that you have to hit over to a blind landing area. This is a good example of the type of strategic Tillinghast design you will find at Quaker Ridge.

The same principles apply at the signature eleventh hole. There are two trees on the left side of the fairway that block your shot to the green if you are not correctly positioned on the right side of the fairway. The shot to the green tightens up your anus ever so slightly because you hit to a narrow green guarded by a stone-wall lined creek (burn for all my Scottish fans) that meanders in front of the green. Meander might be too nice a word to use because it is quite a menacing little stream, seen below.

The 11th green

My guess is that if Charles Blair Macdonald ever played at Quaker Ridge he would have had a tough go of it. Macdonald was famous for designing his courses to favor a slicer, a category he was prominently featured in. Piping Rock, The National Golf Links of America and Chicago Golf Club, all Macdonald designs, penalize those that hook the ball, but are friendlier to the slicer. The first eight holes at Quaker Ridge have an out-of-bounds along the right side of the hole.

The first eight holes circle the property in a counter-clockwise fashion, which is the mirror image of Chicago Golf, which circles in a clockwise fashion. The next six holes at Quaker Ridge circle back in a clockwise fashion, before play goes back toward the club house. I know that Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) is probably the most famous world-renowned course that has a lot of O.B. Having played both courses, I think Quaker Ridge is a much sterner test of trying to keep the ball in play. At Hoylake, the O.B. really doesn't come into play unless you are truly wild. At Quaker Ridge, it comes into play if you are only mildly off line.

The approach to the 7th hole

As if all the O.B. on the right side of each hole is not enough, the 7th hole, a par four seen above also has O.B. if you hit the ball long. For the record, I didn't hit a ball O.B. while playing Quaker Ridge. A sigh of relief is in order when you get to the ninth tee box and most of the O.B. is behind you.

The best stretch of holes on the course are six through eleven. Six and seven are back to back, dog-leg right par four holes. Eight is a good 335 yard short par four and nine is a tough par three with a tiny green. Six and seven might be as difficult a pair of par fours as you will find on any course. They are the #1 and #3 handicaps, respectively. The sixth has a creek running down the left hand side and is in play off the tee. The right hand side of the hole has a grass slope on the right (with the obligatory O.B.), and the fairway between the slope and water is about twenty five yards wide. The hole plays longer than its 434 yards because the shot to the small green plays uphill. The dog-leg is quite severe and to add additional difficulty there is a big tree on the right side of the hole that must be avoided off the tee. In his book, The 500 Greatest Golf Holes, George Peper, ranks this hole in an unprecedented three categories of composite courses of eighteen holes. Among the 18 most strategic holes in the world, it ranks as one of the 18 best holes ever designed by A.W. Tillinghast and as one of the 18 most difficult holes in the world. I would have to agree on all counts.

There is no let-up on the next hole: a 419 yard par four that also has a sharp dog-leg, a stream running through the middle and also plays to an uphill green. This tee shot is also quite difficult because there is again O.B. right, and if you hit too far left your ball will run through the fairway.

The 8th hole from the tee

The genius of the routing at Quaker Ridge is how the holes fit brilliantly together. The eighth is a unique Tillinghast hole with a huge grass bunker in the middle of the fairway which rises up a hill and between rows of trees. This hole takes advantage of the typical Westchester County hilly, tree-lined terrain and is a welcome potential birdie hole after being beaten up on the last two holes. This type of varied layout makes for a continual change, and Tillinghast weaves together a coherent eighteen holes that are challenging without being overwhelming. Collectively, the layout is much greater than the sum of its eighteen individual holes.

The 14th green

As you come in to the closing stretch of holes, it becomes clear that there must have been a circus in town as Tillinghast completed the layout. Sadly, several elephants must have died as the circus came through New York since Tilly buried three of them under his greens. The 14th, 15th and 17th holes have major undulations in them and several ridges and humps reminiscent of buried elephants. If you look closely at the picture above, and to the right of the pin on the par five 14th hole, you can see one such hump. They are quite good and add a lot of character to the finish at Quaker Ridge. Most of the other holes at Quaker RIdge have very subtle breaks to the fast greens; these are not subtle.

Although Quaker Ridge doesn't have that "Tillinghast polish" that you see on many of his courses, especially with regard to the bunkers, the course is varied, interesting and world-class. It's a unique Tillinghast design that he adapted to the local conditions, creatively using the terrain, the elephants, the stream and the trees.

Between the 1920’s and 1940’s many prominent business leaders became members of Quaker Ridge. The list included Louis Gimbel and Samuel Bloomingdale, founders of the department stores that bear their names, and Alfred Knopf, the publisher. George Gershwin was also a member (with a ten handicap) and often entertained members of the theatrical community at the club.

I like the sense of humor they have here. Look at the suggestion box, put twenty feet up a tree, near the tenth tee. The club's yardage book has a quote from Ken Venturi, in which he states during a golf telecast that Quaker Ridge "is one of the greatest courses you'll never play". Then, it goes on to say, "clearly he was not talking about you. Enjoy."

We did indeed.

The par 3 5th over water

The par 3 9th with its tiny green

Greenside bunker on the par 4 12th hole

Golf de Morfontaine - An Entente Cordiale

For those that have been following my saga, when we last left off I was subjected to the golfers equivalent of Marie Antoinette's infamous quote "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche." Very roughly translated as 'let them eat cake!' In other words, f--- off. If you would like to read the first two posts giving the history of how difficult it was for me to gain access to Morfontaine click here - First Post and Second Post.

World-Class groveling gets me on Morfontaine

Well, I am happy to announce that the Golf Club de Morfontaine (ranked #47 in the world) and I have entered into an entente cordiale or "a friendly understanding." My loyal readers will be pleased to learn that I have had the privilege of playing this fine French course.

Appealing to their sense of noblesse oblige, I successfully groveled my way into this gem (thank you Roger!). They finally came around and realized that it wasn't going to kill them to let this crazy, but well-mannered American, play their course.

I would agree with Tom Doak, who classifies Morfontaine as one of the hardest to find golf clubs in the world. The drive up from Paris is a tricky one, although the last several kilometers are quaint. You have to drive through a heavily forested area and then down side roads. The charming drive includes roads lined with old stone walls, like the one seen above.

The entry drive, seen above, is befitting of this grand club. After you pass through the gate, it is a majestic drive, on par with the one at Yeamans Hall. These type of long entry drives add to the sense of excitement and anticipation when arriving at a first-class club like this one for the first time.

I typically do a lot of research about a golf club before I play it. I like to better understand the history and traditions of the place before I arrive. This is especially important when playing outside the U.S. since I want to make sure I don't commit any faux pas. One of the nice traditions the French have always had is to greet someone with a couple of pecks on the cheek. First, a kiss to the left cheek, then a kiss to the right cheek. I wanted to respect this custom and display the proper protocol at Morfontaine. Upon entry to the clubhouse, I tried to do the old double-kiss routine with the club manager, but was rebuffed. Either my halitosis put him off or I came in at the wrong angle, but I got the sense that this attractive gentleman thought I was putting the moves on him.

The ivy covered clubhouse at Morfontaine

We arrived early in the morning and were greeted warmly. The ivy-covered clubhouse is reminiscent of a cozy hunting lodge set in the country. Above the fireplace in the clubhouse is a putter made out of gold given to the club by Cartier. The basement of the clubhouse houses the kitchen. As we approached, I could see down into the kitchen and even at this early hour, there were fresh vegetables laid out and being prepared, as well as a half dozen large pieces of duck, which would no doubt later be prepared to perfection. As we sat in the clubhouse, a female employee arrived with a large bag of fresh baguettes. It couldn't have been more perfect. Our expectations of a full-blooded French golf experience were exceeded at every turn. The staff made us some fresh coffee, which in retrospect was a mistake. Coffee in France is more like a double espresso, and the last thing we needed was to get more pumped up. My heart was racing very fast by the time we set off to play golf.

The ambiance of the clubhouse at Morfontaine is very cozy and inviting. It is not hard to imagine you are back in 1911 and a Grand Duc yourself. The misty morning I was there added to the romance of Morfontaine. I honestly could have just sat in the clubhouse for hours drinking coffee, smoking cigars and hanging out.

History of Morfontaine Golf

There are 27 holes of golf at Morfontaine: The nine hole Valliere course, built in 1911, and the 18 hole championship course, built in 1927. Both were commissioned by the Duc du Gramont and built by the Englishman Tom Simpson.

Taking my obsession with the game of golf to a new level, I had both of Morfontaine´s club histories translated into English so that I could learn the interesting history of this great course. It has a rich history, particularly in the 1940s. The course was over-run in June of 1940 by the Third Reich when they captured Paris. The Germans drove Panzer tanks on the course and caused deep ruts in many fairways and greens, particularly the 9th and 10th holes. The 8th hole was hit by artillery shells. They also set up a cannon on the 13th green (Kraut bastards!) that did serious damage. Many of the greenskeeping staff and club members joined the Army or were taken prisoner during this time, putting serious stress on the club's survival.

The Nazis ransacked the clubhouse and looted food and items of value during the occupation. After the German troops passed through, Commandant Soldatenkoff, the club manager, took charge to restore the course to some semblance of normalcy. Soldatenkoff was a retired Commandant from the Imperial Russian Marines, and the club history describes him as elegant and funny. By December of 1940 he had the course restored to a basic level of functioning. During the war, gasoline was at a premium so they had to use horses to operate the equipment to re-grade the damaged holes and cut the grass. They put leather boots onto the horses so that their hoofs did not further damage the course.

The dining room at Morfontaine

Commandant Soldatenkoff organized a bus from Paris each Sunday during the war for members that wanted to go to Morfontaine to play. There was no food service or other amenities, so members brought their own food and drink. During this time, parts of the Valliere course were used to grow potatoes to help members and locals survive.

In November of 1942 a four-engine R.A.F. bomber was shot down by the Germans as it was returning from a bomb run on Stuttgart. The plane crash-landed in the polo grounds next to the course and four members of the crew, including the pilot, were taken back to the clubhouse to be cared for. The winter of 1943 was so harsh that trees on the course had to be cut down to be used as firewood to keep warm. After the war, the clubhouse, which had fallen into a state of dis-repair, was restored.

In the post-war period, the course was played by the rich and famous including Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, The King of Spain, The King of Belgium and The Duke of Windsor. General Eisenhower played the course many times after the war and was very fond of it.

The Golf Course

The course is built in a forest and has an abundance of heather. It is reminiscent of the heathlands outside of London. The soil is naturally sandy, and thus perfect for a good golf course. The course is an absolute treasure and work of art. It has that certain something the French call je ne sais quoi that sets it apart from anywhere else I have ever played golf. Like at Yeamans Hall, the entire atmosphere and sense of isolation overtakes you.

The first tee at Morfontaine

When the course originally opened, the front and back nines were the opposite way they play today. Also, the original 13th hole no longer exists. What is now the 13th hole was another par three located behind the 9th green. It played through what is now the parking lot and towards the 9th green. This hole was eliminated in favor of the current hole in 1933. Originally, this hole was also designed to have a bunker in the middle of the green, but this was rejected due to the high cost of maintenance. Morfontaine is not a particularly long course at 5,985 metres (6,580 yards), but with a par of 70, it is also not particularly short either.

The demanding par three 2nd hole

As a heathland course, Morfontaine reminded me at times of Woodhall Spa and of Walton Heath. It is a very good walking course since almost all the tee boxes are near the previous greens. The course also has ferns growing vigorously all over the property. You can see the dominance of the heather, above, on the par three second hole.

Simpson also designed very large greens at Morfontaine and left many of the natural rock outcroppings in place, which adds to the character of the course. The picture of the sixth green, below, is typical of the large size and also shows the rocks and heather that are omnipresent.

The lovely sixth green at Morfontaine

The seventh hole, seen from the tee, below, is a 391 meter par four with a blind tee shot over heather and rock outcroppings. Distances in yards are about ten percent longer or 430 yards. The fairway in the landing area slopes sharply left to right. It is a very difficult hole, but very strategic if you can cut the corner of the hill on the left, you only have a short shot to the green.

Seventh hole from the tee

We had intermittent rain the day we played Morfontaine, but rather than dampen our spirits, we felt that it actually helped get us more into the spirit of the place. You can notice the raindrops falling in the picture below, which is the approach to the seventh green.

Approach to the seventh green

The ninth hole is a short 338 meter (378 yard) par four that plays from an elevated tee box and has a forced carry over the heather. As is often the case at Morfontaine, overhanging trees can come into play.

The 9th as seen from the tee

The best stretch of holes on the course are thirteen through sixteen. The thirteenth hole is a short par three at 134 meters (150 yards). There is a full-size large tree directly between you and the enormous multi-tiered green. You are forced to decide whether to go left or right of the tree. Simpson was an iconoclast, and you really feel his unique style on this hole.

13th hole, par 3 with tree in line of play

Fourteen is a 339 meter (379 yard) par four with a fairway that slopes left to right the entire way with a distracting "snake" rock outcropping in the middle of the fairway. The rock looks like someone sculpted it, but in fact, it is naturally shaped like a snake's head. Fifteen is a 409 meter (450 yard) dog-leg left that plays downhill. Sixteen is a tough 415 meter (460 yard) uphill par four that plays to an elevated green.

"Snake" rock outcropping on the 14th fairway

15th green

17th green

The par three seventeenth hole, seen above, has a mountain of fern plants rising behind it. This hole gives you a good feel for the sense of isolation you feel while playing at Morfontaine and shows off some of the elevation change that makes for good golf.

The Valliere Course

In one of the biggest surprises of all my trips, we played the nine hole Valliere course at Morfontaine, as well as the world-ranked eighteen hole course. I have to tell you that it was a special treat. I actually thought that the Valliere had more character than the eighteen hole course. Simpson designed the Valliere in 1911 and the first five holes have had no alterations at all from the original design. The Valliere course is a cross between Cruden Bay (idiosyncratic) and Woodhall Spa (heathlands). It is an extremely quirky and very fun round of golf. The first hole plays through a narrow opening in the trees and is a sharp dogleg right up a big hill. The third hole is one of the best I have ever played. It plays from an elevated tee engulfed in heather down into a valley filled with rock outcroppings. The fairway slopes right to left the length of the hole. The approach to this green reminds me of the approach to the second green at Cruden Bay: sharply uphill to a big and undulating green with a steep dropoff on the left. Despite being a driver-wedge hole it is still challenging and fun and plays as the number two handicap on the Valliere. If you miss your drive right you had better go back to your bag for another ball.

Approach to 3rd at Valliere

The Valliere course has more interesting and varied greens than the main course at Morfontaine. The main course didn´t have as many contours and undulations on the greens. The fourth at Valliere is a world-class par three that plays downhill and is surrounded by bunkers almost the entire way around. There is also a sea of heather in front of the hole and tons of ferns to the right side and behind. There is a false front to the green that is actually fairway, and is a bit of an optical illusion from the tee. This may now be my favorite par three in the world, it is that impressive and unique.

Par three 4th at Valliere

The fifth hole is a short par five (420m) that has a punchbowl green hidden off to the left between dunes and trees. There are two cross-bunkers across the fairway to catch shots that are laid up incorrectly. It has a severly undulating green. Again, this hole is very reminiscent of Simpson's work at Cruden Bay and is a treat to play.

The third, fourth and fifth holes are as good a collection of holes back-to-back as you will find anywhere in the world.

5th green Valliere course

8th green Valliere course

We used the Valliere course as a warm up in the morning before playing the championship course, had a very nice lunch in the clubhouse and were so impressed with the Valliere that we played it again after lunch for a happy 36 holes of golf. In keeping with the French aversion to commercialism the "pro shop" at Morfontaine is a closet with some shirts, sweaters and hats. You know when the "pro shop" is open when they put the light on in the closet and open the door.

Post Mortem

Truth be told, I have always loved France. The food, the wine, the sound of the language, the culture, the sense of style and the sense of ceremony that surrounds every aspect of French life. I also love French cinema, Paris's old cobblestone streets, the beauty of the countryside, the distinctive police sirens, formal french gardens and tous les femmes sans bras! I know it is dangerous to generalize about a people, but often times it is based on truth. The French take better care of themselves than we Americans and are usually perfectly dressed and coiffed. They have a sense of style and panache that makes them unique, if a bit idiosyncratic. They care about their appearance. Compare this to the average coarse, corpulent, overstuffed-porker Americans you see walking around a shopping mall or airport wearing their Mickey Mouse tee shirts and sweat pants stuffing a Cinnabon into their mouth. Fifty percent of American adults have to wear those filthy sweat pants or jogging suits because they are so fat they can't wear real pants anymore even if they wanted to.

Also, the more I think about it, it is very difficult to dislike a culture that has a device in the bathroom that washes your buttocks, whose women sunbathe topless and where you get five weeks vacation. And, it is mercifully one of the few places left in the world where one can enjoy smoking a cigar indoors without being prosecuted.

Merci beaucoups!

Simpson's course plan hangs in the clubhouse

My host was so impressed with my quest that he is attempting to arrange for me to attend a state dinner at The Elysée Palace so I can share my golfing secrets with the President of the Republic. Rumor has it, if I complete the quest I will be nominated for the Légion d'Honneur. Vive la France!

Despite my various run-ins trying to get onto this private French course, this was one of the best experiences of my journey. Morfontaine really can't be fairly compared to any other club I've ever been to. It is private, intimate and beguiling.

See a video of my 2010 return visit to Morfontaine as part of the puregolf2010 mania.

Tom Simpson

Morfontaine was the brainchild of a member of the French aristocracy, specifically The Duc de Gramont. In the interest of historical accuracy, since there have been fourteen holders of this title since 1643, it was the 12th Duc - Antoine Agnor Armand de Gramont, Duc de Gramont, who lived from 1879 until 1962. The Duc was a keen golfer and wanted a world-class course near his estate, Château de Valliere. He chose Tom Simpson as the architect for his dream course.

Simpson was one of a kind. He frequently wore a cloak and beret and was driven around in a silver Rolls-Royce.

Course architect Tom Simpson

Simpson sounds like my kind of guy. Apparently, he had a flair for the dramatic. He once drove his Rolls-Royce slowly up and down in front of a club committee's window as they deliberated whether to accept his design as an architect. He also was on record as saying that no golf hole could be truly great unless it began to operate in the player's mind for some time before he actually came to it. He was also quoted as saying that "the vital thing about a hole is that it should either be more difficult than it looks or look more difficult than it is. It must never be what it looks." He liked his courses to demand 'mental agility'.

Tom Simpson was fond of quoting the words of Napoleon to his brother: "It is the greatest of all immoralities to engage in a profession of which one is ignorant." As the designer of Morfontaine, Chantilly and Cruden Bay, Simpson was certainly anything but ignorant. The man was a genius.

Post Script

Paris is as close to the ultimate civilized experience the world has ever seen. I love the human scale of the city. The French understand that in order for cities to excel they have to exist on a human scale and they have to be clean. Almost the entire old city is six stories tall, the ideal number of stories. Most have wrought iron railings, architectural detailing and fit in well with their surroundings. Paris still has tons of character, local shops, fresh food brought to local markets throughout the city every day and the best bread in the world. The little green trucks that ride around the city 24 x 7 cleaning, sweeping and emptying garbage cans ensure it a great place. I did a little experiment on my trip, testing out the bars at Paris's premier hotels. I recommend avoiding the Ritz, which is an overpriced tourist ripoff. The bar at the Hôtel de Crillon is nice, the Bar Fontainebleau at Le Meurice is better, but if you get a chance, you must have a drink at the Four Seasons George V, even if you don´t stay there. It is the best hotel in the world.

A photo montage of Morfontaine

Success! Golf de Morfontaine

Well, I made it.

I have played Golf de Morfontaine (ranked #47 in the world). I will do a full write-up of the course in due time, and I found a big surprise while there. For now suffice it to say it truly deserves its high place in the world of golf.

The clubhouse at Morfontaine

The first tee at Morfontaine

Au Revoir, for now.

The French Connection

Well, I'm here with my golf clubs and ready to play. I'm having a nice cafe this morning as I write, in the second arrondissement, overlooking the Rue du Quatre Septembre.

But first, I have business to attend to at The Élysée Palace (The equivalent of the French White House for those not as familiar with France).

Guard outside the Élysée Palace

The entry driveway to Morfontaine, seen above, protects the club from unwanted visitors

I had a nice cigar and glass of scotch last night at quite possibly the best hotel in the world. The Paris George V. My imagination ran wild contemplating the possibilities of playing the finest course in France.