Rolling along: Greens almost as flawless as they are treacherous at New Haven CC

: Jul 08

The single best green that I have ever putted on is at the New Haven Country Club in Connecticut. And it isn't even on the course. It is the practice green, a perfect circular piece of sculpted carpet in front of the classic clubhouse, surrounded by electric lanterns for effect and nighttime putting practice, and with grass so dense and well clipped that the fantastic greens on the course almost seem a disappointment.
New Haven, circa 1898 but re-designed to its current configuration by Willie Park, Jr. in 1922, offers all the effects of parkland golf in England and

I saw strong echoes of Sunningdale in the fairways and greens of New Haven, whose greens are actually more challenging.

was strongly reminiscent of my recent round at the great Sunningdale Golf Club outside London. Park developed that great layout as well, but I found the greens at New Haven even more daunting. Plus, the same heather that frustrated me at Sunningdale did me in at New Haven. The stuff at New Haven was thicker, and twice yesterday I failed to get out of it in one stroke.
New Haven's greens are big, swirling, fast surfaces that make you think twice or more before you hit any putt from the side or, especially, from

My playing partner Mike announced on the tee, "I hate this hole."

above the hole. They hook one way or the other from pin high on either side, but that provides a better fate than if you are above the hole at New Haven.

I played with Pete, Mike and Dick at an outing at New Haven, and on the 13th hole, a short (350 yards) uphill par 4, Mike announced on the tee that, "I hate this hole." He had played it a few times before and, apparently, memories came flooding back. He and Dick both played decent approach shots to the back of the huge green and faced treacherous putts downhill to the front pin position. Mike stroked his putt solidly but without too much force from about 55 feet away and starting yelling at the ball to stop 25 feet before it got to the hole, and with good reason: Like the Energizer Bunny, it kept going and going...until it made the front edge of the green, 15 feet past the hole, and rolled down the steep false front to 30 yards below the green.

    Dick took great notice of Mike's putt and just tapped his putt from a slightly different angle about 40 feet above the hole. You can probably guess the rest; his ball kept trickling until it hung, tantalizingly, on the very front edge of the green before one more rotation took it down the hill. The ball wound up five yards from Mike's ball. I was lucky to have hit a mediocre approach to the bottom of the hill and hit a flip sand wedge up to four feet.
   Although it is the second shortest par 4 on the course, #13 is the #3 handicap hole. When they played the course, the raters were probably above the hole as well.
   (Note: Something screwy happened with the uploading of photos from New Haven; I'll try to fix it and share a few shots tomorrow, but now I am on my way to South Carolina and will have some market updates from the Myrtle Beach area this week.)