With Zeny after playing… still smiling… he is a great caddie… I think I tired him out a bit though!
Beautiful walk around Westhampton CC in the morning with caddie Zeny… one of Seth Raynor’s early designs in 1915… expertly restored by the 2016 Olympic Golf Course designer Gil Hanse in 2009… Redan at the 7th… Short at the 11th… Biarritz at the 17th… Raynor was born on Long Island in 1874 and died at the age of 52 in 1926… graduated from Princeton in 1898 and came back to Southhampton and started a landscaping and surveying business… Raynor’s big break and entry into the Golf World was to survey the The National Golf Links of America property for C.B. MacDonald in 1908… then MacDonald hired him to construct the golf course and several others including Old White at the Greenbrier… Raynor died in his prime of pneumonia in Palm Beach, Florida… other Seth Raynor masterpieces that I have played include Shore Acres in Chicago and Blue Mound Golf & Country Club outside Milwaukee… dream Raynor courses yet to be played include Chicago Golf Club, Fishers Island Club, and Yale University Golf Club!
With PGA Head Golf Professional Kirk Satterfield!
Thoughts and memories of my time at Westhampton Country Club… played the Monday after witnessing another Brooks Koepka win at the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black… PGA Head Golf Professional Kirk Satterfield could not have been more welcoming… with kudos to my friend Ann Ligouri… fairly short even from the tips but make no mistake that this is an extreme test of golf given the Raynor/Hanse combined design and the wind nearly always present at this near Atlantic Ocean locale… Zeny was an awesome caddie, immediate friend, and wealth of course knowledge!
Bunkered long right on the Redan 7th… the rest of the story was actually pretty good but still a bogey 4!
Historic clubhouse and men’s locker room although modern and updated a bit, still exudes historic golf… first tee right outside the clubhouse and pro shop doors… there is a burn just in front of the green on the short par-4 first hole… reminded me of the Old Course at St. Andrews but unfortunately not the only water hazard at Westhampton as in St. Andrews… combination of sand bunkers with protective elevated mounding starts to emerge on the second hole… deep bunkering on the short 3rd… then a 4-5-4 combination before arriving at the Redan 7th hole… cross the road to the 5th tee… make no mistake this Redan is as severe as they come… deep bunker long right which I experienced… back across the road after 8th green… the par-4 9th is a challenging hole with a risk-reward water hazard to navigate on the drive and bunkers to carry on the approach shot… memorable first nine, par-35 with two short holes and one long hole!
Deep, deep, deep bunker short right of the 15th green. I was short left of it! Thankfully!
The 10th is another long par-4 with a water hazard short left of the green… the golf course is starting to feel like a bear when I reached the short par-3 11th… enveloped by Shore Road be sure to get a pic with a view of the water here… short does not mean easy, it means difficult in Seth Raynor’s vocabulary… avoid the water right on the drive on the 12th… the angle of approach to the big mounded green on the short par-4 13th is key… watch out for water right (same as 12th tee shot) of the par-5 14th green… watch out for the deep, deep, deep bunker (staircase to enter provided) short right of the 15th green… time to head eastward for the final 4-3-4 tricky punch of Westhampton… do not add up your scorecard yet… water carry on the 16th is no issue, bunker left is… don’t go over this green… the short 206-yard par 3 Biarritz 17th is spectacular… don’t get lost in the swale… somehow I managed a long 2-putt for par across the traverse… the home hole brings you gracefully back to the historic and grand Westhampton Clubhouse…
First a pause, tip of the hat and a tap on the heart to Westhampton members Thomas M. Brennan, Timothy J. Coughlin, Jeffrey E. LeVeen, and Joseph P. Shea who lost their lives on September 11, 2001…
Do not underestimate the difficulty of the deep green-side bunkers on the 18th… and don’t go long and knock one off the clubhouse like I witnessed a playing partner do at the home hole of the Old Course… which took a hook and a flyer!
Many thanks to Ann, Kirk, and Zeny from Andy’s Golf & Travel Diary for this historic round of golf at the historic Westhampton Country Club!
(Andy Reistetter; 5/21/19; Expanded Facebook Post with 30 Pics)
