Getting ready to depart the Danbury area, I figured today would be a good time to try out a course that has intrigued me since I moved down to this neck of the woods. (I have Tuesdays off after Monday issue production). The course is Dutcher GC in the town of Pawling, N.Y., a small Hudson Valley community less than 15 miles from my current place of living. All I knew from the website was that it was a nine-hole track, with green fees of $17. No pictures, and limited reviews. So I headed into the unknown.
When I arrived in the parking lot it was around 4 p.m., knowing I ran the risk of interfering with a weeknight golf league. It was a sunny day of about 65 degrees, with a fair bit of wind. The small lot was moderately full (about 15 cars were parked), but I didn't see anybody on the first hole. I went into the pro shop and asked if I would be able to play, and the staffer asked if I was by myself. I told him I was, and he said I could get out, but I would have to go right away — since the leagues were getting ready to tee off. I paid, grabbed my bag from the car and headed to the first.
The nine-hole course provides two sets of tees for those who want a round of 18, so I decided to play the "front-nine" tees for my nine. There didn't seem to be a huge difference between sets, anyway. When I put my tee in the ground on No. 1, I did a brief scan of the fairway and realized that I had no idea where to aim. There was a rock wall smack in the middle of the fairway, but I didn't see the green.
I looked at the scorecard for context and realized the par-4 hole measured only about 250 yards, which explained my lack of perception. Heck, I could get on the green with a solid drive. I re-oriented myself, finally finding the green in my sight line, and promptly hit a low hook toward the rock wall. Thankfully, the ball bounced over the rock wall and left me with a half-sand wedge into the green. I hit a nice shot to about 20 feet, but three-putted for a disappointing bogey.
When I pulled out my scorecard to record the opening bogey, I learned (to my amazement) that the course opened in 1890. What's more, it staked a claim to being the oldest municipal golf course in the country. I then thought to myself, "Isn't Van Cortlandt Park in New York City the oldest public course?" I filed this away as a possible story idea for down the road, while simultaneously feeling a sense of intrigue in that I was playing a course that has been around since before my great-grandpa was born.
The second hole was another short par-4, and I hit a mild slice, probably a psychological result of my low hook on No. 1. No matter though, I still had only a half-wedge into the green, and I hit another solid pitch to about 20 feet. I ran my first putt about four feet past the hole, still trying to find my speed for the greens, but I rolled in the par-saver.
Dutcher GC is on a small parcel of land, an example of space being at a premium for golf courses in the New York City area, where land began to be developed much earlier than in Western New York, where I grew up. The second tee box is less than 10 yards from the first green, and the second green is almost adjacent to the fifth green.
The third hole runs parallel to No. 2, turning back toward No. 1 (which runs parallel to the parking lot), and No. 3 is a strong par 3 of almost 200 yards. There is also a set of mid-height trees between the tee and hole, ready to knock down a poorly-struck effort. I selected 5-iron and hit a nice draw toward the left side of the green, with the ball bouncing and landing just short left of the putting surface.
I hit a great pitch to about two feet, but I have been sadly battling the yips for some time, and I yipped the par putt, settling for bogey. Then on the next hole, a 360-yard par 4 that surely gave our nation's early golfers all they could handle back in the late 1800s, I hit a perfect drive down the middle but badly hooked a pitching wedge way left of the green. Up against a rock, I was forced to chip out left-handed, and I ultimately missed a six-footer for bogey, making a dispiriting double. Just like that, a potential par-par stretch where I went bogey-double.
Coupled with the three-putt on No. 1, I was frustrated, but at the same time doing my best to not worry about score and just enjoy the round.
No. 5 is yet another par 4 measuring less than 300 yards, and it was on the fifth tee where I thought about an article by sport psychologist Gio Valiante in our magazine this week, where he preaches the value of finding a "flow state" on the golf course — and in life. This thought made me strive to take a few steps back and just stay low-key for the final five holes.
Mission accomplished, and I finished the round just soaking in the unique layout of the 124-year-old course, with its first six holes weaving in and out of each other, and the final three making a horseshoe around the inner stretch. The fifth hole produced an immediate reward, as I hit another half-wedge to about 20 feet but this time drained the putt for a morale-boosting birdie. I pumped my fist and waved to the imaginary crowd.
Six and seven are back-to-back par 3s of 160-170 yards, and I hooked my tee shot left on both occasions. I three-putted No. 6 for double, and two-putted No. 7 for bogey. No matter, though. I didn't have any money, or pride, on the line today. More or less a practice round for when I play with friends and co-workers down the road.
No. 8 is a 355-yard par 4, straightaway but with a semi-blind tee shot, and on the tee I was nervous about where exactly to take aim. I made my most logical guess and trusted my swing, hitting one of my best drives of the year, a bullet of perfect trajectory that ended up sailing 270 yards down the fairway. Unfortunately my sand wedge went to the back of the green and I three-putted for bogey, but the drive was all I needed.
The ninth hole was fitting in that it served as a final reminder that I was playing a pre-1900 course. A 375-yard PAR 5. Granted, it played uphill, but the notion of playing a par 5 of under 400 yards (from the back tees) couldn't help but make me think of the days of wooden clubs. Heck, I started thinking in black and white. I'm not a long hitter by any stretch, and my average-length drive left me with just an 8-iron approach. I left the shot short right of the green, chipped on and two-putted for the par to end my day on a positive note. Thanks, short par 5! All in all, it added up to a 41 on the par-34 course. Considering my putting woes, I was happy.
I went back into the pro shop and thanked the staffer for letting me go out and play, remarking about how cool it was to play a course that was so old. In turn, he took me to his desk and showed me a two-page history of the club, which provided a rundown of how the course began. A wealthy local businessman (Mr. Dutcher) took a trip to Scotland in the mid-1870s and was intrigued by the game of golf, which was still in its infancy stages in the United States.
When he returned to America, Mr. Dutcher built a three-hole course, which was ready for play by the mid-1880s. Friends and guests of his hotel (predominantly from New York City) would come up by train on the weekends, and the Pawling train stop was essentially adjacent to the course, making play quite convenient for visitors.
In 1890, the course was expanded to nine holes and made open to the public, even though it remained owned by the Dutcher family. It stayed that was until 1950, when the heirs of Dutcher (who had passed away), sold the course to the town for one dollar, under the condition that it forever remain a municipal golf course. Said the Dutcher GC staffer (whose name I unfortunately forgot to ask), "If the town tried to do anything to this course, the Dutcher family would just come and take it back, and probably start building condominiums."
No condos have been built. The leagues are still coming, rates are more than reasonable ($20 for 18 holes on weekdays, and an incredible $22 on weekends), and the course is a living, breathing piece of golf history.
This was my eighth round of the season on eight different golf courses (along with Dutcher, I have played Crag Burn and Bob-o-Link at home; public facilities Sunset Hill and Fairchild Wheeler after work; Rock Ridge CC with Golf World design chief Tim Carr; En-Joie GC in Binghamton with my brother; and TPC River Highlands near Hartford for Travelers Championship media day).
It's been a great spring of golf so far, and the early highlights were playing En-Joie and River Highlands, both tour courses where I have seen the pros play. Now, in an unexpected twist, I add possibly the oldest public course in America to that lineup.
Now, about that. Van Cortlandt Park GC in the Bronx was established in 1895, and it claims on its website to be the oldest public course in America. Dutcher claims the same thing, as it became public in 1890.
Who knows? Maybe this calls for a story in Golf World. If so, it all started because I was getting ready to leave Danbury and wanted to try one more course in the area. And I must say, I'm glad I did.
