Review: Keney Park Golf Course (Part 2)

It's time for the back nine at Keney Park, if you haven't seen the front yet go here.

The tenth hole is a par 5, and at 533 yards is the longest hole at Keney Park. The trick here is to hit a draw off the tee to reach the downslope. Doing that will give you extra roll and a great chance to go at the green in two. Or rather, that's how it works in dry conditions. In wet conditions, it's much more likely you'll be playing this as a three shot hole. The decision to be made on the second is whether or not to carry over the big fairway bunker cutting in about 80 yards from the green. The green itself is open, but there are plenty of knobs and bumps to complicate matters, depending on where the hole is. A bump on the very front-right section of the green made the hole location of the day quite tricky, especially if you're short in three.

The tenth hole.

The fairway bunker on 10 is quite large.

The tenth green.

This front-right hole location is brutal if you're short. The knob really gets in the way.

The eleventh hole is the toughest hole at Keney Park. I don't care that the scorecard says that the seventh is the number 1 handicap hole, when you throw a 240 yard par 3 surrounded by a stream and tall grass at the golfer, that is the toughest hole. It's a bit downhill, but that's not much compensation. You might be better off playing it as a par 4. Lay up on the fairway with an iron and then pitch onto the green. Otherwise, it's a wood or long iron to a very uninviting target. At the very least, the green is subdued. It's probably the easiest on the course.

The eleventh hole.

Even from here, it's not an inviting shot.

The twelfth hole is a short 320 yard par 4 that plays significantly downhill. Obviously, the most notable feature of this hole is the graveyard to the right and behind the green. The hole is called Soldiers Field, and the graveyard is filled with upwards of 5,000 soldiers. For the golfer, that means the stone wall is OB and that you don't want to go right. Considering the stream left you might think this is a lay-up hole. However, the hole does widen at around the 250 yard point as the stream bends to the left, and if you land a drive past the high point in the fairway, you'll get plenty of roll. Basically you should give yourself whatever shot you feel comfortable with to attack this green, which is very much not flat. Any putts not on the same level as the flag will be extremely difficult.

Definitely don't want to go right on 12.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is a 190 yard par 3 that for some reason is called Peninsula. I guess it did give the hole an element of surprise, because when we stepped up too the tee, we were not expecting to be confronted with a classic Redan. The strategy, of course, is to draw an iron towards the flag rather than aiming directly at it. The slope is your friend, and will guide golf balls down. If you end up in one of those bunkers... well, have fun. They're all at least 10 feet below the level of the green, which is highly built up over its surroundings.

Fun fact, if you miss long right, your ball will kick off a slope and into a native area. Definitely didn't find that out the hard way.

The thirteenth hole.

My brother and I are both quite tall, but the front left bunker is even taller.

The fourteenth hole is the final par 5 at Keney Park. It doglegs to the right, but the ideal tee shot is out toward the left or in the middle of the fairway. Not only is there OB right, but trees hang over the fairway and block out the green. If you're in the proper position, the green is very easily reachable, and if you can go for the green, you really should. There are no greenside bunkers, but there's a big fairway bunker and a small pot bunker right where lay-ups would end up.

The fourteenth hole.

The green is behind the treeline on the right.

The smallest bunker I've ever seen.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is a straight, mid-length par 4 with some very dramatic terrain, even by Keney Park standards. The fairway starts off high and then tumbles down the hill toward the narrow stream. Most drives will end up on the flat area short of the stream and right of the hill. The second shot is back up the hill to a green that slopes sharply from back to front. In addition, any shot that fails to reach the green will roll back down, and will roll down a lot. A shot that lands 5 feet short could easily end up 50 yards away. This is definitely one of the harder holes on the back nine.

The fifteenth hole.

It's interesting how simple elevation change can be such an effective hazard.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is slightly shorter than the last hole and runs in the opposite direction. It's also the weakest hole on the course. The main reason is the big tree on the right side of the hole. Without it, golfers could bail out away from the stream left in exchange for a tougher second shot. With it, this hole becomes a simple hit a straight drive, hit the green sort of hole. It doesn't help that the hole is extremely flat. All in all, this just isn't a very interesting hole.

The sixteenth hole.

It started to rain at about this point.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is an interesting hole. At 370 yards, it isn't long, but a bunker eats into the fairway and must be cleared to obtain a decent shot at the green. Lay up short and you'll have a long, blind approach. The green complex is a funky one. The green itself is not large but features a ridge running through the middle and a significant left to right slope. If that wasn't enough, there's also a Principle's Nose bunker cluster right in front of the green. I'm not sure how necessary the Principle's Nose is to the strategy of the hole, but it's interesting having it.

The seventeenth hole.

The Principle's Nose bunkers are right in front of the green.

The seventeenth green is definitely an unusual one.

You don't normally see par 3s as a closing hole, but Keney Park has been thoroughly unorthodox this whole time, so an unorthodox conclusion seems appropriate. However, this is also one of the weakest holes on the course. It's semiblind and there isn't a whole lot of drama anywhere. The green is set in a punchbowl, so shots will funnel in toward the center of the green. The green itself is one last foray into insanity. Lots of bumps and dips to consider while putting. I think I would have enjoyed the hole more if it hadn't been cut at the top of a mound. It was a silly hole location that was nearly impossible to get a lag putt close to.

The eighteenth hole. It was really raining hard at this point.

The eighteenth green down in a small depression.

One last crazy green.

It's unfortunate that two of Keney Park's weakest holes come at the very end of the round, but that's the way it goes sometimes. However, it doesn't take away from the fact that this is still a fantastic golf course and one of the best I've ever played. It's quirky and bold, the first few holes feature an incredible diverse and intriguing landscape, it has strategy almost everywhere, it's walker-friendly, and you can play it for $40. And that's not even mentioning the presence of replica holes. It's a simple truth that nearly all the golf courses designed in the Macdonald/Raynor style are private, and the ones that are public are associated with resorts and very expensive. If you want replica holes, the Macdonald/Raynor aesthetic, and value all at the same time, I'm not sure you could do better than this. If you're in the Hartford area and you don't play here, I would say you're missing out. It's a fun golf course, and I'd play there again any time.

Before I finish, I do want to say one thing about Keney Park for the golf course architecture nerds out there. If you're looking for a true Devereux Emmet design, you may be disappointed. Other than the routing, there isn't much left of the original design. Devereux Emmet may have been a friend and associate of C.B. Macdonald, but he didn't build replica holes. Of course, the original course also had no bunkers and apparently suffered from a lack of drama on the greens, something the current course has NO trouble with. What I'm trying to say is that Keney Park really isn't a Devereux Emmet/Robert Ross course. It was renovated, not restored. I think that was a good thing, and I think Hartford did a good thing spending all that money on Keney Park. But I just wanted to mention this for completeness' sake.