Review: Shennecossett Golf Course (Part 1)

Golf courses take up a lot of space. This is fine in undeveloped areas where there isn't much around, but golf courses are very often not in the middle of nowhere, and very often the land the golf course owns is coveted by someone else. Many golf courses have been bulldozed over or completely ruined because their land got bought up. Refreshingly, Shennecossett Golf Course in Groton, Connecticut is a neat success story and proof that dealing with the devil can pay off once in a while.

The devil, in this case, is Pfizer, and the deal was a land swap. But let's go back a few steps and talk about Shennecossett itself. If you thought Triggs Memorial and Keney Park were old, you were wrong. Golf has been played at Shennecossett since 1898, and the Donald Ross redesign that created the course that would exist for 80 years was completed in 1919. And with a pedigree like that, it's only natural Shennecossett enjoyed quite a reputation in the first half of the 20th century, playing host to golfers such as Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Tommy Armour, Francis Ouimet, Babe Didrikson, and Glenna Collett, who, if you're like me and are unfamiliar with that name, is described by the Golf Hall of Fame as "the greatest female golfer of the 1920s." The course can also count Alex Smith (2-time U.S. Open champion) and Harry Cooper (winner of 31 PGA Tour events) as past club professionals. This was not a small-time course.

Back in those days, Shennecossett was routed very close to the mouth of the Thames River, but it never actually approached or bordered the water, staying east of Eastern Point Road. The course was bought by the town of Groton in 1969, and by all accounts the course did manage to avoid some of the disrepair that has befallen so many Golden Age golf courses.

Views don't get much better than this.

Things changed in 1997. Pfizer had set up its headquarters right next door to the golf course, and they were looking to expand. Specifically, they wanted some land at the northern end of the golf course to expand their parking lot. Normally, this would be a very bad thing for Shennecossett, but luckily, Pfizer was willing to make a land swap. The piece of land north for a piece of land to the west of Eastern Point Road, a section of land that, fortuitously enough, had waterfront access. Not a lot, but some. The deal went through, and in another stroke of good luck, the architect hired to reroute only changed what was absolutely necessary. The result is that while the course is hardly a Donald Ross original, 10 holes remained the same, and only 3 holes were lost entirely. The new work fits in almost perfectly, and I think you would be hard-pressed to figure out which holes had been altered if you didn't already know ahead of time.

Now that we've covered our history lesson, let's get to the golf, shall we? Shennecossett starts off with a 345 yard par 4, and all you need off the tee is an iron or fairway wood. Interestingly, the tee shot is hit over a real, actual paved road. I'm not entirely sure if I've ever come across that before. I really don't think so. It isn't a busy road, of course, but it is there. It's the road the golf course parking lot is on, so at the very least golfers will be driving through. Providing you've gotten into position A on the tee shot, the second shot is a wedge slightly up the hill to the green, which is wedged between a crossbunker in front of the green and OB behind. Normally Golden Age golf courses don't have bunkers cutting the green off completely, so you might think, "Oh, this must be one of the altered holes." It isn't. The hole has always been like that. This is definitely not a difficult start, but I thought it was fairly unique.

Sometimes, you can just tell a course is old from how it goes about things. The first hole is one of those times.

The semiblind approach at the first. More old-style quirk.

The first green.

The second hole is a mid-length par 4 that plays slightly downhill, and once again we've got a unique feature on display. About 50 yards short of the green, a railroad cuts right across the hole. While I can't say for certain that the railroad is still in use, I didn't see or hear any trains come by, but the tracks seemed to be in excellent conditions, and the line heads right for a nearby dock. The hole itself is pretty wide open, though OB does lurk to the left. You're better off approaching the green from the right side, so you really shouldn't have to worry about that OB. There are bunkers short left and behind the elevated green.

The second hole.

You have to cross the railroad to get to the second green.

The third hole is another mid-length par 4, this one about 400 yards. To the left is OB, to the right is many, many bunkers. Shennecossett has about 100 bunkers, and this hole is home to quite a few of them. It's a pretty tight driving hole, but if you do decide to use the driver and get over the crest of the hill, you will have a full view of the green. If you lay up with a wood or long iron, the second shot will be semiblind at best. The green is sloped slightly from front to back, so even a high wedge won't stop quickly. Behind the green is the land where the old fifth through seventh were and where the Pfizer parking lot is now.

The farther you hit your drive on 3, the better your view will be.

The third green.

Looking back down the third fairway.

The fourth hole is the first and longest par 3 at Shennecossett, playing about 210 yards up the hill. Locally, it's known as Anthill, but it's actually a replica hole of sorts. This is a Volcano, a hole, usually but not always a par 3, where the green is severely pushed up above its surroundings. Miss on basically any side, and you're in for a very tough second shot. I've encountered a Volcano hole at Bedford Springs (prerenovation), and in a comparison between the two, this is definitely the easier version. The one at Bedford Springs was longer and the hill was much bigger. This hole is no pushover though, the green is not large and there are quite a few bunkers lurking. This is definitely the most memorable nonocean hole at Shennecossett.

The fourth hole is a very "hit the green or you're in trouble" kind of hole.

The fifth hole is, at 565 yards, the longest hole at Shennecossett. You'll notice that there's a group of three bunkers in between the tee and the fairway that really don't come into play in any way. That's where the former seventh green was; the current fifth was made by combining the last hundred yards of the old seventh with the old eighth, which was a par 4. If your tee shot can skirt past the fairway bunker on the right side of the fairway, you'll be in a good position. If your drive is less than ideal or the hole is playing into the wind, you'll have to worry about the cross bunkers cutting across the fairway about 150 yards from the green. Like the third, this green slopes slightly from front to back, and is best approached from the right side of the hole with a little draw.

The fifth hole.

From the fifth fairway.

It's too bad the cross bunkers don't come more into play.

The sixth hole is a 420 yard par 4, running in the opposite direction of the fifth hole. It's a straight hole over basically flat ground, so one might think it wouldn't be that noteworthy. But this is also a fairly tough hole, the hole plays directly into the wind, and a cluster of bunkers on the left side of the fairway narrows the space for the drive. The green is sloped significantly from back left to front right, and a pair of bunkers guards the left side. A par here is a perfectly adequate score.

The sixth hole.

From the sixth fairway. The Volcano green is in the background.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is the longest par 4 on the course at 430 yards, though it plays downwind and downhill. If your drive is hit close to the same cluster of bunkers that threatened the tee shot on the last hole, you'll have a better angle into the staunchly defended green. Coming at the green from the right presents a smaller target and you have to go over a small bunker placed right next to the green. From the left, you get more green to work with, and the cross bunker 20 yards short of the green is only a concern if you're really far back in the fairway. This hole is slightly easier than the previous one, but it's definitely no pushover.

The seventh hole.

The ample trouble around the seventh green is not very evident from here.

It's a bit more noticeable here.

The eighth hole is a short and very reachable par 5, playing uphill but downwind. While the hole curves slightly to the right, the ideal position is actually down the left side. There is no need to be anywhere close to the treeline, especially since there is internal OB in there. This is another hole created by combining two others, which is why the most interesting feature of the hole is kind of wasted. I'm not saying no one has to think about the row of three fairway bunkers sitting in the middle of the fairway, but you either have to be a very long driver or hit some short/bad shots to have to worry about them. The bunker about 250 or so yards from the tee and about 70 yards short of the green on the left side are much more relevant, as the green is always best approached from the left. Part of me thinks this hole would be better if it was shortened 50 yards or so to bring the central bunkers more into play. Then again, it's nice to have a good birdie opportunity once in a while, and the other par 5 on the front nine is too long to be that easy of a hole.

The eighth hole goes sharply uphill.

The central bunkers are unique, but less in play than they could be.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is a 175 yard par 3. The ability to hit a draw on this hole is certainly beneficial, especially when the flag is tucked behind the front-left bunker. Actually, that bunker isn't a terrible place to miss, as the green slopes from back right to front left. Missing left is okay, missing right is less okay.

The ninth hole.

That's it for this week, click here to see the back nine.