Review: Copake Country Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Copake Country Club, go here if you haven't seen the front.

When you get to the tenth hole, you may feel a mild case of deja vu. The tenth is pretty much the same length as the first hole, is dead straight to the first hole, goes down then back up in a similar manner to the first hole, and also runs parallel to the first hole. But there are enough differences between the two so that it doesn't feel like you're playing exactly the same hole. For one thing, this is the most heavily bunkered hole at Copake, with two bunkers on the left side of the fairway and five in the general vicinity of the green. The green is small and very well guarded, but it is more receptive than some of the others on the course. It almost feels strange to have a green sloped so much from back to front.

The tenth hole. Like I said, it looks pretty similar to the first hole.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is slightly shorter than the previous hole at 350 yards, but since it's uphill the whole way, it plays a little longer. There are no bunkers, so as long as you don't slice one off into the trees right, the approach should be pretty open. But there is a false front on this elevated green, and there's not a whole lot of green to start off with. So you'll need a very precise wedge to give yourself a decent birdie chance.

The eleventh hole.

The uphill approach on 11.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is definitely one of the most memorable par 3s I've ever played. You'll notice that, much like the second, this hole features a pair of bunkers about 20 yards short of the green. By this point, you'll have realized that those are not just for show. Also like the second, the green falls away. In addition, you'll notice that the green seems to be perched on the edge of a cliff. Long is very bad here. And so, the best course of action is to try and land a shot just over those crossbunkers and run the tee shot onto the green. And if you do get on in regulation, you'd better hope you're close, because there's plenty of contour and break within the green, so two putting is not a guarantee. This is a tough 170 yard hole, and there's no water anywhere. Other courses should take notes.

The twelfth hole is somewhat reminiscent of the second.

Another green that slopes away from the tee.

The thirteenth hole is the third and final sub-300 yard par 4 that Copake has to offer. This hole plays significantly downhill, which makes going for the green all the more tempting. There are no bunkers either, and the green is one of the tamest on the course. However, a stream does encroach from the right, narrowing the hole the closer you get to the green. Not enough to make the green inaccessible from the tee, but enough to give you pause. This is still a good birdie opportunity though.

The thirteenth hole.

The thirteenth possesses one of the few flat fairways at Copake.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is just as much uphill as the previous one was downhill. Seriously, it goes straight up, making the hole play a lot more than the 370 on the scorecard suggests. The tee shot is pretty straightforward, but the green is best approached from the left. No front to back tilt on this green, this is back to front, and significantly so. The green is very shallow too, so once again, you'll need to be precise with your wedge or short iron.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green presents a shallow target.

We've had downhill, we've had uphill, and now, the fifteenth presents the golfer with the relatively rare sidehill hole. Hopefully you're comfortable with having the ball above your feet (or below, if you're a lefty), because once you've hit your tee shot, that will be your reality until you reach the green. The fifteenth is a short (486 yards) par 5, and as such is definitely reachable in two. If you can hit a fade, your drive may stay in the fairway, if not, it'll probably run off into the rough. If you're going for the green in two, your best bet is to aim a bit right of the green and let the ball release down. The green is small and slopes along with the hill.

Good luck finding a level stance on the fifteenth hole.

You'll probably be hitting a draw into the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is the longest par 4 on the back nine at 390 yards. It plays slightly uphill, and the left side of the fairway is sloped, meaning that a low fade will take the slope and run for quite a while. The hole is bunkerless, but there is a false front on the shallow green, and shots missed short right will face a very tricky recovery.

The sixteenth hole.

Leaving the second shot short will leave a tough chip.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is a semiblind par 3, playing 190 yards. The green is sloped from left to right, which means a fade hit to the left side will funnel down toward the hole. There's a bunker front right and two small ones left. This hole is relatively tame, though, compared with the other par 3s Copake has to offer. Not bad, just not quite as interesting.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is definitely an interesting proposition. It's just under 500 yards, but it's an adventure. While the fifteenth was banked right to left, this hole is sloped left to right. Drives have to thread between a group of fairway bunkers left, a native area past that, and a cluster of trees right. If you hit a fade, you have to be careful, as a shot that drifts too far right will be blocked out. If you pulled that off, you're in for a fun second shot. My suggestion is to land your long iron or fairway wood on the left edge of the fairway, about 20 yards short of the green. My brother landed one there, and it literally bounced onto the left edge of the green and curled its way most of the way around. There is some severe tilt there, which is only appropriate for Copake's finishing hole.

Oddly enough, the eighteenth green sits several hundred yards away from the clubhouse, which gives you plenty of time to reflect on how you manage to snatch a 90 out of the jaws of a more reasonable 82. Trust me on that.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

I'm not sure I have enough good things to say about Copake Country Club. It is an incredibly fun golf course at an incredibly reasonable price. Conditions were absolutely perfect; golf balls would release and roll on both fairways and greens. In many cases, a run-up shot was absolutely the best play. But even if Copake had been playing soft, it would still be a very good and interesting golf course. Clearly, it's not the most demanding course; after all, Copake is only 6,200 yards from the back tees. There's one par 4 over 400 yards, one par 5 over 500, and three par 4s under 300 yards. It doesn't emphasize the driver, but the approach and short game. If you're not good around the greens, you will struggle at Copake. I know, because that's exactly what happened to me. On the front nine, I hit six greens in regulation with one birdie, but I walked off with a 44 because I made a quadruple, triple, and double bogey on the holes where I missed the green.

The length of the course, or lack thereof, really is to Copake's benefit in this case. Yes, the green complexes are difficult, and it is very easy to let a poor approach spiral into a disaster. But you're not approaching the greens with mid irons, you're approaching them with wedges. You always feel like you should be in control, that you should be able to score. And when you can't, it feels like it's your fault. One of my brothers managed to make four birdies in a row (6-9), so clearly Copake will allow scoring. You just have to earn those birdies.

I haven't gotten to the best part of this course: the value. Okay, on a Saturday or Sunday morning, it's $49, which is good but not great. Don't play then. At any other time, the most you'll pay is $30. Now, I've played Shennecossett and Keney Park, two golf courses that are well known for being excellent value for money. In my opinion, Copake is just as good a golf course as either of them, and you can play it for even cheaper. So how come it's not better known? For one thing, it's really not close to anything. Keney Park is in Hartford, and while Shennecossett isn't in a big city, it's just off of Interstate 95, plus it's got ocean views. Copake is very much in the middle of nowhere. Also working against Copake is the relative obscurity of its original architect. If this was a Donald Ross or Alister Mackenzie, people would be eating it up. But only real golf enthusiasts know Devereux Emmet. And so Copake Country Club slips under the radar. Which is too bad, on the one hand, but on the other, it means Copake stays a very low-key, under-the-radar sort of place, which I'm sure suits the regulars just fine. But if you do read this and you happen to find yourself in the vicinity, Copake is a great place to play, and I'd strongly recommend going to see it.