Review: Leatherstocking Golf Course (Part 2)

It's time to take a look at Leatherstocking's back nine, go here if you haven't seen the front.

The tenth hole is a mid-length par 4 that continues climbing up the mountain, so it plays noticeably longer than the 385 on the scorecard. The fairway isn't very wide and there's a bunker that cuts into the fairway about 100 yards from the green, so it may be the wiser play to use a 3 wood off of the tee. The second shot is a wedge or short iron up the hill to a basically blind green that's surrounded by a flattened ring of seven bunkers. Miss right and you've got a deep bunker to deal with, but miss left you'll be left with a bunker shot to a precariously perched green that slopes away, which is really not much better. 

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth green.

The tenth green.

The tenth green from the eleventh tee.

The eleventh hole is not the par 5 Leatherstocking is famous for, which is really too bad, because this hole is incredible. At 560 yards, this is the longest hole on the course, and it manages to pack interest into every single yard. The tee shot is downhill to a wide but severely canted fairway with dense forest to the right. If you want the best angle to potentially go for the green in two, you'll need to skirt that right side, preferably with a fade so it stays on the right side. If you don't hit a good drive, a group of three bunkers built into the hillside about 200 yards from the green become a potential issue. Most people will probably lay up to the right up at the top of the hill, leaving a wedge down a big hill to the green. Or you can pull out the fairway wood and hit a swooping draw, encouraged by the sidehill lie, that takes the slope down toward the green. The back half of the green is ringed by bunkers, but the front is wide open. No matter how you play this hole, even if you can only hit the ball 100 yards, there are decisions to be made, and that's something few par 5s can claim. I can't say enough good things about it.

The eleventh hole.

The eleventh fairway has quite a bit of tilt to it.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is by a wide margin the shortest hole at Leatherstocking, and it's an interesting proposition. It's only 135 yards and plays a few dozen feet downhill, so even less club is needed than you might think. And this is a green you don't want to go over. There's a parking lot and a road just feet behind the green; much like the third, I can't believe there's no netting or anything to contain stray golf balls. Plus that's not the only problem, though it is admittedly the biggest hazard on the hole. The green is shallow and subtly sloped from front to back, and there's a ring of 10 bunkers completely encircling the green. There's a lot going on here, but the hole is extremely short, so it remains playable.

The twelfth hole.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is not as threatening as it first looks. When you step onto the tee, your eye will be drawn toward the big deep bunker that dominates the fairway, but that bunker isn't actually that big a threat. It's only 150 yards from the tee, so it's no trouble to carry it. The drive is actually pretty easy, since the hole is only 340 yards and the fairway is deceivingly wide. The second shot is much trickier, since the green is small and guarded by a couple of bunkers and a deep pit (though not as deep as the one on the seventh, since the green isn't elevated). There's also a big dropoff behind the green, so I wouldn't recommend going long either.

The thirteenth hole.

Approaching the thirteenth green.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is a very driveable par 4 at only 285 yards. There's a bunker in the fairway about 175 yards from the tee, so you'll want to use enough club to get over that if you're not going for the green. It's not a big target, but there's no significant trouble by the green so there's really no good reason to lay up. It's a great opportunity to make a birdie or even an eagle.

The fourteenth hole.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is another half-par hole, being a 460 yard par 5 that is easily reachable in two. The fairways is tilted from right to left, similar to the eleventh, but if you can stay on the right side, you can at least get a view of the flag. The green is hidden from view, huddled down in a punchbowl. There's O.B. left, a couple of bunkers, and the green isn't huge, but otherwise it's an inviting enough target. It's entirely possible to get through this and the previous hole with a pair of eagles, or a couple of birdies. I would, however, get rid of the line of trees behind the green. It wasn't such a big deal in early November, but those trees would ordinarily block out the view of the lake, and I think it's a mistake to limit those impressive sightlines.

The fifteenth hole.

Approaching the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green, with its extra long flag.

You've got quite a vista when you step onto the sixteenth tee. The lake and the massive Otesaga Hotel are in the background, beyond the hole. The sixteenth is a par 4, playing just under 370 yards, that heads past a pond to the right toward the lake. If you'd like, you can lay back short of the pond, a simple enough shot, but you'll have 150 yards into the green, or you can hit a bigger club and take on the water and the two bunkers to the left. It's tough, but it's definitely easier to approach this green from 100 yards than from 150. It's not a big target, and there's still water right, plus a bunker left. At least the green is flat. 

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is 180 yards and has a fairly simple green that slopes gently from back to front, making it pretty easy to hit. And that's a good thing, considering the water short, right, and even beyond the green. The lake makes a very effective hazard, but there's not an unreasonably small amount of space out there, so I don't think the hole is too difficult, especially considering its place in the round.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

Another look at the seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is Leatherstocking's calling card. It is a par 5 of epic proportions, a hole that bends 515 yards around Otsego Lake to a green nestled between the lake and the hotel up on a hill. But that really only scrapes the surface of what's going on here. When you're on the seventeenth green, you may notice that there really isn't any land left. The path takes you out on a wooden bridge over the water, heading out in a direction not exactly toward land. That's when you come to the tee box, which is not actually on land. You tee off from a small island more than 100 feet from the lake shore, an artificial island built on top of sunken automobiles. Let me tell you, I have never been more aware of my grip on the golf club then when I was on that tee or so worried about accidently letting go of the driver and flinging it out into the lake. But anyway, the fairway bends constantly in a gentle curve, so you can cut off as much as you want. You could play wide right and keep the carry to a bit over 100 yards, but that will make the hole a definite three-shotter (or more). There's actually a small bump in the shore where things widen out, providing a decent place to land a driver if you can carry it 300 yards; if you make it, you'll have just a little wedge for your second shot. Hey, if you can carry it 350 (a feat that I suspect will become more common, not less), you could even try your luck and go for the green directly. Most people don't do all that, I'm assuming, and play the hole as a driver, a long iron, and then a wedge or short iron. The water is, of course, an omnipresent threat, but there's room to the right. The green is pretty big and has a large tier running through the middle. The hole may lack the grandeur of the Pacific Ocean, but otherwise it's a pretty similar proposition to the final hole at Pebble Beach. And that hole doesn't have a tee on an island. So yeah, I'd say this is a pretty unforgettable experience and a great way to finish the round.

The eighteenth from the seventh tee.

The eighteenth hole from the seventeenth tee.

Nothing but 350 yards of water between the eighteenth tee and green.

Approaching the eighteenth green. The bump in the shore I mentioned is in the middle left of the picture. It's not easy to get there with a driver, but it's possible.

The eighteenth green.

There's a big tier running through the final green..

Looking back at the eighteenth. The tee is just below and left of the white building.

As you can probably tell, I'm a big fan of Leatherstocking. It's an excellent golf course and a very distinctive one. The eighteenth is quite obviously an unforgettable hole, and it didn't disappoint, but I was really surprised by the eleventh and the par 5s in general. The eleventh is one of the best holes I've ever played, and all four par 5s were very good, something that most golf courses can't say. Par 5s are tough to get right. Since they're so long, very often one shot (or more) just ends up being a matter of hitting the ball as far as you can, especially if you can't go for the green in two. That's not the case at Leatherstocking, as all four par 5s make you think the entire way through. Plus there are some strong par 3s, especially the two across the road on the mountain. The par 4s are the weakest part, but that's hardly saying that they're boring. The use of elevation change to effectively add distance ensures that Leatherstocking doesn't suffer from the same problem Cape Arundel does. And that is a concern, since both courses have no long par 4s and both are on small properties with many parallel holes. Leatherstocking doesn't quite have the same quality of green complexes, but they're certainly not boring or easy, and the tee-to-green part is way better.

I do wholeheartedly recommend Leatherstocking if you're in upstate New York, however, it's not exactly great value. I paid $69 per person to play on a Saturday afternoon in November, and that's not cheap. Sure, it included a cart (another thing, you can't walk Leatherstocking on weekends unless you start after 2 p.m., and when it gets dark at 5, it's kind of hard to get 18 in), but still, you can play 18 holes in New York for a lot less. I do think it's worth the fairly steep price of admission though, this is an amazing golf course, and if you think about it, Pebble Beach costs $500 more, so if you want the experience of a dramatic par 5 that curves around a natural body of water, this is the value option. I'd certainly like to get another round in on a nice dry summer day, see how fun the greens are when they're running firm. That could be an interesting experience.