Review: Pinehaven Country Club (Part 1)

You can probably surmise from the name of Pinehaven Country Club that trees are going to feature prominently. And big surprise, they do. Pinehaven is a little west of Albany, New York, set in the Albany Pine Bush, a large pine barrens. That means a few things, much of which aren't relevant to a discussion about a golf course. What is relevant, and very heavily advertised on the Pinehaven website, is that the course is built on sandy soil. Of course, golf got its start on sandy soil, and while this is a far cry from the links of Great Britain, it does mean that I went into the round with expectations of generally firm and fast conditions. 

Naturally, the greens were freshly aerated, which limited that aspect significantly. Which is fine, this is a private club and I'm happy to play it at any time, but it's unfortunate all the same. 

Anyway, Pinehaven was designed in the early 60s by the head pro of Mohawk Golf Club (which will become significant next month), so this isn't a course with a significant architectural pedigree. But that doesn't mean it can't have an interesting design, and the course is the current host of an Epson Tour (the LPGA's developmental tour) event, so it's got that going for it.  

The first hole is a mid-length par 4, playing dead straight through a fairly narrow corridor of trees. The fairway is pinched in the driving zone by two bunkers, so there's plenty of reason not to use driver off of the tee. However, if you lay up on the tee shot, you'll end up in a gully, which will obscure your view of the green. That's not ideal. The green itself is pretty straightforward, sloped from back to front, and bunkerless. Overall, a typical gentle handshake opening hole.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is 360 yards, playing to a very narrow fairway, squeezed between trees. There's really not much room on the tee here, especially when you consider the large pine tree about 75 yards from the green, blocking out even the right portion of the fairway, and a marshy pond on the left side, right where a solid driver would end up. Precision is very important here. The second shot, if you've hit a decent long iron or fairway wood, will be a wedge into a small green protected by a front-right bunker. 

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole is a 175-yard par 3 with a small, two-tiered green protected by bunkers on each side. I imagine in most circumstances you don't want to be above the hole, since the back-to-front slope is quite significant, but as I mentioned, the recently aerated greens were playing very slow. Even still, this is a solid hole, and you can end up with some very interesting putts.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is 385 yards, and unlike the first and second holes, the fairway is reasonably wide, so you can comfortably use driver. While there's no trouble on the tee shot, you will want to favor the left side, since that gives you the best angle into the green. The second shot is uphill to a slightly domed green guarded by a bunker front right.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is the same length as the fourth, but plays in the opposite direction. It's another fairly wide fairway, but this one is sloped significantly from right to left and narrows right where a good driver would end up. You'll want to favor the right side on the tee shot, so a fade will work better than a draw. A drive left means having to go right over the greenside bunker. The green is elevated and is sloped from back to front.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is the first par 5 at Pinehaven, playing 520 yards. The fairway doglegs to the left quite quickly, so longer hitters may not want to hit driver unless you can pull off a big draw/hook around the left-hand trees. However, most people will play safely to the corner, making this a solid three-shot hole. The second shot is pretty straightforward, but the third (or second if you're a long hitter) is trickier. The green is sloped quite sharply from back to front, and there are two bunkers protecting it, one on each side.

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a mid-length par 4 that's quite deceiving from the tee for first-time players. The fairway traverses a ridge about 200 yards out, making the landing area blind. You can see a flag, but that's just the aiming flag; the actual hole doglegs sharply to the right. A solid drive can easily fly right through the fairway, so it's probably a good idea to use a fairway wood or long iron here. That will leave a wedge or short iron to a bunkerless green sloped sharply from back to front.

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is the longest par 4 at Pinehaven, playing 435 yards. The tee shot is hit through a narrow chute of trees to a fairway pinched in the driving zone by three bunkers. A solid drive, avoiding the O.B. lurking a bit left and the bunkers, will leave a mid iron or so into the green. It's another tough iron shot, with the green flanked by sand and more O.B. left. It's a tough hole, if not an especially thought-provoking one.

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

Pinehaven has not one, but two short par 3s, and the ninth is the first of them, playing a downhill 150 yards. That makes it just a little wedge, which is good, because this is a very tough green. There are two bunkers in front, and the green slopes from front right to back left. That is not an idea combination for getting a tee shot close, so in reality, the ninth is quite a tricky little hole. 

The ninth hole.

The ninth green, featuring two strange things.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.