Review: Cape Cod Country Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Cape Cod Country Club, go here to see the front nine.

The tenth hole is a fairly long 425 yard par 4 that swings left through the bottom of a shallow valley. The ideal tee shot is aimed at the fairway bunker right and drawn slightly. The green is fairly narrow and wedged between a bunker left and a hill to the right. Right is a very bad place to miss the green unless the ball bounces back down, as the green slopes from right to left. If you get caught up on the hillside, you'll have a steeply downhill lie to a green that runs away from you. 

The tenth hole.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is the longest hole at Cape Cod, playing nearly 550 yards as it swings constantly leftward through the forest. The hole is reachable though if you challenge the dogleg and the treeline, though the target is not large from that far out. However, no matter how good the tee shot, the second shot will be blind until the fairway crests a small ridge about 150 yards from the green. For most people, the second shot is just a set-up for a wedge third shot. The green slopes from left to right, and there's a severe dropoff right into three bunkers and dense forest. It's not an easy shot with a wedge, let alone with a wood. This is a hole probably best played as a three shotter.

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

A bit of a theme of this trip seemed to be incredibly long par 3s, as Metacomet and Butter Brook both had par 3s pushing 250 yards. But the twelfth at Cape Cod stands alone, as it plays 265 yards from the back tees. I'm absolutely certain that makes this the longest par 3 I've ever played. It technically plays downhill, but only by a few feet, and there are so many trees around that any wind assistance would be minimal. There are two bunkers right that are more fairway bunkers than greenside, as even the further one is set 10-20 yards back from the green. The two bunkers left are greenside though. My advice here, as it was for the long par 3s at Butter Brook and Metacomet, is to play the hole as I'm betting it was originally intended: as a short par 4. Lay up on the left side of the fairway about 20-50 yards short and pitch on. You can still make 3 and reasonably ensure yourself a 4.

The incredibly long par 3 twelfth hole.

The twelfth green. This is not a bad place to lay up.

The thirteenth hole is a short par 5, playing less than 500 yards. The hole is level for the first half, but then drops down a few dozen feet as the fairway swings nearly 90 degrees left. You can hit some big tee shots on this hole if you reach that downslope. Sure, the green is perched up on a big hill and you'll have a nearly blind second shot, but you're still going into a par 5 with a short or mid iron, it's a reasonable tradeoff. By the way, get used to seeing green complexes like this one, where there's a lot of going down and then back up to get to the green. We'll be seeing it a lot in this closing stretch.

The thirteenth hole.

Get used to approaches like this.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is the sort of hole that you'll probably never forget. It's not long, only 365 yards, but it doesn't need length to defend it. The tee shot is pretty open, though long hitters may want to hit a 3 wood to stay short of the fairway bunker that eats into the right side of the fairway. That's not the tough part. It's the second shot where the challenge comes in. This may be why Donald Ross has been associated with the course, as the Volcano green is typically associated with him. I've played a couple Volcano holes before, at Bedford Springs and Shennecossett, and those were both par 3s. This is a par 4 and the approach is only half the length, which does it make it a bit easier, but not by much. The green is tiny and there's a 30-40 foot drop right, left, and short. Miss it and you're going all the way down. In my opinion, the hole would be great if the green was maybe 50% bigger. There's just so little space up there and the penalty for missing is so severe, a bit more space would make the second shot merely scary instead of terrifying. But just a bit, I don't want to take anything away from the memorability of the hole. 

The fourteenth hole.

One of the most difficult wedges you'll ever hit.

The fifteenth hole is a 190 yard par 3 that plays over a deep valley. This is a hole where you really don't want to come up short. Those bunkers are not pleasant places to be. While I think this is a good hole, the fact that we just had two extremely elevated greens works against it. Sooner or later, it can get a bit tiresome having to worry about coming up short and watching your ball roll back down the hill.

The fifteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is something you don't see too often: a consecutive par 3. There's a good reason for that though, as the hole is not original. From what I can tell, the sixteenth was originally a par 4, but a house was placed where the fairway was, so the hole was reconfigured into a 200 yard par 3. And that makes some sense, as the walk from the fifteenth green to this tee was rather long. The hole itself isn't bad, but it's not that good. The bunkers around the green provide decent defense, but the hole is dead flat and the green isn't anything to write home about. 

The sixteenth hole.

The sixteenth green.

Refreshingly, Cape Cod concludes with a pair of short 4s. The seventeenth is the easier and shorter of the two, playing 315 yards down a wide open fairway. There's plenty of room for the wayward driver (aka, me) to hit a wayward drive and still get away with it. There's tall grass left, but this is New England tall grass, not Maryland tall grass. It's still perfectly playable, but not easy to get out of. The green is protected by bunkers long and right, and the right side of the green falls away a fair amount. It's still a good birdie opportunity, and the hole is drivable for the longer hitters out there. 

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole, in a way, plays very similar to the last hole. It's only 15 yards longer and the fairway does a similar drop and then rise to the green so that the tee and green are at roughly the same elevation. This hole has many more trees though, and they're on both sides. That makes the calculus on the tee much trickier. You could play it the same, but you're risking quite a bit. I imagine most people opt to play safer and leave themselves the uphill, semiblind approach. If you can lay up at a distance that avoids the fairway bunker on the right, even better. The green has a bit of a false front, though not nearly as severe as the one on seven. Short approaches definitely won't roll all the way back down. I like this as a finishing hole. It's short enough that you can still reasonably make birdie, but it's not easy. You have to hit a good drive to get anything out of it.

The eighteenth hole.

The eighteenth green.

At no point during the round did I think: "Wow, this is a really great hole I'm playing." Some people may feel that way about the fourteenth, but I thought it was a little too much. There were no standouts, in my opinion, but what Cape Cod does have is 18 good, solid holes. The fourteenth may be a bit ridiculous and the twelfth is 30 yards too long, but I wouldn't call either hole bad or boring. And beyond that, the golf is good. There's a decent amount of elevation change and the course is sand based, so it plays firm and fast. 

As far as value, Cape Cod is pretty good for the area. It was $43 to walk on a weekday morning, which isn't cheap, but when everything else is $20 more at least, it's just fine. Golf in Massachusetts is in general a bit more expensive than Pennsylvania and upstate New York, from what I've experienced in my limited time there. Not more so than Maryland, though, and the golf is way better. I'd definitely recommend the course if you're out on Cape Cod and looking for a good public golf experience. Or if you're looking for a course to play in the morning as you head out to Highland Links for an evening tee time, as we did. 

Review: Cape Cod Country Club (Part 1)

What would one of our vacations be without including a Devereux Emmet golf course? It's surprising just how prolific he was in the Northeast, considering so few have heard of him. This year, the Emmet course on tap is Cape Cod Country Club in East Falmouth. Designed in the late 1920s by Emmet and Alfred Tull, the course opened as the nine-hole Coonamessett Golf Course, which was part of a big resort centered on Coonamessett Pond. An additional nine holes came soon after. While Donald Ross has been claimed as the designer for the second nine, no evidence of his involvement has been found. In all likelihood, Alfred Tull designed the second nine. 

While the resort is no longer there as far as I can tell, the course is still alive and kicking, and doing quite well. So, what does an unrestored or unrenovated Devereux Emmet course look like? Let's find out.

The first hole is a short par 4 that, from tee to green, is a bit uphill. Obviously though that's not the whole story, as the tee shot is straight downhill. A long iron or fairway wood is all you need on the tee, unless you're really interested in a pitch shot from a steeply uphill lie or watching your golf ball roll backward for 50 yards. The second shot is blind and quite obviously sharply uphill. The green is protected by a bunker left and two right, and it's got a bit of a false front that you definitely don't want to mess with. With how brown much of the course was, I'm not convinced it wouldn't roll the whole way back down to the fairway.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is a fairly long par 3 at 210 yards that plays over flat ground. The green is very well bunkered, with sand short, left, and right. The green itself isn't hugely difficult though, and it's open at the front, so this hole isn't really that difficult.

The second hole.

The second green.

The third hole is a big and wide par 5 that plays just under 500 yards. There's a big bunker on the left side with a ridge beyond it that you'll definitely want to avoid, as it makes going for the green in two impossible. There's also a pair of bunkers on the right a bit further up that's really only a concern for longer hitters. If you don't hit a good drive, a pair of cross bunkers about 100 yards from the green will threaten lay-ups. The green is well bunkered on both sides, but there's a bit of space in between so they're only really an issue if you're coming at the green from a long way away. It's a much more inviting target from wedge range. It's a fairly undulating green, but nothing extreme. This is an excellent birdie or eagle opportunity.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green.

The fourth hole is a longer par 4 that moves into a more well-forested section of the property. Not that the hole is narrow, far from it. There's a bunker right that isn't really a big issue, and a bunker left of the fairway that is much more in play. The green has bunkers right and left, but much like the previous hole there's plenty of space in between to run a shot up.

The fourth hole.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is slightly longer than the previous hole, and is the longest par 4 on the course at 430 yards. This hole is a bit narrower than the previous hole, but there are no fairway bunkers. The green is sort of domed and is best approached from the right side. There's a big bunker short left of the green that defends it quite well.

The fifth hole.

The fifth green.

After a bit of a climb, the sixth hole is a big double-dogleg par 5 curving around the big hill in between it and the previous hole. If you want to hit driver, you'll have to challenge that hill and the dense forest right. The fairway turns about 225 yards from the tee and going too far will result in being blocked out by more trees. While it can be annoying to use less than a driver on a par 5, I'm okay with it here because the option certainly exists to use driver if you can pull off a big fade around the dogleg. If you can do it, the green is reachable in two. A bunker and a small valley about 100 yards from the green give a little challenge if you lay up on the tee shot and second shot. The green is perched on the edge of the hill, so missing right or long at all will almost certainly result in a lost golf ball.

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a short par 4 that's drivable if you're an especially long hitter. If not, you've got a couple of options. A massive valley runs perpendicular to the hole, starting about 175 yards from the tee. If you want a level stance and a view of the hole, you have to lay way back, using a long iron at most and leaving a full wedge or short iron. Alternatively, you can hit a wood or driver as far as you can and leave a blind half wedge up a big giant hill. And you won't want to leave that second shot short no matter where you're at. I'm not sure if it would roll the whole way back down, but that's probably not a risk you'll want to take. Three bunkers are scattered around the green, which has a notable false front. Like I said, you don't want to miss short here.

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green. Probably don't want to be this far away though.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole starts off by crossing the valley encountered on the last hole, but this time it's right in front of the tee, and the tee shot is completely blind as the opposite side of the valley is 30 feet higher than the tee. From that point though, the hole plays downhill. It's a 420 yard par 4 that doglegs gently left, but it starts to turn a fair way back. A shot hit 250 yards down the right side of the fairway may end up blocked out by trees. Playing down the left is better. The main section of fairway stops about 275 yards from the tee and drops down a big slope toward the green. The green itself is well bunkered and sloped from right to left. This is the best hole on the front nine, in my opinion, and possibly the best on the course.

The eighth hole from the top of the hill.

Approaching the eighth green.

Looking back at the eighth hole.

The ninth hole is the shortest hole at Cape Cod, and it's definitely the easiest of the par 3s here. The green slopes from back to front with a bit of a false front if you're a little short. There are bunkers short and right, and if you go left, you can run into some shrubbery and trees bordering Coonamessett Pond. You'd have to hit a mighty hook in order to get to the water though. Even I couldn't quite make it, and believe me, I tried.

The ninth hole.

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