It would be redundant to begin this post along the lines of “New York state has much to offer in the way of golf.” You’ve followed us to Long Island and USGA championships like the Open at Shinnecock and Bethpage, or the Walker Cup at National Golf Links. We’ve presented PGA Championships from Oak Hill (twice!), Porter Cups from Niagara Falls and Web.Com events from Peek’n Peak. A tale of Holiday Valley, Arrowhead, Ivy Ridge and many others has been told, and we’ve discussed downstate venues like Tallgrass and Union Vale.
In a day, I embark on a dash from Rome to Saranac to Sagamore to Rome again, then home. I’ll play and photography six golf courses, some private and some public. The driving force behind the trip is architecture: I want to see more Donald Ross (Teugega, Glens Falls and Sagamore), Walter Travis (Yahnundasis), Willie Park (Saranac) and a course rumored to be part Ross (Tupper Lake). There’s something about golf played across a layout designed a hundred years ago, hitting shots into greens whose earth settled hundreds of thousands of days ago, over fairways laid out by horse-drawn equipment if by anything beyond mother nature.
Yahnundasis (Courtesy of Walter J. Travis Society)
I hope to be as surprised by some of these courses as I was by my trip to Country Club of Troy in 2012 (and whose photo album evidently needs to be updated) or Leatherstocking or any number of great, classic golf courses. I have no doubt that I’ll find stunning greens at Yahnundasis, wondrously-kept fairways at Glens Falls and vistas beyond compare at Sagamore. I don’t know what we’ll find at Tupper Lake, Saranac and Teugega, but I’ve been told by women and men smarter than I that each course is worth a look-see. Beginning Sunday evening (if we have wireless in the Adirondacks) I’ll post a tale of the day and photos to accompany it. I hope that you are as excited as we are about this trip. It’s not monumental by any stretch, but it will demonstrate what two unstable minds with a gas card and four days to spare can accomplish.
