Irondequoit is one of six Donald Ross courses in Rochester, but it is a little different from the others. The first nine holes were completed in 1916, in the prime of Ross’s career, but the club only had the land for nine holes at the time. The second nine, the current back nine, was built posthumously by Ross associate J.B. McGovern in the early 1950s. What you have today are two different, but both excellent, nines. The back nine is straightforward, knuckle-down golf, with gently rolling terrain reminiscent of neighboring Oak Hill. It’s the type of golf course that attracts tournaments like the Nationwide Tour’s Xerox Classic, which the club hosted from 2005 to 2008. The front nine, however, is where the real excitement takes place at I.C.C. It’s hard to know what the land for the first nine looked like in the early 1900s, but a best guess would be a open plot that was too swampy or undulating for good farming. What you get now is swooping, heaving contours that make for some of the most unique golf holes you’ll ever see. The first nine is filled with madcap stances, precarious elevated greens, and equal numbers of par fives, par threes and par fours.

The 3rd at Irondequoit best exemplifies the unique qualities of Irondequoit’s front nine. The hole is not long at 520 yards, and it should be an easy three-shotter for the modern low-capper. Yet while most short fives defend themselves rather ineffectively with bunkers or water, it is the land that provides a legitimate defense at ICC’s third. From an elevated tee, the golfer has a view of a fairway that is heavily rolling and slopes severely from right to left. While there is plenty of room out there, the golfer has to fit his tee shot into the sliver of fairway on the high right hand side. This is the only place where the golfer get some serious roll on his tee shot and leave himself with a reasonable flat lie for a long second shot.

As important as it is to stay right off the tee, it is imperative to get right on the second shot. For those who can’t reach the green, a second shot missed left leaves no view of a green that almost directly above you. For those who can reach the green, a hook left will almost certainly go tumbling down into the depths of the backyards of Country Club Drive. The green itself is simple and understated, perched up and rolling gently off the front and back, making an approach of any distance difficult to judge.

Irondequoit’s 3rd is not complex, but it does a couple things for me. First, it brilliantly displays the terrain at Irondequoit, the likes of which you will not see at most golf courses. Second, and more importantly, the 3rd shows what minimalist architecture can do. Ross likely moved little earth to build this hole, probably only shaping the two bunkers and the greensite. Yet the hole is endlessly fascinating, giving the golfer several ways to attack. The 3rd demonstrates that, sometimes, if the architect can just get out his own way, great things can happen.