Exquisite Entry

The elegant entry that leads golfers to the mansion at Turner Hill is rivaled only by the layout that follows it

By Bob Albright

“Unbelievable course, but why does it end with a par-3 on the finishing hole?”

Next to the most obvious question – “Is there any way possible you can get me out on the course?,” – it’s probably the next most prevalent query Turner Hill head golf professional George Goich fields at every cocktail party or golf outing.

“We get questions all the time as to why there is a par-3 for the 18th, well basically that gives us holes 9, 17 and 18 all finishing around the mansion,” Goich explains. “That was (architect) Dana Fry’s plan. He wanted three holes finishing around the mansion.”

The Golf Club at Turner Hill Architect: Dana Fry, Hurzdan/Fry Par/yardage: 72/7,021 Slope/rating: 138/75.1 Course Record: Frank Dully II, 65 Fees: Private Website: www.turnerhill.com

That’s not to take anything away from the utterly delightful 7,021-yard Hurzdan/Fry layout, complete with breathtaking views of Willowdale State Forest and crushed limestone-filled bunkers so white they will make you squint. When you have a drawing card as unique and elegant as the century-old Rice Mansion is, however, you make it the centerpiece as Fry so successfully did at Turner Hill.

Unveiled to its initial members in 2002 the club has hit few speed bumps along the way on the business side, but never greenside.

Once again, the allure all starts with the mansion which never fails to captivate even the most regular visitor as they make the turn on winding Manor House Lane leading up to the pro shop.

“Dana felt like it’s the best entrance to a golf course in the country and given that he’s played all the top 100 courses in the country I trust his judgment on that,” said Goich. “As he explained it, you have a lot of entrances which are really nice and long, but they are really just long entrances.

“Then the ones that are famous are real short. With this one you come in and it’s very nice, but all of a sudden it hits you when you turn that corner and ‘boom’ there’s that mansion.”

While the Rice Mansion will always be the leading lady on the top of Turner Hill, the course, and specifically holes like 2, 9, 12, 13 and 17 have to get best supporting nods.

 “Nine is just a visually stunning par-5 up the hill from a couple of perspectives,” Goich explains. “It’s a double-fairway with huge, picturesque bunkering and when you get on top of the green you have great views of Willowdale State Park on one side and the mansion and the lake on the other.

“The 17th hole is a long par-4 and as you make the turn around the dogleg the mansion will jump out at you much like it does driving up to the club.”

 Another stunning hole is the 396-yard par-4 12th, which features one of the most elevated tees on the course and in the fall is especially spectacular as it offers a sweeping panoramic view of the sprawling foliage. The drop from the tee on the 12th, is a good 140 yards down to a well-bunkered hole on this dogleg left.

Goich’s favorite hole is the mammoth 569-yard par-5 13th.

“It’s just a great three-shot hole,” said Goich. “It’s the quietest place on the course as it sits along the state forest so it’s secluded and you don’t really see anything other than the hole itself. I just like the way the hole is shaped. There is trouble with a hazard down the entire left side. You have to pay attention on that hole.”

Especially when you reach a U-shaped green that slopes from front-to-back and left to right.

“You have to pay attention to where you lay up,” Goich points out. “Whatever side the pin is on is the one to try to put your lay-up shot to that side.”

Statistically, the uphill 393-yard par-4 14th plays the hardest on the course. There’s a large hazard to carry on the front off the tee and huge slope on the right which can make the hole a long one if you slice your drive as this writer did. On your second shot, your shooting up hill to a green that Goich feels is the fastest on the course and slopes from back-to-front.

“For a very good player it doesn’t seem like that tough of a hole, but for and average guy who is hitting a soft slice every shot it’s very hard,” said Goich.

Goich has been on the job at Turner Hill from Day 1 and marvels at the way the course has grown in in such a relatively short span.

“It has exceeded my expectations. The holes that I thought people wouldn’t like when they were being built have really grown in well, and, from an agronomy standpoint, I still think it’s in the top one percent in the Northeast. It does seem to get better each year.  The biggest thing that I like about it is that it does play different all the time.”

Case in point, is the 169-yard par-3 10th which features an elevated tee shot down to a green which is surrounded on three sides by the lake.  Goich has played everything from an 8-iron to a 5-iron on the hole according to the always-unpredictable winds.

Aside from the obvious visual reaction to the majestic mansion, the other image that first-time golfers at Turner Hill will likely have burned into their memory banks is one of putts that simply keep rolling and rolling. Course super John Sadowski and his crew roll the greens four days a week to keep them consistently running around 11 on the Stimpmeter and when you figure in the omnipresent slopes and undulations, your work is often just beginning when you take off your golf glove and grab the flat stick.

Thanks to the unwavering guidance from club president Bob Talbot and others the future keeps getting brighter at this truly unique course which counts NBA world champion coach Doc Rivers and baseball Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley among its members and two-time British Open Champion Padraig Harrington as one of its most ardent supporters.
Add that trio to a world-class layout, and of course, the one shimmering focal point on the otherwise blank canvas Fry was handed some eight years ago, the Rice Mansion, and Goich can count on the steady stream of inquiries to keep coming his way at cocktail parties, and everywhere else, for quite some time.

Did you know?

As magnificent as the bunkering is at The Golf Club at Turner Hill, architect Dana Fry, a Tom Fazio disciple, designed all of the course’s traps to only be seen in one direction – from the tee. Accordingly, the only signs of trouble golfers will see as they stand on the green and look back at the hole they have just played at Turner Hill will likely be on their scorecard.