Amateur champion. After the third hole, most of the course is actually tucked back away from the water. The fairway is level, there is a very narrow creek about 15 yards to the left of the fairway. Throw in the fact that Gil Hanse has done extensive remodeling over the last 10 years, and that it has one of the most noteworthy par 3s in golf? The view from this teebox is world-class, with 390 fantastic yards separating you from the water. I believe the individual is entitled to due process, Dickerson said. The par 4 2nd also plays 415 yards and is another very difficult hole. Receive the latest news and breaking updates, straight from our newsroom to your inbox. On the 424-yard 6th, three staggered lines of cross-mounding jut in from the left (the last sits 220 yards from the back tee). Bushnell Ion Elite Review: A Solid $200 GPS Golf Watch, Sun Mountain Mid Stripe Golf Bag: A New Player in Luxury Bag Market. Marion Town Administrator Paul Dawson noted at the Selectmens May 7 meeting that Briggs had not submitted a letter of resignation, and he asked Selectmen how to proceed or if the board has an appetite for removal.. It was nice to have the extra time to wander around and soak in the setting. With further input from R&A Captain Lord Brabazon of Tara, the British managed to persuade USGA Committee members to modify the punishment. He also made sure that consecutive golf holes rarely played in the same direction. Founded in 1922, the Kittansett Club is one of the region's most historic private golf clubs, and one of only a few seaside courses in New England. 18 brings you back to the clubhouse, and again throws off vibes of the opening and finishing holes at Maidstone and Fishers Island. Littler and Jackson went to lunch 2-up and closed out Wilson and MacGregor 3 and 2 proving once again that no good deed goes unpunished. The British non-playing captain, Lieut. in the minutes leading up to your arrival, you can be forgiven for thinking you might be in the wrong place. The prudent play is left of center, directly over the bunkers highest point; this allows the contour to shape the ball onto the green. Off the tee, to be sure, and on approach shots. In a recent letter to Selectmen, resident Annie Rockwell, of Parlow Mill Farm Road, asked Selectmen to stop the practice of dual and questionable appointments. Briggs worked well with the facilities personnel at both those private entities, he said. Its not just the length, the lack of elevation on the 11th teebox makes judging the distance even more difficult. Its a seaside course peninsular for heavens sake; the Aboriginal American name means near (sett) the sea (kittan) but there isnt a proper dune in sight. A similar trio is reprised at the wonderful, short par-4 10th, where the hazards are reasonably cleared with a long-iron or fairway wood mind games notwithstanding. And theres a good chance driver will be too much and take you through the fairway. Par is a tremendous score here. It was here that Wilson and MacGregor proved they were very good sports indeed. Tee Par Yardage Rating Slope, Blue 71 6934 75.0 145, White 71 6400 71.9 139, White/Green 71 6029 70.0 132, Green 71 5581 67.9 130, Yellow 72 4934 71.0 133. This circular green is lined by two deep bunkers on either side and the Ocean long. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. As for the Conservation Commissions need for a better relationship with Tabor: Much of the academys waterfront property is located in a flood plain and wetlands, and therefore subject to Conservation Commission overview for building projects. Im of the opinion we should have further discussion, Marion Selectman Chairman Steve Cushing said. One of those revisions came shortly after the discovery of the Flynn drawings in that Pennsylvania barn. Although my least favorite of the three, Weequahic offers strong value and a more than adequate layout for public golfers in the New York metro area. Perennially ranked as one of "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses" by Golf Digest magazine, Kittansett offers both a scenic and demanding test of golf. Because Kittansett is a golf club you're not going to find a pool, tennis, or all of the other amenities that you'll typically find at a country club. This drive requires a carry of 145 yards and avoidance of dense marshes on the right. Unlock All Content, Become A Subscriber Today. When golfs luminaries gathered in September on this lovely seaside ground just south of the Cape Cod Canal, the prize at stake had become The Walker Cup, forever and always. The 126 yard 9th hole is Cabot Cliffs shortest hole. Kittansett is a pure golf club, and its centerpiece from the very beginning has been its course. With the U.S. Senior Amateur visiting Butler Point this week, it seemed a fine time to place this story above the fold.]. I hit my tee shot to 8 feet and drained the putt for my only birdie in 3 days. The 1953 Walker Cup, on the other hand, is easily the biggest thing ever to hit The Kittansett Club, one of New Englands most revrered if serially under-exposed golf venues. You have a recipe for a special place, and one Ive always personally been excited to see. Par is a great score here. Kittansett is the only golf course on Hoods resume; he never designed nor built another. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Briggs, 60, owns Sherman E. Briggs Excavating, a business which has performed excavating work for Tabor Academy in Marion for more than 20 years. This hole marks a return to the Ocean, as the final three hole play on the tip of the archipelago. I think it was because the foreman for that job got fired for sleeping on the job and stealing, Briggs said. And so Kittansett remains a bit of a mystery guest, even to Bay State golfers. Visit https://get.webgl.org to verify that your browser and hardware support WebGL. Go further to the right and youll have the best angle in towards the green, but be more likely to catch the 3rd mound. View key info about Course Database including Course description, Tee yardages, par and handicaps, scorecard, contact info, Course Tours, directions and more. Here's a rare chance to see it for yourself, with a member from the club in your group to show the way. The Walker Cup competition began in 1922 as matches between amateur golfers from Great Britain and the United States. One particularly devastating bunker is a crossbunker that juts onto the left fairway about 100 yards short of the green. Which isnt to say Kittansett hasnt been well regarded for a very long time. The fact that Kittansett was the site of the Mass Am last week for the sixth time in its history speaks to the high regard in which the course is held. Hard to believe this green would have sitting under 8 feet of water at one point. We were hosting an Eighty Club event at Old Sandwich and Boston Golf Club, and I tacked on an extra day to the trip to make the journey out to Marion and experience a course Ive been excited about visiting for years. Sean, great article! Briggs said he signed the disposition agreement March 15. The Kittansett Club opens with the two longest par fours on the course. As a testament to Kittansetts difficulty, not one player broke par in a 1996 U.S. But there are so many other holes of note. Those elements made Kittansett very much a placement course. They also reinforced the belief that it was indeed a creation of Flynns and a precursor to some of his most celebrated work, for in later years, he included very similar features in his collaboration at Pine Valley with George Crump (think of the fourth, seventh and 13th holes there) and Shinnecock. For the 2022 season they expanded their outdoor bar, which is a fantastic place to have a drink and enjoy the view of both the course and the water. Please remove Mr. Briggs from the Conservation Commission immediately. Follow Boston.com on Instagram (Opens in a New Tab), Follow Boston.com on Twitter (Opens in a New Tab), Like Boston.com on Facebook (Opens in a New Tab), Bill Murray and Wynonna Judd spotted at Newport restaurant, Jill Biden visited a beloved Boston seafood restaurant, Complaint about Bill Murray leads Searchlight to halt filming of Being Mortal. The 470 yard par 4 17th is one of my favorite holes at Cascata as a beautiful sweeping, downhill dogleg left. William Campbell was yet another veteran of the 1951 team, while Kittansett Club member Richard Chapman held the distinction of having won the amateur championships of the United States, Great Britain, Canada and France the only man to achieve this feat. Hanse also called for the relocation of a pair of fairway bunkers farther down the fifth hole, for similar reasons, and restored the sandy waste area between the parallel first and 18th holes. For most if not all of us, that includes some very obvious places like Pine Valley, Augusta National, Cypress Point and so on. This hole features beautiful views of the Ocean in the background but dont let this distract you on this difficult teeshot. But taking out the chain saws was not only about bringing back the vistas. The project was soon undertaken by a group of local golf enthusiasts, many who gave generously of their time and financial resources to support the construction of Kittansett. But they enjoyed no such luck with the wind or their opponents. We didnt play on a particularly windy day, but I imagine these two holes rarely play the scorecard yardage. The oft-photographed 3rd, a pitch across an ocean inlet to a green surrounded by beach sand, is the notable exception. This undulating green is guarded by tall trees on the left and bunkers on either side. The two that stand sentinel on either side of the somewhat lunar 16th fairway appear to frame the target but are actually 50 yards short of the green, seriously messing with a visitings depth perception. This approach plays slightly uphill to a small, undulating green surrounded by deep bunkers. Perhaps the best hole on the course is No. The Kittansett Club layout elicited similar praise from competitors and spectators alike. . At Kittansett fescue grass can frame a lot of the features well, and this hole is an excellent example of it. Generous benefits and bonuses. Theres another bunker 100 yards short and on either side of this small circular green. 8 is a fantastic par 3 with an interesting green, nice mounding in the rear, and bunkers directly in front of and to the right of the green. The club has followed through by continuing to fell trees, opening up never-before-seen vistas on the point holes 1, 2, 16, 17 and 18. The name is interesting as its a combination of two Native American words meaning near the sea.. Town of Marion, Massachusetts, United States View. Littler and Jackson were eventually penalized two holes, placing them three down on the fourth tee. Verdict: The charming and exclusive Kittansett Club is one of the most underrated courses in America and might be my dark horse candidate for best course in New England. But once you get out of the top 10 or 20 courses in the world, everyones personal golf bucket list tends to diverge a bit. Ward and Charlie Coe were the top international amateurs of their day, and Sam Urzetta, a 51 Walker Cupper, was the 1950 U.S. The 11th with its massive cross bunker gaping in from the left is perhaps the most brutish poser on a course replete with them. Kittansett hosted the 1953 Walker Cup, when an American team that featured Ken Venturi, Bill Campbell, Harvie Ward, Dick Chapman, Gene Littler, Charlie Coe, and other notables routed the GB&I team 9-3. Epic experience.. The setting of Kittansett is phenomenal. They are, in fact, enough to humble and beguile just about anyone in any sort of weather. American Jack Westland, the reigning U.S. The first thing I noticed was that the golf course had become overgrown and had suffered from what can best be described as benign neglect, said Hanse. Events like these culled a few tupelos, to be sure. Kittansett loosely translates to "near the sea," and that only scratches the surface of this gem. But if a golfer decides instead on the less perilous route down the right, he must then clear a gnarly bunker complex and more grassy mounds to land his second shot onto the putting surface. This approach plays to a large, flat green lined by bunkers on either side. It only took a minute, but from the moment I arrived, I knew I was going to like this place. When asked what he thinks brought the matter to the attention of the state Ethics Commission, Briggs offered a few theories. Kittansett has a lot of subtlety to it, and I imagine with more plays Id grow to appreciate it even more. Kittansett hosted U.S. The A.V. The reachable 330 yard 10th gets my vote for easiest hole at Kittansett. (Credit to this SI article for additional details). I imagine this hole floods or becomes a true island green when the tide is up. By the time Hanse was done with that part of the program, 11 of Kittansetts 18 holes boasted water views, giving golfers the pleasure between shots of watching ketches cut across the waters in full sail and fishermen trolling for bluefish and striped bass in their MasterCrafts. KITTANSETT CLUB MARION, MA 02738-1906 | Tax-exempt since May 1947 EIN: 04-2035017 Nonprofit Tax Code Designation: 501 (c) (7) Defined as: Social and recreational clubs. He reported the matter to the referee, USGA Treasurer Charles Pierson, who in turn consulted with USGA Vice President Ike Grainger. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window). Once again, I cant imagine what this looked like before the tree removal, and at least from my perspective, it seems like this is a big improvement. I really enjoyed the course a lot and the amenities are phenomenal and better than most private courses. Membership at the club is strictly invitation only, with initiation fees ranging from $250,000 to $500,000. 3 sun.com; oracle.com; unionclub.org; 3 617227XXXX; 617227XXXX; 617227XXXX; Steven Mann . That should tell you something about its allure. The corridors are naturally ample. The course needed a facelift, said Jim Osborne, who was green chairman at the time. For as challenging as this hole is, the green complex is one of the most interesting on the course. Playing from the whites, most golfers should have no trouble clearing the center-line bunkers, but they certainly make you second-guess your line. American James Jackson was another type of newcomer in 1953, playing his first Walker Cup foursomes match on the Friday when he unwittingly instigated the events most poignant moment. Found guilty of violating state ethics laws and handed a hefty civil fine earlier this month, Marion Conservation Commission Chairman Sherman Briggs Jr. thinks he should be reappointed to the commission when his term expires, and that this latest turn of events should have no impact on his re-election bid to the town Planning Board. Here and there these oversized Kisses (more like chocolate-covered cherries really) reside on a holes periphery, seemingly without purposes. This September, I finally got that chance. By all accounts, Murrays interactions with fans at Turks Seafood on Sunday were nothing but positive. Its a special place, and one its members are extremely lucky to be a part of. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Yet Kittansetts length (6,814 yards, par 70), its smallish, steeply pitched greens, its overall strategic mettle were undiminished. Nober signed the agreement May 2. Its a very nice setting with the clubhouse off to the left, and is the shortest of the par 5s at Kittansett. The golfer needs to think his way around this hole, but birdies can certainly be had with good ballstriking. This keeps the vibe more chill and low-key, and really allows you to soak in the wonderful setting on the Bay. The 18th with the clubhouse and outdoor patio bar over on the left. The setting of the clubhouse is top 10 among the courses Ive visited in my travels. The soil was quite rocky, and that presented Hood and his construction crew with a couple of problems. The high scores tell you something else. The practice facilities are also strong and include a grass range long enough for driver and two short game areas. A fine hole in its own right, this short one-shotter features a front-to-back sloped green with a giant bunker short and cliffs long. Soak in the setting of the most interesting on the left is perhaps the brutish... 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