Walking the Golf Course- Pawtucket Country Club

When I set out on this journey to walk golf courses and soak in the true spirit of each property, I knew I was in store to meet some intriguing people along the way.  The golf business is full of them, the golf professional that has been preaching the sometimes uninterpretable geometry of the perfect swing plane, the general manager guiding the club for decades through the challenges of the markets inevitable lulls, the lifelong member spinning yarns that if they were or weren’t true wouldn’t really matter as the edge of your seat is much more exciting than the cushioned center. Not lost in all this “golf experience” is the golf course superintendent, toiling behind the scenes day in and day out to provide a playing field that rises to standards of excellence that the mere golfer has no idea how to achieve yet has no problem expecting.

For me the story at Pawtucket began when I met Golf Course Superintendent, Mike Whitehead at the first tee.  I had met Mike on only one occasion before several years ago and asked how things were going.  His response was a simple, “I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch”.  He proceeded to explain his very recent diagnosis with lymphoma and the start of his battle.  At this I was hesitant to begin our “walk” of the course, but that never really crossed Mike’s mind, so we were off.

As we were walking down the par 4 tenth, Mike gave his take on his health situation.  Remember we are now 10 holes in, no breaks for a rest, just walking right down the middle of each hole, talking architecture, his time at PCC, kids, the business, all that stuff.  Mike then made a heartfelt proclamation, certainly something that he had been thinking about and a way to wrap his arms around his current journey.  His “battle with lymphoma would be seen as an 18 hole round of golf”.  Every few weeks for 18 weeks, Mike is committed to a round of chemotherapy, each treatment would be considered a hole and he was determined to have a great round and move through this “rough patch”.  During our walk he was on the “2^nd hole” of treatment.

Mike Whitehead, Golf Course Superintendent looking out at the wonderful par 3 15^th

…counting how many more trees to take out?

Pawtucket CC, a private club reaching back to 1902 rests not only in two towns, Pawtucket and Seekonk, but in two states, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  Like with many of the early courses in the northeast, the drive and “dreams” of the successful industrialists provided the seed.  Pawtucket was at the center of the American Industrial Revolution and is considered by many historians as its actual birthplace.  The brick and mortar textile mills scattered along the Moshassuck, Pawtucket and Blackstone Rivers employed the masses and provided the nation with cotton and fabric products.

In the industrialized cities of the northeast, much success was achieved by visionary business leaders and this success was usually coupled with membership in a “city” club, a gathering place for entrepreneurial chatter and industry talk as well as leisure and sportsmanship.  As was the case the inner city did not provide the opportunity for recreation and these leaders commonly sought a landscape that could be used for the sporting games of the day; hunting, fishing and growing game of golf.  This was the case at Pawtucket CC, when the leading businessmen of the day stepped out of the city to find the quintessential “golf club” property.

As history would have it the land chose for the course was a mere 10 miles from what was considered the inner developed city on a series of farms strung across the rolling hills along the Ten Mile River.  One of the most respected golf architects of the day, Willie Park Jr. credited with many memorable designs was best known for his ability to develop designs for challenging inland sites.  Primarily for this reason he was chosen for Pawtucket.  Park Jr’s Sunningdale and Huntercombe were milestones in golf architectural history.  Close by Park Jr. laid out 9 holes at Agawam Hunt…the other 9 and subsequent renovation by Ross…see if you can find his work during your next visit.  Following several rudimentary 9 and 12 hole layouts in the early part of the century, the 18 hole Park design at Pawtucket was completed in 1923 and was executed by club president Frank Bishop as Park fell ill and died shortly thereafter in 1925.  The design remains essentially intact today.

Pawtucket was also “touched” by the venerable A.W. Tillinghast during his tour of courses working for the PGA in the 1930’s.  There is extensive documentation communicating his comments on the 3^rd green which was rebuilt following his recommendation and it is also thought that the relocation and realignment of the 5^th tees were part of the Tillinghast report at Pawtucket.

The table top par 3 7^th with a narrow smile bunker across the front slope

This wonderful history remains today and can be found throughout the layout including the varying contours on the green surfaces (the 12^th and 9^th), the use of strategic swales and banks within the landing areas (the 2^nd, 9^th), plateau greens, none better that the par 3 table top 7^th with a crossing bunker fronting the surface.  The course has a comfortable rhythm to it, especially along the back 9 where you are faced with a great rising par 4 10^th; the short 4 11^th; the long sweeping left to right 12^th with its multi-level, though forgiving green; the quiet par 3 13^th playing slightly uphill to a very receptive green; the narrow up slope 14^th to a green strongly pitched from back to front; the wonderful par 3 15^th barricaded with high flashing bunkers; followed by two muscle par 4’s at 16 and 17; and the chance to get one back and win the match at the short, but well protected par 4, 18^th. 

My one architectural comment is that there is so much more there to be discovered including green pads that have been lost over the years, more strategic fairway and greenside bunkering styled in the era of the 1920’s and an over abundance of trees, that if carefully thinned and naturalized would present an even more spectacular layout.

 

Approach into the 18^th set in just below the clubhouse

Next stop, Newport National resting along the Sakonnet Passage.

Special credit to: Mike Whitehead, Golf Course Superintendent, “A Centennial History of Pawtucket Country Club, Gary R. Grund, “Architects of Golf”, Geoffery Cornish and Ron Whitten.

Robert McNeil, ASGCA

Golf Architect
The Northeast Golf Company

www.northeastgolfcompany.com