Par is defended by the waist-high rough and the bunkers, which
number somewhere around 175 and include numerous great examples of
cross
bunkering. The small deep pits take an exacting toll. A saying
here goes: “If it
takes one stroke to get into a Garden City bunker, it
takes one stroke to get
out.”
Play begins with a pair of great birdie opportunities, a 302-yard
par 4 followed by a 137-yard par 3. Get them both if you can, because
while No.
2 is the club’s most famous hole, most members will tell you
every hole from the
6th to the 16th is fairly exacting.
No. 6, a 440-yard par 4 rated the toughest hole on the course,
calls for a well-struck tee ball down the right center of the fairway,
followed
by a long approach to a slightly elevated green.
The 190-yard 18th is also a tester. Playing over a pond in full
view of the members relaxing on the veranda is enough to tighten most
grips. The
green is an ample target— mostly because it extends to the
practice green, but
the pair of bunkers in front are deep. The bunker
back left is affectionately
known, at least most of the time, as the
Travis Bunker.
Other reminders of the man appear in the clubhouse, which
practically doubles as a museum. There are clubs used by Old Tom Morris
and Willie Park, winner of the first British Open in 1860, as well as an
1858 Tom
Dunn driver. In the Travis Room are two golf balls and the
Schenectady putter,
the controversial putter that Travis used to become
the first foreigner to win
the British Amateur. Below it is a small
sign that identifies it as being
“regarded by many golf historians as
the single most famous club in the annals
of the game in this
country.”
That same description applies perfectly to Garden City Golf Club.
Par: 73
Yardage: 6,911
Year founded: 1899
Architects: Devereux Emmet, Walter J. Travis
