River Oaks Country Club illustrates two of the main themes in
the evolution of course design in America. Donald
Ross’ original layout of 1923 was a classical example of his strategic style of
design, while Joe Finger’s redesign of the late 1960s combined modern
engineering with elements of the penal style to stiffen the challenge. Finger’s
respectful redesign essentially followed Ross’ routing, allowing today’s players
to enjoy a fully challenging modern course that preserves many features of its
original pedigree.
The 6,868-yard golf course, though much changed from Ross’
original 6,375-yard design, remains what it was at its inception: one of
America’s finest private layouts. The
original design was fairly typical of the many “parkland” courses Ross produced
between world wars: tree-lined, many doglegged holes following the natural
terrain, small greens and ample, but not overwhelming, use of bunkers.
According to Ross’ strategic approach, a championship test
examines every skill and every club in the bag in equal proportion: long and
accurate tee shots, accurate iron play, precise handling of the short game and
consistent putting. To ensure “honest” shot values, Ross balanced the severity
of the problems he posed with the attainability of the objectives; for example,
a very difficult tee shot, as on No. 13, is followed by a less demanding
approach; or an easy tee shot is followed by an approach to a difficult
green.
Jack Burke Sr., the first golf pro at River Oaks, called the
11th hole, a 232-yard par-3, “The Pride of River Oaks.” With its
straightforward, demanding tee shot, No. 11 is the quintessential Ross
challenge. When selecting Burke, a top teaching professional who nearly won the
1921 U.S. and Canadian opens, as the first
pro, the club was guided by the principle that they wished to hire only the very
best people in the game. Subsequent appointments included some of the
pre-eminent names in American golf: Jimmy Demaret, Claude Harmon, Dick
Harmon.
Jack Burke often hosted his peers at River Oaks, and over the
decades members entertained, and were entertained by, most of the greatest
players in American golf. Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen conducted exhibitions
here, while Gene Sarazen, Betty Jameson, Patty Berg, Arnold Palmer and Jack
Nicklaus competed in important tournaments or exhibitions. Jimmy Demaret tuned
up for his 1940 Masters victory by outplaying the entire Ryder Cup team and
winning the prestigious Western Open. And in the 1946 Tournament of Champions,
Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead finished in exactly that order.
By the mid-1960s, the members considered modernizing and
redesigning the course. Enter Joe Finger, collaborator on many courses with
Demaret and Nelson, and designer of several courses listed among
America’s finest. Finger was charged
not only with renewing the fairways and greens, but also with stretching the
layout some 300 to 400 yards and balancing both nines at par 36.
Finger’s changes on Nos. 1 and 2 introduced the penal style
at River Oaks. In rerouting the 1st fairway and turning it from a slight dogleg
left into a rather sharp dogleg right, Finger pushed the new green deep into the
trees. This allowed him to move the second tee back more than 100 yards, thereby
changing No. 2—Ross’ shortest par 4 on the front side, a drive and a short pitch
of 311 yards—into a much more formidable challenge.
The evolution of the “modernized” River Oaks often resulted
in enhanced playability, beauty and maintenance. For example, Ross’ predilection
for leaving the natural terrain alone confronted many players with a severe
problem on holes 13, 14 and 16. The rugged gulleys on Nos. 13 and 16 were so
deep, and the faces toward the green so steep, that when players were in them,
they could neither see the green nor play out with long enough irons to get
home.
Today, the “new” River Oaks continues to rank proudly among
the finest courses in this part of the country. When consideration is given to
the course’s design, its playability, its traditions and its conditioning, few
courses in Texas are its peers.
