The Lazy Swan plays to par 70 at 6,184 yards. It's a player-friendly layout, but no pushover, with water, elevation changes, and well-contoured greens to keep you on your toes.
The opening three holes are among the most interesting on the course. Number one is a 310-yard dog leg where a smart player will hit a mid-iron 185 yards off the tee rather than try the 230-yards-as-the-crow-flies carry over the pond between the tee and the green. The second hole is a 155-yard one-shotter to a Biarritz green bisected by a deep swale. Complicating your strategy is the fact that the shot is blind from the tee. The third hole, a 485-yard par five, is the signature hole on the course. Be sure to stop to enjoy the views from the tee of Kaaterskill High Peak on the horizon. That's also your aiming point for a long, straight downhill drive to put you into go-for-it range on this birdie-able par five.
The par threes at Lazy Swan meet my personal criteria of excellence: they're each different. In addition to the unique second hole, there are five others ranging from 155 to 203 yards. The fourth is over water, the sixth 203 yards up an intimidating hill, the tenth 197 yards over water, the twelfth has a long deep green, and the sixteenth is a downhill tester with a potato chip green that makes recovery chips and pitches particularly fun.
The toughest hole on the course is the fourteenth, a 437-yard par four. If you remember the reverse camber dog legs at the US Open on the Olympic Club's Lake Course, you'll recognize the dilemma faced on this tee. The hole turns right, but the fairway slopes steeply left, pushing almost every ball into the left rough. The fun's not over yet, though, since your second shot is blind and uphill to a green that's a full 54 yards deep.
The finishing hole is an excellent risk and reward 505-yard par five. A decent drive gives you the opportunity to go for the green, but consider your options before you pull a fairway wood out of the bag. The lake that lines the entire right side of the hole cuts in front of the green, so a mis-hit fade will sleep with the fishes--or the swans, as the case my be.
The Lazy Swan is a bit of a drive from New York, but it's worth the trip. The country club village has good food and drink options, so you can make a great day of it.
Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf
No comments:
Post a Comment