This week's WGC - Mexico Championship host Club de Golf Chapultepec is not a long course, but it is narrow, and plays even tighter than it looks due to the longer distances shots will travel at over 7,800 feet of elevation in Mexico City.
Next week, Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course will be another layout where players who keep it on the straight and narrow are going to have the most success.
When I think of courses of this type, I can't help but envision Sahalee Country Club, where Vijay Singh won his first major at the 1998 PGA Championship. As one of the straightest hitters of his era, it's no surprise that Singh prevailed at the course where Douglas firs tower over every tee, fairway and green. The duel between Brooke Henderson and Lydia Ko two years ago in the Women's PGA Championship renewed golf fans' affinity for the distinctive-looking Pacific Northwest course.
Brittany Lincicome plays her second shot from the fourth fairway during the final round of the 2016 KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
In an era where the prevailing philosophy of golf course design overwhelmingly favors layouts with wide fairways and multiple potential routes from tee to green on many holes, these courses seem like a throwback. When trees line landing areas, golf tends to become more of a test of pure execution than tactics. This broad philosophy prevailed through much of the latter half of the 20th century.
As popular opinion about course design turns away from these sorts of courses — Oakmont Country Club, for example, has skyrocketed in the rankings thanks to the removal of thousands of trees from between its holes — it begs the question: is there still a place for narrow, tree-lined golf? Can these courses still be fun and interesting, or do we take Paul Bunyan for a patron saint of sorts?
I subscribe to a big-tent view of golf course design. Most golfers play different courses, so I embrace the wide variety of styles of golf courses available to us. I've found compelling, interesting courses with narrow fairways, wide fairways and everything in between. With that in mind, I would tend not to discount a narrow course on its face. New-age golf purists may scoff, but I believe trees have their place on many courses, provided they exist in a sensible context. To be sure, there are courses where bowling alley-like landing areas get repetitive and overly punishing, but done right, these types of courses can be fun tests of one's recovery and shot shaping abilities.
Here are some notable narrow courses for your own consideration:
Two narrow but beloved PGA Tour venues
Like Sahalee, its counterpart lear across the country, Harbour Town Golf Links is a poster-child for this sort of design, and may be the strongest example public and resort golfers have of a narrow course that nonetheless serves up enjoyable golf. The Pete Dye design, where Jack Nicklaus had his first major involvement in course architecture, has been a proud PGA Tour host since it opened nearly a half-century ago. Bomb-and-gouge play simply will not do at Harbour Town, as players need to hit their tee shots not only straight, but the right distance on many holes. The ability to fade and draw the ball on command also comes in handy. When the tour returns the week after the Masters, it should be a great week for paying attention to TopTracer ball flights during the TV broadcasts.
"It will test every aspect of your game, placing a premium on ball striking, accuracy, and short game. The fairways are narrow, surround by beautiful low-country trees." - Review of Harbour Town by Golf Advisor user Anthony9184196
The aforementioned crowning achievement of Larry Packard's course design career, Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course stands up year after year to the tour's best players, and it consistently ranks as one of the most popular tour venues. A number of holes at Copperhead force a decision between any of a couple clubs off many tees, and if you don't commit 100% to your choice, you're often headed for trouble. A knee-jerk reactionary might dismiss the Copperhead as a one-dimensional test, but there is a surprising amount of subtlety and strategy, bolstered by the rolling, un-Florida-like terrain on which the course sits.
Three tight Trent Jones tests
Martin Kaymer tees off at Valderrama's 4th hole, said to be Robert Trent Jones Sr.'s most challenging and expensive hole ever built at the time. (Richard Heathcoate/Getty Images)
The Western Open is one of amateur golf's most sought-after titles, and for nearly 40 years it had a permanent home at Point O'Woods Golf & Country Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Western Am winners at Point O'Woods include Ben Crenshaw, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, who all conquered the heavily forested layout with large but characteristically well-bunkered greens. Long an exclusive private club, Point O'Woods does take stay-and-play visits from golfers who arrange to stay overnight in any of the cottages on property.
Another exclusive RTJ-designed course with limited non-member opportunities (€350-370) is 1997 Ryder Cup host Real Club Valderrama in Spain. Known as the "Augusta National of Europe," Valderrama's corridors are corset-tight, with cork trees ready to swallow up any off-line shots. When Andrew "Beef" Johnston won the European Tour's 2016 Open De Espana, held at Valderrama, he shot 1-over par for the week.
"...the cork trees (lining the fairways) are 90% wood (not air, as is mostly the case everywhere else)..." - Review of Valderrama by Golf Advisor user schweiz
Golf course architecture being a family business in many cases, it's not so surprising that Robert Trent Jones Jr.'s own courses have been heavily influenced by his father. One such course is Sugarloaf Golf Club & Resort in Carrabassett Valley, Maine. The thin air and dense mountain forest through which the course plays puts even more of a premium on straight driving than usual, but good swings off the tee can be handsomely rewarded. The first six holes of the back nine all involve the rocky Carrabassett River as a gorgeous hazard.
More notable narrows
The par-4 fifth hole requires a shot through trees to the green at Tokatee Golf Club. (Brandon Tucker/Golf Advisor)
- Tokatee Golf Club - Blue River, Ore.
Architect: Ted Robinson, Sr. (1966)
- Green Mountain National - Killington, Vt.
Architect: Gene Bates (1996)
- The Shattuck - Jaffrey, N.H.
Architect: Brian Silva (1991)
- Northwood Golf Club - Monte Rio, Calif.
Architects: Alister Mackenzie & Robert Hunter (1928)
"This is the best 9 hole course in northern cal. The redwood trees, ferns everywhere, the wine country. This place is magical" - Review of Northwood by Golf Advisor user soliddriver
- Port Ludlow Golf Resort - Port Ludlow, Wash.
Architect: Robert Muir Graves (1975)
- Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club - Pawleys Island, S.C.
Architect: Jack Nicklaus (1988)
- Ko'olau Golf Club - Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii
Architect: Dick Nugent (1992)
- Old Brockway Golf Course - Kings Beach, Calif.
Architect: John Duncan Dunn (1926)
What's the narrowest golf course you've ever played? What do you think of the demands these types of courses place on golfers? Please share your thoughts and nominations with us below!
There is no way Rosedale Country Club in Bradenton Florida did not make that list
Seriously, is the title even a question. Screw the ball goes to far. Make tour course fairways super tight and the rough long. Learn to hit it straight bombers or pay the price.
I'm glad to see The Shattuck recognized. The locals call it "The Torture Chamber"!
In roughly 55 years of golf, I have played a few of the courses noted in the article. I just LOVE Tokatee, which sits in a small valley surrounded by mountains near the MacKenzie River east of Eugene, OR. I have heard that it is Peter Jacobsen's favorite course.
But, for my money, one of the best, and tightest, courses I have ever played is Everett Golf and Country Club in Everett, Washington. Built originally as a 9-hole course in 1910, it was expanded to 18 holes in 1930. The course not only has narrow fairways, it also features towering Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar, is hilly and even lumpy in places, and has small, fast, greens. The course sits on a small property, maybe 120 acres, so the separation of fairways attained by the thick stands of mature evergreen trees is a safety factor as well as a tactical challenge. The landscaping is extraordinary, with hundreds of mature rhododendrons and azaleas. Everett has hosted PGA, USGA, and WSGA (Washington State Golf Assoc.) events in the past, but doesn't fit the modern equipment and long game of most good golfers today. One short par 4 (around 320 yards from the tips) involves a drive down a corridor of large evergreens that is perhaps 15 yards wide the whole way. It is like looking down a long narrow hallway. When I play Everett G&CC, I just leave the driver and three-wood in the car. And, NO, I am not a member of Everett simply trying to hype it. The second tight course on my favorites list would be Indian Canyon in Spokane. It is a great muni, with great terrain and fairways defined ponderosa pines.
As to the question of whether there is still a place for courses like Tokatee, Everett, and Indian Canyon, my answer is absolutely YES! The excessively long, relatively wide-open courses built in recent years simply overwhelm me now. And I don't find short, open courses with little trouble very challenging or interesting.
Narrow, big trees to hook or slice around , the it would be a game of skill, not distance.
This one is easy. Narrow courses absolutely belong in the PGA mix. I am so tired of these guys just hitting long shots and then using a wedge to the green. There is no imagination, no creativity and no shotmaking in any of the current Pro's styles. Maybe one or two exceptions. Tired of hearing how long DJ hits the ball. Tired of all the belly aching from the Pros about how tough some of the courses are.
Here in Michigan, the Buick Open was cancelled by (1) lack of sponsorship and (2) Warwick Hills Country Club wasn't long enough for the pros to hit. TOUGH! We want to see Pro's "have to think" about their shots, not just hit it long.
More traditional narrow fairways brings more skill level into play over just hit it as far as you can. There is an old Alex Findlay course near me that is barely 6000 yards long but a lot of people lose balls there because they can't keep in play. I hear players say they don't like the course and I am guessing it is because they can't just hit it wherever then go find it to hit it again. The small sloped and undulating greens are tough either when they put some speed on them. While he never played there, his first year on tour Gary Player represented this course then owned by George Fazio.
Tree lined courses are definitely a challenge for us mere mortals but I love playing them. The toughest one I have played, but let me qualify not tree lined but very narrow fairways bordered with high and difficult fescue was Royal Aberdeen in Scotland.
Great article. I prefer tree lined golf courses for the aesthetic. They are great natural hazards
First, Brother Tim, it doesn't "beg the question." (Sorry, it's a phrase that drives me mad) :)
Northwoods in CA is unplayable. I've had a lot of conversations with guys about that course. They always tell me how great the 1st, 6th and 8th holes are. Not coincidentally, I suspect, those are the holes with the fewest trees. The 9th hole has 25 yards between the back porch of a home and the trees in the landing area.
Edgewood Tahoe is another course that is very tight in places.
I think there is room for all of this in golf. Sometimes a slightly narrow and treelined course just fits better with the surrounding land. In Eastern and Central North Carolina, with all the pine forests, a treelined course fits perfectly. Something more links-style, or even open parkland, would just look out of place.
I love Edgewood Tahoe, it does have a blend of very narrow holes like 15 and 18 (and 8, I believe, with the alternate greens?) and then some with some room to spray it. Bring your fade to Edgewood.
Not sure what "unplayable" means but I play and thoroughly enjoy Northwoods every time I'm in the area. It and Bodega are two nice, contrasting publicly accessible but fun tracks. As noted, conditions can be tough at Northwoods, esp in the offseason when growing conditions can be challenging. But the ambience and smell of towering redwoods is hard to beat. As others also have noted, Sahalee (and many other traditional PNW tracks like PCC and CE in Portland) are joys and challenges to play and provide a change of pace to Chambers and its ilk. Agree that diversity of tracks is one of the key things that makes golf fun and interesting.