New York and New Jersey Golf Course Review: Fenway GC and Somerset Hills

Under The Card heads to New York and New Jersey in the US to check out a pair of AW Tillinghast golf courses - Fenway Golf Club and Somerset Hills Country Club.
If you’re in Manhattan, a 90-minute train ride and a very short ride share will get you to Somerset Hills Country Club.
The club was formed in 1899 and its Tillinghast layout was built in 1918.
Now we only had the chance to get some aerial footage of the back nine so I can only use pictures to showcase the front.
And the two nines are completely different - the outward holes are visually wide open and depending on where you stand, you can look out across most of the front 9.
The par-3 second is a standout - a classic redan par-3.
The third hole - Bunker Hill - offers a partially blind approach to a raised green.
The medium-length par-4 5th - known as Nairn - has some crazy slopes built into the green.
And the barn-style maintenance shed on the ninth hole is pretty cool too.
The back nine at Somerset appears tighter because the holes are framed more closely by trees.
The dogleg right par-4 11th is a gem. It’s a three-wood or even an iron from the tee for longer hitters to stay short of a creek. The approach is to a green sloped substantially from back to front.
Perhaps the signature hole at Somerset is the short 12th which is aptly named ‘Despair’.
It’s only 150 yards from the back tee but with Water short, left and long - you just need to execute.
And the final par-3 on the course is No. 16 - aka Deception.
It doesn’t look as treacherous but anything missing left leaves a brutal downhill shot and anything right will be well below the level of the green - that’s if you avoid the creek.
The final two holes open up much like the front nine.
17 plays over a crest before a downhill approach - perhaps the best view of this hole is from behind the green looking back up.
The finishing hole is known as Thirsty Summit and, if you spend your time wisely at Somerset, you’ll quench your thirst inside the clubhouse after your round.
Next up on out trip was a visit to Fenway in Westchester Country which just to the north of Manhattan.
Now it’s little secret that New York State is one of the world’s best golfing regions.
Its top courses - like Shinnecock Hills and National Golf Links - are on Long Island.
But in Westchester Country within about a six-mile radius - you’ve not only got Fenway but another trio of Tillinghast courses at Winged Foot and Quaker Ridge.
Fenway is a 1924 Tillinghast design and Gil Hanse (hance) has been carrying out restoration work at Fenway since the late 90s.
It’s a pretty gentle start to the course - the first is a drivable par-4 at 285 yards from the tips.
Maybe the most memorable feature at Fenway is the Sahara bunker on the par-5 3rd.
As the word ‘Sahara’ suggests, you’d be hard-pressed to find many larger expanses of sand on a golf course.
Probably the hardest hole at Fenway is the long par-4 5th.
It stretches to 480 yards and plays uphill back to the clubhouse.
Like several of the holes at Fenway, there’s a massive false front which extends well onto the green.
The uphill par-3 11th is another example of Fenway’s devilish false fronts.
One part of the course which is sure to catch your eye is the 8th and 12th green complexes.
The two greens are very close to one another, separated only by a bunker with an island of turf in the middle.
UPSOT
The signature hole at Fenway is the short uphill par-4 15th.
Tee shots out to the right leave the best angle into a green which is incredibly narrow, and steeply sloped from back to front.
Water is prominent on a few holes at Fenway, most notably the mid-length par-3 17th.
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[@mikediffin8492]

Somerset is unreal. Very private, but another gem in NJ golf.

[@underthecard]

It’s quite interesting how different the two nines are; the trees are barely in play in the front nine but frame the holes closely on the back nine.

[@mikediffin8492]

@@underthecard A little Jekyll and Hyde for sure. An elite course that's probably better than Ridgewood, Trump, etc. that have all hosted professional events. Did you get an invite?

[@soliddoublebogeys]

Super jealous of the warm weather (and the golf courses) Henry! Great video as always - 16 to 18 at Somerset looks like an epic set of holes to finish the round on

[@underthecard]

Somerset Hills is a beauty. It played quite firm on the day so you can run balls onto the greens - a little bit like the Melbourne Sandbelt. It’s also very wide of the tee with tricky greens so there’s plenty of strategy!

[@soliddoublebogeys]

@@underthecard firm and fast, that's what I love to hear! Better than damp and soggy which is what most courses seem to be at the moment here! You get the chance to play any other tracks? (I'll assume there are videos coming for that if so 🙃)

[@underthecard]

@@soliddoublebogeys Played Somerset, Fenway and also Quaker Ridge. Stay tuned for separate aerial video tours of Somerset and Fenway!