Long before Oakmont, Merion or Pebble Beach ever hosted the U.S. Open the fifth playing of our national championship -- the 1899 U.S. Open -- was played on the East Course at Baltimore Country Club and won by Scottish golfer Willie Smith. The East Course at BCC, a terrific A.W. Tillinghast design, would go on over the next century and more to host the PGA Championship, U.S. Amateur, Walker Cup, U.S. Women's Open and three Senior Players Championships. Its history is rich, to say the least, and I was beyond excited when a member with whom I'd connected through Boxgroove invited me to bring a friend for a round this fall.
BCC East currently ranks No. 75 on Golf Magazine's Top 100 U.S. Courses list, but I held it in even higher esteem because of its history and my love of Tillinghast courses. And even as I worried about the weather with mid-October date to play circled on the calendar, I knew it was going to be a fantastic time.
Our host for the day, Brian, could not have been more gracious. And I was delighted to be able to share the experience with my friend Gregg, who I've written about before in the blog. I drove in from Pittsburgh the night before. He drove down from Philly the morning of our round. And we were thrilled to find we had absolutely perfect weather ... better weather, probably, than our games deserved! Brian met us on the driving range and was one of the friendliest hosts you'd ever hope to meet. Turns out, though he works in financial services now, he spent his early career in public relations, which is where both Gregg and I have spent much of our careers. So, we had a love of golf and shared professional experiences in common; it was going to be a great day!
The East Course plays 7,181 yards from the back tees. We played from the whites at 6,201, which was plenty long for a par-70. Distances mentioned from here on out will be from the white tees.
Hole 1 - Gateway - 408 Yards - Par 4
I can't say I played the opening hole particularly well ... or that I played the course particularly well ... but I knew I loved Baltimore Country Club from the first tee. Beautifully manicured. Just the right mix of openness and trees. Challenging but fair. It was classic and fantastic.
Didn't hurt that I found the fairway with my opening drive, I guess. If you can avoid the two fairway bunkers off the first tee, the real challenge on hole 1 is taking enough club to get your second shot to the green. It's more uphill than you think.
Hole 2 - Poplars - 418 Yards - Par 4
The second hole is a longish par-4 that plays straightaway. Balls down the left side of the fairway can roll left and collect in the rough, but a drive to the right side -- even into the rough -- can open up the green and take some of the danger out of the bunkers left and below the putting surface.
The greens at BCC were immacculate and quick. I rolled in a lengthy par-saver on No. 2 and don't believe I saw a single putt bounce off an unrepaired ballmark or imperfection in a green the entire day. Loved this look from right of the No. 2 fairway.
Hole 3 - Orchard - 361 Yards - Par 4
As we stepped up to the tee on No. 3, Brian pointed out that it's a relatively short hole and just warned us not to go right, where a brook runs between the third and eighth fairways. Everything kicks right off the tee on this hole anyway, he said, su just aim left over the fairway bunker and let the land do the work. Always the obedient student, I immediately lined one into the hazard.
The uphill approach on No. 3, I quickly learned, is characteristic of the entire course. Playing to elevated greens on so many holes affects club selection as well as your ability to know which side of the hole is the correct miss, adding to the challenge of the round.
For a short hole, No. 3 can play to a big number if you get sloppy ... as my triple-bogey would attest.
Hole 4 - Plateau - 138 Yards - Par 3
I enjoyed the creative use of the water cooler holders throughout the course to double as yardage signs, letting players know the correct distance to the pin on par-3 holes like No. 4.
No. 4 really is a great scoring hole if you can avoid the deep bunkers that surround the elevated green. For a short- to mid-iron hole, the green is relatively large. Aim for the middle of the putting surface, and par ought to be manageable for most players. The far-right pin the day we were there felt like a sucker placement that brought the sand into play to a greater degree for those in our group who decided to go flag hunting.
Hole 5 - Lookout - 391 Yards - Par 4
The fifth hole plays up and over a rise to a fairway that drops away from the player. The key to scoring on this par-4 is to simply avoid the bunkers on either side of the fairway with your tee shot. Playing a wood or hybrid off this tee to make sure you keep it in the short stuff might make it a bit more difficult to post a birdie but should take anything worse than bogey off the table.
No. 5 offers players the option to try to hit a high ball into this green or to run a low ball along the ground all the way up the wide opening from the fairway into the putting surface and avoid any trouble from the traps.
Though I'm only an average sand player, at best, I really liked the design of the bunkers at BCC. The quality of the sand was consistent throughout, the lips of the bunkers were clean, and the faces of the bunkers were high enough to present a challenge -- as they should -- but not so high as to make it impossible to advance the ball toward the hole. I didn't find myself in many bunkers throughout the day, but I really appreciated what they added to the challenge of Tillinghast's design.
Hole 6 - Barn - 566 Yards - Par 5
The sixth hole just kicked my butt. There's no other way to say it ... well, no other way that doesn't include a number of expletives, anyway! This hole should be a long but relatively easy hole, expecially for a player who typically draws the ball. A drive up and over the corner of the barn with a bit of a draw should leave you in excellent shape to play a couple of simple and straightforward shots down the fairway and into the green for a reasonable look at birdie and a relatively easy par.
Or, you can do like I did and hit your drive way to the right, making the hole incredibly long ... follow that up by tryinig to make up too much ground in a single swing and pushing your second shot right ... and then hit a squirrly third shot into the trees right of the green that is never seen or heard of again. Bottom line ... I took a one-putt eight on this hole. Probably not the way I ought to have played it at all.
Hole 7 - Dogleg - 331 Yards - Par 4
I'm going to say this a lot in this blog, but I love this hole. I didn't play it great, but I love the simplicity of it. Hit the ball in the fairway, and you should have a relatively easy par. Push your drive right, and the hole starts to play long. Pull it left, and you can shorten the hole but find yourself facing tree trouble and having to play over a deep greenside bunker. It's only 331 yards, and it's perfect in its balance of challenges and opportunity.
The two-tier green calls for proper club selection if you want a reasonable chance to putt for birdie. And the bunker that wraps around from the left side of the green to traverse about three-quarters of space between the fairway and the putting surface takes any sort of bump and run mostly out of play. But most players will have a short-iron or even a wedge in their hands hitting their approach shots on this hole and should be able to fly the ball into this receptive green that slopes from back to front.
Hole 8 - Sidesaddle - 307 Yards - Par 4
After three putting the seventh green I found myself running a bit hot when I came to the tee on No. 8 ... another hole that I love. The brook that crosses in front of the tee runs down the entire right side of this hole, the shape of which calls for a fade. At only 307 yards, our host told us that most guys will play a wood or hybrid right of the fairway bunker on the left side of the hole and leave themselves a wedge into the green. Feeling like I needed to make up strokes, though, and wanting to hit something hard, I teed my ball high and smashed a fantastic drive that never left the fairway as it faded around the bend, winding up just a couple yards short of the green for an easy up-and-down birdie.
I didn't get great pictures of quite ever angle that I would have hoped during the round, but I was happy to find flyover videos I could sprinkle throughout the blog to help share with readers the experience of playing this great course.
Hole 9 - Spectators - 151 Yards - Par 3
Maybe I was riding high after the birdie on No. 8 because I didn't take any pictures of No. 9. So thanks, Google Maps, for this overhead look at this mid-length, uphill par-3.
The flyover does a nice job of demonstrating the challenge of this hole. With bunkers short, left, right and a cart path and bunker long, it's very important on this hole to pull the right club for your shot.
Hole 10 - Pond - 348 Yards - Par 4
Of all the holes I love at BCC, I love No. 10 the most. At 348 yards, it's just a drive and a wedge, but the hole is absolutely beautiful.
A brook meanders down the entire left side of the hole, and the fairway is pitched from right to left so that a player can safely drive down the right side of the hole and wind up in the center or even on the left side of the fairway -- avoiding the water and setting up what ought to be a relatively easy shot across the pond and into one of the smaller greens on the course. The bunker right of the green is to be avoided at all costs as the shot back across the green runs away from the golfer and brings the pond very much into play.
Absolutely love this flyover video, which I would swear was filmed by my golfball as my tee shot started up the right side and drew back to the center of the fairway. Truly a gorgeous hole.
Really just a beautiful setting. I could play this course every day and never get tired of visiting the tenth hole.
Hole 11 - Willows - 383 Yards - Par 4
No. 11 is a longer hole than the scorecard indicates, playing uphill with a brook that traverses the fairway and threatens to collect a long tee shot. For big hitters, a fairway wood or hybrid off the tee is likely the smart player, but that will set up a longer approach into this elevated green.
There approach to the green on No. 11 is wide open, enabling players to hit a low, running shot into this green -- a feature found on many of the longer holes at BCC that I'm sure makes the course more playable and more enjoyable for members. That's not to say that any of the holes are easy; they're simply designed to reward a good shot, whether it's played through the air or along the ground.
Hole 12 - Creek - 369 Yards - Par 4
No. 12 is a deceptively long hole, forcing players to stay left off the tee in order to avoid the creek that runs down the right side of the hole. The farther left you play your tee shot, the longer your approach will be as the hole doglegs right and plays uphill to another elevated green defended by a bunker in the middle of the fairway about 50 yards from the green and three greenside bunkers front, left and right.
The more risk a player is willing to take off the tee in order to stay right and gain the shortest possible approach, the better chance you'll have to play a higher ball into this green and avoid the sand.
Hole 13 - Dogwood - 145 Yards - Par 3
Probably the most deceptively difficult par-3 on the course, No. 13 doesn't look at first glance as though there's very much to it. A relatively short hole and less than 150 yards, it shouldn't be more than maybe a 7-iron from the tee for most golfers. But this may be the smallest green on the course, and it is guarded by four bunkers that nearly surround it. Find the green off the tee, and this becomes an easy par or maybe even a birdie hole. But miss the green, and double or even triple bogey can suddenly become real possibilities.
Hole 14 - Hell's 1/2 Acre - 559 Yards - Par 5
At first, No. 14 doesn't look like much of a challenge. Just blast it out over the rise, and avoid the fairway bunkers right and left that can be hard to see from the the tee. But once you crest the hill and see what awaits, this par-5 shows its teeth.
In the middle of the fairway, covering the land from about 240 yards to 180 yards in, sits "Hell's 1/2 Acre," a wasteland of high, thick grass, gnarly mounds and five punishing bunkers just waiting to collect the player's second shot on this hole and derail your round. Balls hit into this area can be easily lost in the deep grass. And those that are playable are likely going to be difficult to advance to any significant degree. It's easy to see a player hit from one bunker to another and still be in Hell's Half Acre.
Avoid the half-acre wasteland in the middle of No. 14, and the hole becomes a pretty straightforward par-5, playing downhill to a large, receptive green.
Hole 15 - Evergreens - 411 Yards - Par 4
No. 15 is a terrific risk-reward hole. The safe play off the tee is out to the right, avoiding high grass and bunkers in the elbow as this hole bends to the left. That'll likely leave you with a long-iron or hybrid into this green, but the hole plays a bit shorter as it is one of the few that plays downhill to the green, so going right and leaving yourself a longer approach isn't as bad as it might be on some other holes.
It'll take a drive of 250 or so to fly the danger if you want to play left and cut some distance off of this one, but the payoff for success is significant. I played left and just cleared the trouble, leaving myself with only about 150 yards into this green.
Hole 16 - Knoll - 397 Yards - Par 4
No. 16 isn't as much of a blind tee shot as this picture might make it appear. The tee shot does play up and over a rise to a fairway that pitches down toward the green, but the elevation change after you crest the hill isn't as dramatic as on the two previous holes.
The real challenge of No. 16 is in its deceptive length. Because the tee shot plays up hill, players will find themselves looking at a longer approach than they otherwise might on a 400-yard hole. And as the alley to the green between the trees narrows, accuracy in the approach becomes very important.
Hole 17 - Picturesque - 156 Yards - Par 3
The par-3 17th is aptly named picturesque, and tee to green, it may be the most picturesque hole on the course. with a brook that comes in from the right, above the green and winds its way down and around until it crosses in front of the tees, this hole is just beautiful.
From alongside the brook near the teeing area you get a better idea of just how elevated the green actually is on this hole, with the greenside bunkers sitting well below the putting surface. Though barely more than 150 yards, this par-3 will punish the player who gets distracted by the beauty of the setting and takes a loose swing from the tee.
Hole 18 - Apple Trees - 362 Yards - Par 4
No. 18 plays uphill all the way from tee to green, making the hole play significantly longer than the 362 yards listed on the scorecard. With two fairway bunkers on the right and one on the left (another fairway bunker on the left is potentially in play for the longest hitters in the game, but not for anyone in our playing group that day), it demands an accurate tee shot.
Find the fairway, and the 18th becomes an opportunity to end your round with a satisfying par or even a gratifying birdie. There are five bunkers surrounding the green, however, so don't miss! Or, if you do, miss short as the green is open to low-running shots and the fairway offers a safe place from which to chip on for an up-and-down to finish.
Gregg and I had an absolutely fantastic time playing the East Course at Baltimore Country Club, and I can't thank our host, Brian, enough for being so willing to take a couple of guys he didn't know out to experience this incredible course. I swear, I've been so blessed to connect with people in the golf community who I can now call friends becasue of this journey I'm on. And it gives me a lot of hope for the world my son is growing up in to experience the grace and generosity of so many wonderful people.
Brian was very kind to invite us back once renovations on the clubhouse are complete, and I'm already looking forward to seeing him and to visiting the club again when that time comes.
Golf!
Have you had the pleasure of playing the East Course at Baltimore Country Club? Care to share your experience or want to offer any thoughts on the blog? Leave a comment below, or please feel free to email me at shawn@iputtaround.com!