The next time you are in the Springfield, MA, area, check out Tekoa Country Club, an 18-hole layout in the town of Westfield. Grab the clubs out of the trunk, head into the pro shop, and plop down your $25 green fees. Make sure you walk -- the course is flat, although distant mountains are in view -- to assure that you soak in holes 2, 3, 4, 14 and 15 the way famed golf architect Donald Ross meant them to be.
Most New England Ross courses are private, so it is a treat to play them or even, as I did on a tight schedule, grab a cart and drive along them. All the typical Ross elements are there at Tekoa -- the generous fairways, the appropriately placed but demure bunkers (demure compared with the monsters that folks like Fazio and Palmer design these days), and the contoured greens. Only one of the greens I inspected, the fourth, seemed severely contoured, its entire left side a good 10 inches above the rest of the surface. But, of course, Ross' greens are legendary for subtle, as well as visible breaks, and until you actually putt them, don't count on them being as flat as they look.
Tekoa has stories to tell, having first opened four holes in 1890 adjacent to Westfield State College, and then commissioning Ross to develop a nine-hole course in 1923. Across State Highway 20, outlines are still visible of the four holes of Ross' nine that did not survive. In 1961, Tekoa invited the ubiquitous New England architect Geoffrey Cornish to expand the course to a full 18; he added 13 of his own holes, retaining five of Ross' originals. According to the Tekoa web site, "A few of Cornish's ideas and features were lost in translation" by the company that did the construction work; translated, that probably means the earth pushers did not build to Cornish's specifications. Just as likely, the designer was not happy.
Nevertheless, today, after one of the kindly pro shop attendants loaned me a cart for a ride on the front nine, I find myself hoping for one of those New England Indian summers that make sweater golf possible well into November. The turf at Tekoa seemed in fine shape, especially the greens, and putting on well-conditioned Donald Ross greens is an experience worth the bargain green fees of $25 to play those five original holes, and 13 other good ones.
Tekoa Country Club's web site is: http://www.tekoacc.com. The pro shop phone number is (413) 568-1064.
The 3rd
hole at Tekoa is a 177-yard par 3 that is mostly all carry over a pond. Designer Donald Ross snuggled the green
against a hill on the right, making it possible to bounce a sliced shot toward
the green -- or get stuck on the hill in the gorse. Bailout here is as tough as hitting the green.
