The approach to the par 4 10th hole at Colgate requires a deft touch when the pin is up front. Land beyond the pin and the dowhnill putt is slick.
Unless your child is attending the excellent Colgate University or planning to, there really isn't any great reason for you to trek to Hamilton, NY. It is a good drive - depending on how you define "good ride" - from anywhere. From our home outside Hartford, CT, it takes about 4 ½ hours. From most other population centers in the northeast, it takes about the same or longer.
I find myself in Hamilton this weekend for a wedding, the bride to be the daughter of one of my wife's college roommates. The groom's parents were kind enough to
arrange a block of tee times at Colgate University's home course, Seven Oaks, a Robert Trent Jones Sr., track that mostly doglegs its way across streams and through trees and around the architect's signature sand bunkers. Getting to the greens, though, is less than half the fun. The monster putting surfaces were the slickest I have faced in years.
The course plays somewhat like a Donald Ross track in that the fairways are generous but the area around the greens, and the greens themselves, are where most of the action is. This is understandable given that Jones actually designed the course in 1934, toward the end of the Ross era, but because of the Depression, didn't get to build it until the 1950s. The second nine was added in the ‘60s and today, Colgate is regarded by folks who care about such things as one of the best college golf courses in the nation.
I understand why. The immaculate greens are huge and sloped, typically back to front and side-to-side, and I felt lost not knowing which side of the pin to play to. At 6,425 yards from the men's (maroon) tees, where I played, the course certainly is not long, although the tougher holes tend to be the longer par 4s (the 433 6th and 432 9th, for example). But the 71.8 rating and especially the 136 slope, which represents the degree of difficulty for bogey golfers, is a fair indication of what those greens are like.
Conditions were immaculate, especially on the bent grass greens which were perfect, held shots and made any putts from above the hole an exercise in frustration. I read putts from both sides of the holes and yet I read two different breaks, and invariably I guessed wrong. The surrounding mountains seemed to be of no help in terms of guidance.
Besides the greens, the most visible feature of the Jones layout are the tee boxes
which seem to run forever, permitting the course to be played at varying lengths from each set of tees (it also saves wear and tear on specific areas on the tee boxes). The course also features a few severe dogleg par 4s where placement rather than length will lead to a potential birdie. But the best opportunities for birdie are on the par 5s, which are not long but require deft positioning. Patience on these can lead to virtuous birdies for those who hit their approach shots below the holes. The par 3s, only one (the 11th at 192 yards) of any great length, also are easy to approach if not to master because of the sloping and extremely fast surfaces.
Hamilton itself is hard to get to but easy to be in. In July, even though school is out, the city is abuzz with music on the green and a decent selection of restaurants for such a modestly sized burgh. The Colgate Inn is the place to stay, a comfortable hotel that is well run and surprisingly alive at night when its bar fills up with locals, summer college students and wedding guests, some of whom order an extra beer to try to forget how many putts from above the hole they hit to the front edge of the greens.
Seven Oaks Golf Club at Colgate University. Designed by Robert Trent Jones. Back tees: 6,915 yards, rating 74.4, slope 144; Maroon tees: 6,425/71,8/136; White (Men), 5,910/69.6/126; Grey: 5,250/72.1/125. Telephone: (315) 824-1432. Web: sevenoaks.colgate.edu. Non-member rates are $70 weekday, $80 weekend with cart fee of $30 (for two).
The R. T. Jones layout at Colgate features a number of severe doglegs.