Pinehills GC opens Rees Jones course, Nicklaus design to follow

Golf Course News, Jan 2002 by Joyner, Joel

PLYMOUTH, Mass. - New England's latest golf course facility, Pinehills Golf Club here in historic Plymouth, opened its 18-hole Rees Jones layout last Memorial Day weekend and has exceeded its projected golf rounds for the year. The upscale, daily-- fee club is hoping to follow up on that success this year with a new Nicklaus Design course, drawn up by Jack Nicklaus II, scheduled to open this May.

In its first five weeks of operation, the Jones course averaged 200 players a day. "The course has been well received," said head pro, John Tuffen. "We're looking forward to opening the Nicklaus course next year. Construction is complete, and they finished seeding Aug. 1. It was playable last fall, but we're waiting until this year to open it up to the public."

THE JONES COURSE

The entire development, with the surrounding community developed by The Green Companies, consist of approximately 3,000 acres with 350 acres set aside for golf. Jones had a large piece of property that provided several options. "The soil is really sandy, high-and-dry, and we were able to utilize a lot of the ridges," Jones said. "The biggest challenge for me was to maximize the terrain."

The bunkers resemble the old-style A.W. Tillinghast or Alister MacKenzie bunkering. "They're real sculptured, fairly dramatic, and they're one of the major characteristics of the golf course. Several of the fairway bunkers are located as protective bunkers," said the architect.

There are bunkers located on every hole, and many of the fairways are routed along the ridges. "Most of the bunkers are below the fairways or below the targets and actually help keep the ball in play on missed shots," Jones explained. "They're not just sticking out of the ground. They're more recessed and cut into the lower terrain."

Four sets of tees allow play from 5,388 yards to 7,175 yards. "Basically, we design all our courses over 7,000 yards and add multiple tees," said Jones. "A course of 7,000 yards is no longer a long course anymore with the shafts now available, the metal head drivers, the Pro V1 and Nike golf balls. The course is long, but there's opportunity for all caliber players to find a comfortable challenge."

Grass hollows and pockets, cuts that hold a shot in, sculptured bunkers and ramps into greens give the design character. "It's not a spartan golf course," said Jones. "It's also a course you really need to think yourself around and determine what kind of shot you want to hit or are capable of hitting. It makes the game more enjoyable when a player needs to develop and apply strategy."

TWO DIFFERENT GOLF COURSES

The goal at Pinehills was to have two different golf course layouts. "On the Jones course, the fairways are perched having a push-up type of look," said Larry Boudreau, project manager for the Greenwich, Conn.based developer and owner Centennial Golf Properties.

The landing areas are about 40 yards wide with a little bit of rough before it slopes downward into a bluegrass/fescue rough area that has drainage. "On the Nicklaus layout, the drainage was in the fairway as opposed to the rough like on the Jones course. It didn't have that perched look in the fairways," Boudreau said.

"The greens on the Jones course averaged around 6,500 square feet," he continued. "They have slope, but it's generally mild ranging from one to maybe two-and-a-- half percent. They don't have a lot of heavy undulation to them, but there are subtle features. The Nicklaus greens are smaller but have a lot of contour."

The different approaches to bunkering also was noticeable. "We used 135,000 square feet of bunkers on the Jones course and about 95,000 square feet on the Nicklaus course," said Boudreau. "There are more bunkers on the Nicklaus layout, but they're smaller."

Another distinction between the two courses involves the tees. "The tees on the Jones course are more traditional rectilinear. On the Nicklaus layout they are free form," Boudreau said. "So as soon as you get to the tee box you already know that you're on a different golf course."