Pound Ridge Golf Club Review

Course Review and Comments

As a public course golfer who lives very close to Pound Ridge, I wanted so badly to like this exciting new offering from Pete Dye. At $235 a pop, I expected it to deliver an experience comparable to other Dye icons - PGA West, Kiawah, and Sawgrass - all of which I've played. This is not a course you will ever be able to comfortably include in that group. The course is squeezed into an area that's a bit too small for its muscular ambitions. The result is a number of holes whose shot values fall far short of what this designer usually delivers. One frequent feature is a plethora of forced carries - over sand, water, or both - that, even if capably negotiated, still penalize. Some fairways (e.g. #9 and #16) have severe slopes that send even well-placed shots careening into hazards. The course is still very young and both the fairways and greens, while well tended, are extremely hard. High, soft shots are likely to bound unpredictably off the putting surfaces. This is a problem that only time will mitigate. At most Dye courses, the mounding serves to define targets and camouflage trouble. Here, the vigorous use of mounds serves more to separate the many adjoining fairways. It seems all rather contrived. The par 3 holes are great - the shorter ones offer challenging pin placement options while the longer ones have green sizes that are commensurate with the club selection required to hit them. As for other amenities, the staff is great and the putting and chipping facilities are good. The range is artificial turf and nothing special. It is an interesting course, but I think PRGC had better pray for a lot of corporate outings. I doubt that many work-a-day golfers are going to find the stout price tag for this disappointing track worth paying - at least not more than once.