Take a ride up the winding entrance of Pound Ridge Golf Club in Pound Ridge, NY and even before you hit the bag drop you’ll begin to get a sense of the “pure golf experience” that lies before you.
Artfully constructed by legendary course designer Pete Dye and backed by its forward-thinking owner Ken Wang, Pound Ridge is truly a modern marvel of a golf course tucked into the quiet town of Pound Ridge just minutes outside of Stamford, CT.
Contrary to the traditional and highly ornate golf clubs that pepper the landscape in Westchester, NY, Pound Ridge epitomizes everything a golf purist is looking for. First, and perhaps most importantly, the course is unapologetically a “daily rate” facility, meaning no outrageous dues or long-term memberships required—something course owner Ken Wang told us he wanted to do from the start as he reminisced about his early days with the game playing municipal courses.
The other thing you’ll quickly notice that sets Pound Ridge apart from its ornate neighbors is the lack of a large clubhouse—in fact, there are very few if any elements of facility that are allowed to detract from the beauty of the course itself. The simple, no-frills, clubhouse boasts no fancy dining experience or other expensive amenities but is instead occupied with a highly knowledgeable and friendly staff who serve as both curators and keepers of Dye and Wang’s vision.
It’s widely known that Pound Ridge has a reputation for being one of the toughest tracks in the Northeast and that should come as no surprise given course designer Pete “Diabolical” Dye’s own reputation for enjoying making even the world’s best golfers curse his name. However, what is also all too often overlooked is the ways in which Mr. Dye understands the importance of having a track that can cater to, and understands, the importance of sharing the experience with a wide array of skill levels. For this reason (and as suggested by Pete Dye during the initial design), Pound Ridge does not have traditional Black, Blue, White, and Red tee boxes. Instead, each of the five tee boxes (labeled Black, Oak, Granite, Sand, and Pine in order from toughest to least challenging) are designed to present the course in its best possible light for each of a range of handicaps.
Make no mistake either, distance is not the only difference between the varied tee areas, but rather Dye designed each tee box to present players with different looks and landing areas that are appropriate to the skill level noted on the card while at the same time still presenting unique challenges and undeniable beauty.
So if you’re a mid-range handicap golfer and you decide to play Pound Ridge from it’s 7,100 yard “tips” then I bid you well, but remember you have no one to blame but yourself when you sign the scorecard. But, if you do want to play from the appropriate tee box you’ll have no trouble doing so, as the course starters and pro shop staff are well adept at guiding golfers towards the teeing areas that best suit their individual skill levels.
The course itself presents a mix of undulating fairways and greens with hardly a flat, even lie in sight. Skillfully carved from Westchester’s granite hillsides Pound Ridge has a sneaky way of dazzling the eye while not-so-subtly confusing the mind of even the most adept golfers. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than the deceivingly tricky 16th with its narrow green that lies carefully protected between a long marshy carry and an impressive granite rock face just beyond the fringe as pictured here:
Photo by Jim Krajicek.
If that picture is not enough to have you itching to make the 45-minute drive from Manhattan then this flyover should do the trick:
A combination of wetlands, water hazards, hardwood forest, and high fescue line just about every square foot of these well manicured fairways making players loathe errant shots even more, yet the beauty and challenge of each new hole is enough to make you pick yourself back up by your bootstraps and give it another go.
So whether you’re looking to cross another Pete Dye course off your bucket list or just want a beautiful day on the links without having so sign half your salary away to membership fees, a trip to Pound Ridge to play this gem of a course is well worth the drive.
Just be sure to play the right tees for your handicap—consider yourself warned!
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