Description

Down a curving driveway, shaded by vineyard oaks and evergreens limited in height by the prevailing Atlantic winds, you will come to a special place, Farm Neck Golf Club. You’ll find an unprepossessing proshop, accompanied by a small members’ locker room (they have a limited membership) and a very casual restaurant. It’s understated, but elegant, from the design of the scorecards and signage, to the shaded putting greens, to the wide open first fairway—it almost lulls you into a sense of calm.

But beware: this is a course that will test you many times over the hours of your round. Enjoy; inhale the beauty; but do not underestimate your seductive foe.

Head pro Mike Zoll presides over a friendly staff that is highly attuned to customer service. Farm Neck opened with nine holes in 1979, added the second nine a year later, and has garnered fans ever since. The highly varied—yet cohesive—design is the cumulative work of Geoffrey Cornish, Bill Robinson, and Patrick Mulligan.

Do you love golf-as-a-setting? If so, you’ll enjoy Farm Neck.

The course offers 4 sets of tees, playing a demanding 6815 (72.6/133) from the golds, a challenging 6301 (70.2/131) from the blues, 5859 (69.3/129) from the whites, and 4987 (64.3/118) from the reds. 129 slope at 5859 yards? What does that mean? It means this course, while offering usually generous landing areas, really places a premium on course management.

Water is threatening, or in play, on nine of the holes, and deep bunkers also punish those whose aspirations overreach their abilities.

First of all, the course is a visual delight, with many holes running along the Vineyard Sound, and others running through meadows and marshes, with water, sand, wetlands, and wildlife keeping you alert all day long.

A few of the most notable holes follow. After a relatively wide and easy first hole, number two immediately grabs your attention—a narrow but short par 5 (490 yards blues, 528 golds). Miss the fairway left and you’re in heavy rough and blocked by trees and rolling hills. Miss right and you risk OB on the road, and more tree blockage. Yet a decent drive of 250 from the blues has to thread the needle between a set of bunkers that squeeze the fairway to about 22 yards in the center.

The green is perched on a small plateau—its 34-yard depth catches the high shots required because it is well guarded by a deep trap in front. Some players may reach the green in two, but given the traps everywhere, scoring par here is just fine.

Number 4 (left, green at top) is one of the Farm’s beauty holes. It's the shortest par 3 on the track (157 blue, 178 golds), that often plays a club or two longer or shorter depending on the wind. From 157, I’ve hit every thing from 5-iron to 9-iron. The green is deep but narrow, and trees overhanging from the left narrow the target, as does the drop-off to the right into impenetrable bushes.

Number 7 is only 371 from the blues, (391 golds), and plays downhill. A 310-yard drive reaches the pond in front. Your view of the green as you come to your approach shot is a tableau surrounded by tall pines, with the rolling deep blue of the Vineyard Sound in the background.

The second par 5 on the front, number 8, is visually intimidating. Ocean on the right, trees on the left, and a required carry of about 150 yards from the whites, 180 from the blues, and 210 from the golds. The best tee shot is down the middle or slightly middle right, because if you make it over the marsh, you then face a continuously narrowing slight dogleg left, while the fairway tilts modestly toward the right. Along the right are hedges and a drop-off that dooms any errant shots. All of this, while the breezes cross the fairway. Go for the green in two at your own peril—a mound in front deflects run-up attempts.

The front nine ends with an innocent-looking par 3 (Number 9, above looking back toward the tee) guarded by a pond. But no matter what you’re thinking, take an extra club because the prevailing breeze is usually either in your face, or left-to-right (towards the water).

Number 12 may be the toughest par on the course. The tee shot on this downhill 379-yarder can be no longer than about 230 to avoid the pond on the left. (As another dogleg right, you are almost forced left.) But this leaves a testy (all-carry) 150-170 yard shot to a narrow, double-tiered green with little bailout on any side.

Fourteen may be the easiest hole on the back. This 331-yard slight dog left requires a down-the-middle drive to set up a short shot to a deep green. This hole provides another great view of the Sound, and also means your shot is more exposed to the capricious breezes. Gauge the wind carefully before selecting your wedge.

Water: Beautiful, But Dangerous

Fifteen is not the longest par 3, but it requires the most fortitude. All tee shots must carry the pond which fronts and wraps around the green to the right. In addition, the green slopes sharply to the water, so a right side pin is to be ignored. At 163 yards from the blues (188 from the tips), a slightly drawing mid-iron will get you safely home.

The finishing hole, the last of five in a row with a pond in play, is an intriguing par 5 (523 blues, 552 golds) that eventually bends about 90 degrees to the right. There’s an OB fence that curves to the right, but marshland that catches straight drives that carry more than 250 or so. So a long fading tee shot might get you inside 200 yards, but miss and you may wish you’d geared down a bit. Thus the prudent player opts for a 3-wood or long iron off the tee and a mid-iron second shot to a comfortable pitching distance to set up the third. Once you cross the final pond to this final green, you’ll find several undulations that can deflect even slightly mis-hit putts.

You can finally exhale, and reward yourself with a nice cool beverage. Now that you’ve been here, you’ll be back. Oh yes, you will come back.

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