Every golf fan within driving distance needs to cash in their rare and wonderful chance to see Sleepy Hollow Country Club, an indisputable masterpiece of Charles Blair Macdonald, when the USGA brings the Mid-Amateur there this September.
Precipitously rising and falling as though you are riding Gunpowder fleeing the Headless Horseman with hapless Ichabod astride his back, this hurly-burly piece of property was first worked by the great Charles Blair Macdonald at the request of the Rockefellers, the Astors, and the Vanderbilts, an index of American high society. Macdonald completed his course in 1914, incorporating many of the strategic hole designs he showcased at National Golf Links of America. After sveral intervening architects and a land swap resulted in six new holes, the club turned to Gil Hanse in 2005 for a master plan that would make the entire course look like Macdonald, including a complete redesign of holes 1, 8-12 and 18. As we wrote earlier, “Over the course of the next 13 years, they painstakingly implemented the plan he authored, along with an assist from dry cleaner-turned-golf architecture consultant and historian George Bahto. Work was completed in two parts: A period from 2005-06 where Hanse rebuilt the bunkers completely in Macdonald style, while also pulling the playing corridors and fairways to a much wider, grander scale, and a second phase from 2016-17 where he rebuilt all 18 greens to Macdonald’s shape and style, especially adding internal contour, while also increasing pinnable space by a remarkable 7 percent over the course of 18 holes. The lion’s share of that amount came at holes 1, 8-12, and 18, which saw a whopping 85 percent increase in size.”
The Mid-Am is a wondrous opportunity for golf fans to meet and greet the greatest amateurs in the game and walk one of America’s finest courses without ropes. Sleepy will enchant and enthrall every golfer and nature enthusiast. Literature fans will love the Headless Horseman merchandise and town history. Plus the public golf in the area is strong, so you can play 18 in the morning and then watch the golf in the afternoon.
The Mid-Am will be conducted at Sleepy and nearby Fenway for the stroke play qualifiers September 9-14.
