Siwanoy Country Club

Architect: Donald Ross
Restoration: Mike DeVries
 

In 2007, Mike authored a long-term course plan. Restoration of lost green margins (and subsequent pin locations), re-establishment of traditional mowing patterns, bunker reconstruction, and tree and water management were the focus in overhauling this stunning course, site of the first US PGA Championship in 1916.

Siwanoy’s property is a compact, L-shaped site with the clubhouse on a ridge at its centre. There are two ridges separating three main valleys, each with open waterways that factor into the strategy of the holes. Although not long, the greens (14 original to Ross, with 2 older versions and 2 new greens) are beautifully contoured and diverse, demanding careful execution in approaching and recovering to them as well as putting.

Opening up the course to its original intentions has brought back wonderful views and improved agronomics. The waterways were restored in several places and now serve to better drain the course and to influence angles of play. Upon completion of the project in 2015, Siwanoy held a 100th anniversary celebration of that first PGA Championship, cementing its unique place in golfing history.