Engineers

Two years after the course at the Engineers Country Club opened for play, the club hosted the PGA Championship which saw Jim Barnes beat the 1908 US Open champion Fred McLeod 6 and 5. One year later in 1920, Engineers also hosted the USGA Amateur Championships. Devereux Emmet remodelled the Engineers course in 1921.

Engineers Country Club is fabled for the quality of its greens, which in 1920 were summed up by one sports columnist: “The main nerve test will be on the greens. You will find strong men weeping as they finish a round.” Nothing has changed very much since then. If you can master the putting surfaces at the Engineers Club then you may card a great score.

The par four 16th lays claim to be one of the Engineers signature holes, which is beautifully described on the club website: “A telephone number is a possibility if you're sloppy. On the right, as you come up and out of the teeing area, is OB the entire length of the hole. If your driver has been misbehaving, drop down and hit something straight up the left side. The green is downhill from the fairway and protected on all sides: a hidden ravine that requires a billy-goat to find your ball protects the front; you will find water on the right; there is deep grass on a cliff plateau on the left. So if you miss the green, just dial EMS. On top of it all, the green is among the tougher on the course with severe breaks.”