Photo Essay: Myopia Hunt Club
Growing up, the word Myopia buzzed around the periphery of my consciousness with nothing tangible to anchor to. My uncle and aunt had a membership to the club, and though I had taken golf lessons as a little kid at Cohasset Golf Club, where my grandfather (my uncle’s dad) was a member, I never pursued the idea of playing Myopia with my uncle. I played golf as nothing more than a way to pass the time with my friends during summer vacation, content with the well-worn rota of public courses within a half-hour drive of my home town.
As golf became a bigger part of my life during and after college, I came to realize both how good a player my uncle had been and how exclusive and well-regarded the club that he had played out of was. Each morning spent scouring the internet for open weekend tee times presented another opportunity to kick myself for not setting up regular outings with my uncle and grandfather at their home clubs.
My uncle was a three-time club champion at Myopia, a true stick who once holed out from the fairway for eagle on back-to-back holes while playing with his dad. His wife got the membership as part of their divorce years ago, which happened several years before I was fatally bitten by the golf bug. So getting the chance to play the course, and seeing his name on the wall of the clubhouse bar, felt like stepping into a bygone era of my family’s history.
August in Boston usually doesn’t mean 60 degrees, impenetrable fog banks, and intermittent rain, but this atmosphere served only to heighten the whole experience into something out of a Scottish folktale. As did the long, pastoral entrance drive, with post-and-rail fences…
…reminders of the club’s other offerings…
…spooky tree tunnels…
…and the first glimpse of something that could be a fairway (spoiler alert: it’s the 18th fairway).
Although the club doesn’t include the year of its founding in its logo, a number of subtle aspects of Myopia serve to highlight its century-plus-long history.
Quick history lesson: The club takes its name from the technical term for nearsightedness. Four vision-impaired brothers founded the original Myopia Club in nearby Winchester in the 1870s as a neighborhood club devoted to boating and tennis. After moving to another location in Winchester, the club split into several groups in 1882: those who wanted a club nearer to the city founded The Country Club in Brookline, while members wanting an open space for fox hunting founded Myopia Hunt Club in Hamilton. Twelve years later, Herbert C. Leeds began to lay out and build the golf course, completing the front nine in 1896 and the back in 1901. Myopia Hunt Club hosted the 1898, 1901, 1905, and 1908 U.S. Opens.
The rambling, 18th-century farmhouse still serves as the clubhouse today, and stands as the most obvious beacon of the club’s history:
But take a wider angle, and a stroll around Myopia’s 18 holes, and you’ll realize that the clubhouse occupies a low, architecturally uninteresting part of the property. While new clubs may insist on a fascinating natural hill as the site of their clubhouse at the expense of a few potentially tremendous golf holes, Myopia’s clubhouse sits unobtrusively behind the 16th and 18th greens, only in view from 1 tee, 16, 17 tee, and 18.
The course plays across, over, down, and up a long ridge that extends from just behind the clubhouse towards the furthest end of the property. Below is the opposite view from the previous photo…
…and a deeper view of 16 green and the clubhouse through the trees from Myopia’s driving range:
Another subtle reminder of the club’s age? This photo of a certain unmistakable trust-and-waistcoat-busting president astride his hearty mount:
With the history and preliminaries out of the way, let’s get into the actual golf course. First, the scorecard, which offers a beautifully simple map in the bottom left that I consulted more than once while wandering through the mists.
1st hole, par 4, 274 yards — “First”
The first hole is so completely blind that I legitimately almost drove past it. Hence why my cart is way up the path in this photo. It’s a very short par 4 with absolutely nothing to aim at, save that one tree which stands off the right edge of the green.
Looking back from the green, it’s clear that things open up past the crest of the hill, and that this miniature two-shotter offers a bit of a stern test. Thick, knotted fescue left, a significant mound right…
…two bunkers right, and…
…one left, where my tee shot came to rest. Again, the pitch of this bank is much steeper than it appears. I could barely see the top of the flag when standing in the bunker.
2nd hole, par 5, 487 yards — “Lookout”
An aptly named hole when the Dementors have cleared out, the second turns 90 degrees left from behind the first green and plays off the edge of the ridge and down into a generous fairway.
Seasoned Myopians glance to the right of this tee box before descending into the valley, as the 13th green lies perched some 50 yards away. This will be the golfer’s first and only view of 13 green until climbing the hill from 13 fairway to find where his/her approach has landed.
A tee shot finding the fairway invites players to go for this green in two, even though the flagstick is invisible from fairway level.
Passing through (or around) the fescue-covered mounds brings you to the green, which sits in a depression and presents an open front perfect for rolling approaches.
3rd hole, par 3, 253 yards — “Brae”
In Jon Cavalier’s fantastic photo tour on the Golf Club Atlas website, he makes a bunch of great observations. One of these that I carried throughout my round there was that the course is tailor-made for match play. Going through the scorecard, very few holes play to what might be considered an “average” length for that par, which matters not at all when your object is to play the hole in fewer strokes than your opponent. The course begins with three of these half-par holes, the last of which is the uber-long one-shot third.
Everyone in our group hit driver here, and each put a reasonably effective swing on the ball. The results: three greens visited (one of which stayed); one dumped in the front bunker, which actually sits some 20 yards from the front of the green; one rolled just off the back; and one bounded into the thick stuff beyond the green and was declared unplayable.
The green is bisected by a ridge running L →R through the middle, effectively halving the green for anyone interested in making a birdie. In short, it’s a tough hole.
4th hole, par 4, 392 yards — “Miles River”
This little beauty stakes its claim as one of my top three holes at Myopia, along with the 9th and the 6th, though opinions will surely differ. Also, Miles River was allegedly declared one of the 100 signature holes in the U.S. by Golf Magazine, as was the one-shot ninth. This bit of trivia comes from Wikipedia, and though I can’t verify it, I’m adding it because it feels right.
The play is a draw off the inside mound on the right side, which sits behind the 7th green (the 7th fairway can be seen rising in the top right of the above photo).
The fairway slopes gradually from right-to-left, giving a well-flighted ball some extra rollout. Bombers may actually flirt with the sinuous bunker short left of the green on the drive, and my drive refused to draw and ended up hanging up in the right fescue. But if I got to play the course again, I might consider dialing back off the tee. Because an approach with any backspin risks ripping hard off the front of this green, which is one of the most treacherous I have ever encountered.
My drive ended up just in front of a tuft of grass, forcing me to hit a low runner towards the right edge of the green. It ended up being one of my favorite shots of the day, despite the result. The ball came out exactly how I wanted it to, took one bounce in the right rough about 20 yards short of the green, then hopped and rolled its way onto the putting surface.
Now, before the round, the club pro had warned us that Myopia was the site of both the highest 72-hole total in U.S. Open history (a 331, in 1901 by four-time champion Willie Anderson) and the highest single-hole total (an outrageously high number that I forget, but I think was a 24, scored on this hole). And after playing the fourth hole, it’s easy to understand why.
Starting on the far right of this fiendishly sloped green, my approach rolled for no less than 20 seconds, came within a foot or so of hitting the flag, and finally stopped off the lefthand side, some 30 yards left of where it originally landed. If I were to play this hole again, I think I’d hit a fairway wood off the tee and leave myself a mid- or short-iron in, hoping to land in the middle of the green and figure it out from there. Truly a great golf hole.
5th hole, par 4, 417 yards — “Lone Tree”
It’s not clear from the name of this hole which tree the name is referring to, as it’s one of the only holes on the course that’s entirely cordoned off by forest.
The landing area is generous, though it runs out some 300 yards from the tee into scruffy rough and a small stream.
As with most of Myopia’s holes, the green slopes more than it appears; this time, from back to front.
6th hole, par 4, 260 yards — “Brook”
This hole is absolutely amazing, and truly embodies the phrase “par is just a number.”
Don’t be fooled, that section to the right of the lefthand bunker that looks like a table with two of its legs sawed off is, in fact, the green.
Looking back towards the tee from right of the green, it’s clear that this is another half-par hole, and that scores can be made with any combination of clubs. Three of us hit driver and made par from various positions. One member of our group had hit every one of his drives into some kind of trouble, so he hit 6-iron, 9-iron, and two putts later, had his par as well.
This is perhaps the second most sloped green on the course after the fourth. It’s impossible to tell from here, but that first glimpse from the tee is the truth: the thing sits like a flying saucer half-buried after a crash landing.
7th hole, par 4, 404 yards — “Myopia”
Myopia’s title track presents many of the elements that make the course a joy to play: a generous landing area, an open green that accepts running approaches, fascinating elevation changes, a (usually) blind approach, and the feeling that after you play it, you want to turn right around and do it again, sure that one more try will unlock the secret.
The best line off the tee is to find a perch at the top of the hill on the right of the fairway, so, like any good architect, Leeds dug a devastating bunker there. Three bunkers also line the left side of the fairway, in the perfect spots to catch overdrawn drives that trundle through the fairway, like mine did.
The left of the seventh green is one of golf’s great central axes. You’re swaddled by golf holes, with the soaring seventh, devilish fourth, layered second, and expansive eighth surrounding.
8th hole, par 5, 472 yards — “Prairie”
I was left of this hole from the start, and didn’t get back on track until the green. It resembles the 7th, although with a smaller fairway rise and an elevated green.
It’s a fine hole, and the piled-up green slopes incredibly hard from right to left. But at this point in the round, all you’re thinking about is the next hole. Look at this little beauty.
9th hole, par 3, 136 yards — “Pond”
Soak it in.
Sublime. Laying aside the tranquil setting in the far corner of Myopia’s property and the green that likely couldn’t fit two flagsticks end to end, the bunkering around this green is all-world.
10th hole, par 4, 406 yards — “Alps”
The 10th hole brings a blind drive (hence the name), with a fairway running downhill and right to left beyond the rise.
A benign green is guarded by one of the deepest bunkers on the course, which sits some 20 yards in front of the sunken putting surface. I neglected to photograph the green in order to walk back and get a good angle into this pit of despair.
Apparently, when our friend W.H.T. played the course, his approach found this bunker with disastrous results. His sand play has been lost to time, but the pertinent detail (and likely reason for the implementation of the steps) is that a horse and rope were needed to extricate the portly commander in chief from the depths.
11th hole, par 4, 339 yards — “Road”
I absolutely loved this hole, but I don’t think it would be playable on a dry day.
Another short par-4, Road would likely only be driveable under gale-force conditions, as the hole plays uphill to a green protected by a deep strip bunker.
From the center of the fairway, the green seems inviting, but the tendency to take too little club is strong. Your lie is uphill and below your feet, and the green (and its front collar) all slope back towards the fairway.
Oh, and the reason I said it might be unplayable when dry? Please take a gander at the vicious tilt of this fairway:
This is the other end of that huge ridge that runs through the property, and it acts as an ice luge to propel balls into the righthand rough. I’d bet on a firm and fast day, everything that lands more than 5 yards right of the left rough will stop only when it finds the long stuff at the bottom of the hill. If I could play this hole again, I’d pull 5 wood and hit a nearly out-of-control hook that starts off towards 10 tee and hopefully counteracts this crazy fairway.
A note on the hole’s name: “Road.” I’m by no means an architecture expert, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out how this constitutes a road hole. I’m guessing it’s named for the road that runs behind the tee box, so we’ll go with that.
12th hole, par 4, 446 yards — “Valley”
The 11th and 12th holes are mark a rarity at Myopia — two holes of the same par playing in the same direction. But though they’re both par-4s, you’d be hard-pressed to find two more dissimilar golf holes. After climbing the rise behind the 11th green, you’re greeted with this view:
Your mission is to launch one into the titular valley, avoiding the encroaching woods on the left and the misty, fescue-covered moors on the right. The fairway’s reverse camber serves to complicate this tee shot, and really only accepts a fade, unless your draw gets a lucky brake job from the rough atop that rise.
After descending into the fairway, the mists closed in again. The pin is just barely visible on the right of the photo above, and reachable with a mid- to long-iron.
13th hole, par 4, 349 yards — “Hill”
One of the most famous holes at Myopia, Hill demands two well-executed shots to even sniff a par. Your first challenge is to hit the wide, R →L bending fairway. Overall, not the most difficult thing to do. Angles may come into play here, as (on clear days) the pin might be glimpsed atop the hill on the left and you could attempt to place your drive on one side of the fairway to better your line in.
However, the true challenge of this hole lies with the approach. The green is perched atop this massive rise, completely and utterly blind from the fairway, and made doubly difficult by the banks of fog.
The green actually sits on the far left side of this rise, and is preceded by some 25 yards of fairway-length grass which swiftly rejects any approach that doesn’t reach the surface. Behind and to the right of the green: rough and ball-eating fescue. Short left: a disgusting bunker. This seemingly benign two-shotter is truly a hit-it-or-else proposition.
14th hole, par 4, 392 yards — “Ridge”
At this point, you have ascended the ridge (hence the hole’s name) that the course is built on, and the fog combined with the blind drive made photographs from the tee fruitless. It’s a fairly open driving hole, with little tilt or elevation change, and the green is guarded by this right-hand strip bunker…
…which one of our party found.
15th (not pictured due to impenetrable fog), par 5, 525 yards — “Long”
A strong three-shot hole, with a righthand bunker in the landing area, a few more on the right side of the layup zone, and two shallow traps guarding a deep green.
16th hole, par 3, 192 yards — “Paddock”
Another of Myopia’s signature holes, the 16th returns you to the clubhouse for the first time since leaving the first tee.
In a bit of old-school design charm that would surely be difficult to get clearance for today, the green of this long par three slopes away from the player. There’s some room to land the ball short and let it bounce on, though beware the ringing bunkers, particularly this funky-shaped one left.
17th hole, par 4, 391 yards — “West”
Two more holes await, both 400-yard par 4s, playing away from and then back towards the clubhouse. Each is scoreable, so after the gauntlet of 12 and 13, players are given ample chances to post something to be proud of on the back nine. With the exception of 16, the final five holes don’t pose too much danger.
A wide-open tee shot invites one final crack with the driver, and cresting the hill finds a green guarded by lone bunker right and a row of them left, beginning some 15 yards from the edge of the putting surface.
18th hole, par 4, 404 yards — “Home”
The sadness of standing on the 18th tee and knowing your round draws to a close is tempered by the excitement of trying to shape a fade into this heaving, contoured fairway. The line off the tee is somewhere just left of the clubhouse, though the fescue makes it hard to commit to moving the ball left to right.
From left of the fairway, the green comes into view, guarded by a bunker some 65 yards short and another deep chasm just in front of the green.
The green is relatively benign, and offers the opportunity to make a final putt of some distance in front of the assembled spectators along the veranda.
Myopia Hunt Club is one of the treasures of American golf. With a history to rival any club on the continent, a score of memorable and unique challenges, and a setting that hearkens to a bygone era, Myopia offers one of the greatest top-to-bottom experiences in this game.
