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Golf on Cape Cod Course Review
Crosswinds Golf Club
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Photography by George Peet
When Antonios Paganis was asked to hit the ceremonial first tee shot at Widow’s Walk Golf Course in 1997, he politely declined. Although he has been constructing courses now for 45 years, including the environmentally friendly layout in Scituate, hitting a shot in front of a crowd was not a task he relished.
Paganis may not be particularly adept at striking the ball, but long experience at the helm of earth-moving equipment leads him to say with confidence, “I know what golfers want.” We heartily second the assertion.
Paganis began his career in 1958, when course owner George Page asked him to do some renovations on the Colonial at Lynnfield course, north of Boston. Dozens of projects later, he united with the architectural firm of Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry in fashioning a must-play course hard by Myles Standish State Forest in Plymouth, Crosswinds Golf Club.
Crosswinds provides striking vistas, memorable holes, an emphasis on shotmaking, and outstanding conditions for a course which opened just last fall. The property boasts lots of elevation changes on its 18 holes, rumpled fairways that rarely provide a flat lie, and it even turns the clock back in the naming of its front (Bobby Jones) and back (Francis Ouimet) nines. A third nine, named for Babe Didrikson Zaharias, is scheduled to open next year.
The first thing you notice about Crosswinds is its proximity to one of the top courses in the area, Waverly Oaks Golf Course, situated less than a quarter-mile down Long Pond Rd., its clubhouse visible from Crosswinds’ on an adjacent bluff.
The second thing you’ll probably make note of about Crosswinds is its affiliation with the town. Plymouth residents receive a 10 percent discount on greens fees, but they won’t see anything like the annual rates and unlimited play enjoyed by members of many Cape Cod municipal courses. Residents do get a seven-day window to book their tee times before “outside play,” for which non-residents have six days. And for now, tee times are fairly easy to come by, because the buzz about Crosswinds has yet to reach peak volume.
Here’s the arrangement Paganis and his sons, who operate International Golf Construction of Arlington, struck with the Town of Plymouth. The town leased a 300-acre site to Paganis, who privately financed and developed the golf course in exchange for a 40-year lease on the property. After that, the course goes back to the town. Paganis also built several town athletic fields on an adjacent site and will maintain this complex, known as Forges Field, for the 40-year time frame.
Crosswinds features a pair of practice greens just below the future site of the permanent clubhouse, and chipping and pitching to them is allowed. The range is already impressive, with six hitting areas, three apiece on two levels, and all grass tees. Even better news for inveterate practice hounds is the short game practice area on the drawing board, which is to be built beside the current driving range. Paganis’ son, Stathe, is designing the short-game area, and Paganis is excited about it. The short-game area will add an element that’s lacking at most public facilities.
Once you’ve loosened up, the key decision of the day looms: choice of tee boxes. The black tees, at 7,056 yards and with a slope rating of 136, provide more than enough golf course for most players. In fact, several of the longer par fours play uphill, in effect lengthening the layout. From the gold tees (6,523 yards), you’ll probably feel like you’re playing a 6,800-yard bruiser, again because of uphill second shots. The blue (at 6,036 yards, and with a eye-opening slope of 129) is a much more comfortable day.
In fact, we wonder whether the slope rating, particularly from the blues, is an effort to reflect the course at full maturity. Right now, if you hit the ball off the back of a few greens, you’re left with a manageable pitch back, thanks to the moderate speed of the fledgling putting surfaces. It’s easy to imagine, with the plentiful slopes and ridges these greens boast, that a long two-putt or up-and-down will be much tougher to execute when the greens pick up some pace.
For the sake of consistency, we’ll give the back tee yardage in these hole descriptions:
The first hole is a straightforward, 546-yard par 5 that immediately demands a solid tee shot. We aren’t particularly wild about close proximity to penalty strokes on the first swing of the day: if we had our way, there would be no out-of-bounds or water hazards beckoning on the first tee, but we realize that sometimes they just can’t be helped.
Here a pond looms on the right, making it even more daunting for the less skilled player who is more likely to hit a wicked slice - a wicked, watery slice, in this case. Expect mulligans and/or breakfast balls galore on this opener. It would be nice if, no matter how badly you chunked the first one, you at least got the chance to hit it again.
A bunker also looms on the right side of the fairway and, oddly enough, it’s positioned just about where a solid tee shot might end up. If you catch one really well off the blue tee, which plays 490 yards - say 240 yards down the right side - your reward might be a second shot from this bunker, which straddles the right one-third of the fairway and features a pretty good-sized lip.
If you get your first tee ball in play, you’ll be pleased to find the 150-yard marker in handy proximity. Your main decision on the second shot is whether to try to fly the hill that begins just ahead of the 150 mark. The fairway swings to the right as it climbs, and a bunker sits right on the corner. This bunker is a friendlier sort, positioned to help shots diving hard to the right from being swallowed by the woods. Stay left with your second, using the bunkers across the fairway at the top of the ridge as your line, and you’ll have an easy run-up to this plateau green.
No.2 is a comfortable par-4 which features a nice elevation from which to hit your tee shot to a generous fairway. A 3 wood shot will probably work nicely off this tee; it’s natural to feel confident from a high tee where you just have to get the ball airborne a little to send it soaring. The only caveat here: avoid the far right side, because balls tend to kick down into the brush from there. The left hand bunker is a good guide.
About that brush: Paganis and Pry have set a goal of clearing the first 15 to 20 yards into the woods along all fairways, which will speed play immensely and make for happier players. Who wouldn’t rather pitch out than dig deep for another Club Special? (What, you say they don’t make those anymore?)
The second shot on No. 2 - after that soaring tee ball - is probably a 7- or 8-iron to a slightly elevated green with a bunker on the front left, and a slight dropoff behind the green. Third shots from the little depression back here are fairly simple now; but it’s a good example of one of those shots that will soon become a very difficult up-and-down, with the green running away from you.
Paganis enjoyed working with the Hurdzan/Fry architectural team, which is based in Columbus, Ohio, and has designed several award-winning courses.
“They’re fantastic. Bill Kurman made many of the site visits, and he was great to work with,” Paganis says. “These guys have designed many of the best new courses mentioned in Golf Digest.”
Hurdzan’s spin on course design, and golf, is unique. Here is a snippet from an interview with GolfTravel.com last fall:
“I don’t feel that I’m in competition with Tom Fazio, Pete Dye, or Jack Nicklaus,” Hurdzan said. “My competition is with Disney, with pro football, pro baseball, fishing, camping. Golf competes for people’s discretionary money. And if people don’t find golf enjoyable, they’ll spend their money and time on something else.”
Interesting stuff. Then why is the tee shot on No. 3 so demanding? OK, let’s just say that from the back tee, at 400 yards and featuring an uphill climb, the 3rd hole is a strong test. Again, avoid jail off the right side, and you’ll have a middle to long iron into the elevated green. The bunker that’s butted against the right front corner of the green will do plenty of business. Miss left or long and you’ll have a much better chance for an up-and-down.
No. 4, a 400-yard par 4, brings target golf into the equation. Once again you’re playing from a nicely elevated tee; pretend the 150-yard marker is the pin, and hit your 200-yard club to that point (it’s only 352 from the gold tees). Hit any more club and the landing area narrows sharply. Shots to the right kick into oblivion; i.e., a steep bank that will send your ball skittering down into thick rough or lost-ball land. A tee shot to the left might get a break and bounce down into the fairway for you, from where you’ll have that 150-yard shot we discussed earlier. Take an extra club, to counteract the slight uphill slope and to avoid the bunkers in front.
No. 5 concludes a 3-hole stretch of three of the layout’s toughest seven holes, at least by handicap rating (7-5-1 in order). It’s a strong par 5, but we think it takes a back seat to No. 12 in difficulty. The tee shot is one where you lament upon reaching the fairway, “Jeez, I had no idea there was this much room out here.” It opens out to the left far more than is apparent from the tee.
On the second shot, do as we say, not as we did in two tours of the course, which was to whip a shot into the left rough. If you go there, be forewarned: You’ll probably find yourself with the ball below your feet in gnarly grass, with a bunker between you and the slightly elevated green. Not a recipe for success.
On this hole, right is the right place to be approaching the green, for there are no traps to cross and a nice apron from which to pitch. The putting surface helps account for the No. 1 handicap; it’s got a ridge running from front-to-back, with the left side of the green slightly raised.
No. 6 is the first of the four outstanding par 3s, a shot of 165 yards from the back tee, all carry from one plateau to another. The green is set just above eye level so you can only see the top two-thirds of the pin. Let us clue you in that this green is large, and you will want to take an extra club to fly the fairly deep trap on the left front corner. Short and right is much preferable to short left, with a chipping area from which to work. This green has a raised back shelf.
Both the front and back nines end with a superb par-3/par-4 combination. On the outward nine, No. 8 is the signature hole - it’s on both the scorecard and the Web site home page. It’s 206 yards over water to a wide and deep green, and you’d better hope the pin isn’t tucked behind the bunkers on the left. We think the hole is memorable enough with the “easy” pin placement on the right front. Go well past the pin and you’ll have a touchy proposition, for the surface slopes steeply back to front. A little hollow to the right of the green will be a popular bailout, leaving a testy pitch for par.
No. 9 is a strong par 4 of 406 yards, with the final water hazard on the course. Remember that tee shot on No. 1? Now it’s the same pond from the other side, and a good tee shot down the right side could dribble in. Favor the left side and you’ll face a bit longer but easier approach shot, because you won’t have to flirt with the water and the sand on the right, unless you really block it out. Negative thoughts, what negative thoughts?
No. 10 is a nice start before the difficulty ramps up. It’s a 416-yard par 4 that tumbles downhill and turns gently to the left. You’ll have a hard time finding a flat lie on the fairway Paganis sculpted here; of course, he was strictly following orders.
Whatever (the architect) tells me, that’s what I do,” Paganis says with a grin. We sense an evil glint to the smile... just our imagination, we think.
No. 11 is billed as the easiest hole on the course, No. 18 handicap, but it’s actually a tough one-shotter of 194 yards from the back. A tree hovers to the right of the green and some mounds to the left. A straight long iron seems to be the solution.
Crosswind’s other signature hole is the 12th. If these holes were named, as is the fashion at many new courses, we would insist this one be called Bethpage. This brutish par-4 would fit right in at the Black Course there, site of the 2002 US Open. It’s not 490 yards, like a few of the par-4s on the Long Island course were stretched to, but it is a 432-yarder with a plateau fairway followed by a semi-blind approach shot, and a daunting dropoff to the left side of the entire length of the hole. The first reaction from the tee is, “Whew!” It’s as impressive to look at as it is tough to play.
Back-to-back par 5s follow, with No. 13 a bit of a breather. A generous fairway and typical downwind breezes make the 526-yard hole play a little easier than its successor, the 552-yard 14th. The difference in length is minimal, but No. 14 is uphill and into the gusty wind.
We haven’t had much to bemoan since the first tee - course-wise. Our game is another story entirely. But as we turned for home at No. 15, we were disappointed to find what we considered well-struck tee shots down the right side running into the brush. From the elevated tee box, you’re better off staying left on this dogleg left, because the fairway slants to the right. From the back tee at 456 yards, it’s a long way to trouble, but from the gold tees, you’ll want to avoid the right side of the fairway or you may find yourself chipping out of the brush. There’s nothing to stop it from rolling into a “pitch it back into play” area.
No. 16 is a narrow, 370-yard par 4, a good driving hole that rewards accuracy more than length. Like several of the uphill approach shots here, the green is deeper than it appears from down below.
Hurdzan again, this time from a 2002 interview in “Golf Links to the Past”: “I’ve played over 40 rounds of golf in Europe with wood shafted clubs, and it’s taught me that the basic design principles still hold. The old masters gave you wide fairways to play to. In 50 years, I’ve never met anyone who says, ‘I love going into the long grass and hacking it out.’ It is important to set up hazards to intimidate and challenge the great players, but not encumber the average player.”
The 17th is a dramatic par 3 that drops a good 50 feet from tee to green, with a huge bunker at the left front corner of the putting surface. You’ll probably want to hit three clubs less than usual from 206 yards (the back tee) because of the huge drop, unless the pin is placed in the back left corner of the green. We would consider that a “Sunday pin” if this were a tournament venue.
The finisher doesn’t disappoint - it’s 432 yards and requires two sturdy shots.
A bunker guards the left side of the fairway, but there’s no reason to favor that side. A good drive leaves a middle iron to the elevated green, and you can run it up onto this green if you’re on the right side of the fairway. Bogey is a good score if you’re not well placed off the tee.
Paganis frets that Crosswinds’ condition “could be much better. We had a cold spring, but it’s coming along.” His construction resume includes many local courses - both Captains courses, Farm Neck, Bayberry Hills, Widow’s Walk, Acushnet River Valley, and Ballymeade, to name a few. He also has carried out renovations and upgrades at clubs all over the region, including a rescue effort at New Seabury in the wake of Hurricane Bob in 1991.
“He was there the day after the hurricane,” said Pry, who worked at the Mashpee resort at the time. “Seven of our holes were underwater... they did an incredible job bringing the course back.”
Paganis and Pry are excited about the third installment at Crosswinds, the Zaharias nine. This third nine will complete an explosion of golf in Plymouth, which has seen the construction of no fewer than seven courses in the past decade or so.
Golf Magazine noted the change in the regional golf landscape and called “America’s Hometown” a new golf travel destination. Count them: Atlantic, Pinehills Jones and Nicklaus, Southers’ Marsh, Waverly Oaks, Squirrel Run and Crosswinds.
“The engineering is done, the center lines are in, and we’re just waiting for the chance to start clearing,” Paganis said. “We’re hoping to have it ready by the fall of 2004.”
And how will the new nine compare to the existing 18? “Well, it’s up to the architect, of course, but I want it to be a little different. Perhaps more bunkers,” Paganis said, that evil smile creeping back onto his face.
Whoa - we thought he said he knew what golfers wanted.
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