Being first out on this glorious morning on the North Course at the Lake of Isles Golf Club immediately reminded me of one of those initial golf theme MasterCard ‘Priceless’ TV commercials.
It was just after 7am with the air still and the sun just starting to peek above the tree line.
I had been invited to head to the practice range but politely declined as I did not want to waste a minute being the first to tee off and for a first time in Connecticut.
However let me rewind some 16 hours.
I was making my way from the Barclays Championship at the Ridgewood Club in New Jersey and bound for the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Massachusetts and not wishing to drive straight to Massachusetts I stopped for the night in the stunning Foxwood Casino Hotel.
It was not to checking into the hotel I became aware of the Lake of Isles Golf Club located no more than a two-minute drive and virtually across the road from the lobby of the hotel.
The Lake of Isles owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and managed by Troon Golf.
The sun was now low this Monday afternoon when I ventured to the club, and after seeking permission, I walked a few holes of the South Course and being informed it was one of two courses at the Lake of Isles with the North Course open to the public and the South Course a private facility for members and their guests.
And the more I explored the South Course the more I said to myself ‘What a stunning setting for an equally stunning golf course.’
Though my excitement was tempered with the thought if I could play the North course early the next morning but after receiving an email early that evening from club’s Steve Tantillo I contacted Jackie Beck, who handles all media enquiries for the club.
So after getting up early I eagerly found my way back to the club and down to the Pro Shop where I introduced myself and then was greeted: “Oh, Mr. McGuire we have been expecting you. Jackie has organised everything’”
Rees Jones designed both courses with work getting underway in 2004 on the courses laid out over 900 acres of wooded countryside around a pristine 90-acre lake.
The sun is beginning to peak over the trees on the first hole of the North Course.
The North Course offers five tees ranging from 7,279 yards off the ‘Black’; 6,757 yards from the ‘Gold’; 6,005 yards off the ‘Silver’ and 5,387 yards from the forward ‘Copper’ tees. Then there is the Ladies or ‘Jade’ tee measuring 4,895 yards.
There is the usual mix of an outward nine of two par 3s, two par 5s and the same on the back nine.
A characteristic of both courses is that the holes are named after various animals, reptiles, birds and fish to be found at the Lake of Isles.
The first hole of the North Course is named ‘Spadefoot Toad’, a common species of toad found in the US and Canada that burrows backwards into the ground.
The first hole is also Index No. 1 and on this superb morning it had me burrowing backwards in walking off with a double bogey.
However there’s that old saying in golf: “Many decent rounds in golf can often commence with a double bogey.”
And fortunately this proved to be the scenario as over the course of the next few hours I squeezed out a handful of pars including a first par at the par four third hole, named ‘Red Tail Hawk’, and with the highlight of the round being a birdie at the downhill par three, 16th hole, named ‘Black Crappie’.
The superb 6th hole on the North Course at the Lake of Isles – hitting through a sentry line of trees and avoiding the cluster of bunkers placed at the point of the dog leg. You can just see one of the many wooden bridges leading through the trees mid-right of photo.
However if there was a standout moment in the round it was at the par four, 14th a 368-yard par four hole, named ‘Redback Salamander’, that dog-legs left to right.
After a tee shot that veered right that came to rest on a downward slope, I managed to play my second about 80-yards short of the green.
Then in walking over the brow of the hill here was the sight of some half-a-dozen greens staff waiting to the left side of the green for me to play up and then, and something that rarely happens in golf when people are looking on, after thinning my pitching wedge the ball cannoned straight into the flagstick and stopping just inches short for the easiest of pars.
I headed to the 15th red-faced and explaining: “That never happens when I play to an audience.”
There is some super holes on the North Course including the first of the par 3s, the second named ‘Chain Pickerel’, and a downhiller of 144 yards that needs to carry water guarding the green.
Another gem with a raised tee is the par four, sixth hole named ‘Eastern Coyote’, a hole inviting the golfer to firstly thread the ball through a guard of trees to the fairway well below but also needing to avoid a cluster of bunkers on the corner of the dog-leg.
On route to the fairway you cross many of the wonderful wooden bridges that are common to both courses.
The 10th hole of the North Course at the Lake of Isles.
The par four 10th hole ‘Red Fox’ is another quintessential Rees Jones design. Not long at 369 yards but standing on the tee there is about a 100-yard ribbon of native vegetation to carry to a fairway with bunkers right and left before hitting to an uphill green, and well-guarded both front left and right by more bunkers.
It’s one of those holes, and even walking off with a bogey, when you just want stand on the green looking back down the fairway for a few seconds to savour the satisfaction of knowing you’ve handled the challenge Jones has presented.
Though if you were feeling comfortable with the surrounds then the course demands you full attention standing on the tee at the 136-yard par three 11th hole named ‘Yellow Perch’.
I stood on this particular tee for a few minutes soaking in what lay below. Here was a green about 35 yards long but guarded all down the left by water and with water also in place about half the length down the right.
Water also is a big feature of the final two holes of the North Course – the 533-yard par five, 17th named ‘Spring Pepper’ and the 294-yard par four, 18th named ‘Tree Swallow’.
Looking from the 18th green back down the fairway with the teeing area at right angles back over the portion of water seen in the middle of the photo.
The 17th seems simple enough demanding a carry over water of just over 200 yards to the fairway while the final hole is a real gem hitting as you do from what is very much like an island tee over water to the fairway and a hole that is laid-out at right angles to the tee.
But the pleasure of having found the fairway could easily be soured as second your shot is dependent on carrying a band of vegetation guarding the green and also avoiding bunkers guarding the green both front left and back left.
Since it opened in 2005, Lake of Isles has received many accolades in the golf industry. GOLF Magazine thought so much of the Lake of Isles-North Course it was named as one of the Top 100 Courses You Can Play in the States.
Lake of Isles has the honour also of being named No. 1 Public Course in Connecticut by Golfweek Magazine, ‘Best In State’ by Golf Digest and the Lake of Isles Golf Shop has been named as one of the Top-100 Golf Shops by Golf World Magazine.
Both courses are owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and managed by Troon Golf.
So in conclusion a huge ‘Thank You’ to Jackie Beck and to the Lake of Isles Steve Tantillo for the opportunity to experience what is surely Connecticut golf at its best.
And hereunder is a slide show of photographs of the North Course
