The Winged Foot Golf Club West Course is a bully. A beautiful, awe inspiring spectacle but one that will leave you battered and bruised. There’s no relief in any of the 18 holes A.W. Tillinghast designed in 1923. You’re scratching and clawing for every stroke along the way. That examination has led to the USGA staging championships there for almost 100 years. The champions crowned include Bobby Jones, Betsy Rawls and Billy Casper to Bryson DeChambeau, Davis Love III and Geoff Ogilvy in modern times.
One of my best friends moved to the northeast a few years back. Along the way, he became friends with a member at Winged Foot, and had the unique opportunity to play the course a handful of times. Last year he called me up, and asked if I could come. Chances to play a course of that stature don't come around very often, so I quickly put together my itinerary.
Winged Foot has some eccentricities, but they all add to the experience. The men’s locker room doesn’t have air conditioning. The grill doesn’t either. What they both lack in central air, they make up for in character. The grill is an open, roomy space with a constant breeze. Every wall displays the victors of different club tournaments.
The entrance to the clubhouse and the hallway to the dining room feature photos and items from the major championships they’ve hosted. The membership is quite proud of their history. Especially the first US Open won by Bobby Jones. In my short time there, I had a number of members reference something from that tournament.
The first thing that comes to mind with Winged Foot is the greens. Gil Hanse restored the course in 2018, and in this The Fried Egg video he discusses the green complexes. During the restoration process, they extended greens where they’d shrunk over time.
I had a sudden introduction to the nuances of the greens when I hit my approach on number 1 to the back left edge of the green. With a front right pin, I did all I could to keep my ball from trickling a foot off the green.
The tee shots and approaches are also quite demanding. Fairways are contoured and shaped to accept proper tee shots. The intricacies of the greens place a premium on approach play. Put the ball in the wrong spot in a green, or the surrounds, and bogey or worse is very attainable.
I had the misfortune of not playing for about 6 weeks prior to my trip. So Winged Foot chewed up and spit out my rusty game. I’d love the opportunity to go back when my game was a little sharper, but I’m thankful for the experience I had.
