Dedham Golf and Polo

Dedham Country and Polo Club in Dedham, MA, is a Seth Raynor Design with a slight touch of Ross. Ross redesigned a nine-hole course that sat on the land in 1915 and soon after Herbert Fowler came along to make it an 18-hole close. In recent years, @BrianSilva came in to restore all Ranor’s features and keep a touch of Ross that Raynor left as well.  Stretching at 6,247 yards, this short layout plays a lot longer and tougher than the card states. Lots of trouble off the tee and bunkers in the centers of the fairways make the longest hitters keep the driver in the bag on most tee shots. The Prize Dogleg, par 5 6th, features a green that is a reverse redan, and the par 3 3rd is a Redan while the par 3 17th is also a reverse. Not the boldest Redan holes (the 6th being the boldest green) but all are unique comparing these 3 greens to each other in terms of green size, undulations and bunkering. 

The Maiden green of the 8th is one of the most fun I’ve played. Raynor left Ross’ designs of the short but tough par 5 4th and short par 3 5th as well as the 1st and 18 greens. A great and severe Biarritz, Alps, Lions Mouth, Valley and much more. The Knoll hole was one of my favorites, a 376-yard par 4 with a demanding tee shot with fairway bunkers guarding the right and left sides of the fairway, and anything past these bunkers is a narrow, rolling fairway with trouble left and right. Anything off the green gives the player a deep bunker shot, short uphill pitch on a tight lie to a two-tiered green, or an uphill chip shot out of deep rough to the elevated green. The course is a great example of how fun Raynor’s template holes are and how challenging they can be even on a course as short as Dedham. Also, A+ tee markers.