Somerset Hills, NJ, USA    

An appealing aspect of A.W. Tillinghast's work is, strangely enough, the lack of identifying characteristics. The player would be hard pressed to tell that the same architect designed the courses at Winged Foot, the courses at Baltusrol, San Francisco Golf Club, Bethpage (Black) and Somerset Hills. Think of the striking features of each: Winged Foot (West) with its length, raised, severe greens and deep bunkers; Baltusrol (Lower) with its low-profile look; San Francisco with its flashy bunkers stylishly spread at all sorts of angles in the broad fairways; Bethpage (Black) with its huge, sprawling scale and Somerset Hills with its terrific set of greens and its charming layout.

The 2nd (right) and 8th holes: It's difficult to imagine more different parallel one-shotters.

Compare the variety of these styles to the readily identifiable characteristics of Seth Raynor courses (Redan, Biarittz, and Punch Bowl holes abound everywhere) or Pete Dye where Kiawah (Ocean) feels like PGA West by the ocean which resembles TPC-Sawgrass with their formulaic finishes of five par, three par over water, and a stern four par finisher.

Tillinghast's style (or lack thereof) is an indicator that, unlike many of today's architects, Tillinghast was not hell-bent on leaving his 'mark.' He fit the course onto the available land without forcing his imprint onto the land. (Or, in view of his eccentricities and erratic behavior, perhaps the designs just reflect his severe mood swings!)

Variety is the key to Somerset Hills in Bernardsville, New Jersey: variety of terrain, variety of length of holes, variety of approach shots and variety of greens. With the fairly open front nine laid out on and around an old racetrack and the back nine through rolling wooded terrain with streams and a pond, one would think the course would have a Jekyll and Hyde character (as with, for example, Spyglass Hill). However, the course flows well, and members are split over which side they prefer. The par threes are perfectly balanced at 175, 220, 145 and 165 yards while the par fours have several big two-shotters (the 1^st, 4^th, 7^th and 13^th), several short ones (the 5^th, 17^th and 18^th) and those very appealing ones in between.

The one weakness may be what is the only recurring theme across Tillinghast's work: indifferent par fives. The 9^th with its attractive cross bunkering is the best of an undistinguished group.

Holes to Note:

2^nd, 175 yards: Tillinghast, like Macdonald, tried to make as many annual trips to Great Britain as possible. Like Macdonald, Tillinghast was impressed with the Redan hole at North Berwick. Combined, the two produced the two finest versions of it in the United States. This one is set over land that begs for it. More so than with other Redans, the player pays a significant price for missing the green to the right as this green is pitched severely to the back-left corner. The only shame is that the rear of the green has subsided to such a degree over the years that there are only two real hole locations: front and back-center. While tinkering with one of the great holes in American golf would make many nervous, clubs should be able to recognize a hole in need of a little help. Tillinghast's own take on Redans was that 'some of the most interesting holes are those where the best line of the flag is not direct.' He delivered on this point at the 2^nd hole.

The Redan 2nd.

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