Centennial is located upstate New York, about 90 minutes from the City, near the town of Carmel. It’s a gorgeous location of rolling hills, woods and of course the lake. I had the pleasure of visiting the Club as part of my course rating education, led by the venerable Gene Donovan - a fixture with the MGA and a font of knowledge about the game and its play in the New York area.
Centennial Golf Club
185 John Simpson Rd.
Carmel, NY 10512
This is a link to the Club’s website: https://centennialgolf.com/centennial_overview/
The Club has three 9 hole courses, designed by Larry Nelson:
Nelson is quoted on the Club’s website: Centennial Golf Club in Carmel, N.Y, located where Westchester, Putnam and Fairfield Counties meet, features a 27-hole championship course designed by Larry Nelson, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and winner of the U.S. Open and two PGA Championships. While designing more than a dozen courses worldwide, Nelson has called the 340-acre layout at Centennial with its rolling hills, ponds, natural rock outcroppings and breathtaking views, "the most naturally suited to golf" he has ever seen. Between the three nine-hole courses, Meadows, Lakes and Fairways, golfers enjoy a totally distinct and memorable experience. Centennial's large multiple tees are positioned so any combination of the three nines can be accommodating to the beginner or a test of more than 7,100 yards for the most accomplished player.
The Club is another example of the many really fantastic golf courses in the New York area. Maybe because of the location it’s set up for pay to play but the course was in really good condition. I learned a little more about the rather complex processes of rating on the 9 holes of The Meadows. Not sure why it’s so named as it’s mostly carved into the hillsides. This is one tough course for the bogey golfer! The course had not been rated for 13 years and it will be fun to determine if there are any substantial changes as a result of the visit by the MGA. These guys are great. They are all volunteers who love golf, and they play a key role in making sure that courses are rated as fairly and with similar characteristics as possible. I hope next time I visit its both a lot cooler- it was 90 plus all day - and also I get a chance to play. Some of the holes were just really hard! Hole 1 on Meadows is a very tough par 5 and things did not appear to get much easier with huge penalties for any kind of wayward shots.
Here’s a few pics I took that might indicate some of the severity of the course.
