GolfTraxx: A fusion of Golf, GPS, Database, Mapping, and FUN technologies

Hole 1

Hole Name

From The Tee Number Many classic old courses start with a “gentle handshake,” a hole that eases the player into the round.

From The Fairway

On The Green Not so at Brooklawn. A.W. Tillinghast created a demanding 435-yard par four opener, a dogleg left around a large bunker that is a 250-yard carry from the back tee. Facing a classic risk/reward hole, the player who carries the bunker has less than 160 yards home, while the player who plays out to the right might have more than 200 yards to an elevated green flanked by four deep bunkers. In addition

Flyover click here to view flyover

Hole 2

Hole Name

From The Tee

From The Fairway

On The Green The green itself is relatively flat by Tillinghast standards and is one of the largest on the course. But another example of Tillinghast’s defensive tactics is encountered for the first time at number two: a green that runs slightly front to back, making distance control paramount to keep the ball from running through the green. A cross bunker is well short of the green and will catch any poorly s

Hole 3

Hole Name

From The Tee At 379 yards, number three is a par four that—

From The Fairway with the narrow green sitting well above the level of the fairway

On The Green should be receiving well-lofted high irons onto its sharply contoured surface. But the emphasis is on accuracy at three: out of bounds runs the length of the left side and golfers too far right will be coming out of rough and contending with a deep bunker that guards the flank of the fairway. Deep, sand-filled craters guard both left and right sides of the green. The green itself slopes from back

Hole 4

Hole Name

From The Tee The par four fourth confronts the golfer with many challenges.

From The Fairway At 469 yards, it has length. On the left lurks out of bounds. On the right, trees and dense rough. Bunkers guard the green left and right. Behind the green, a steep slope plunges away to a spot 10 feet below the putting surface. From the tee, the landing area is blind, as the fairway begins a gentle downslope 220 yards from the tee and continues its gradual descent all the way to a very severe gre

On The Green

Hole 5

Hole Name

From The Tee From a strenuous four-par, the mood at five shifts dramatically to a downhill par three measuring 195 yards on the card, but playing somewhat shorter.

From The Fairway

On The Green Club selection is the ticket to the fifth green. That selection – correctly made and followed by solid contact – should position the golfer for a reasonable birdie attempt. Although flanked by bunkers, the green is not as elevated as many at Brooklawn – except in the back, where a steep bank falls off to a large, deep bunker and a blind escape shot.

Hole 6

Hole Name

From The Tee The tee shot at the par four sixth plays uphill and needs to be thoughtfully positioned, as the hole swings gradually but increasingly to the left before culminating at a narrow, sloping and very tightly bunkered green.

From The Fairway Drives left or right are treated with equal disdain, as trees await on both sides. Any second shot plays to a green that is slightly uphill from the fairway and a putting surface that has a severe back-to-front slope.

On The Green The entrance pinched by a bunker front left and a large one running the length of the green on the right. A third bunker menaces to the left rear. Historically, some of Brooklawn’s better golfers intentionally left their second shot short of the green and depended on a chip to save par—just to avoid those bunkers.

Hole 7

Hole Name

From The Tee Not until the seventh does the golfer encounter a five-par at Brooklawn, and this one is a big, rambling affair that offers a bit of everything:

From The Fairway dogleg, sand, water, side hill/downhill lies and it’s got 610 yards of real estate on which to present all of its topography. The layout: dogleg right around a stand of trees with a corner that is 300 yards from the tee. Then the fairway begins a long march downward to flatlands. The Rooster River cuts a straight path across the fairway at the bottom, and finally there is

On The Green the green – smallish and rather sand-bound, demanding precise aim and distance control to give the player a birdie putt.

Hole 8

Hole Name

From The Tee After the length of seven, at the 493-yard par five eighth the golfer is beguiled by an innocent looking hole

From The Fairway An avian paradise if ever there was one! The only question is which type: eagle? Surely, birdie. Not so fast. Some will walk away not quite sure why they didn’t score better. The tee shot plays into a sharp upslope which limits distance. The golfer who elects to go for the green with his blind second shot takes the risk of getting beyond the hole or to the right of a tiny, elevated green ringed by

On The Green Players who are out of position left or right are largely left to guessing how their ball will react on the green.

Hole 9

Hole Name

From The Tee The downhill, 396-yard ninth will yield its share of birdies – and extract its share of bogies.

From The Fairway Players should finesse the ball slightly to the left side from a tee situated well above the fairway,

On The Green which is 30 yards wide in the landing zone and guarded by a bunker on the right side and trees on the left. From there it will be a high iron across the Rooster River to a dime-sized, sloping green that is flanked by bunkers. Being one of the smallest greens on the course, the ninth often leaves golfers missing the putting surface short-sided.

Hole 10

Hole Name

From The Tee Only 135 yards separates the golfer from a putt for birdie at ten

From The Fairway

On The Green But the hole is exemplary of Tillinghast’s greenside defenses. From the tee, the golfer is confronted with a narrow target. The green sits above substantial bunkers that flank it left and right. These bunkers are designed to collect shots that err slightly – like those that kick off the side of the green – or, especially on the right, those that waiver substantially off course because of the prese

Hole 11

Hole Name

From The Tee The 525-yard eleventh starts on a bandbox tee snugly fitted between trees, rolls uphill for its first couple hundred yards, crests, adjusts course slightly to port and then takes off downhill on a straight line for the green.

From The Fairway

On The Green The golfers can hammer away on their second shot. But the approach on this par five calls for touch. The green is characterized by an alpine slope that falls away to a bunker left—one of the deepest on the course. The green runs away from golfers bunkered on the right. Given such a sloping surface, putts are often struck allowing for several feet of break, especially when the hole is cut well fron

Hole 12

Hole Name

From The Tee Twelve plays downhill from a tee in the shadow of the clubhouse. It drops away for 300-plus yards until it plunges off a

From The Fairway

On The Green ridge and down a steep slope before finishing on a level approach to the green. Out of bounds left and bunkers left and right frame the landing area and challenge the drive. The putting surface itself is the largest on the course and can result in some very long putts, especially if the flag is in the back part of the green (and certainly the most difficult hole location). There can easily be a tw

Hole 13

Hole Name

From The Tee Thirteen runs parallel to twelve and there the similarity stops.

From The Fairway

On The Green While twelve plays downhill, its neighbor turns around and goes up for 372 yards. While the twelfth green is “puttable,” the one at thirteen is confounds even the most talented flat stick artists. It is a combination of factors that conspires to make thirteen challenging. The entire hole plays uphill at a steady grade, so an uphill second shot is assured. The elevation disguises the exact hole loc

Hole 14

Hole Name

From The Tee

From The Fairway The fairway at fourteen falls away gracefully from an elevated tee – setting up a perfect driving hole: tight enough to demand the golfer’s concentration, but sufficiently open and downhill to invite the kind of long, arcing tee shots that seem to go on forever.

On The Green The landing area is narrowed by a bunker on the right, but Tillinghast believed that the measure of a good drive was an easier second shot, and surely this is true at fourteen. The descending elevation shortens its 416 yards, thus setting up the opportunity to play relatively high iron shots into one of Tillinghast’s less severe greens, but bunkered left and right.

Hole 15

Hole Name

From The Tee Down at the far end of the course, bounded by Stratfield Road behind and a picturesque pond in front, sits the fifteenth tee. The green, elevated relative to the tee, awaits 138 yards away.

From The Fairway

On The Green There’s not a good place to miss the green at fifteen, although some are worse than others. None of the bunkers is a good place to leave the ball, as each bottoms out well below the level of the putting surface, forcing a well-lofted explosion to recover. Behind the green, the terrain runs away. That leaves the front, where many a ball comes to rest, as there is a tendency to underclub on this hol

Hole 16

Hole Name

From The Tee Three hundred thirty-five yards from tee to green is all that sixteen is.

From The Fairway That makes it ideal for a good wedge player—and for a true bomber maybe just a pitch shot. But good short holes usually have the ability to bite back and this one fits that mold. As is consistently the rule at Brooklawn, the greens make the case for the defense. This roller coaster green can generate a few thrills and spills – especially when the hole is cut just behind the false front. From the t

On The Green

Hole 17

Hole Name

From The Tee Back now at the top of the hill and close to the clubhouse, the golfer comes to seventeen, which takes off to the southeast for a slightly downhill 413-yard run to the green.

From The Fairway The fairway sits below the teeing ground, but is level and without the sidehill lies that can be found with such frequency elsewhere at Brooklawn. A large bunker cuts in from the right to pinch the landing area, and another lurks on the left to catch aggressive draw shots.

On The Green The green, which slopes front to back is one of character – combining slickness, fronting mounds and bunkers to mount a formidable defense.

Hole 18

Hole Name

From The Tee Eighteen is a tight-driving par four hole of 407 yards. From a tee set low among trees, the sightline runs straight to Brooklawn’s classic white clubhouse beckoning the golfer home

From The Fairway But there will be work to do before retiring. First there is the tight driving area, with rough and trees to the left and a long bunker and trees to the right. Hitting the fairway is a real plus, as the hole plays slightly uphill and longer than its measured length. Four deep bunkers surround the green right and left.

On The Green The green is sloped from back to front and left to right – necessitating a precise approach but inevitably leaving almost no way to avoid putts with a lot of break. A slight rise in front of the green and the green’s false front ensure that cautious layups are repelled.