#71 - Quaker Ridge - Tillie’s Treasure

If you have any suggestions for Quaker Ridge Golf Club, you can leave them in the conveniently placed suggestion box, located 20 feet above the snack bar at the turn. Our only suggestion, if you buy a house alongside a golf course, you should be prepared for a few balls to land in your yard, but more on that in a bit.

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We started the day early, crossing the George Washington Bridge as the sun began to peak above the horizon to the east. A quick stop to pick up Dara, our sister and newly appointed golf photographer,a short drive north, and we entered through the gates of Quaker Ridge. After a quick warm-up on the temporary driving range (aka hole #17) we made our way over to the first hole. With a pair of solid drives, we began the 2nd round on The Quest for 100.

Hole #1 - Par 5 - 510 Yards

This par 5 is a true 3 shotter due to the massive bunker in the middle of the fairway that comes into play on the second shot.

Hole #1 - 3rd Shot

Joe with a short approach into the well protected green. The massive sand trap is visible off to the left.

Hole #1 - 4th shot

My approach came up just short, leaving me with an awkward lie. I was able to get up and down for par.

Hole #1 - 4th shot

Joe ended up left of the pin, rolling down the ridge to the lower tier. He hit a good lag putt, leading to a long 2 putt for par.

Hole #2 requires specially made Quaker Ridge golf balls, the result of a litigious quarrel between the club and a neighbor. The club was originally founded by German Jewish immigrants in 1916. Later, Russian Jewish immigrants began to settle in the area, including one who bought up the land running parallel to the 2nd hole. The relations between German and Russian Jews was not great, so when the neighbor attempted to join the club, he was denied multiple times. The last time, he ensured that the club would never be able to purchase the land he owned. Fast forward to the present, where a new homeowner moved into a house down the right side of the fairway. As golf balls flew into the yard, he sued Quaker Ridge claiming that the errant golf shots were lowering the value of his home. The club moved a massive oak tree from behind the tee box to the right rough to knock down some of the balls. Yet the neighbor still claimed dozens of balls were coming into his yard weekly. The club knew its golfers were not THAT bad, and called into question the validity of that testimony. Since then, the club provides specially made golf balls with the Quaker Ridge logo, and has an accountant track each ball that is hit off the tee. Miraculously, the number of golf balls going into the neighbor’s yard have seen a steep decrease, which could just be a remarkable coincidence.

Specially made balls for hole #2

Hole #2 - Par 4 - 405 Yards

Approach on #2

I missed this putt for par, Joe would go on to make his

Needless to say, for a golfer who’s most frequent miss is losing it to the right, hearing this story really dials up the pressure for a good tee shot. I responded with a fairway hit but made a 3-putt bogey. Joe made a routine par.

The next few holes continue to wrap around the exterior of the property, so any shot that strays to the right is flirting with OB. After that, the back 9 twists around the middle of the property.

Hole #3 - Par 4 - 424 Yards

Approach on 3

Green protected on the left and right

Hole #4 - Par 4 - 408 Yards

The two-tiered fairway is a remnant of the original hole, which was a dogleg left. Now it’s an easy carry over the rough off the tee.

Greenside bunker #4

Missing another par putt

With #5 green looming in the background. Joe made another par to stay at even

Hole #5 - Par 3 - 151 Yards

Hole 5 is the first par 3, and it is a beautiful two-tiered green sloping from back to front, protected by bunkers on both sides and the back. Joe knocked a solid shot onto the green, but short of the upper tier where the pin was. I left my approach out to the right, finding the bunker.

Good sand shot, bad putt

Another bogey for me

Joe 2-putts for his 5th consecutive par.

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Holes #6 and #7 are likely the most difficult and memorable pair of holes at Quaker Ridge. Both of these par 4’s incorporates risk-reward perfectly. The 6th requires an accurate tee shot to a narrow fairway sloping right-to-left toward a creek running down the left side. The right side is protected by a fairway bunker. The next shot is a long, uphill iron. If you lay up off the tee to a safer landing area, the second set of fairway bunkers will come into play on your 2nd shot.

Hole #6 - Par 4 - 434 Yards

Joe and I both drove it down the left hand side, mine settled in the fairway, his just tipped into the rough, threatening the creek slightly.

My approach tipped over into the right hand rough just greenside and I made bogey. Joe’s 5-iron attacked the green, for a hard-earned 2-putt par.

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Hole #7 - Par 4 - 416 Yards

The 7th hole is a dogleg right. Your tee shot must be accurate. Driver brings the creek cutting across the fairway into play. Joe and I opted to hit woods, hitting through the fairway and into the left side rough, within 10 feet of each other. This brings the creek, and the large fairway bunker taking up 3/4 of the fairway into play if we didn’t get out cleanly. Meanwhile, the elevated green loomed ahead with with a back-right pin placement well protected by bunkers.

We laid up into the fairway, but neither of us could get up and down, settling for bogeys. In my mind, hole #7 at Quaker ridge is definitely a candidate to make my “Dream 18”

Hole #8 - Par 4 - 335 Yards

This short par 4 features a large patch of rough right in the landing area. Joe took it up the left side, and I put it right onto the patch making my next shot very tricky.

I couldn’t trust myself to set up aimed OB, so naturally this shot hooked left of the green. Another bogey for me.

Joe put his short approach shot over the green but got up and down to save par.

Hole #9 - Par 3 - 143 Yards

The short par 3 packs more of a challenge than the yardage would indicate. The small, triangular, right-to-left sloping green yields some really fun putts.

Hole 10 - Par 3 - 186 Yards

Adam from the greenside bunker on #10

Joe just misses a birdie putt on #10

Hole #11 - Par 4 - 372

The par 3’s on the back 9 are longer than on the front, meaning the par 4’s are shorter, but #11 really stands out. You must hit your drive to the right side of the fairway, otherwise you are in jail behind the tree jutting out on the left side.

Naturally, Joe and I both hit it down the left side, leaving an obstructed approach shot

Maybe my best shot of the day, I split the gap in the tree, cleared the creek running in front of the green, and put enough spin on the ball to stop it from rolling into the creek as it curled around the right side. This shot set up a par, and put my round finally on track.

Joe found the creek short of the green for a careless double bogey

Hole #12 - Par 4 - 403 Yards

Joe had an incredible par save after driving the ball into the tongue of the bunker down the right side of the fairway.

Could you make a par from here?

Buried

Hole #13 - Par 3 - 209 Yards

Joe and I put our tee shots on the green, but I took the greenie and a par while Joe’s 3-putt left him with a bogey. The par 5, 14th in the background.

Due to a glitch with the camera, the remaining pictures are from the Quaker Ridge website.

For me, the most memorable hole of the round was the par 5, 14th hole (and not just because it was my only birdie of the day). A classic A.W. Tillinghast hole, this “Sahara” is similar to the more famous 4th hole on Bethpage Black. In addition to being an interesting design, the 14th hole is the most visually striking hole on the course. At Quaker, the drive plays as a bit of a dogleg left, with extensive bunkering down the left side forcing you to choose how much of the corner to cut off. The second shot must carry the cross bunkers. If you play the first 2 shots well, you have a wedge into a severely undulating green meaning that a par must still be earned.

Here is my shot sequence for the hole:

1. Driver into the left side rough, short of the bunkers

2. 5 wood pure, over the cross bunkers to the middle of the fairway

3. Wedge to the front of the green for a front-right pin placement

4. Aim 10 feet left of the hole and curl in a 20-footer for birdie (OK, the birdie has a little bit to do with it being so memorable)

Hole #15 - Par 4 - 375 Yards

After a pair of wayward layups short of the creek, Joe made bogey while I converted for par.

Hole 16 - Par 4 - 414 Yards

Hole #17 - Par 4 - 344 Yards

Hole #18 - Par 4 - 410 Yards

Joe and I finished the round with matching 78’s. Reflecting on the round, the thing that stands out about Quaker Ridge is the variety of the par 4’s throughout the course. Each shot requires thought and execution, and despite having 12 of them on the course, each one is fresh and memorable. Ben Crenshaw said of Quaker Ridge, “It is truly a Tillinghast gem. I am sure the membership is very proud of their course.” We couldn’t agree more!