Course 131: Kernwood CC
Salem, Mass.
Played: August 21, 2024
Yardage: 6,456/5,069
Tier: Farm to Table
Rating: 3
Rarely have I felt like a nine-hole course has the scale and scope of a championship course. Typically they feel smaller, but WGC feels like a championship course. Even standing on the first tee, the landscape, bunkering, and green complexes are all striking.
Over the course of the round, players will have to hit several different types of shots with nearly every club in the bag. The tee boxes are mixed, so the second time around doesn’t feel monotonous as lengths and angles change.
While the land isn’t severe, there is enough elevation change to keep things interesting. The only blind shot comes on the par-4 5th, where players hit over a deep, ragged bunker that would be disastrous to escape from.
The greens have a pretty explicit requirement: stay below the hole at all costs.
Ross picked some tough sites for his putting surfaces. The majority of the greens either have subtle false fronts where balls just trickle off the front, like the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th. Or they have steep slopes that can send a ball rolling 20-40 yards away from the green. The par-3 2nd is the only hole with bunkers guarding the front of the green. The interior contours of the greens are also challenging and require a deft touch if you’re on the wrong side of a hole.
The standout hole for me was the 6th. It asks for an accurate tee shot to avoid the bunkering and mounding on the right side. The second shot opens up for players hitting from the left side of the fairway.
I also loved the par-3 second hole, mainly for the stark contrast to every other approach on the course. The green also looks very different from the tee once you step foot on it.
If I had one nit to pick about WGC it would be the extreme false fronts on holes 1, 7, and 9. For one-third of the course to have incredibly penal slopes feels a little draining especially when all the greens call for balls to stay below the pin.
I was smitten with WGC and its wonderful simplicity. A place I could play every day.
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