This inventive King-Collins 9-holer should be your next golf stop in New York

The area of ​​New York State north of Westchester and south of the Catskill Mountains—from New Paltz to Saugerties and looking west—is experiencing something of an identity crisis. But only in name.

Is it the Catskills? Or the Hudson Valley? It’s a bit of both.

What’s important to know is that this no man’s land looks a lot like the Catskills. It’s far enough from New York City, about 100 miles north, and it feels flat furtherfull of mountains, trees, creeks and charming, sparsely populated towns interspersed with farms.

It’s also something of a secret golfing paradise. Dozens of courses, many of which are a hundred years old, spoil the locals, at least in the warmer months.

But it’s the region’s newest course that’s at the heart of this story, and it should be the focus of your next trip to the area: King-Collins’ inventive nine-hole design at Inness.

For those who don’t know, Tad King and Rob Collins of King-Collins Design (now King Collins Dormer Golf Couse Design) are a popular golf architecture partnership responsible for the beloved, imaginative Sweetens Cove, a nine-holer in Tennessee. Their work at Inness, completed in 2019, is affectionately referred to as ‘Sweetens’ back nine’. And I can tell you that it lives up to the name.

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It even surpasses Sweetens in one important respect: accessibility.

Just a two-hour drive from New York City, Inness is easily within reach of millions of golfers in and around New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and eastern Pennsylvania. And while memberships are available, the course is also open to the public.

Inness: the course

From the parking lot near the resort you get a great first impression of the course, with its rumpled, left-handed fairways and wide-open layout. If you arrive on a late autumn afternoon, as I did, the long shadows exaggerate the effect, adding to the magical feeling.

While not nearly as understated as the hut that welcomes golfers at Sweetens Cove, Inness’s pro shop is a simple building with a check-in desk, some merchandise, head pro Jeff Massa’s office, bathrooms and a refrigerator with canned drinks. Among those drinks: Inness’ own lager, brewed in neighboring Arrowood Farms. (In addition to making great beers, Arrowood is a fantastic place to check out after the round, with food and freshly brewed beer in a beautiful farm setting where you can sit by a fire, attend live concerts or watch chickens parade in the large chicken coop nearby).

For my first foray at Inness, I took advantage of the relaxed rules, many of which can also be found at Sweetens. Since there was no dress code, I left my collared shirt behind and put on a hoodie.

I also brought my wife and our dog along for my tour, which we flew through in less than an hour and a half. (Full disclosure: My wife works in the events department of Innessa job that accelerated our move from Brooklyn last year).

The first is a stunner that pictures can’t do justice. With the tee right next to the clubhouse, the fairway unfolds before you, winding its way through a large landing area – protected on the left by one of the many large, deep and rugged bunkers dotted around the course – then running uphill to a large, heaving green.

I’ve been working hard on my racing game for the past two months – my lifelong weakness. So my experience was definitely positive as I tackled my first four drives, on the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th holes.

At 2 o’clock I drove through the best drive of the day, with my ball landing just short of the green on the short, downhill par-4. But with the 2nd you don’t need a perfect ride. Hook it left and you have a clear route from the 3rd fairway. Cut it clean and you’ll find yourself back on the first fairway, with only a few trees blocking your path to the putting surface.

And about that green. . . it’s huge, one of the course’s two shared greens, this one connecting to the 9th And the practice putting green. In total it covers no less than 45,000 square meters.

Another shared green awaits at 3 o’clock, but double green is a more accurate term. This enormous, rolling putting surface that the 6th calls home is actually two large greens connected by a deep mud pool that has been reduced to putting length. Because the green slopes sharply from back to front, if you are not careful you can put the green all the way down near the 6th pin, or all the way off the green.

It is one of many distinctive details that connect Inness to King-Collins’ celebrated work at Sweetens Cove. The design of these heroic greens is another.

Each has heaving waves and hollows, backstops and drop-offs. The result is endless possibility with every chip, from leading it to the hole on an indirect route, or, on the other hand, watching helplessly as your ball rolls 40 yards off the green.

To help visualize the effect, I sent my pitch 2 putts to the right and 10 feet past the hole, and watched as it turned around on a backstop and arced back within five feet of the cup (I burned the edge and settled for par).

The greens had intimidated me before I got there. But they are not as impossible as they seem at first glance. Although they all have large elevation changes, the cups are usually cut on plateaus, so if you can get them relatively close you will usually have a flat putt.

Another feature that Inness shares with Sweetens are the fairways. They are low cut throughout, allowing balls to roll out (and up, down and around). There are virtually no rough situations, meaning everyone gets a chance, even if they get their drive wrong.

That’s not to say there aren’t problems lurking in the nine holes of Inness.

Both long par-5s have narrow hitting areas, for the second shot on the 4th and the tee shot on the 9th, defended by native areas and creeks lined with long grass and fescue.

The same goes for the idyllic short par-3 5th, where the elevated green, surrounded by deep bunkers, also features tall grass and a small pond to the front and right. It was one of my favorite holes on my first trip there, despite my 8 iron cutting into the drink.

From there you go to the short par-4 6th, with a wide open fairway like the 1st, and back up the hill to the shared green with the 3rd.

The par-4 7th hole may be the toughest on the course, but the drivable par-4 8th, which plays well under 300 yards from most tees, offers a chance to make a score and take a break before the finisher. On my nine, I was punished for the foolish decision to hit the driver again, making the long par-5 closer play even longer.

One aspect of Inness kept my spirits high: the incredible views – yes, of the top of Mount Mohonk in the distance, but also of the trail itself.

Everywhere you walk there are views of the beautiful, tumbling terrain.

And if that view leaves you wanting more while you divide 9 by 2 on the enormous green putt, you can just go around again. Inness cuts a second set of holes in each green with different colored flags for your second nine. But because of the innovative design, you could play each hole completely differently the second time around, even if you play on the same pins.

On my second trip this month, I did just that, playing two loops in less than three hours without rushing a single shot, helped by the fact that I was the only golfer there.

Finally, as I left the property after my first round, I wondered if I had ever had more fun on a golf course in my 37 years.

Inness: Stay and play

Inness is so close to the major cities of the North East that you can take a day trip to play the course. While you’re there, I highly recommend stopping at the main resort resort just down the road, where you can enjoy lunch or dinner and drinks at Inness’s excellent hilltop restaurant, with stunning views of the Shawangunk Mountains all year round.

You don’t have to stay at Inness to enjoy the restaurant or golf course. But if you want to make a good outing of your trip, the resort has 28 well-appointed cabins and 12 hotel rooms.

With three pools, tennis courts, a new spa and endless activities in the area, you can bring the whole family, and even the dog.