Best golf courses near Rochester, NY

Back in 1979, George Fazio and nephew Tom were roundly criticized by Donald Ross fans for removing a classic Ross par-4 on Oak Hill East and replacing it with two new holes, including the bowl-shaped par-3 sixth, which would later become the scene of four aces in two hours during the second round of the 1989 U.S. Open. They also built a pond on another par-3 and relocated the green on the par-4 18th. The club hired golf architect Andrew Green to remodel those holes to bring them more in line with Donald Ross’ original style. In addition to putting the final touches (at least for now) on a significant tree removal program, Green re-established Ross' original par-4 hole, then the fifth and now playing as the sixth (pictured here). Reconstruction occurred after the 2019 Senior PGA Championship on the East Course and was completed in May 2020. Oak Hill's East Course hosted the 2023 PGA Championship, won by Brooks Koepka.

At a certain point in their past, specifically the early 1950s, the roads of Oak Hill’s two courses began to diverge. The East, in anticipation of the 1956 U.S. Open, underwent a major remodel by Robert Trent Jones that put it on the “championship course” track, a freeway it continues to travel today in which all decisions about the design are considered in the context of important national tournaments. The West—though it too has been modified over the years—was never rebuilt with the intention of challenging the game’s best players and has remained the more casual walk in the park.Fundamentally, both designs have much in common, no surprise since Donald Ross designed them to play as one, anticipating Oak Hill members would utilize different combinations of holes, crossing from one course to the other in various loops. Despite their different architectural journeys, the West has, in design jargon, great bones, and from the motocross rolls of the par 5 sixth to the stop-and-drop fairway at the par 4 ninth to the Himalayas up and over of the par 4 13th, it possesses some of the property’s most interesting topography.What’s missing is the same kind of investment that the East has always received. Though the routing is just as strong (if not stronger), the West has typically seemed underdeveloped and ill-defined, though the latent energy the holes possess is tangible. A touch-up by Andrew Green, who revamped the East prior to the 2019 Senior PGA and 2023 PGA Championships, or some other historically minded architect, could put the West on a new road that would make the only difference between the two the rich tournament history that’s always elevated one over the other.

The Country Club of Rochester was founded in 1895, and Donald Ross’ design opened in 1913. The club commissioned Robert Trent Jones to renovate the course in 1960 before following with Gil Hanse in 2004, who was tasked with marrying elements of Jones’ renovation with the original Ross design and routing. The course now features tight tree-lined fairways with dramatic elevation changes that create blind shots and dramatic approaches. With the course measuring just under 7,000 yards, its main defenses are small and firm greens with extensive slopes and penal runoff areas. The highlight at Country Club of Rochester is the difficult middle stretch with two challenging par 4s to end the front nine, as well as the long par-5 10th and tricky par-3 11th to begin the back.

Monroe Golf Club premiered in 1924 with a spectacular Donald Ross design routed as two distinct nines with the front nine facing north-south and the back east-west. The course’s adventurous layout features gently sloping fairways that follow the land’s natural contours, forcing creativity and attention in every shot, as apparently open driving areas are protected by cross bunkers and tall fescue and large sloped greens encourage accurate approaches from pinpoint angles. The course has undergone renovations by famed architects over the years, including work on the fairway undulations by Brian Silva in the 1980s and bunker renovations from Gil Hanse in 2008. Like many other classic courses of this era, the club is also in the process of removing hundreds of trees with the interest of returning the course to its original Ross character.

Situated just outside Rochester, Ravenwood is a challenging public course with forgiving fairways but small, tricky greens. The course, which can tip out at over 7,000 yards, has quite a bit of elevation change and can be a strenuous walk.