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's 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 under-developed 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.