The inventive 9-hole Inness 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 points west — is having something of an identity crisis. But only in name.

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

What’s important to know is that this no man’s land feels a lot like the Catskills. It’s quite a distance from New York City, about 100 miles north, and it feels even further awayfull of mountains, trees, streams and charming small towns interspersed with farms.

It’s also something of a secret golf haven. Dozens of courses, many of which date back a hundred years, spoil the locals, at least in the warmer months.

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

For those who don’t know, Tad King and Rob Collins King-Collins design (now King Collins Dormer Golf Couse Design) are a hot golf architecture partnership responsible for loved ones, imagination Sweetens Covea nine hole in Tennessee. Their work at Inness, completed in 2019, has been affectionately referred to as “Sweetens’ back9”. And I can tell you it lives up to that moniker.

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It even surpasses Sweetens in one major way: accessibility.

Just a two-hour drive from New York City, Inness is within easy 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: Course

From the parking lot just down the road from the resort, you get a great first look at the course, with its tangled, interlocking fairways and open layout. If you’re arriving on a late autumn afternoon, as I did, the long shadows exaggerate the effect, adding to the magical feel.

Although not as understated as the shack that welcomes golfers to Sweetens Cove, the pro shop in Inness is a simple building with a check-in desk, a few merchandise, head Jeff Massa’s office, bathrooms and a cooler with canned beverage options. Among these drinks: Lager Inness itself, brewed in the neighbors Arrowood Farms. (In addition to making great beers, Arrowood is a fantastic place to check out after a round, offering food and freshly brewed beer in a beautiful farmhouse setting where you can sit by the fire, take in live concerts, or watch the chickens roost in the large chicken coop nearby).

For my first foray into Inness, I took advantage of the quiet rules, many of which can also be found in Sweetens. With no dress code, I ditched the collared shirt and slipped into a hoodie.

I also had my wife and our dog join me for my round, which we completed in less than an hour and a half. (Full disclosure: My wife works in the events department at Innessa job that precipitated our move from Brooklyn last year).

The first is a stunner that photos can’t do justice. With the fairway located right next to the clubhouse, the fairway unfolds before you, sliding its way through a large landing area—protected on the left side by one of the many large, deep, rough bunkers that dot the course—then uphill to a large, lush green.

I’ve been working hard on my driving game – my lifelong weakness – over the last couple of months. So my experience certainly increased when I hit my first four drives, holes 1, 2, 4 and 6.

At 2, I felt off my best drive of the day, with the ball landing just short of the green on the short, downhill par-4. But you don’t need a perfect car on 2. Take a left and you’ll have an open road from third street. Wait just right and you’ll find yourself back on the first path, with only a few trees blocking your path to the putting surface.

And about the green one. . . it’s massive, one of the course’s two par greens, this joining the 9th AND the practice of putting green. In total, it covers a large area of ​​45,000 square meters.

Another common green awaits at 3, but double green is a more accurate term. This large, rolling green, which the 6th also calls home, is actually two large greens connected by a deep wall cut the length of the putting. With the green heavily angled from back to front, if you’re not careful you can put it all the way near the 6th pin, or remove the green entirely.

It’s one of the many distinctive touches that connect Inness with King-Collins’ acclaimed work on Sweetens Cove. Forming these hero-sized greens is another.

Each contains dents and hollows, backstops and voids. The result is endless opportunity with every chip, from driving one to the hole on an indirect route, or, on the other hand, helplessly watching your ball roll 40 yards off the green.

To help visualize the effect, I sent my putt 2 holes to the right and 10 feet past the hole and watched as it backtracked to a stop and turned back to within five feet of the cup (I burned the edge and landed on par).

The greens had scared me before I went there. But they are not as impossible as they seem at first. While each of these features large elevation changes, the cups are usually cut on plateaus, so if you can get it relatively close, you’ll usually have an easy shot.

Another feature that Inness shares with Sweetens is its freeways. They sit all over the place, allowing the balls to stretch (and up, down and around). There is practically nothing rough, giving everyone a chance even if they make their mistake.

That’s not to say trouble doesn’t lurk across Inness’ nine holes.

Both long par-5s feature tight hitting areas, for the second shot on the 4th and the second shot on the 9th, protected by native areas and creeks lined with tall grass and fescue.

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

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

The par-4 7th hole may be the most difficult on the course, but the rolling par-4 8th, which plays well under 300 yards from most tees, offers a chance to make a score and get a breather before the finisher. At 9, I was punished for the decision to hit driver again, making the long par-5 even closer.

One aspect of Inness kept my spirits high: the incredible views—yes, the peak of Mount Mohonk in the distance, but also the course itself.

Everywhere you walk, you’ll find views of gorgeous, rolling terrain.

And if these views leave you wanting more as you putt the big green that 9 divides by 2, you can just go again. Inness hosts a second set of holes on each green with different colored flags for your second nine. But because of the innovative design, you can end up playing every hole completely differently the second time around, even if you play 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.

After all, as I left the property after my first round, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d ever had more fun on a golf course in my 37 years.

Inness: Stay and play

Inness is close enough to the main towns in the North East that you can make a day trip to play the course. While you’re there, I highly recommend stopping by the resort’s main property just down the road, where you can enjoy lunch or dinner and drinks at the excellent restaurant atop Inness Hill, with stunning year-round views of the Shawangunk Mountains.

You don’t need to stay at Inness to enjoy the restaurant or the golf course. But if you want to make a proper departure from your trip, the resort features 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, even the dog.