Home on the Range

July 1 1998 by John Steinbreder


Ed Vick supposes that chief executive officers should have “important” golf holes as their favorites, and they should come from “important” courses such as Merion, Shinnecock, Winged Foot or Pinehurst. “I’ve played a lot of them,” says the head of Young & Rubicam Advertising, “and I’ve liked them all. But my favorite is still the sixth at Sedgewood.” Sedgewood? “Never heard of it?” Vick asks. “Don’t worry, not many people have.”

Sedgewood is, in Vick’s words, a ramshackle club located about 90 miles north of New York City in the Putnam County town of Carmel. “There are about 75 members, and you don’t have to pass muster at 45 cocktail parties to get in,” he says. “If the pro likes you, he takes your annual membership dues, and it’s done. It’s one of those places you play on your way up, kind of an anti-Hamptons club with no pro shop or tee times. And it’s all the more fun for it.”

The sixth at Sedgewood is a par-three that measures 239 yards from the back tees and 193 yards from the regulars. “What makes it really special is that the hole is pretty much straight downhill,” explains Vick, who is an 18 handicap and has only recently begun playing again now that his nine-year-old son Charlie is picking up the game. “So on a still day, it’s a wedge. But into a big wind, it takes a five iron for me. Hit the club right to a very small green, and it’s an easy birdie. But the slightest error, either in judgment or swing, and it’s at least a four, especially with that tangle of oaks, maples, forsythia and mountain laurel growing along the left side of the hole and around the back of the green. And the feeling of watching that little ball from the top of that hill sail into space and then plunge straight down to the pin and settle two feet from the hole, well, it’s a real high.”

Vick also likes number six because it is built in such a scenic spot. “The views from the tee are spectacular,” he says. “You’re up high, and on a clear day you can see New York City and feel the wind. It’s like being in the woods of New Hampshire, yet you are so close to Manhattan. It really is hard to beat.”

ED VICK, CEO

YOUNG & RUBICAN ADVERTISING

Sedgewood Club

Location: Carmel New York

Hole: 6th, par three,239 yards from the championship tees.

Hole- Description: Almost straight downhill, with an elevated tee sitting some 200 feet above the tee. Woods line the left of the hole and fill the area in back of the green while the right side is heavy rough. The only bail out is a landing area short of the green.

Course Architect: William H. Tucker

Club description:Founded in 1928, Sedgewood is described as a very laidback place that doesn’t get a lot of play. One member says it exists in “a time wrap.”

John Steinbreder is a regular contributor to Golf Digest and Golf World magazines and is author of five books, including Golf Courses of the U.S. Open.