New York State of Mind at Pound Ridge Golf Club

Only Pete Dye Design in the State Beckons Golfers

By Brian Weis

Opened in 2008 to critical acclaim, Pound Ridge is located in tony Westchester County, roughly an hour from Manhattan and just minutes from the financial and business hubs of Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk, Conn.

Crafted by Dye, his son Perry (of Dye Designs) and long-time construction manager/lead shaper Michael Langkau, Pound Ridge is a wall-to-wall bentgrass facility, hewn from 172 acres of magnificent cliffs, streams and wooded hills. In a region populated by famous private clubs, Pound Ridge stands out as a beacon for high-end daily fee play.

Ken Wang - M.I.T. and Harvard alum, and brother of famed fashion designer Vera - owns the golf club and has made it his labor of love. Wang is the president of U.S. Summit, a global marketing and distribution company his father helped found in 1946. U.S. Summit has been very active in Asia over the years, as it owns the Pureen brand of baby products.

Wang played golf all over the world, but developed a deep affinity and appreciation for Pete Dye courses. He cites the famed Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass as one of his favorites and the source of an on-course epiphany. He compares a round at the storied PGA TOUR venue to "standing in the middle of a giant math problem conjured up by a master of geometry."

At Pound Ridge, the numbers add up to an unforgettable experience that should be a part of any globetrotting golfer's must-play list.

Dramatic rock formations and boulders were left onsite by the Dye team, creating one of the most visually stunning settings for golf in the United States. More than 14,000-linear-feet of rock walls frame a strikingly natural property graced with thousands of trees, subtle wetlands and (in strategic locations) severely-sloped hills.

Contoured fairways wind through hardwood forests and fescue mounds, leading to open meadows crowned by picturesque green complexes. The par-72, 7,165-yard layout features some of the highest points in the region, with a number of tee boxes offering expansive vistas of the surrounding countryside.

Notable holes include: the par-5, 13th, home to "Pete's Rock," a giant boulder that rests in the middle of the fairway; and the par-3 15th hole, dubbed "Headstone," which is flanked on the right by a large rock outcropping that protrudes into the elongated, 9,000-square-foot green.

Pound Ridge houses a practice range, short game area and putting green. All guests receive a complimentary yardage book, bottled water and range balls. Carts are now equipped with GPS for obtaining dead-aim-accurate yardages from any position, or ordering food at the turn.

Log onto www.poundridgegolf.com for more information about the golf course, rates, and to view a new drone flyover of the entire layout.

Revised: 05/21/2015 - Article Viewed 35,364 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.