Designer: Pete Dye/Perry Dye (2008)
Location: Pound Ridge, New York
History: Pound Ridge is the vision of Kenneth Wang, brother of Vera Wang, who sought to build an upscale public course on land that was once a run-down 9-holer. He hired Pete Dye and his son Perry for the job and the course finally opened in 2008 after nearly a decade of legal and environmental obstacles. Pound Ridge is considered one of the best public courses in the area and currently holds the following accolades:
- #58 Best Course in New York – Golf Digest (2025)
- #52 Best Course in New York – Top100golfcourses.com (2024)
- #11 Best Public Course in New York – Golfweek (2026)
Conditions: 8/10, While the greens were a bit on the slower side when I played, Pound Ridge presents nicely with lush fairways and thick rough.
Value: 3/10, Pound Ridge is an expensive round, with rates ranging from from $175 on weekdays to $265 on weekend mornings. It is a nice course but overpriced.
Scorecard:
Tee Par Yardage Rating Slope
Black 72 7165 75.9 148
Oak 72 6773 74.2 144
Granite 72 6261 71.7 138
Sand 72 5683 68.3 132
Pine 72 5151 70.1 129
Hole Descriptions: Westchester County is one of the best and deepest golf counties in America, but almost all of the courses worth playing are private clubs. On the public side, the only course really worth mentioning is Pound Ridge. Cut through thick forest on rugged, rocky terrain along the Connecticut border, this Pete Dye design opened in 2008 and is one of the more interesting public courses in the immediate New York City area. The course is an unmistakeable Dye design, with a visually intimidating layout full of mounding, trademark bunkers, and hazards galore.
How good is Pound Ridge and how does it stack up to the private courses in Westchester? Well, the course’s website mentions Whistling Straits, TPC Sawgrass, and the Ocean Course as comparable Dye designs but that is not even remotely close to true. And if we’re talking about Westchester County as a whole, there are probably 15 private courses I’d rather play than Pound Ridge. While there are some good holes here, it is not one of Pete Dye’s better courses because the land simply doesn’t allow for it. Although the course sits on 172 acres, it is extremely challenging terrain and I think Dye was a bit limited in what he could with the routing. The net result is a course that feels unnecessarily cramped and tight, with ten of the eighteen holes running parallel to each other separated by mounding and forest. The other issue I have with Pound Ridge is playability, as this is one of the most challenging courses you’ll ever play. While it may not be as long or notorious as Bethpage Black, Pound Ridge may in fact be the more difficult test with much tighter driving corridors, more hazards, and a very demanding terrain with small greens. At just 6700 yards, the course plays to a fearsome 144 slope and the average public golfer will likely struggle with all the forced carries, hazards, and visual challenges. There’s something endearing about getting beat up at Bethpage as a rite of passage, but I don’t really know how fun Pound Ridge is. With those grievances aside, this is certainly an interesting course and one with a number of unique holes you won’t find elsewhere. While I wouldn’t play here frequently due to the price and difficulty, it is worth a visit at least once if you are a good player and don’t have private access.
Pound Ridge opens with a 415 yard straightaway par 4 sandwiched between the 2nd and 18th holes. While this fairway is initially pretty generous, it tightens around 240 yards with a deep potbunker and mounds down the right and trees down the left. This is a pretty approach, running slightly downhill towards a diagonal green that mostly slopes left-to-right. A giant moat bunker wraps around right and behind this green and a pond sits just long of the bunker in the back.
While the opener is no breeze (I made triple), the brutal number 1 handicap 2nd ups the ante and introduces you to the difficult test that is Pound Ridge. At 451 yards, this lengthy par 4 runs parallel to the 1st and features an intimidating teeshot. With a forced carry of 110 yards needed to cover a pond, this semi-blind teeshot must also navigate a narrower fairway lined by significant mounding and bunkers down either side. There’s lot of danger on this teeshot, but the approach is arguably more challenging, as a large pond hugs the right side of a very narrow green. Those out of position looking to lay-up will also need to contend with the pond, which lines the final 110 yards of a very tight fairway as well.
The 3rd hole turns back around and again runs parallel and straight along the edge of the property as a 398 yard par 4. One of many holes at Pound Ridge to feature a forced carry, this hole requires an immediate 205 yard carry to cover a pond, making this one of the most intimidating teeshots in New York. Further compounding the challenge, OB and trees line the left side while mounding continues down both sides with a giant complex of seven bunkers down the right around 275 yards. This complex creates an awkward and sometimes blind approach into a small, tiered, back-to-front sloped green defended by a potbunker short left and tight lies left and long.
The par threes at Pound Ridge are a strong set beginning with the 161 yard 4th. This shorter hole sits in the corner of the property and features a carry over large bunkers to a long, skinny green. Tiny bunkers defend the green on either side, but the worst miss is to the right, where another water hazard lurks.
At 309 yards, the 5th hole is the course’s shortest par 4 and provides a nice breather after such a difficult start. This is one of my favorite holes on the course and runs along the edge of the property as a slight dogleg left. The golfer is given options here, as this green is reachable for the longest hitters with a high draw over the trees that run down the left the entire way. The smarter play is a lay-up, but even this comes with some risk, as a pond runs down the right for the first 220 yards and potbunkers sit in the middle of the fairway at 200 and 230 yards. At about 260 yards, the fairway becomes extremely narrow with another giant mound of bunkers down the right and multiple bunkers down the left. This hole contains eighteen small bunkers, with the last lining the left side of a diagonal, back-to-front sloped green. Given the way the green is oriented and how narrow it is, you’ll want to be on the right side of the fairway for a better angle.
The 6th is another very nice hole as an 189 yard par 3 playing severely downhill. This putting surface is again long and quite narrow, with a potbunker short right and steep, tight lies right.
The 7th hole is the first par 5 on the course at 501 yards and sits in the southwestern corner of the property. Featuring an immediate 145 yard carry over a hazard on the teeshot, this narrow fairway is carved through the forest with a large mound of rough down the left. The fairway remains narrow and tree-lined and plays uphill for the second half of the hole. This green is tucked into the back right corner, with bunkers left, short, and long right.
The 8th hole is another challenging par 4 at 400 yards that begins with an 130 yard forced carry over a crossbunker just short of the fairway. This fairway is wide but quite undulating, with long bunkers on either side around 270 yards, thick forest down the right, and steep mounding on the left. This flatter green remains hidden and down the hill on the left until you reach the plateau in the fairway.
At 548 yards, the 9th is the longest hole at Pound Ridge and the start of a stretch that feels very tight and claustrophobic at times. This par 5 begins with an intimidating teeshot requiring a 225 forced carry just to reach an undulating fairway that turns left. Thick forest runs down the left side on the teeshot, while mounds of rough line the right and leave a very awkward lie. The fairway narrows and begins to move uphill on your second shot, with a very tight window to thread your second shot between trees down either side. While this hole is bunkerless, the approach is no breeze either, continuing uphill towards an elevated, severely back-to-front sloped green lined by steep slopes of rough short and left. This par 5 is borderline unreachable in two and is in my opinion far too penal for most golfers.
The back 9 begins with a shorter par 4 at 378 yards, but this hole again feels too tight and somewhat forced upon the land unnaturally. Playing from an elevated teebox, this teeshot runs downhill over rocks and a hazard to a very narrow fairway lined by thick forest down the left. At only about 200 yards, the fairway bends slightly to the left and narrows even further with imposing tall mounds and three bunkers down the right. An ideal teeshot cuts the corner and leaves a downhill approach into a flatter, bunkerless green tucked in the left corner.
The 11th is a more traditional hole and a nice par 3 at 198 yards. Running slightly downhill with another brief forced carry, this is a pretty one-shotter featuring a narrow, peanut-shaped green lined by different layers of bunkers short and long.
Running in the same north-south line as nine other holes on the course, the 12th hole borders the 10th and is another hole that feels entirely cramped and forced upon the land. This par 4 spans 384 yards but half of this comes from an immediate 190 yard forced carry just to reach the fairway. The fairway itself is again on the narrow side, with a 30-yard long crossbunker down the left and mounds and trees down the right. Once successfully in the fairway, the hole turns slightly left and remains quite narrow, with an elevated, flatter green at the end lined by a deep left bunker.
At 466 yards, the 13th is Pound Ridge’s shortest and easiest par 5 and one of the more memorable holes on the course. Playing along the edge of the property, this hole plays straightaway and narrow the entire way, with thick forest down either side and boulders down the right. This teeshot is partially obscured by a massive boulder that sits directly in front of the teebox and makes this teeshot that much more intimidating. With a good teeshot, this green is easily reachable, but doing so is risky, as the green is very narrow and lined by thick forest down the left with a grassbunker short left. There’s a little room to miss to the right, and the land (and putting surface) slope right-to-left.
The 14th hole is the 6 handicap but on many courses would be the most difficult hole as a dogleg left 401 yard par 4. This hole features another significant forced carry on the teeshot, with a drive of at least 180 yards required to reach a fairway that turns immediately left and is lined by mounds of thick rough on either side. Once in the fairway, you’ll face a lengthy, semi-blind, uphill approach into a large, back-to-front sloped green.
The 15th is Pound Ridge’s signature hole and shortest par 3 at 151 yards. Nicknamed “Headstone” after the large rocky outcropping just long of the green, this one-shotter features a forced carry over a hazard the entire way to a narrow, diagonal green wedged between the hazard and the boulder. Pin position matters a ton on this hole, as back left pins require a much longer approach over the hazard to a tiny sliver of green. I like this hole and find it unique, but I don’t think it is as good as most people claim it to be.
At 523 yards, the 16th hole runs alongside the 9th and honestly plays as a very similar uphill dogleg left par 5. Beginning with an 170 yard uphill forced carry over a hazard, this hole features a narrow, tree-lined fairway that continues uphill and slightly to the left. The fairway widens in the lay-up area, but numerous bunkers run down the left and a bunker sits unnecessarily in the center of the fairway about 120 yards short of the green, creating somewhat of a split fairway. The defining feature of this hole is a tall tree just short left of the green, which forces you to stay down the right for a lay-up to avoid being blocked out. While the idea behind this tree is valid, it is in my opinion too penal on a hole of this length playing uphill and probably would be best cut down. This green is elevated, shallow, and slopes back-to-front, with numerous deep bunkers and mounding surrounding it.
By the time most golfers reach the 17th hole, I imagine they won’t have many ProV1s left, but two of the most demanding holes await on the closing stretch. The penultimate hole is a 446 yard par 4 that features an extremely awkward downhill teeshot to a narrow fairway that bends slightly to the right. The angle from this back teebox is simply terrible and this hole could be improved if the teebox were moved into the pond to the left or some trees were cut down the right side of the hole. With mounding continuing down both sides, this approach plays over a centerline bunker and split fairway towards an elevated green containing a right swale.
Pound Ridge closes with its longest par 4 at 454 yards playing even longer uphill. In keeping with the courses’s mantra, this teeshot is extremely challenging, with a 200 yard carry required to find a narrow fairway lined by numerous bunkers down the left. This approach is also demanding, likely requiring a longer club into a narrow right-to-left sloped green that hugs a pond down the left. Bunkers line the green short and long, and the only “safe” miss is a bailout right to a swale of fairway.
General Comments: Pound Ridge is a public course, but certainly has an upscale, private feel with a large complimentary driving range and short game area. The hilly course is not walkable and carts are included in your greens fee. Pace of play was about average when I played.
Verdict: Although the best public course in Westchester Country (almost by default), Pound Ridge is admittedly not one of Pete Dye’s better courses with a cramped, very penal layout set on rugged terrain. There are some good holes here and it is one of most unique public courses in the immediate NYC area, but I would only recommend this course to very skilled golfers who want a tough test and don’t mind the pricetag.