For all but one week of the year, the historic East Course at Baltimore Country Club is a lush, well-manicured private sanctuary for members, a tough but fair test that everyone from scratch players to those who shoot in triple digits can appreciate.
But during the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, which begins Thursday in Timonium, the iconic club long known as Five Farms is transformed.
This lovely octogenarian that was laid out by legendary golf architect A.W. Tillinghast in the 1920s and renovated four years ago by Kentucky designer Keith Foster has a bit of a modern-day beast added to its timeless beauty.
"For most members, they like to see it green, they like to see it pretty, they want to leave their office and see emerald green everywhere," said Joe Terry, a former club professional who as a rules official has been setting up courses on the Champions Tour for 14 years.
But when a course is in pristine condition, it's not necessarily in championship condition for the pros, Terry said.
"Deep, green turf is not the most playable turf, as you can see every week on television," he said. "The most challenging conditions are when the ground is firm and the greens have a slight tint to them, are firming up and are very fast."
Aside from the pros playing the now-7,160-yard course from the tips, turning a par-71 course into a par-70, and rerouting the first two holes for members into the last two holes for the pros, the biggest difference can be found in the length of the rough and the firmness of the greens.
The rough at Baltimore Country Club has been grown about an inch in the past month, to between 3 1/2 and 4 inches. There is 3 1/2 inches of rough around most greens, at least an inch higher than members play.
"That adds a lot of challenge to the game of golf," Terry said.
The greens might not look any different to a casual golf fan, but Terry said they are a lot firmer.
"The superintendent does a great job for his members all year long, but I do think he keeps the greens a little softer for member play than for the championship, providing that Mother Nature allows us to dry them out," Terry said.
Course superintendent Tim Kennelly declined to comment about how differently Five Farms will play this week, referring all questions to club general manager Michael Stott. In an interview last week, Stott said the course played by the members is nearly the same as the one for the championship.
