The innovative 9-hole Inness should be your next golf spot in New York

The area north of Westchester, New York, and south of the Catskill Mountains—from New Paltz to Saugerties and beyond—is having something of an identity crisis. But only in name only.

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

It’s important to know that this no-man’s land feels very much like the Catskills. Far enough away from New York City, about 100 miles north, and it feels pretty flat fartherfilled with mountains, trees, creeks and charming, sparsely populated towns alternating with farms.

It’s also a secret golf paradise. Dozens of courses, many dating back a hundred years, fascinate locals, at least during the warmer months.

But the focus of this article is the area’s newest course, and it should be the focus of your next trip to the area: King-Collins’ original nine-hole design at Innes.

For those who don’t know, Tad King and Rob Collins of King-Collins Design (now King Collins Dormer Golf Couse Design) were a sought-after golf architectural partnership responsible for the design of Tennessee’s beloved and imaginative Sweetens Cove nine-hole golf course. Their work on Inness, affectionately known as “Sweetens’ back nine,” was completed in 2019. I can tell you, it lives up to its name.

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It even surpasses Sweetens in one key aspect: accessibility.

Innis is just a two-hour drive from New York City and is easily accessible to millions of golfers in and around New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and eastern Pennsylvania. While memberships are available, the course is also open to the public.

Innes: Courses

From the parking lot down the road from the resort, you get your first glimpse of the course, admiring its rumpled, continuous fairways and wide-open layout. If you arrive on a late autumn afternoon like I did, the long shadows exaggerate the effect and add to the magical feel.

While not as low-key as the lodge that welcomes golfers at Sweetens Cove Golf Course, Inness’ pro shop is a simple building with a check-in desk, some merchandise, head pro Jeff Massa’s office, bathrooms and a refrigerator stocked with canned drinks. The drinks include Inness’ own beer, brewed at neighboring Arrowood Farm. (In addition to brewing great beer, Arrowood is also a great spot for a post-game excursion, offering food and freshly brewed beer in a beautiful farm setting where you can sit by the fire, attend live music or watch the chickens strut in the large nearby chicken coop).

The first time I tried Inness, I took advantage of the laid-back rules here, many of which can also be found at Sweetens. Since there was no dress code, I left the collared shirt behind and put on a hoodie.

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

The first is a shocking thing that photos can’t really do justice to. The tee box is immediately adjacent to the clubhouse, and the fairway stretches out in front of you, winding through a large landing area—the left side of the course is protected by one of the many large, deep, fluffy bunkers that dot the course—and then uphill to a large, undulating green.

For the past two months I have been working hard on my driving skills – my lifelong weakness. So when I hit stripes on my first four tee shots on holes 1, 2, 4 and 6, my experience was definitely enhanced.

I hit my best shot of the day on No. 2, a short, downhill par 4 near the green. But you don’t need to have perfect driving in the second position. Curve it to the left and you’ll have an open route starting on the third fairway. Chip to the right and you’ll find yourself back on the first fairway with only a few trees blocking your way to the putting surface.

And that green. . . It is large and is one of two shared greens on the course, this green is tied with the 9th green and Putting green practice. The total area is 45,000 square feet.

There is another shared green waiting at 3, but double green is a more accurate term. The massive, rolling putting surface that the sixth hole also calls home is actually two large greens connected by a deep depression cut into the length of the putt. Since the green slopes heavily from back to front, if you’re not careful you can push your ball all the way around the 6th hole, or off the green entirely.

This is one of the many unique things that connects Inness to King-Collins’ famous work at Sweetens Cove. The shape of these massive greens is another story.

Everywhere there are rolling dips and dips, backstops and steep slopes. The result is that every chip has endless possibilities, taking an indirect route to the hole, or, on the other hand, watching helplessly as your ball rolls 40 yards off the green.

To help visualize the effect, I hit the ball to the right on No. 2, 10 feet from the hole, and watched the ball reverse on the backstop and curve back within 5 feet of the cup (I burned the edge and took par).

The greens intimidated me before I even got there. But they are not as unlikely as they first seem. While there are significant elevation changes on each hole, the cups are usually cut on plateaus, so if you can get it relatively close, you’ll usually get a flat putt.

Another feature Inness shares with Sweetens is its fairways. They are cut low everywhere to allow the ball to roll (up, down and around). There are virtually no obstacles, giving everyone a chance even if they slip up.

That’s not to say there isn’t trouble lurking among Innes’ nine holes.

The hitting greens on both long par 5s are narrow, with the second shot at No. 4 and the tee box at No. 9 both protected by native areas and creeks, lined with rough and fescue.

The same goes for the idyllic, short par-3 fifth hole, where the green is surrounded by deep bunkers, tall grass and a small pond in front and to the right. This was one of my favorite holes the first time I went there, even though my 8 iron cut into the drink.

From there you head to the shorter par-4 6th, which features a fairway as open as the 1st, again rising to a green shared with the 3rd.

The par-4 No. 7 may be the toughest hole on the course, but the teepable par-4 No. 8 is less than 300 yards from most tees, providing the opportunity to score and catch your breath before the finisher. At 9, I was punished for my stupid decision to hit driver again, which made a long par 5 even longer.

One aspect of Innis that lifted my spirits: the incredible views—yes, the peaks of the Mohonk Mountains in the distance, but also the course itself.

Everywhere you go, you’ll see views of beautiful, rolling terrain.

If those views leave you wanting more as you putt on the massive green shared by No. 9 and No. 2, you can take another lap. Innes played a second set of holes on each green and put up different-colored flags for the second nine. But thanks to the innovative design, even if you use the same pins, you’ll likely play each hole completely differently the second time you play.

On my second trip this month, I did just that, playing two laps in less than three hours without rushing a shot, helped by the fact that I was the only golfer there.

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

Inness: Stay and play

Innis is close enough to the major cities in the Northeast that you can spend a day playing golf. When you get there, I highly recommend stopping at the main resort along the road where you can have lunch or dinner and drinks at Inness’s excellent mountaintop restaurant and enjoy the stunning views of the Shawangunk Mountains all year round.

You don’t have to stay at the Innis Hotel to enjoy its restaurants or golf courses. But if you want to have a great vacation while on the road, the resort has 28 well-appointed cabins and 12 hotel rooms.

The area boasts three swimming pools, tennis courts, a new spa and endless activities so you can bring the whole family, even the dog.