Chautauqua Golf Club (The Lake)

Overview: Beside Chautauqua Lake, the Lake Course at Chautauqua Golf Club follows an 18-hole parkland design. Donald Ross completed the course in 1924, and the official description lists 6,470 yards. The layout favors open tee shots followed by demanding approaches to small, often steeply sloped greens, a classic Ross pattern that makes distance control and recovery skill important. Mature trees, ponds and lake views give the course a strong sense of place without overwhelming its strategic character.

History: Donald Ross designed the Lake Course at a time when his work was helping define American golf architecture. The 1924 course remains the historic half of Chautauqua’s 36-hole facility, later joined by Xen Hassenplug’s Hill Course in 1994. The Lake layout has continued to evolve through maintenance and improvement, but its essential identity remains the Ross combination of open driving lines, small targets and sloping greens.

Did You Know? The Lake Course’s sixth hole follows a par five with a short par three where wind can swirl between the trees and water. That transition is typical of Ross’s ability to change the type of decision required from one hole to the next.