McNeil leads a Ross renaissance at classic Massachusetts club

Kernwood Country Club is a Donald Ross original from his early years, 1914 to 1916. For nearly 15 years, Robert McNeil, ASGCA, has been guiding the club toward a vision to capture the original essence of the routing and reintroduce pieces of the course that had been lost to tree overgrowth, planting and wandering mowing lines. The rewards of removing hundreds of trees, pushing the green edges to their intended perimeters and recontouring the fairway lines to provide strategic angles and highlight the features on the property are now beginning to shine. 

The latest work, recapturing the Ross bunkering throughout the property, has exceeded expectations. The work of Country Golf, led by Jerry and Jim Demers and the tireless efforts of superintendent John Eggleston and his staff, has resulted in a new set of bunkers that now bring the classic era styling back to the playing experience at KCC.

The project included constructing 44 new bunkers, removing a few and reshaping several into grassy catchment areas and pitch areas. With original Ross drawings available for many of the holes, the team was able to carefully interpret the plans and locate and shape the features accordingly.