Westchester Hills GC taps Rees Jones for course redesign

Architect Rees Jones will work with Westchester Hills Golf Club in White Plains, New York to engineer and execute a golf course master plan and redesign. Jones and Westchester Hills Golf Club leadership are currently reviewing construction estimates and plan to announce more information on a construction timeline and redesign details.

Known as “The Open Doctor” for his design work on courses in preparation for hosting major championships, Jones is currently at work on a master plan design Westchester Hills, which was established in 1913. The master plan consists of reviewing existing course features and improving the everyday golf experience with influence from Jones’ notable designs worldwide.

“We are very excited to start this project in 2020,” Jones said. “Our vision is to liven a classic-style golf course while upgrading the course’s playability and maintenance standards. The members at Westchester Hills strive for excellence and we are proud to be included in their success. The golf course’s existing features and our master plan design will take the Hills golf experience to a new level.”

Jones has worked on seven U.S. Open venues (selected to host 14 championships), nine PGA Championship venues (hosting 11 championships), six Ryder Cup venues, two Walker Cup courses and one Presidents Cup. Among Jones’ most notable original designs or redesigns are Atlanta Athletic Club, Atlantic Golf Club, both the Lower and Upper Courses at Baltusrol Golf Club, the Black Course at Bethpage State Park, the Blue Course at Congressional Country Club, Nantucket Golf Club, the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course, and East Lake Golf Club.

“Improving the conditions and enhancing the quality of our course has been a priority of the Club,” Westchester Hills club president Joe Oates said. “We are excited to be working with Rees Jones to advance this goal.”

“We are looking forward to working with Rees Jones and furthering our vision of a premier world-class private club for our members,” Westchester Hills general manager Josh Lowney said. “Our course has gone through enhancements over the past few years and working with Rees Jones provides us a capstone event to take the course to a higher level as a world class and widely recognized track.”

Westchester Hills is managed by Troon Privé, the private club operating division of Troon. The 18-hole championship golf course was designed by Peter Clark. His Donald Ross-inspired design features tree-lined fairways, rolling hills and contoured greens bordered by challenging bunkers.