Winged Foot Golf Club - West

Winged Foot Golf Club was founded in 1921 by members of the New York Athletic Club. A.W. Tillinghast designed both the East and West courses on 280 acres in Mamaroneck, opening in 1923. Tillinghast famously said he gave the members a man-sized course.

The West Course has hosted six U.S. Opens (1929, 1959, 1974, 1984, 2006, 2020), a PGA Championship (1997), and multiple U.S. Amateurs. The 1974 Open is remembered as the Massacre at Winged Foot when Hale Irwin won at 7-over par. Bryson DeChambeau won the 2020 championship as the only player under par.

Gil Hanse led a restoration in 2017 removing over 7,000 trees and rebuilding bunkers to honor Tillinghast's original vision. The West Course is consistently ranked among the top 10 in America.

Classic Tillinghast parkland with tree-lined fairways, deep bunkers, and complex green surfaces. 7,477 yards, par 72. The final five holes are all par 4s over 400 yards. Walking with a caddie is standard.

The greens are the defense. Study approach angles and play to the correct section of the green. Missing on the wrong side leads to impossible recoveries from deep bunkers.

The par-4 6th at 321 yards is one of the few breathers. On the closing stretch, fairway accuracy matters more than distance.