Bulle Rock Golf Course - Our First Pete Dye Design
"You can talk to a fade, but a hook won't listen." - Lee Trevino
(Played on July 1st, 2019)
Bulle Rock Golf Course, located in Havre de Grace, Maryland, was built by legendary golf course architect Pete Dye back in the late 1990s. It is about an hour and fifteen minutes away from where we live, and is actually a pretty beautiful ride, especially early in the morning like when we went.
Bulle Rock hosted the LPGA Championship five straight times from 2005-2009.
The course can play very long, with thick rough and slick greens. It is one of the best maintained courses we have ever played and look forward to going back as soon as possible. The views were incredible, especially off the 10th tee. You can see for miles ahead of you as you bomb one out into the fairway (or rough). We played it from one in from the tips to give ourselves at least a chance to shoot a decent number and go home happy.
It was actually just Chris Colman and Chris Pusey that day, as Chris's brother Thomas was unavailable to make the trek down to Maryland, but he will be in our next outing together for sure. Hopefully it will be as fun as Bulle Rock was.
The day threw us a curveball early as we were shuttled off on the back nine first. Although we had never been down there as a group before, Colman had played here a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with it, despite barely breaking 95. However, when he played it originally, he had to pay $130. Luckily, the price has since dropped to $80 for an early morning tee time.
Pete Dye implemented a bit of mis-direction when it came to some of his holes. For example, in the photo above, the second bunker on the left looks drivable from the tee, which would set up well to hit the green in two. After Colman hit a drive that both he and Pusey thought was good, they discovered it in that bunker, completely causing him to have to lay up.
After a relatively easy par four and difficult par five, you reach the par three 12th hole. It may be the signature hole on the course, and is very difficult, as you can see below.
The railroad ties giving off the appearance of keeping the green from sliding off into the lake on the right, this hole forces you to try your best to bail left to avoid dropping a shot in the water. Pusey made his shot over the water, but Colman was not so lucky, and made a double bogey.
The par four 13th is the last of a great four hole stretch to start the back nine. It is an absolute necessity to find the fairway to reach the green in two. The hole plays 476 yards from the tips and has some amazing bunkering all around the green to catch any errant approach shot.
Although 14 through 17 are good holes, the action gets really exciting on the par four 18th hole. The 18th is another classic Pete Dye hole. Similar to the 18th at TPC Sawgrass, it has water all down the left side, begging you to just try and trust a fade to cut back or attempt to draw one without hooking it. Most players will be extra conservative if they have a decent round going and just block one way right and hope to make a four. It also plays nearly 500 yards from the tips, as a par four. We were glad to make our bogeys and move onto the front nine with at least some dignity.
After a quick stop at the small snack shack between the two nines, pictured below, we continued onto the front nine where most golfers rounds actually begin.
The par four 1st is a relatively simple opening hole that does not require a driver, but one of the best holes on the entire property has to be the par five 2nd. What looks like a tiny fairway from the highly elevated tee is actually pretty big. It just happens to look small from where you tee off from. After the drive, you are given a chance to either go for it, which could be around a 260 yard shot uphill to an elevated green, or lay up before a creek and wedge it on. We both topped our second shots (attempting to go for it because we didn't drive an hour to lay up) in front of some maintenance workers, so we had to hit our wedges onto the green.
The par three 3rd hole is another great par three, which has a bit of resemblance to the par threes at Whistling Straights, another Pete Dye design. A sea of bunker on the left, and plenty of exciting and scary pin positions that can cause headaches for players.
After a simple par four 4th hole, you are greeted by the hardest hole on the course. The par four 5th hole is the number 1 handicap hole on the course, and plays 480 yards from the back tees.
The fifth plays uphill and dog legs sharply to the left. Even when you reach the green you are not quite done yet and have to traverse the skinny undulating green and try to make your putt for birdie, par, bogey, or what we were putting for, double bogey.
Being out of position on the 5th hole, like many of the other holes at Bulle Rock, immediately sets you back and has you fighting to make par. Getting too aggressive on this Pete Dye design is an absolute scorecard killer. However, your good shots are usually rewarded with at least easier shots, but they will ask you to give it your all to have a shot a birdie.
Although there are three more really good holes, the par four 9th is a great finisher to the front nine. The hole dog-legs to the right and is well-protected by front bunkers. The 9th also has It requires a decent drive to a large forgiving fairway, but there is water to the right catching anybody getting too aggressive (see above). Unfortunately, we forgot to get a photo of it.
Chris Colman and Chris Pusey had slightly differing opinions when it came to their favorite holes on the course, but agreed that most of the holes were solid but challenging, and fun without being overbearing.
Colman's favorite holes at Bulle Rock were the par three 3rd and the par four 10th. The way the hole sits perfectly into the hillside with the tree right and the bunkers left. The first time he played Bulle Rock he made 6 on the 3rd but managed to make a par on it his second time around. When it comes to the par four 10th, he says that the view alone is worth the price of the greens fee. No water view, no huge mountain. Just a really beautiful view, especially with the sun coming up in the morning.
Pusey's favorite holes were the par three 12th and par four 18th. Each hole had water entirely on one side of the hole, but require two different types of shots to make par. Even though he played both holes over par, Chris was aware that the holes are plenty fair, but just ask a lot out of the player to make a par.
Here are a few more photos from our day at Bulle Rock:
To conclude, Bulle Rock will beat you up one way or another. Miss a fairway by a few yards, pay a penalty. Miss a green short, long, left, or right, pay a penalty. Hit the green in regulation, but have a long putt, good luck reading the subtle and not-so-subtle breaks. For our first Pete Dye course we have played, you can tell just how diabolical, no pun intended, Pete Dye made his courses. But it goes without saying that if we lived a little closer and had the money, we would play Bulle Rock every single week and probably never get tired of getting beat up by the course.
We hope you enjoyed our review of Bulle Rock Golf Course. If you would like to see more photos from other courses we reviewed, and many more which we have not yet, follow us on Instagram as @TheSundayGolfers. We have not missed a day since the beginning of February! Thank you for reading and we will be back soon. We may have a big course coming up soon so we hope you plan on revisiting soon.
- The Sunday Golfers
"You can talk to a fade, but a hook won't listen." - Lee Trevino
(Played on July 1st, 2019)
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| Early morning shadows cast down as Chris Pusey tees off on the par four 10th tee. |
Bulle Rock Golf Course, located in Havre de Grace, Maryland, was built by legendary golf course architect Pete Dye back in the late 1990s. It is about an hour and fifteen minutes away from where we live, and is actually a pretty beautiful ride, especially early in the morning like when we went.
Bulle Rock hosted the LPGA Championship five straight times from 2005-2009.
The course can play very long, with thick rough and slick greens. It is one of the best maintained courses we have ever played and look forward to going back as soon as possible. The views were incredible, especially off the 10th tee. You can see for miles ahead of you as you bomb one out into the fairway (or rough). We played it from one in from the tips to give ourselves at least a chance to shoot a decent number and go home happy.
It was actually just Chris Colman and Chris Pusey that day, as Chris's brother Thomas was unavailable to make the trek down to Maryland, but he will be in our next outing together for sure. Hopefully it will be as fun as Bulle Rock was.
The day threw us a curveball early as we were shuttled off on the back nine first. Although we had never been down there as a group before, Colman had played here a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with it, despite barely breaking 95. However, when he played it originally, he had to pay $130. Luckily, the price has since dropped to $80 for an early morning tee time.
 |
| The glorious par five 11th hole. |
Pete Dye implemented a bit of mis-direction when it came to some of his holes. For example, in the photo above, the second bunker on the left looks drivable from the tee, which would set up well to hit the green in two. After Colman hit a drive that both he and Pusey thought was good, they discovered it in that bunker, completely causing him to have to lay up.
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| Colman taking his medicine. |
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| Chris Pusey teeing off the par three 12th. |
The railroad ties giving off the appearance of keeping the green from sliding off into the lake on the right, this hole forces you to try your best to bail left to avoid dropping a shot in the water. Pusey made his shot over the water, but Colman was not so lucky, and made a double bogey.
The par four 13th is the last of a great four hole stretch to start the back nine. It is an absolute necessity to find the fairway to reach the green in two. The hole plays 476 yards from the tips and has some amazing bunkering all around the green to catch any errant approach shot.
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| The 13th green. The back bunker does in fact have railroad ties behind it. |
Although 14 through 17 are good holes, the action gets really exciting on the par four 18th hole. The 18th is another classic Pete Dye hole. Similar to the 18th at TPC Sawgrass, it has water all down the left side, begging you to just try and trust a fade to cut back or attempt to draw one without hooking it. Most players will be extra conservative if they have a decent round going and just block one way right and hope to make a four. It also plays nearly 500 yards from the tips, as a par four. We were glad to make our bogeys and move onto the front nine with at least some dignity.
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| The tee box of the par four 18th. |
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| Chris Pusey hitting his approach into the 18th. |
After a quick stop at the small snack shack between the two nines, pictured below, we continued onto the front nine where most golfers rounds actually begin.
 |
| Fueling up for the front nine. |
The par four 1st is a relatively simple opening hole that does not require a driver, but one of the best holes on the entire property has to be the par five 2nd. What looks like a tiny fairway from the highly elevated tee is actually pretty big. It just happens to look small from where you tee off from. After the drive, you are given a chance to either go for it, which could be around a 260 yard shot uphill to an elevated green, or lay up before a creek and wedge it on. We both topped our second shots (attempting to go for it because we didn't drive an hour to lay up) in front of some maintenance workers, so we had to hit our wedges onto the green.
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| The tee shot on the par five 2nd. |
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| Colman hitting his tee shot on 2. |
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| The view back up the hill on the 2nd hole. |
The par three 3rd hole is another great par three, which has a bit of resemblance to the par threes at Whistling Straights, another Pete Dye design. A sea of bunker on the left, and plenty of exciting and scary pin positions that can cause headaches for players.
 |
| The beautiful par three 3rd. |
After a simple par four 4th hole, you are greeted by the hardest hole on the course. The par four 5th hole is the number 1 handicap hole on the course, and plays 480 yards from the back tees.
The fifth plays uphill and dog legs sharply to the left. Even when you reach the green you are not quite done yet and have to traverse the skinny undulating green and try to make your putt for birdie, par, bogey, or what we were putting for, double bogey.
 |
| Colman teeing off on the par four 5th. |
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| A panorama showing the curvature of the dog leg on the par four 5th. |
Being out of position on the 5th hole, like many of the other holes at Bulle Rock, immediately sets you back and has you fighting to make par. Getting too aggressive on this Pete Dye design is an absolute scorecard killer. However, your good shots are usually rewarded with at least easier shots, but they will ask you to give it your all to have a shot a birdie.
 |
| Looking back on the par five 8th hole. |
Although there are three more really good holes, the par four 9th is a great finisher to the front nine. The hole dog-legs to the right and is well-protected by front bunkers. The 9th also has It requires a decent drive to a large forgiving fairway, but there is water to the right catching anybody getting too aggressive (see above). Unfortunately, we forgot to get a photo of it.
Chris Colman and Chris Pusey had slightly differing opinions when it came to their favorite holes on the course, but agreed that most of the holes were solid but challenging, and fun without being overbearing.
Colman's favorite holes at Bulle Rock were the par three 3rd and the par four 10th. The way the hole sits perfectly into the hillside with the tree right and the bunkers left. The first time he played Bulle Rock he made 6 on the 3rd but managed to make a par on it his second time around. When it comes to the par four 10th, he says that the view alone is worth the price of the greens fee. No water view, no huge mountain. Just a really beautiful view, especially with the sun coming up in the morning.
Pusey's favorite holes were the par three 12th and par four 18th. Each hole had water entirely on one side of the hole, but require two different types of shots to make par. Even though he played both holes over par, Chris was aware that the holes are plenty fair, but just ask a lot out of the player to make a par.
Here are a few more photos from our day at Bulle Rock:
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| Colman hitting his first drive of the day on the par four 10th. |
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| The huge green of the par five 11th. With a surprise "pose" from Chris. |
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| Colman hitting his drive on the par four 16th, with the beautiful Bulle Rock clubhouse in the background. |
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| Chris Pusey teeing off the par three 7th. Notice the tee markers? Horseshoes. How cool is that? |
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| Chris Pusey in a little bit of trouble on the par four 16th. |
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| The green of the par four 4th. The THICKEST ROUGH EVER sits behind the green. |
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| The classic Chris Pusey pose in a classic Pete Dye pot bunker |
To conclude, Bulle Rock will beat you up one way or another. Miss a fairway by a few yards, pay a penalty. Miss a green short, long, left, or right, pay a penalty. Hit the green in regulation, but have a long putt, good luck reading the subtle and not-so-subtle breaks. For our first Pete Dye course we have played, you can tell just how diabolical, no pun intended, Pete Dye made his courses. But it goes without saying that if we lived a little closer and had the money, we would play Bulle Rock every single week and probably never get tired of getting beat up by the course.
We hope you enjoyed our review of Bulle Rock Golf Course. If you would like to see more photos from other courses we reviewed, and many more which we have not yet, follow us on Instagram as @TheSundayGolfers. We have not missed a day since the beginning of February! Thank you for reading and we will be back soon. We may have a big course coming up soon so we hope you plan on revisiting soon.
- The Sunday Golfers
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