2005 Match Play Championship
Ekwanok

Match Play
Top 12 players on the VPGA Points List
Remaining 4 spots filled from low 4 players in Match Play Championship Qualifier

Located just on the very edge of Manchester Village, Ekwanok is immediately south of the Gleneagles resort course at The Equinox.   Aside from proximity, the two courses share common ancestry as both were designed by Walter Travis. Ekwanok opened in 1899. Travis, an Australian, took the game up at the age of 35. Four years later, he won his first of two U.S. Amateurs. He also soon became the first foreigner to win the British Amateur. His entry into the field of course architecture proved just as successful. His gem at the Westchester Country Club is still tough enough to host the PGA's Westchester Classic. The Ekwanok Club was rated very highly among national courses in the early decades of the century. It hosted the 1914 U.S. Amateur Championship won by Francis Quimet.

The course at the Ekwanok Club is typical of turn-of-the-century layouts in that it appears, at first, to be very understated. The holes were laid down over existing valley terrain with little cutting or reshaping of the land having been done. Over the years many modifications were made to the layout but in 1998 a restoration job was completed by Tom Doak and Bruce Hepner. Much of the original character and toughness was restored to the famed, old course. Trees were also removed in numerous locations so that more of the original openness could be brought into play. The generous greens possess some of the typical Travis touches, such as rolloffs at the edge of the putting surfaces and troublesome, greenside bunkers. Some holes host a plethora of wide bunkers.