Routed around the site of the Battle of the Beechwoods (a War of 1812 skirmish also known as the Battle of Beaver Dams), the 48-year-old course was the work of Robert Moote (a protégé of Stanley Thompson), who also designed the picturesque Dundee Golf Club on Cape Breton. Beechwood starts slowly, but finally ignites on the finishing holes (15 through 17 are nicknamed the Beechwood Triangle) for a high-voltage finish. The 15th is a long, narrow, 520-yard par five to a small green; the 16th hole (385 yards, dogleg right) is a short par four that features a blind tee shot with woods, a creek and an out-of-bounds stake all coming into play. The par three 17th requires an errorless tee shot; the alternatives are marsh, pond, trees or bunkers. Finally, the 18th, a 410-yard par four, has out of bounds left and creek right. Even if you can control the shakes and hit it straight, the three-tiered green slopes so severely that it’s possible to putt it back into the creek. Lounge around the clubhouse’s grand island bar, handcrafted from the giant red oak that once stood behind the fifth green.