There is a high school in Port Chester, New York, with an address on a street called Tamarack Road, and it stands on the ground where a golf club once began. The club started life in Westchester County as Port Chester Country Club. In 1928 it bought rolling farmland across the state line in Connecticut, and the course that opened there in 1929 belongs to Charles Banks. It is arguably the finest thing he ever built on his own. Banks is remembered first as Seth Raynor's associate, the man they called "Steam Shovel." His career as a lead architect was short, ended by an early death, yet the work he finished left its mark on American golf. At Tamarack his boldness is on full display. He worked in the language of template holes, the great holes of Scotland and France rendered anew on American farmland. The 2nd is a Cape, the 6th an Alps, the 14th a Road Hole. The short holes are the heart of the thing. The 3rd, at 171 yards, takes its shape from the Eden at St Andrews. The 7th, at 196, is modeled on the Redan at North Berwick. The 12th stretches to 214 yards as a Biarritz, a version of France's famous short hole. Some golfers will always find this kind of borrowing a little too contrived. Others delight in the composition of these holes and celebrate their place in the modern game. Tamarack holds that argument without settling it, which is part of its charm. Then there is the sand. Banks's bunkers were steep and deep, and much of that original work remains intact. The grandest example waits at the 508-yard 17th, a sweeping par five that doglegs toward an elevated green protected by an enormous trap called Big Bertha. It seems to take its inspiration from the Cardinal at Prestwick, a sandy monster of the old school. Over the years, though, the course lost some of its voice. Like so many American country clubs, Tamarack saw its share of tree planting and green shrinkage. Tree removal in the 2010s began to open the corridors again, but there was still work to do. In 2022 the club brought in Brian Schneider of Renaissance Golf Design for a full-scale restoration. Fairways and greens were expanded, more trees came down, bunkers were renovated, and Schneider added design touches of his own that blend well with Banks's work and highlight the brilliance of the original. The most dramatic change is in the middle of the property, where the 1st and 2nd holes had been crowded with trees. Once the trees were removed and the fairways expanded, Schneider decided simply to combine them. Now the scale of Tamarack hits you squarely between the eyes from the first tee. The course reopened in 2024, offering a jaw-dropping look at what Banks dared to do. There is a homely quirk that endears the place further. The driving range is really the 13th fairway. Rather than reroute the course to make room for practice, the club installed a button. Players on the 13th press it, those on the range are alerted to stop hitting, and the hole belongs to the players until they are out of range. It is a small, sensible kindness to the routing Banks left behind. A word to the wise: if you favor a yellow ball, switch to a white one on 13.