Car Composite Courses

[wsmorrison]

Steve's thread on helicopter composite courses got me to thinking about which 18 holes I'd play in the Philadelphia area that I had to drive to and complete a round in a single day.  I think it can be done in sequence.  I decided to just go with the holes that struck me without thinking and would make up a nice balance of pars.  There were a couple of ties I couldn't break.  They are:

1. Aronimink-4, Merion-4
2. Pine Valley-4
3. Philadelphia Country-5, Gulph Mills-4
4. Huntingdon Valley-4
5. Merion-4
6. Philadelphia Cricket-4
7. Philadelphia Country-3
8. Pine Valley-4
9. Rolling Green-5
10. Rolling Green-3
11. Merion-4
12. Gulph Mills-5
13. Pine Valley-4
14. Merion-4, Rolling Green-3
15. Rolling Green-4, Philadelphia Country-4
16. Pine Valley-4
17. Philadelphia Country-4
18. Merion-4, Huntingdon Valley-4

[TEPaul]

"12. Gulph Mills-5"

Wayne:

You can't be serious--it's basically a piece of shit compared to the others on here---first half Ross and second half RTJ. And If you're not long it just ain't interesting! But if they'd listened to me recently it would've been more interesting! But I had other far more important battles to fight.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Wayne

As you may know, in the Philmont locker room there is an article posted from The Inquirer, circa 1950something, about the best holes in the area-par3,4&5. Here are the selections:

par3- 4th at Whitemarsh,at 235y over 2 creeks.

par4-11th at Merion for historical reasons as well.

par5- 9th at Philmont North for difficulty.


Steve

[wsmorrison]

Well, Tom.  That's the kind of list I came up with without thinking.  I may not have your accuracy, course management, short game and ability to score--but I do have a bit of distance on you and that makes the 12th at Gulph Mills a very nice go/no go hole for me....when I'm in the fairway that is.  I certainly don't think its a P.O.S., I happen to like it tee to green.  Anyway, I needed a par 5 in that routing progression and it popped into my head so I'm sticking with it.

Steve,
I am fond of Whitemarsh #4, but have no regrets over the HVCC selection.  As for the 9th at Philmont, it doesn't come close to RGGC and I'm sticking with that too.

Interestingly, in 1923 Flynn was asked by Alan Wilson to select the "notable" holes in the district.  At this point, there wasn't much Flynn in the immediate surrounds of Philadelphia. Flynn chose the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 13th and 17th holes at Pine Valley and the 3rd, 7th, 11th 16th and 17th at Merion.  He noted there were other courses with notable holes but many were unfinished.

Flynn went on to say that in his mind "...a hole to be notable should be so constructed as to afford incentive to and provide a reward for high class play.  A notable hole should also leave a lasting impression in the player's mind and should have attractive surroundings."

[wsmorrison]

It might be that the routing progression at Merion in 1923 was the same as in 1916 Amateur with the 3rd then now the 6th and the 7th now the 3rd.  However, it was probably changed back by 1923 since the 1924 Amateur was played in the current progression.

[Joe Hancock]

I'm too lazy....

Front 9 @ Crystal Downs

then drive to

Front 9 at Kingsley

A good composite by car, I think.

Joe

[wsmorrison]

"But if they'd listened to me recently it would've been more interesting!"

Tom, care to mention what you were thinking?

Joe,
One of these days I hope to see what you're talking about first hand!

[TEPaul]

""But if they'd listened to me recently it would've been more interesting!"

"Tom, care to mention what you were thinking?"

Aw, it's way too long a story but I'll put it on here eventually. It was when we were finalizing our master plan and I wanted to restore the old 10th fairway (now our range). That would've effected the 12th and 13th and the practice range. I was just trying for more of a restoration in the mid-section of our course that got changed over the decades. What I had in mind for the 12th though is interesting in that it's a good example of how interconnected holes in a routing can be if you start to change something on even one of them---that's when it gets to be sort of like rearranging (in this case restoring) a jigsaw puzzle. Or maybe like putting the pieces of humpty-dumpty back together again!  

[Ken Fry]

Joe,

If that's ever a trip, count me in!!!

Ken