Philadelphia Golf Photo Quiz

[Kyle Harris]

For the past few days I've taken my camera with me on the way to school and back. Would stop by and take a few pictures along the way.

Can anybody name the course and architect of the following?

In order from easiest to hardest:

Course A: This is the former site of this club, and the course was apparently quite tough for its day. Today it is a busy intersection (Valley Road and Susquehanna Road) Oddly enough, both course sites (Old and present) share a similar bowl shape. I took this picture from the nearby SEPTA Station.


Course B: The clubhouse for the present location of Course A, along with the driving range, I think I C Nine in the foreground.


Course C: Aaargh, perhaps Lancelot, Bedevere and Arthur would feel more at home on this hole at yet another displaced club course, the current location of this course's old club is some ways away from its namesake road. This particular hole was designed by a patron of the Philadelphia School and there is another hole similar at a Eastern PA course seemingly named for the state's Big Ten school's Offensive Coordinator



Course D: The clubhouse of one course taken from the near clubhouse of another - though both are barely visible. These neighboring courses are two gems in Philadelphia's crown. The Philly PGA Section office is nearby too. The first course is probably noted for its first hole, the topography of which is in the foreground of the picture. The second course (visible on the distant hill below the sun) has devilish greens and a special place in Tommy Naccarato's heart.



Course E: Judging by the date on the gravestones, this course and the cemetary have shared most, if not all of the course's 75 years together. The course itself was designed by one of the first "Johnny Appleseed" architects who built a number of other Philadelphia area courses and is a neglected public track that has diverged from its Scottish roots in more ways than one.

[Tom Huckaby]

What in the hell is that white stuff all over your golf courses out there - have you guys gone nuts?  How in god's name do you play the game?

TH

[Kyle Harris]

Huckaby,

Buy stock in Sharpies, specifically their Orange and Red Lines.  

[JESII]

Huckaby,

That's the firm and fast conditioning you always hear TEP and Wayne Morrison touting. What's wrong with you?

[Steve_ Shaffer]

C is the "moat hole" at Abington Club formerly the site of Old York Road CC and similar to the one at Galen Hall near Reading.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Tom, I heard that it was your President who muttered something about the White House and his staff ordered a White Out instead.

[Kyle Harris]

C is the "moat hole" at Abington Club formerly the site of Old York Road CC and similar to the one at Galen Hall near Reading.

One down, with YAPCR in the form of Monty Python on the Holy Grail. (Aargh was the castle with the grail, Lancelot, Bedevere and Arthur would live in a castle, which has a moat).

This is a Tillinghast hole, as well.

[JNagle]

D - Mannie's near the range and 1st tee with LuLu in the distance.

[Kyle Harris]

D - Mannie's near the range and 1st tee with LuLu in the distance.

Right-o Jim, I'd contend that the footprints in the snow belong to one Bill Vostinak... if you look real close you can see the marks where the chainsaw he drug down the hill was.  

Nice to see your work at Lulu yeilding a nice view from across the valley.

[wsmorrison]

Course B:

Man that is a beautiful clubhouse.  The recent additions blend in very well with the original architecture.  

Sully, where would you say C-6 green was located relative to this picture?  About where the small mounds are in the driving range, right?

[Kyle Harris]

Wayne,

It looks like in the original routing the green was hard against the creek. The strip in front of those mounds is a paved access path.

My guess would be just to the right of the trees - though looking again that's what you could be talking about.

[TEPaul]

I think the old 6th green was over the creek and the beginning and basic direction of the 7th was considerably to the left of where it is today. #6 green couldn't be restored because of the range and #7 couldn't be restored the way it was because of the range AND environmental restrictions. Remember, Wayne that Linc said it was pretty touch and go whether it was even going to be a C-NINE. He said it was damn near only a C-EIGHT.

I've seen some architects really screw up golf architectural redesigns in my life but whoever the architect was who redesigned what's in photo A should've been shot. That redesign doesn't even look like a golf course to me---it looks like nothing more than some boring suburban intersection. But maybe the golf architect who designed it was into some novel golf architecture concept that just didn't work out. I wonder if he called it "The Intersection" hole.

[wsmorrison]

Yep, I remember Tom.  C-8 has a nice ring to it, but C-9 works better.

Kyle,

There was fairway immediately on the other side of the creek on C-6 but the green didn't start for about 15 yards across the creek.  It was a fairly big green so the center of it was probably about 33 yards from the creek.

[JESII]

A couple answers and thoughts.

I have always thought the 6th green on the C-nine would have been in amongst those trees at the bottom of the range somewhere (as Wayne said) up from the creek 15 yards or so. There is an old painting in the clubhouse that I believe shows it on that sort of line.

About that nine holes and Linc's comments about a C-8, that may well have been a solution. The goddamn thing is so hard now that if we could just play one less hole we might shoot a respectable score out there.

The last photo, "the cemetary hole", I can't believe none of you have gotten this yet. Within a couple miles of all the above courses, and really only one turn away from the site of the first photo.

[TEPaul]

"About that nine holes and Linc's comments about a C-8, that may well have been a solution. The goddamn thing is so hard now that if we could just play one less hole we might shoot a respectable score out there."

Sully---Come on, get off of it!

That's the whole point of C-Nine---eg Hard, Hard, Hard, Harder, Hardest!

That's why Flynn originally built it like he did---it was supposed to be the hardest damn nine in existence. If HVGC of all places can't get into that concept then what are we to think?

And you---you, you, whimp!! Just forget about how hard it is and go out every day this coming year and practice on it only and come tournament season this year everything else you play will seem like such a piece of cake to you that NOT winning the Philly Am, Philly Open, Patterson Cup, Silver Crosss and Pa Am and Pa Open and the Player of the Year in both would frankly be a complete shock and disappointment, not to mention the US Amateur and the Walker Cup.

Hard, my ass! Who said golf was supposed to be easy??

[JESII]

That's the whole point of C-Nine---eg Hard, Hard, Hard, Harder, Hardest!

Was this intended for that other thread you recently started? I would say those last 5 words may have been heard on plenty of summer nights over the last 100 years or so. Oh yeah, and during the day too.

[Jason Mandel]

jim,

do you now have your fulltime amateur status back?

jason

[JESII]

Jason,

Yes, as of September 1, '05.

[Kyle Harris]

A couple answers and thoughts.

I have always thought the 6th green on the C-nine would have been in amongst those trees at the bottom of the range somewhere (as Wayne said) up from the creek 15 yards or so. There is an old painting in the clubhouse that I believe shows it on that sort of line.

About that nine holes and Linc's comments about a C-8, that may well have been a solution. The goddamn thing is so hard now that if we could just play one less hole we might shoot a respectable score out there.

The last photo, "the cemetary hole", I can't believe none of you have gotten this yet. Within a couple miles of all the above courses, and really only one turn away from the site of the first photo.

Of all the people on here to get that, I figured Mike Cirba would be the first. One of the roads in photo A borders the course in photo E. I almost posted a different picture and a different hole, though today it looked more like a ski slope.

Lovely views of the turnpike from one of the par 3s.

[Doug Braunsdorf]

1-Huntingdon Valley (old site)
2-Huntingdon valley (new)
3-Abington CC
4-Manufacturers/LuLu
5-Twining Valley