Poconos, hidden gems or wasted talent?

[Chris_Blakely]

Mount Airy Lodge and Country Club is not bad.  It is a recreation of SI's 18 greatest golf holes that was designed by Hal Purdy.

[Craig Rokke]

Mt Airy has some fun holes, but there is some less-than-stellar golf design going on there. Take hole #1. A long,
steeply uphill par 5 with a blind 2nd shot that potentially heads directly into a large pond. The approach shot is normally a pretty stout one that must carry that same
body of water. I don't know what the hole measures, but
it must play the equivalent of close to 600 yards from the back markers, a pretty stern opener for the average "resort duffer"..

[Mike_Cirba]

The original idea of Mount Airy Lodge was to copy the 18 greatest in Sports Illustrated, as Golfnut mentions.

However, since the land the course is on doubles as a ski slope in the winter, that was inevitably deemed impossible.

Playing from the back tees at Mount Airy leads to the somewhat ignoble distinction of being the only course I've ever seen where 3 of the 4 par threes are COMPLETELY blind drop shots at anywhere between 190 and 230 yards.  

Craig mentions the 1st hole, which is the worst opener I believe I've ever seen, and holes like the 7th, a 580 yard par five where the best play from the tee is a 7-iron are all part of the dubious allure.

Things get slightly better on the back nine, and there are a couple of holes of note, but it's typical 60s, 70s, architecture, with BIG greens and tees, and everything somewhat overkilled.  

[repo]

I am planning a trip next month to Nantucket and was looking for recommendations on where to play.  I have heard good things about Sankaty Head but who the hell is Phil Wogan?

[Chris_Blakely]

Like I said in my original response the course was a recreation of the 18 greatest golf holes from SI.   I never said it was landmark architecture.  I too remeber the first hole which plays directly up the expert ski slope.  The course had some nice views of the area and for the price it was not bad.  As for the par threes, two are blind drop shoters for sure and two are uphill shots where the green and flagstick were visible.  All in all, I would say it was an interesting idea and not a bad course to play is one is not able to get on any of the private courses listed: Fox Hill, Huntsville, Woodlock Springs, or Eagles Mere.

[Henry Hudson]

The copying of SI's greatest 18 holes ends on the first hole where it is compared to Merion's #1 which is a flat par 4 dog leg right with no water.
I played the course last fall and was pleasantly surprised by the conditions of the course.

The original idea of Mount Airy Lodge was to copy the 18 greatest in Sports Illustrated, as Golfnut mentions.

However, since the land the course is on doubles as a ski slope in the winter, that was inevitably deemed impossible.

Playing from the back tees at Mount Airy leads to the somewhat ignoble distinction of being the only course I've ever seen where 3 of the 4 par threes are COMPLETELY blind drop shots at anywhere between 190 and 230 yards.  

Craig mentions the 1st hole, which is the worst opener I believe I've ever seen, and holes like the 7th, a 580 yard par five where the best play from the tee is a 7-iron are all part of the dubious allure.

Things get slightly better on the back nine, and there are a couple of holes of note, but it's typical 60s, 70s, architecture, with BIG greens and tees, and everything somewhat overkilled.  

[Henry Hudson]

I said I played Eagles Mere 10 years ago.  It was probably 18 years :-).  I don't remember it being too spectacular but I do remember thinking this is an old, old course.
I also don't remember it being private.
A few things have probably changed in the intervening years.

Henry;

I'm aware that William Flynn is largely responsible for the present course at Eagles Mere, but haven't played and don't know anyone who has.

What's it like?  Would you recommend it?

[Matt_Ward]

I can remember from years ago playing Mount Airy and seeing an assembly-line of carts with a variety of Joe and Jane Sixpack and honeymoon couples waiting to get to the 1st tee.

I almost fell over with laughter as group after group slogged their way up the hill. I mean in all honesty TR had a walk in the park climbing San Juan hill. And the best part was the rule that carts MUST stay on the path. I saw people lugging more clubs back and forth than most lumber companies take in trees over the course of a year.

Whoever thought having a L-O-N-G uphill par-5 with a blind second and a waiting pond for those poor souls is beyond me. The best part was when one of the assistant professional told me they had 8 minutes intervals and we should be READY to play when called. Needless to say, we hi-tailed it out of there and ventured to another Pocono "must see" course.

Mount Airy is absolutely as Mike Cirba described. The course contains so many architectural no-no's that I believe any assessment of raters should be carried out there because if you don't see at least a dozen of them you must be blind.