I received the news of the passing of Ashbourne Country Club while in Florida, and felt a bit saddened that I had never gotten the chance to play the course. Philadelphia lore had the course attributed to Frank Meehan, the courses of whom I had always enjoyed.
It was with bittersweet surprised that I received the news that Joe Bausch's research had uncovered that Willie Park, Jr. was responsible for the course at Ashbourne. Needless to say, my curiosity was immediately piqued and Joe and I put it in the back of our minds to one day get out there and catalog the golf course before it was too late.
Today was that date. Armed with the J. E. Ford course profile and a digital camera, Joe and I braved near 30 degree weather to set about on our grim deed.
We started near the pro shop on what appeared to be the Par 3 10th:
Ford describes this hole as follows, "My journey is half finished. On the tenth I gain a brief respite from the terrors I have viewed on the last few holes. The tenth is a simple hole and by traveling 165 yards, crossing safely the bunker 130 yards from the tee and avoiding the bunkers on either side of the green and the grass bunker in the back, I get home."*
*Ford wrote his course profile from the vantage point of the ball.
The 10th began a promising start as the Ford profile closely matched what we were seeing on the ground.
The 11th is an impressive par 5 which runs along Ashbourne Rd. I was immediately reminded of the great downhill Par 5 8th at Schuylkill CC (Ross) and the similarities from tee to green are striking.
From the tee:
The green appears just over the second rise:
A hint at the great drop off behind the green. Like many Park greens I've seen, this green is full of wonderful internal contour and several run-off spots for drainage. Particularly noteworthy was a thumb print which emptied on the right side.
A view from the front left, showing the thumb print lost from the shrinkage of the green edge:
The tumble down the hill from behind the green:
12th through 15th after the break!