Laurel Valley - A Photo Tour

[Chip Gaskins]

Laurel Valley Golf Club is located in Ligonier, Pennsylvania

About 7,200 yards  from the longest tees for a par of 71 . Designed by Dick Wilson and Arnold Palmer in 1959 with some recent tweaks by Arnold Palmer's team.  Specifically hole #11 was totally re-routed.

Check out the bunker on #6 the medium length par 5.  There are half a dozen bunkers around this green, all surrounded by rough and then right in the middle is a bunker with crisp sharp edges like Augusta National bunkers.

The night before we played it rained several inches making the course very soggy.  I suspect playing in firmer conditions would completely change the nature of the way you play the course.

As with the Meadow Club, this part of Western Pennsylvania is as really nice spot in the world.  Such beautiful vistas and terrain.  A really nice place to spend four hours!

Hole #1
Approach


Hole #1
Green



Hole #2
Approach


Hole #6
Bunker in front of green on medium length par 5


Hole #7
Tee shot


Hole #10
Approach shot.  Supposedly Mr. Palmer’s favorite second shot in all of golf.


Hole #11
Beautiful views from your third shot location.  However no real change to reach this hole in two even the yardage allows for it.  You would need to hit a snap hook second to even try.  Supposedly Andy Bean recently played 7 iron, 7 iron, 7iron???



Hole# 12
Someone crank of the chainsaw! ☺  A little bit reminds me of #10 at Merion or #12 at Olympic Club with a very very tight shot off the tee.



Hole #12
Approach


Hole #12
Green


Hole #13
Medium length Par 4 down the hill


Hole #13
Green complex.  Large, diagonal green with some very good internal contours, I just wish they would mow the rough down around the bunkers like they did on hole #6



Hole #14
ZZZzzz, sorry, not my favorite shot in golf.  200 yards, over water, to a sharp edged green.  Needless to say this was the end to my decent round of golf with a big fat double bogey!



Hole #17
Par 3


Hole #18
Tee shot


Hole #18
Approach shot.  Very much risk reward finish here.

[Mark McKeever]

Pictures turned out great!  Thanks for sharing.

Mark

[Carl Nichols]

Chip:
I think you labeled the green on #11 as #12.

[Matt_Ward]

Chip:

Great pics -- however -- I do wonder if LV is ever firm and fast. On the three occasions I played there it was quite soft which only added to the overall distance required.

Why the love for the place amazes me. Dick Wilson has done better elsewhere.

[Dan Herrmann]

Matt,
Why the love?  It's The King!

[Tim Gavrich]

Chip--

Did you feel that the bunker in front of the 6th green was out of character with the rest?  I notice a few bunkers in other photos where the same practice could have been employed and wasn't.  Is this bunker a guinea-pig for the others or does it stand alone?

The picture of the approach to the 13th green reminds me a lot of the approach to the 17th at the Blue Monster at Doral.  I am a fan of the large, multi-fingered bunkers there and it appears that Laurel Valley has more tame-looking bunkers.  It certainly mutes the course a bit, visually. 

[Wayne Freeman]

 I'm sort of with Matt on this one.  For years I've been trying to get on LV having heard from several people that it was awesome.  I must say that I'm pretty underwhelmed by the pictures.  Is it really the type of course that you would drop everything and take the next flight out given the opportunity to play it?

[Carl Nichols]

Wayne-
I would say no. It's good, it's a cool place, but not worth a flight just for it. But a 3 hour drive? Sure!

[Michael Huber]

I'm surprised that how relatively flat LV is compared to other courses in the area.  Ligonier is a nice little town.

[Matt_Ward]

Laurel Valley benefits from the main man who is nearby.

Great golf area but how the layout ever got rated in the top 100 astounds me.

Dick Wilson did some first rate designs -- those who see LV as being one of them need to play a few more of his courses.

[Chip Gaskins]

Matt-
I have heard it does often play very wet.  Like I said the day we played it had rained several inches the night before.

I have not played any other Dick Wilson courses so I can't compare.  Laurel Valley was good fun though.


Michael-
I some spots its pretty flat, but in some spots is a tough walk, especially around the turn and up to the new #11 tee.

Tim-
I can't say I have ever really seen a bunker like that on #6.  Especially with all the others being surrounded by rough.  It was also a little perplexing because it sort of sits on a convex spot, versus what you would see as a concave "gathering" bunker if that makes sense.

[Matt_Ward]

Chip:

Would you place LV among your personal top 25 courses ?

If not 25 -- would it make top 100 ?

I don't see the course being such a big deal -- get a few major events and it's amazing how the profile of just about ANY course can be elevated.

[Bill Satterfield]

Matt, I played Laurel Valley last year and thought it was a nice track and enviornment to play in.  It isn't in my personal Top 25, or not even quite my Top 50, but comfortably in my personal Top 100 courses.  Of course, Sahalee and The Preserve are outside of my Top 50 as well and appeal to me on a similar level to Laurel Valley.  Laurel Valley is a solid track.  I would put it in the category of Headwaters (Victor, ID), Southern Highlands (Las Vegas), Circling Raven (N. Idaho), Glenwild (UT), and Atlanta Athletic Club (Riverside).

I believe that Laurel Valley is currently #77 on Golf Digest's list.  Some courses that aren't in the Top 100 that I prefer over Laurel Valley are as follows:  Yale, Snake River Sporing Club (WY), Wolf Creek (NV), Whispering Pines (TX), Desert Highlands (AZ), Minikahda and Windsong Farm (MN).

That being said, I like it more than Winged Foot East which currently sits at #65 on Golf Digest's Top 100 list.

[Matt_Ward]

Bill:

Thanks.

I have played Headwaters, Southern Highlands, Circling Raven, Glenwild and ACC. I don't see LV being in that league of courses -- save for Headwaters and Circiling Raven and I am being generous.

LV is not one of Dick Wilson's top tier layouts -- Pine Tree, NCR and Meadowbrook on LI are a better choice in my mind, to name three alone. LV benefited from AP being in the area -- the club also parlayed its connections to host a Ryder Cup and PGA and US Sr. Open.

Bill, you lost me in saying LV is ahead of WF/E -- try to specify that one please. The Tillie layout is not long -- it's about 600 yards shorter than LV and yet still plays marvelously because of the nature of the greensites which trumps what you have at LV.

The issue is not whether it's a "nice track" or the "environement" is appealing. I don't see the design elements that make the course special -- special enough to be a top 100 course. I've played my share of layouts and frankly, as I stated before, the major events previously hosted have pushed the course to the high level. People just automatically assume that a major site being contested at your place means greatness. As you likely know -- it doesn't.