CC of York (York, PA; Donald Ross, 1927): a photo tour (broken links fixed!)

[Jim Sherma]

I really wanted to get back to this thread and complete some thoughts on the back nine. It's been a while since we played this round and I CC of York has aged well in my memories. The back nine is definitely on some tough terrain but Ross handled it well and made for a pretty nice walk given the land. Some of the highlights and thoughts below:

#11.  Down-then-up par 4 (427 yards).

Tee view with the heavily canted fw:

The lack of visibility due to the length of the tee box really made this uncomfortable for me. Stepping the tee box to allow one to see down towards the landing area would be a great improvement in my opinion.



See what I mean?!:





The next three holes at York skirt along the southeastern edge of the property, with some severe elevation changes.  It is interesting to see how Flynn's plan proposed to use, or not use, parts of this area of the property.

This was the start of a really cool stretch of golf.
#13.  Uphill, dogleg right par 4 (306 yards).

Tee view, where many will just bunt something out there as distance isn't demanded:
I like the occaisional hole where you really feel the need to place a tee ball.



#14.  Downhill, slight dogleg left par 5 (528 yards).

Here is another par 5 where I think your better players will hope for bird.  If you hit a little hard draw off the tee, like one of my playing partners did, you have an iron in.

The first of back to back par 5's. Figuring out the best approach to playing this hole over multiple playings would be interesting. I turned it over and had 190 or so in from the middle of the fairway while another player didn't quite get enough turn and went through the fairway and was blocked out for his second.

Tee view:



A decent drive makes a good decision:  do you try to reach the green from maybe 240+ downhill, or, hit say a short iron past the steep slope about 150 yards short of the green to leave a flip wedge or similar.

Given how severe misses around the green are treated I am not sure that a 3-wood->lay up to the lower fairway isn't the best play day in day out. I could easily see a lot of big numbers resulting from guys being agressive here.



The conservative approach executed properly leaves a little shot like this in.  Note left is pretty much dead.



This view taken from the back right corner of the green (right next to the fan; yeah, I think this green needs it) which is heavily tilted back to front:



#15.  Slight dogleg left par 5 (489 yards).

That in reality par 4.5 is followed by another par 5, but also really a par 4.5.  Just over the last green you come down some steep stairs for an elevated tee shot.

A good drive leaves a nice look back to the previous green and this hole's tees:

The photo does not do justice to this slope. The drop off from the back of 14's green down to the bottom must be 80 feet or so. It is a serious drop off.



View from short and left of the green:

This green has some serious internal movement as did 14. I have no problem with par fives having serious defense at the green given that you are likely hitting something short into them or putting for eagle



Look back down the hole from the back of the green:



#16.  Uphill par 4 (404 yards; No 2 stroke hole).

Tee view:

Wow! When I came down off of 15's green and saw this hole I was blown away. Just as the picture back up to 15's tee did not do justice to the elevation change neither does this one. This is a serious hill up to the green and even a good drive leaves a heck of a shot to try to get up there,



Uphill approach to a very deep, multi-tiered green:



From short and left of the green, an awesome hole location on the very back, small tier:

Awesome green, The back pin we played must add a good half stroke to the hole if not more.



Look from over the green, those stairs leading up to the next tee:



#17.  Slightly uphill par 3 (174 yards).

From short and right of the green:

This bunker left of the green got Sherma, having hit it into the tiny little slit at the top of it:

The little notch to the left is where I ended up and it is not a good spot as there is just not enough room to get a decent swing on the ball. Definitely a spot to avoid.



#18.  Par 4 (391 yards).

The further the drive down this fairway the more the right to left tilt. I turned one over down the right side and left myself 90-100 yards in from the middle of the fiarway. The ball was quite a bit above my feet and any right side pins would have been very demanding from there. Laying back some for a flatter lie might be preferable. You can see the progressively steepening tilt from this photo.

Look back down the hole from over the greeen:

I'm going to be headed back to CC of York before the season ends and am looking forward to another good day out on this excellent Ross course.

[Chris Mavros]

What a nice looking course and great thoughts/photos of it as well.  Like others, I'm in the Philadelphia area and haven't heard much about this course, which surprises me considering its quality.  I'm a big fan of Ross and one of the things that stuck out to me are the size of the greens.  I'm not sure I have come across greens that large on a Ross course, but they seem very well done with ridges and undulations that are consistent with his style of fairways and greens.  

[Steve Kline]

The Ross greens at Hyde Park in Cincinnati are quite large. Many of the guys in the GCA outing there earlier this year were surprised at how large the greens were.

[Joel Pear]

I've had the opportunity/pleasure of playing this course many times as my in-laws are long time members.  Sadly, many of the rounds have been in December when we are visiting for the holidays, but have spent many terrific days there.

The course has a terrific flow, as has been said, and really demands lots of different shots.  It plays much longer than it's stated yardage, and you very seldom have a flat lie.  It starts off with a pretty benign par 4.  While not a really long hitter, I can get it out there pretty well, and typically hit a driver and try and take it over the left fairway bunker.  

The par 5s while not long, present their own challenges.  Number 14 is, I think, a fabulous hole.  A driver too far down the right side that doesn't turn over will go through the fairway and into the trees.  There is also out of bounds left.  That being said, it really isn't a tight driving hole.  The fun begins on the second shot.  A decent drive or 3-wood leaves about 220 yards off a downhill lie to a green that if missed is big trouble.  If you lay up to the lower level, it is still a tough wedge because anything left is dead.  There is also a ton of movement in the green.

I could go on an on about the course and its holes, but don't want to bore everyone.  My favorite holes besides #14, are 5, 8, 11, and 16.  I have probably 4-putted the 16th green more times than I have 2-putted it.  Oh, and a bit of CCY trivia, Hunter Mahan defeated Camillo Villegas there in the finals of the 1998 USGA Jr. Am.

[Joe Bausch]

The Pennsylvania Open is being contested at CC of York, with the 2nd round today.  Here are the first round scores:

http://www.ghintpp.com/pagolf/TPPOnlineScoring/ResultsStroke.aspx?id=74

[Joe Bausch]

Bumping this thread as I fixed all the broken URLs (Sherma:  perhaps you can fix the URL's in your couple of posts; I can tell you how to do it if it isn't obvious).