[Bill McKinley]

Fox Chapel Golf Club is located in Western PA just northeast of Pittsburgh in a very nice old town suburb called Fox Chapel.  I'm not too sure about much of the club's history but I do know that the golf course was designed and built by Seth Raynor and opened for play in 1923.  I'm not certain, but from the pictures it appears that Charles "Steamshovel" Banks also helped Raynor out at this site.  There are many deep bunkers and steep slopes off the greens into bunkers, a Raynor characteristic indeed, but also Banks was noted for this trait as well, especially during the 1920s.

I played Fox Chapel in the middle of July this year and it was a really hot day, but a great day.  It was my first Raynor and I was very excited to play and very curious as to what my impressions would be.  To make a long story short, I loved the place...

The Clubhouse sits up on a hill looking over the 1st fairway.  The locker room was a really cool old locker room with great old photos of the course being built and early play on the golf course.  There's a really nice patio that I'm sure gets tons of business where members and their guests can dine outside overlooking the golf course.
This picture was taken as we were walking off the 18th green...


Here are the stats:

Par: 35-35 - 70
Yardage
Blue Tees: 6696  73.9/135
White Tees: 6318  72.1/133
Green Tees: 5798  70.0/128
Red Tees: 5665  74.1/131

1st Hole  
Par 4 418/403

Away

A dogleg right with a pretty wide fairway.  There are a couple bunkers on the left that you do not want to be in.  The tee shot is pretty much straight away, then the 2nd plays over to the right.

From the tee..


From the fairway.  The green slopes away from you and from left to right.  A run up shot is the proper play, especially if you were playing this course in the 20's or 30s!


From right in front of the green.  You can see the squared off trait there and that the green as some pretty good slope from here to the back right portion.  A great starting hole.

[Bill McKinley]

2nd Hole
Par 5 483/473

Punchbowl

After you cross Fox Chapel road, you come to #2 tee.  The tee shot on this hole plays uphill to a blind landing area.  There are 3 little pot bunkers on the left hand side that can ruin your chance to have a go at this great green structure in 2.  Chances are, it is still a blind shot in to the punchbowl green if you're going for it in two, but a really fun shot none the less!!

From the tee...


From the fairway as the green reveals itself.  Many shots can be played left of the green and come down into the bowl after kicking off the steep slope.  The front right bunker is not a good place to be.


Here you can see the steep bank on the left side of the green


Looking back at the hole from behind the green.  Notice the canted fairway that will make it difficult to keep the ball to the left and easy to push it right in the bunker.  Great design on a short par 5!


Another look at the green, focusing on the well protected right corner, making a right edge pin very tough to get to, even from close range.

[Bill McKinley]

3rd Hole
Par 3 197/159

Eden

After the thrilling 2nd hole, you come to the 1st of Raynor's template par 3s.  Eden is a beautiful par 3 that plays from an elevated tee over a pond that is actually named Glade Lake.  It is a long shot from the back tees that plays shorter than the yardage, but thank goodness because this green is very well fortified with bunkers!  And deep ones at that!  Its difficult tee shot because it is hard to know the distance that the shot is playing.  You're hitting out of a shoot so you can't feel the wind, it's long, but downhill, but the front bunker is no good, but the back bunkers are worse.  Good luck!

From the tee...


Somebody hit in the front right bunker!  I don't think i could see the flag from that greenside bunker


From behind the green.  The green slopes from back to front and there's a ridge in the middle.  That was probably one of the easier hole locations, as balls could hit in the middle of the green and funnel down to that flag

[Bill McKinley]

4th Hole
Par 4 485/437

Long

Long is right!  This par 4 is actually a couple yards longer than the 2nd hole, which is a par 5.  The back tee, which we played, is pretty close to the 3rd green and right next to Squaw Run Rd.  Pretty certain that it's not an original tee, but I have seen some things that suggest Fox Chapel was a par 71 at one time.  But, I don't think it was this hole that used to be a par 5, more on that later!

On the 4th hole, you need to well struck shots to get to this green in regulation.  The tee shot is straight away and you don't want to miss left.  There is a big bunker there and the hole drops off into a creek on the left as well.

From the tee...


From the fairway.  As you can see, the run up shot here is the play.  You will almost undoubtably be hitting a long club into the green for your 2nd, so it was necessary to give the player the option of running the ball onto the green.

[Ronald Montesano]

Hole # 1...perhaps the fastest opening-green experience I've ever had. Thought I whiffed the putt and it kept going, crawling to the hole. This course is so unique and so entertaining, the membership is fortunate to have it to play on a daily basis.

[PCCraig]

Wow...great pictures. Looking forward to the last 14 holes.

[George Pazin]

Nice pics, Bill, looking forward to the rest.

A couple items of interest:

The course underwent a fairly significant restoration by Brian Silva, I believe in the late 90s. The difference between the before and after is rather striking. They - Silva and the membership - have done a terrific job restoring the bold features; pics from just before look somewhat bland. There were three people on here who have shared fairly extensively about Fox Chapel; unfortunately, one of them passed away and another is no longer contributing to this site (and we are all lesser for it).

As terrific as your pics are, they suffer from the same problem most do: in going from 3 dimensional real life to 2 dimensional photography, much of the dramatic contour is lost. I was flat out stunned at how much the 3rd green (Eden) slopes back toward the water, for instance.

Fox Chapel is a wonderful place, and the membership does a terrific job of presenting the course. Hats off to them.

Now, let's see the rest!

[Ronald Montesano]

Hole # 2 lets you know that you are in for a diverse, sensory-awakening round. I think that 3-metal is the play off the tee, to take the bunkers out of play. Followed by a hybrid off the left side, avoiding the right bunker, you have a run at an eagle or birdie. I seem to recall the green as small and challenging.

[Jason Topp]

73.9 is a very high course rating for a course of less than 6700 yards. 

[Ronald Montesano]

Jason,

There are a fair number of holes where, if you try to cut the corner or take the line of charm and miss, you will be severely punished. Add to that greens that are Oakmont-quick and incredibly sloped/undulating and the course's rating comes into context.

George,

I think that one of the boldest features of the course is the squared-off green fronts. If you've never seen this feature before, it really catches your eye. The greens, for the most part, are quite large, adding to the impact of the geometric patterning.

[Bill McKinley]

George,

Thank you for the insight into the Silva restoration!  I thought that happened but I wasn't sure so I didn't want to post it.

Jason,

Yes, I agree with Ronald's statement about the course rating, and some of the holes play longer than the yardage indicates due to how you have to play the dogleg or the fact that the green is elevated, like #8, which you will see shortly.

[Jason Topp]

Jason,

Yes, I agree with Ronald's statement about the course rating, and some of the holes play longer than the yardage indicates due to how you have to play the dogleg or the fact that the green is elevated, like #8, which you will see shortly.

Thanks Bill.  I am looking forward to the tour.

[Bill McKinley]

5th Hole
Par 4 342/330

Cape

The 5th hole is a short par 4 that when you stand on the tee, appears to be just a straightaway hole that you just need to avoid the creek on the left and the bunker on the right.  I was excited to see what the Cape hole looked like, and from the tee I didn't think it was much of a Cape.  However, once you get to the fairway, you realize that you want to try to get your tee shot down the left side and carry as much of the creek as you can to give you a better angle for a wedge shot to an elevated green.  Again, great design that reveals itself as you play the hole and after you play it.

From the tee...


From the fairway to the tapletop green


Big steep slope on the left greenside bunker.  Very severe!


One last look at the green

[Bill McKinley]

6th Hole
Par 3 192/178

Redan

The 2nd of the Raynor template par 3s is the Redan 6th hole.  It's actually a reverse redan in that the green slopes from front left to back right and there's a deep bunker guarding the right side.  I was excited to play a true Raynor Redan hole so I could sling a nice draw in there, but the certainly wasn't the play on this hole!

I nice tree with character behind the tee


From the tee zoomed in...


Front right bunker...


The big slope on the left edge of the green

[Bill McKinley]

7th Hole
Par 4 295/287

Alps

A short uphill par 4 that gives you a pretty good chance to hit it on or around the green off the tee.  It does play a little bit uphill but not too much.  It is a very tight run up area, probably only about 20 feet wide but one of my playing partners was able to drive it on the green through the narrow opening.

From the tee...


Here's the narrow opening in front of the green.  A back right hole location would be tough to get close too but today's spot was pretty accessible.

[Carl Nichols]

Bill-
Maybe the pictures don't tell the whole story, but on the Cape hole, hugging the left side doesn't seem to give you that much better of an angle (especially with a wedge), and since it's a pretty short hole, cutting off the angle doesn't seem to matter from a distance perspective, so the risk of trying to stay left doesn't seem worth it.  Am I missing something?

[Ronald Montesano]

Carl, I think the fairway is flatter on the left, so less chance of tugging the ball into the junk on the left of the green. In addition, if you draw a frame, whether playing draw or fade in, you can work the ball from either green edge. Not true from the right side of the fairway, where you have that awkward "hope I don't pull this into the sand or worse" sensation. You would have to start a draw out right of the green from the right side of the fairway, bringing the trees and OB into play.

On #6, I had a lightning-quick slider from front left to that same pin position. Had to take it up high, I did, and it took off. I might have made the second or third putt on that green, if memory serves.

[PCCraig]

The green on the Cape hole looks pure!

[Bill McKinley]

Bill-
Maybe the pictures don't tell the whole story, but on the Cape hole, hugging the left side doesn't seem to give you that much better of an angle (especially with a wedge), and since it's a pretty short hole, cutting off the angle doesn't seem to matter from a distance perspective, so the risk of trying to stay left doesn't seem worth it.  Am I missing something?

Carl, yeah pictures don't tell the whole story, but as Ronald said, the lie is flatter and the green opens up more from the left side as opposed to the right.  The green cuts back and to the right so especially if there's a back right hole location you really need to be on the left to get close to the flag.  It's not the best Cape hole in the world, but it definitely has more "Cape traits" then meet the eye the first time you play it from the tee.  Thanks for looking!

[Bill McKinley]

8th Hole
Par 4 475/733

Plateau

Wow.  What a great hole this is!  A very long par 4 that plays from an elevated tee to a fairway bending to the right, then uphill to a green guarded by a DEEP slope on the right into a bunker.  There are also a few bunkers to the left side of the green as well, but they are pretty much at green level.  I was very impressed by this hole.

From the tee...


From the fairway.  The trees that you see behind the green are a good 100 yards behind it.  It has that infinity look to it and it's really tough to judge the distance, especially from 190-210 yards out.  There was a back hole location that day too so it was really difficult to feel comfortable hitting your shot.  The deep bunker on the right is very intimidating


The right side bunker...


Not where you want to be!


The left greenside bunkers.  Very nice

[Ronald Montesano]

Raynor could not make a hole like 8 any easier...he begs you to stay left, yet so many go for the green in two and make 6 or 7. I had forgotten this hole and I cannot imagine how. There may not be a better half-shot-plus hole on the course than 8, to go with the half-shot-minus hole that is #2.

[Bill McKinley]

Raynor could not make a hole like 8 any easier...he begs you to stay left, yet so many go for the green in two and make 6 or 7. I had forgotten this hole and I cannot imagine how. There may not be a better half-shot-plus hole on the course than 8, to go with the half-shot-minus hole that is #2.

Very well said Ronald!

[George Pazin]

Some old Fox Chapel threads. Doesn't look like any pics are still alive, but worth a read:

Two delightful Pittsburgh courses

Fox Chapel and the Curtis Cup

Two holes at Fox Chapel

[Bill McKinley]

9th Hole
Par 4 450/410

Dustpan

The final hole of the 1st nine is a long straightaway par four with a long skinny green.  The green is set down in a mini punchbowl but is open in the front.

From the fwy...


In the front of the green, you can see the little mounds around the green.  It makes you chip shots difficult because they are either on a down slope and really short or they're a little longer and have to be played high and soft.  You can also see the squared off effect in the front of the green here.


From behind the green.  Long, narrow green.

[Tom Bagley]

Fox Chapel is one of the most enjoyable golf courses I have ever played.  The bunkers are quite severe - and the fairway bunkers often require a wedge out - but the course always provides you with plenty of room to play. 

The variety of approach shots - on the front nine especially - make the golf always interesting.  A long approach is often followed by a short approach and vice-versa.  The course never becomes one long slog after another, but it most definitely does not play "short."  There are many demanding long approaches, but also many wedge shots and half-wedges that are equally testing - particularly if the tee shot is not positioned well.

Tremendous variety.  Loads of fun.  Thoroughly challenging.  Beautifully conditioned.  Fox Chapel passes the "you could play it every day" test as well as the "walk in the park" test.  It is a course very much worth seeing - and playing!

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