It is about to snow again tomorrow so no golf for awhile.
But back in November I was fortunate to play Bala, one of the oldest clubs in Philly. One of only two private clubs actually in the city of Philadelphia (Torresdale-Frankford being the other).
Their web page has a nice, concise summary of their history:
Founded in 1897, Bala Golf Club has a long and storied history.
The roots of the Bala Golf Club reach back to the spring of 1893 when two men - George Reach and Charles Hickman - watched a well-dressed foursome play the links along a City Avenue golf course. Getting the idea to start their own club, the two men joined with a group of prominent Philadelphians and purchased a plot of farmland just inside the city limits on Belmont Avenue - a location that was easily accessible by trolley or train and built a course on the site, roughly half way between the original homes of Philadelphia Country Club and Overbrook Country Club.
That site, laid out by Willie Tyler, provided the club members with a 9 hole, 2,747 yard layout with a par of 35 1/2. Although the original course was higly regarded, the pressure to go to an 18 hole course convinced the membership to act, and, in 1923, William S. Flynn, a noted designer (among them, Rolling Green, Huntington Valley, Cherry Hills in Denver, The Country Club in Brookline, Seaview, Shinnecock Hills, and Lancaster CC), was brought in to renovate the course. Flynn's challenge was to build nine additional holes, fold them into the Tyler design, and fit it all into the existing acreage. He succeeded admirably.
Over the years, many of the original golf clubs that lined City Avenue at one time, succumbed to the pressure of the burgeoning city and relocated their entire Club to a more suburban locale. Prestigious Philadelphia Country Club was originally located on the site of the old Adam's Mark Hotel. Infact, when they moved to their new home in Gladwyne in 1939, Bala Golf Club "inherited" many of their greens and they are still being used today by our Members.
Hosting of the 1952 US Women's Open (won by Louise Suggs) and the grooming of renowned amateur champion, Jay Sigel, are among Bala's most notable contributions to the game.Here is the routing in 1922 I found in a Philly newspaper:
Not much has changed over the years, as here is the current hole-sequencing on top of a Google Earth aerial:
Just one pic per hole in this tour! All holes are clickable to 1400 pixels wide.
#1. Approach shot on this par 4.
#2. Downhill approach shot on this par 4.
#3. Tee view on this short, very interesting, dogleg right par 4 (321 yards).
#4. Tee view on the par 3 (201 yards).
#5. Approach shot on a dogleg-left par 4.
#6. View from over the green (tree down from H'cane Sandy; thankfully no real damage to the green) on this 133 yard par 3:
#7. Tee view on this 392 yard par 4 (No 1 stroke hole):
#8. Approach shot on this par 4.
#9. Slightly uphill par 3 (170 yards).
#10. Second shot view on this only par 5 on the course.
#11. Approach shot on this dogleg-right par 4.
#12. Approach shot on this uphill par 4.
#13. Slightly downhill par 3 (181 yards).
#14. View from just over the green on this par 4.
#15. Approach shot on this dogleg-right par 4.
#16. Downhill par 3 (97 yards).
#17. Aerial approach required on this dogleg-left par 4.
#18. View from over the green on the closing par 4.
Short course yardage wise, but it is a handful. Slope of 130, par 68, with a rating 66.8. Lots of subtle stuff on the greens.