Sunnehanna CC photo exploration: broken links fixed! (1923 AWT; Johnstown, PA)

[Mark Steffey]

the only holes that are close to 'flat' are the par 3 5th & par 4 12th.  everything else has a change in elevation from tee to green.

there was a short period in 2012 that coincided with the July member/guest where green speeds were retarded.  the course played much easier during this time (i believe as a 6 or 7 i shot a pair of 74s that weekend).  it gave us the perspective of what speeds were when the greens were laid out and players of that era experienced.  this experiment ended quickly and in a member/member that fall i was pin high on #2 chipping from 5 feet off the green to a hole cut on the left side past the bunker that is front left.  my chip ended up rolling past the hole and turned left and rolled off the false front, leaving a 40yd chip.   ouch.  (for perspective - on joe's picture the pin was farther left in front of the pool house and i was roughly between the trees in the background shown.  when i'm there i still go back and drop a ball and chip.  some nights i wake up in a cold sweat from a nightmare replaying a shot that i'll never forget!    )

[Joe Bausch]

the only holes that are close to 'flat' are the par 3 5th & par 4 12th.  everything else has a change in elevation from tee to green.

there was a short period in 2012 that coincided with the July member/guest where green speeds were retarded.  the course played much easier during this time (i believe as a 6 or 7 i shot a pair of 74s that weekend).  it gave us the perspective of what speeds were when the greens were laid out and players of that era experienced.  this experiment ended quickly and in a member/member that fall i was pin high on #2 chipping from 5 feet off the green to a hole cut on the left side past the bunker that is front left.  my chip ended up rolling past the hole and turned left and rolled off the false front, leaving a 40yd chip.   ouch.  (for perspective - on joe's picture the pin was farther left in front of the pool house and i was roughly between the trees in the background shown.  when i'm there i still go back and drop a ball and chip.  some nights i wake up in a cold sweat from a nightmare replaying a shot that i'll never forget!    )

Thanks for that Mark. 

Your check is in the mail.  :-)

[PCCraig]

The 10th hole looks awesome!

You must be easy to shop for around the holidays.   

Really? You don't like themed ties? 

From the pictures, the green looks like it has a bunch of internal contour. I also really like the setting of the hole, unlike a lot of the previous holes in the tour, it's not cluttered up with a bunch of dinky/junky trees.

[Joe Bausch]

#13.  Par 4 (402 yards; 416 back tee).



From John:

A fairly straight-=forward hole with a blind landing area. The player is left with a short iron into another fall-away green. Shots to the left side of the green are especially difficult with a large fall front them a green that works away from the player. This hole at one-time featured a 45 yard fairway bunker on the left side and a massive shared bunker left of the green. These are all in the 1928 aerial.  These bunkers are to be returned and additional fairway bunkers, which were in Tillinghast's original plan, are to be built.

Tee view with a slight rise to carry with the drive:



Approach view:



From short of another front to back sloped green:



#14.  Par 3 (190 yards; 227 all the way back).

When the 11th hole goes back to a par 4, this hole goes back to what is was originally, a short par 4.



From John:

A difficult par 3 from the back tees to a green not designed for the length of the shot. The left third is fairly flat but on the other side of a large spine, the green again works away from the player. The shot is made more difficult because of the prevailing wind, which is behind the player.  Originally a 300 yards par 4, it featured a large barranca that sloped left to right. This made this a very good risk-reward par 4. This was filled in with the spoils when the irrigation ponds were built.

Tee view:



View from back of the green (the original tee for the hole as a par 4 is to the right of the previous green):



#15.  Par 5 (570 yards; 595 gold tees).



From John:

This is a solid par 5 that plays back into the wind. Depending on the drive and the wind, the cross-bunker forces the player to consider his second shot. The approach shot is played into another fall-away green.  This was obviously a double dogleg, which is a concept Tillinghast certainly utilized and wrote about. Five bunkers surrounded the green. A hook bunker sat right of the green, which would require a solid pitch shot. The fairway will be pushed substantially more left off the tee than it presently is. This will bring the previously mentioned shared green side bunker on 13 into play off the tee.

Tee view:



A good second shot carries this bunker to leave the ideal line in (fairway could be taken out farther, IMO):



View from behind the green:



I'll finish up the tour over the weekend.

[Joe Bausch]

Time to finish the tour of the wonderful Sunnehanna (and a reminder that all photos are 'clickable' to a larger size):

#16.  Par 3 (175 yards; 182 tipped).



I really like this uphill par 3.

Tee view:



From just short of the green (this hole could use a picture from an elevated position from behind the green, like with a drone!):



#17.  Dogleg-left par 4 (408 yards; back tee from across the road!).



Our weather is beginning to deteriorate.  D'oh!

Tee view:



Decent drive leaves this view in to another fall-away green:



From short and right of the green:



#18.  Uphill par 4 (350 yards/373 from the gold tees).



Tee view:



Approach view:



From just behind the green, with the lens a bit wet.  ;-)



If you get a chance to see Sunnehanna, I would rearrange the schedule to make it happen.  It's that good and a wonderful journey of classic architecture.

[Mark Steffey]

you can see how the club has really started to take trees out here if you look at the overhead of 18 with the forest pinching the fairway on the left, then compare to the more recent photos where these trees are gone.  the look is so much better and people no longer feel the need to lay back off the tee.

[Joe Bausch]

This I must say is a pretty good photo tour and I've fixed all the broken URLs!

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