[Joe Bausch]

The Women's Western Golf Association 114th National Amateur Championship started this morning (http://www.wwga.org/) at Lancaster Country Club and runs until Saturday (June 23-28).  The specific web page for pairings, scores, results, is here:

http://www.wwga.org/WWGA.org/2014_Amateur.html

Some data for the event:

144 players
Handicaps between +3.4 to 6.7 (87 players between 0.0 – +3.4)
Golf course set-up:  6,201 yards, par 72 (rating 77.0 and slope of 144)
25 states represented (19 players from Pennsylvania)
11 foreign countries represented (17 from Canada)

Past champions include:  Patty Berg (8 times!), Louise Suggs, JoAnne Gunderson Carner, Nancy Lopez, Beth Daniel, Cristie Kerr, Grace Park, Brittany Lang, and Stacy Lewis.

I was at the Club last Friday and I've never seen it playing better.  Perhaps I'll see you there.

Oh, BTW, the 70th U.S. Women's Open will be at Lancaster CC next year.  

I'll start later today a new photo tour of the course, 3 holes a day for the next 6 days.

[Joe Bausch]

Here is some of the history of Lancaster CC from the GAP web site:

By 1915 the club had become so popular that the membership was closed at 280. Immediately following World War I some 65 additional acres were acquired. In December, 1919, William Flynn was hired to lay out nine new holes and remodel the existing nine. Flynn, then the 29-year-old head greenkeeper at Merion, had worked alongside Hugh Wilson in the construction of Merion’s East and West courses and would, over the next 25 years, establish himself as one of America’s outstanding golf course architects.

Work began under Flynn’s direction in the spring of 1920. The new course was playable early in the summer of 1921, after rock-picking-up parties of members and caddies helped clear the new fairways. Flynn was paid $44.92 per month for the ten months required of his time and genius.

Particularly worth noting is that, three months after Flynn accepted this assignment, H. Roy Eshelman was elected to the board of governors and not long afterwards appointed to the post of grounds committee chairman. Though consistently declining to accept the presidency, Eshelman nevertheless ran the club for the next 25 years, a benevolent dictator in the tradition of Charles Blair Macdonald, William Fownes, and John Arthur Brown.

Obviously with great regard and respect for one another, Eshelman and Flynn worked hand in glove to create the superb golf facility that Lancaster Country Club members would come to enjoy in the years that lay ahead. Flynn actually served as a consultant to the club from 1919 till he died in 1945, always on a retainer and providing continuous service. He even established a turf farm on Roy Eshelman’s property, adjacent to the course, where he cultivated bent grass sod. It is safe to say that Eshelman took full advantage of Flynn’s frequent trips to Lancaster and made no alterations to the golf holes without the architect’s thinking and support.

Here is the hole-sequencing from an annotated May 2010 Google Earth aerial.



I love the routing and the back nine in particular, where after the 10th hole goes out, there is a loop of 3 holes bringing you back to near the 10th green, then another loop of 4 holes coming back to the same area, following by a challenging uphill closing hole.

And here is the scorecard:

[Rory Connaughton]

Thanks for posting Joe.
There are some great players here this week.
The Women's Western Golf Association has been great to work with.
Come one come all if you have any free time.

[Joe Bausch]

Ok, here goes the first three holes, all 2-shotters.

[all pictures below are 'clickable' to give a much larger size]

#1. This par 4 gently runs downhill.  A fairly easy hole where those fw bunkers get plenty of action. [These pics are from October 2012]





Plenty of right to left slope in this green:



While playing the 1st you observe to the right the 9th hole coming back to the clubhouse.  After the 1st you crossover the 9th tee to get to the 2nd tee.

#2.  Slightly uphill dogleg left par 4.  This hole looks so easy...but you really need to hit the fw, which is very sloped in most places from right to left.



June 2014 view where (one tree behind the green was removed improving the vista) staying below the hole is important:



More nice colors from the fall of 2012:



When you are walking up the 2nd fw the trees left prevent seeing the huge elevation change and the 7th hole many feet below.  But as soon as you get up to the 2nd green the view is tremendous.  Kinda like this from May of 2014, with the 3rd hole to the right, the par 3 6th green to the left:



#3.  Par 4.  Here you tee off from a very elevated tee:



For many the approach shot will be obscured as the hole runs significantly uphill.  If you bomb your drive you can get a clean look at the green (a pic from last Friday morning):



A spring 2014 view, looking back down the hole from over the green:



Love the start at Lancaster, and I really like the next three holes before re-crossing the water at the 7th.  I'll put up three more tomorrow.

[J_ Crisham]

One of the great courses in America- it will shine next year for the Women's Open and receive the exposure it deserves. Some of Flynn's best work.

[Adam Clayman]

Great sequences throughout this course, and, with the tree removal, it looks even more impressive.

Thanx Joe.

[BCowan]

Joe,
   
    Very impressive.  I have a question about the tee shot on #7, I'll wait till you post it.  The seasonal contrast is really cool too. 

[Joe Bausch]

One of the great courses in America- it will shine next year for the Women's Open and receive the exposure it deserves. Some of Flynn's best work.

I'd like to disagree with you Jack, but if I did I would be lying. 

Lancaster is really special.

Tom Doak sort of likes it, too!   

[J_ Crisham]

One of the great courses in America- it will shine next year for the Women's Open and receive the exposure it deserves. Some of Flynn's best work.

I'd like to disagree with you Jack, but if I did I would be lying. 

Lancaster is really special.

Tom Doak sort of likes it, too!   

Joe,  Lancaster is a club you never get tired playing- great combo of short and long par 4's and a terrific set of par 3's. In addition to being a stern challenge it is just plain fun. Why this course isn't in the top 40 US classics is a head scratcher.

[John Burnes]

Joe-

A question about course evolution: To your knowledge, is the routing original or was it changed over the years?

[Tim Martin]

Jack and Joe- I agree wholeheartedly with your love for Lancaster. There is plenty of elevation change and no shortage of interesting landforms which allowed Flynn to really shine. As Jack mentioned there are a great mix of holes and I really think the course plays longer than the card yardage. It should be a great venue for Women's US Open next year and anyone that is a a fan of William Flynn should beg, borrow and steal to get a trip around Lancaster.

[Scott Warren]

I was blown away by Flynn when I played Rolling Freen and Lancaster in August 2012.

The way he handled steep land was the best I've seen.

Likewise the mixture of hole lengths and shotmaking requirements, particularly at Lancaster.

And some unique holes, such as 4 & 12.

Joe, thanks for the thread. Looking forward to the rest of the holes.

[Rory Connaughton]

John

Flynn started work at Lancaster in 1919. He had a close relationship with the green chair, Roy Eshelman, and continued there for approximately 25 years. Holes 3-6, the other side of the Conestoga river, were not part of the original course. Flynn took the course across the river in the early 1940's and a number of holes in the clubhouse side of the river were abandoned or reconfigured. The practice chipping area is actually the old 9th green. The lower tee for three was originally a green (drop shot par three with nothing but river behind it). Of

[Rory Connaughton]

John

I forgot to add that 2 green and 16 green are not original Flynn. They were relocated in the early 1960's with the help of the Gordons . William (not sure about David) had been the construction supervisor when the course went accross the river.

[JNagle]

John -

The image below shows the two holes which were abandoned and replaced (including the drop-shot par 3 Rory mentioned) with holes 3, 4, 5 & 6)



The corner where the 13th green is located has also been modified.  The 13th played straight to a green on a property which is know a home site.  There was also a par 3 in there that NLE.

This aerial photo from 1947 (provided by Craig Disher) shows the course in its original configuration with the new holes across the river.

[Joe Bausch]

#4.  A very interesting par 4 with the creek in play all over!  The green is tucked up into a small hill to the right.  I wonder if Mike Davis might move up the tees on this hole one day to tempt any of the ladies...it would be a 225 yard carry to the front of the green from the forward tee (yes, a high cut would be needed!).



From this view near the winding creek you can see the green:



Get too close to the creek with your tee shot, and you have a dicey little wedge:



This view from the 5th fairway better shows the 4th green, where it is imperative to be below the hole as the back to front slope is substantial:



A view back down the hole from over the green:



#5.  A dogleg left par 4.  In this view, you can see part of the green in the bottom left.  You must resist the line of instinct here and instead stay farther right in the fairway where it is flatter.



View of the green from the hill; here you can see one of my playing partners ended up too far left, with a downhill lie in the fairway.



Here's that meandering creek again in play:



A look from behind the green:



#6.  A slightly downhill par 3.



The green is one of the flatter ones on the course, but with some wonderful subtleties:





Three more tomorrow!

[Mark McKeever]

4-6 is my favorite stretch out there.  What a great trio of holes!!  They look easy on the card, but can really screw your round up early if you're not careful!

Mark

[Joe Bausch]

Here is a nice feather in the cap for the Club, this just announced today: 

Mr. Arnold Palmer and United States Golf Association will hold a community celebration in downtown Lancaster on July 5. The Lancaster’s First Swing event will honor the community as host of 2015 U.S. Women’s Open.

[John Shimony]

Mark,
4-6 are not my favorite holes though hole 5 is very nice.  When I think of Lancaster I think of Flynn's sweeping doglegs.  I love the second hole, 14-16 and some others I cannot recall now.  The elevation changes and doglegs define this course for me.  I love it.

[JNagle]

John -

Not to be picky, but it should be noted that 2 & 16 as Flynn designed them played much straighter.  It was not until after his passing that the 2nd and 16th greens were relocated giving the holes the sweep that we see now.  #13 had the sweep imposed upon it as the Club sold a parcel of land where the original green sat. 

The more I have played the course, the more I appreciate the strategies of the 4th and 5th holes.  So much depends on club selection off of the tee and placement of the ball based upon a players comfort level with a particular club into the green.  I especially love the diagonal line established with the 5th green and Stauffer run.  I have played the 4th multiple ways from bombing a tee ball over the pines to the right, laying up with a rescue club, playing as close as possible to the creek short of the green.  Yet, to date, the best play was a pulled tee ball into the hillside left of the fairway and hit a miraculous shot onto the green and one putt. Go figure.

[Terry Lavin]

The first blast of holes looks like a blast to play.

[Joe Bausch]

Here is the course in 1940 (via PennPilot):

[mike_malone]

11.  11.  11.  11

[Joe Bausch]

(still trying to decipher your comment, Mayday!)

#7.  The first of two par 5's.  It nicely runs down the river.  I think your better players will expect to get a stroke back on this hole.

A nice little cut lining up on the walking bridge will serve you well here.



The fairway wiggles a bit to the river-side farther up, so hitting the short stuff with driver isn't so simple.



Play it conservative to leave a short iron in (I really like that they give you a run-up alley to the green, as the stream feeding the pond is piped under at that part):



Here is a nice elevated view of the 7th green from the walking bridge on the next hole:



#8.  Par 3.  This is my favorite par 3 at Lancaster.  I find it very difficult and am surprised it is stroke hole 16.

Here is a very recent view of the hole, which plays significantly uphill.



The green is not big and is pitched from back left to front right.  Being in the front right bunker is preferred to this left bunker:



Nice fall view from behind the green:



#9.  A steadily climbing par 4 heading back to the clubhouse (well, that is the pool house right behind the green).



A recent early morning view:



Another fall view:



Now that was a really fun front 9, eh?  Well, you better have your game together as the back nine will separate the wheat from the chaff.

Those pics begin tomorrow.

[Rory Connaughton]

Joe,

  The handicap thing is simple. The holes are not handicapped on the basis of raw difficulty.  The aim was to give a less talented player a shot on a hole where he was most likely to need it to get a halve.  Since everyone bogies 8 . . .no need for a shot!

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