[Jon Cavalier]

18th at Stonewall North


18th at Stonewall Old


I'm a huge fan of Stonewall - I've always thought that while the North is a fine course in its own right, it's close to a perfect second course to the Old course. The two are so different that they provide the perfect complement to one another.

5th at French Creek


French Creek is also a blast. It's a marvel that Elverson ended up with 3 of the 5 best modern courses in the Philadephia area, and all border one another.

[MCirba]

I had the opportunity to play both courses at Stonewall again this year. I've decided that I like the North Course better but I'm not sure if that means it's a better golf course.  I think that question is very much up for debate.

[Joe Bausch]

The mid-am is at Stonewall this coming year.


Here is my traditional presentation of the course from our visit last weekend:


http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/StonewallNorth/

[MCirba]

I pondered the question this week as to what critical reaction Stonewall North would have received if it had been the first course built at the club.   

That got me wondering...is there any successful modern club with a well-received first course where any additional courses built at the club were given a fair shake by way of comparison?

Also, in the case of Stonewall North, it reminded me of Renaissance Club in a way in that it receives very little outside play, again probably at least partly responsible for the somewhat 'under the radar' critical acclaim.

[Matt Frey, PGA]

Mike: Club or facility? I don't know if you would consider Bandon Dunes...perhaps that's in it's own ballpark.


Cabot Cliffs from what I have heard?

[MCirba]

Club, Matt.   

The Resort model is almost the opposite, but for some reason at club's a second course seems to immediately get the stigma of a "relief" or "overflow" course.

Just my impression.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Tom,


Great call on reversing what was Fazio's 10th hole, making your 18th. That's one of the prettiest looks down to a green anywhere in golf! Beautiful setting, bunkers .. and those old stone buildings make it feel so appropriately quaint.


A spectacular way to finish the round, there.

[Sean Leary]

I pondered the question this week as to what critical reaction Stonewall North would have received if it had been the first course built at the club.   

That got me wondering...is there any successful modern club with a well-received first course where any additional courses built at the club were given a fair shake by way of comparison?

Also, in the case of Stonewall North, it reminded me of Renaissance Club in a way in that it receives very little outside play, again probably at least partly responsible for the somewhat 'under the radar' critical acclaim.

Devils Paintbrush is actually considered better  than its older sister.

Dismal obviously is another depending on whether you consider the white to be well received at first or not.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom,


Great call on reversing what was Fazio's 10th hole, making your 18th. That's one of the prettiest looks down to a green anywhere in golf! Beautiful setting, bunkers .. and those old stone buildings make it feel so appropriately quaint.

Jeff:


Believe it or not, when I decided to reverse the routing, we still hadn't figured out where to place the green on the 18th.  It took me months to figure it out, actually.  One of the founders was still hopeful we would find a way to have the 18th green down by the pond [even if it required a crossover on #9] so I kept being distracted by that and not looking far enough left. 


While we were working on the back nine, there was some talk about demolishing the building that's now to the left of the green, and I just had a feeling that would ruin the backdrop.  I went up and stared at that hole every day for about three weeks, and made the founders walk up there with me a couple of times, to convince them the building had to stay.  [They call it the Doak building now, because I wouldn't let them tear it down.]  Then, one day I suddenly understood that old curved wall behind the green couldn't end in the middle of the green ... the green would fit better if it felt contained by the wall ... and that's when I looked further left, up against the building.  Can't believe it took that long to see it!

[Jeff_Mingay]

Great story, Tom .. great result!

[Tim_Weiman]

Tom,


Great call on reversing what was Fazio's 10th hole, making your 18th. That's one of the prettiest looks down to a green anywhere in golf! Beautiful setting, bunkers .. and those old stone buildings make it feel so appropriately quaint.


A spectacular way to finish the round, there.

The second shot on #18 at Stonewall is one of my favorite shots in golf.

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