My 2019 in Review - An attempt at "Frank Commentary and Discussion"

[mark chalfant]

Mike,


Thank you very much for this wonderful and educational post. Really cool to have a balanced review of these courses "plusses and minuses"


Thank you for the time and effort to develop this stellar post!

[MCirba]

Lancaster Country Club (Meadowcreek/Dogwood) - Lancaster, PA

Unknown 1913, William Flynn 1919-1945, William & David Gordon 1959,1966, Gil Hanse 1996, Ron Forse /Jim Nagle 2006-2018

Doak Scale Score - 8


The Conestoga River running through it and its various creek tributaries add much drama to the golf at Lancaster.

Lancaster Country Club has always benefited from the fact that William Flynn was able to spend over 20 years developing the course, not only tinkering but also making wholesale changes in the 1940s when new land was acquired.   This acquisition, which led to the creation of the "creek holes", 3, 4, 5 & 6, as well as a bold new cape-like tee for the 7th across the river really is the differentiator for me that elevates it from a "great Flynn course", of which the Philadelphia region is blessed with several, to a world-class, exceptional golf course.

The even better news at Lancaster is that under present course management, the club continues to work with Ron Forse & Jim Nagle on an aggressive tree removal program that is breathtaking.   I was stunned looking back at Ran's review from a decade ago to see exactly how over-treed it was at the time.   https://golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/usa/lancaster-country-club/ Today's visitor sees beautiful  long views across the property and the turf has benefited greatly, as well.

Flynn was a routing genius so it's not surprising to find evidence of that gift everywhere you look.   Flynn grouped greens and tees at several high spots throughout the property.   Standing on the tenth green you're a flip wedge shot from two other greens and three tee boxes.   Those high points however mean plenty of uphill approaches into lengthy par fours and there's a stretch of them on 9, 10, & 11 that can be back-breaking.  But where Lancaster takes away, it also gives opportunity, as a string of shortish, gorgeous holes from 2 through 7 provides.

The property itself is almost ideal for golf with rolling terrain falling into the river valley, intersected with creeks and hillocks.   The only drawback is that the river itself has had some flooding issues that the club is trying to mitigate.

The weakest link in the solid flow of holes at Lancaster is the one-dimensional par five buttonhook 13th, which was changed sometime after Flynn died from a medium length par four & uphill par three into its present configuration.   Some alternatives have been discussed by the club and it may be that in coming years Lancaster will be further perfected.

[Joe Bausch]

None of that negates all the good stuff that comes before but it certainly doesn't accent it either.    The course plays in three movements, first on gentle land that could be a course in the English countryside, then falling and rising along a fairly steep slope that cleverly segues with side by side par threes, the long downhill ninth followed by the medium uphill rise of the tenth.   Holes 11 through 16 are across a road and generally make the most of a long, broad fallaway slope before returning to the closers described above.

It's a testament to the greatness of Donald Ross that a course of this high quality was routine to him, and he makes it look easy to this day.

Photos of St. Davids from a visit last month:

http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/StDavids_2019_Nov/index.html

[Joe Bausch]

Flynn was a routing genius so it's not surprising to find evidence of that gift everywhere you look.   Flynn grouped greens and tees at several high spots throughout the property.   Standing on the tenth green you're a flip wedge shot from two other greens and three tee boxes.   Those high points however mean plenty of uphill approaches into lengthy par fours and there's a stretch of them on 9, 10, & 11 that can be back-breaking.  But where Lancaster takes away, it also gives opportunity, as a string of shortish, gorgeous holes from 2 through 7 provides.

More photos of Lancaster from an August 2017 visit:

http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/LancasterCC/index.html

[mike_malone]

Love the Delaware Valley tour. I played Porky Oliver many times when I lived there in the 70’s and early 80’s. It has one great hole (4 when I played there) which was a long four uphill along the property. Several others are fun short fours.

[Thomas Dai]

Mention above of St David's caught my eye in view of the patron saint of a certain principality and I then recalled seeing this old b&W photo now coloured entitled "Golf Links. St David's, Pa."
atb

[MCirba]

Rich Maiden Golf Course - Fleetwood, PA

Jake Merkel 1931,1947

Doak Scale Score - 4


The 158 yard uphill par three 17th to a severely sloping green is one of six short holes on the course.

Jake Merkel had a dream.   The Berks County native handyman who worked building car bodies and houses was living in Detroit when he got bitten by the golf bug, badly.   An opportunity to take a lease option on 91 acres of rolling farmland in his old hometown became available in 1929 and 31 year old Merkel and his wife literally saw a nine hole golf course in their mind's eye.   Little did they know they couldn't have had worse timing, given the impending Great Depression.

Nevertheless, Merkel persisted and by 1931 he built and opened nine holes from scratch.   Audaciously, his par three 4th hole crossed a quarry to a green 10,050 feet large. (sadly no longer existing as the hole was reversed into a dramatic uphill quarry hole)  Four years later the landlord filed for bankruptcy and sold the property to a third party, had Merkel arrested for trespassing even though Merkel was making his payments.   A court battle ensued and Merkel won and soon bought the property himself.

As time progressed and the world came through the Depression and WWII Merkel saw the opportunity to expand on his existing property.   Essentially working around the perimeter and re-routing a few holes he was able to open a full 18 hole course of 5,500 yards, par 70.   Somewhat unusually but quite understandable, the course features six par threes (all of them very good) and four par fives (ditto).   




Whether by genius or kismet, the course features a number of distinct "half-par" holes that are likely more fun to play and even more white-knuckling now with modern technology then they were when created.   The temptation to hit driver is "rewarded" with dicey little pitches to shallow, diagonal greens sloping towards trouble on holes like the third which doglegs right to a perched green sitting on the edge of a quarry, or the straight uphill 300 yard 5th to a skyline green that is tilted sharply right to left and looks about as big as the hood of your car.   

As mentioned, the par threes are all good, the longest of which is 174 yards downhill to a fallaway green in the corner of the property.   The 12th is much like the 4th at LuLu, a 136 yard blind par three where the green sits up atop a quarry cliff wall.   14 features a diagonal green partially hidden behind a diagonally attached bunker.   Most of the holes offer some little twist that make them more challenging than first glance would indicate, often due to the sizing and shaping of the greens, but also due to clever bunker placement.   The course returns to the quarry for the last time on 15, with a green siting along a bridge, rock wall, and outbuilding that is inspired, indeed.

Both nines end with roller coast par fives sweeping downhill and then back up to intense greens sitting aside the modest original clubhouse that doubles as the family home.   

Sadly, Jake Merkel died at age 52 in 1950, having lived long enough to see his dream come to fruition.   

In a perfect world, every town and hamlet would have a Rich Maiden. 

[MCirba]

Olde Stonewall Golf Club - Ellwood City, PA

Michael Hurdzan/Dana Fry 1999

Doak Scale Score - 4 - 0?


Playing at 474 yards from the back tee, the par four 16th hole features a narrow drop shot between Connequenessing Creek left and fairway bunkers right and an approach over wetlands.   (Note that photography tends to flatten elevation change)

It took me til my ninth course of the year to play my first new one in early May, and it was one I'd been eager to visit for some time.   Olde Stonewall Golf Club in western PA has been highly rated among public courses in PA by most of the periodicals, and I have enjoyed the work of Hurdzan & Fry on other courses of theirs I've played, by and large.  (Note - This is NOT Stonewall Golf Club in Elverson, PA, which is also highly regarded in PA)

The course is really in the middle of nowhere so the drive along rural, winding hills to get there was interrupted somewhat  abruptly and incongruously by a giant Medieval-themed castle that serves as the clubhouse.   Somewhat bemused by the ostentatious edifice, I was more concerned about getting out as a single but not to worry...there was hardly anyone else there on a beautiful spring afternoon.

I had intended to walk but was assured in the clubhouse that was not really possible and I soon learned why.   The front nine was a bit of a non-obvious routing that seemed more interested in providing scenic views than sound golf.   

But it's probably because that was the only option on the overall property squeezed between Connequenessing Creek and over 300 feet of rocky, wooded elevation change one needs to navigate on the back nine.   I can't even imagine the construction challenges on such steep boulder strewn terrain, or the costs.   

Imaginatively, they tried to use some of those Stonehedgian slabs of rock to line creeks and build up tees and other retaining walls.

As such, H&F went for the visual drama approach and holes like the back to back all-carry or death par threes on 14 & 15 (202 & 241 yards from the tips, respectively) are the result.   Heck with walking, even the amusement park-like cart ride was daunting on such terrain.

I'd like to say that there some golf holes that played nearly as well as they spectacularly looked, but even the fairly decent low lying holes seemed overshaped and often played awkwardly.   In thinking about it, it may be a classic Doak 0, but the architects never had a fighting chance.

[Joe Bausch]

As mentioned, the par threes are all good, the longest of which is 174 yards downhill to a fallaway green in the corner of the property.   The 12th is much like the 4th at LuLu, a 136 yard blind par three where the green sits up atop a quarry cliff wall.   14 features a diagonal green partially hidden behind a diagonally attached bunker.   Most of the holes offer some little twist that make them more challenging than first glance would indicate, often due to the sizing and shaping of the greens, but also due to clever bunker placement.   The course returns to the quarry for the last time on 15, with a green siting along a bridge, rock wall, and outbuilding that is inspired, indeed.

Both nines end with roller coast par fives sweeping downhill and then back up to intense greens sitting aside the modest original clubhouse that doubles as the family home.   

More photos of Rich Maiden, these from an April 2016 visit:

http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/RichMaiden/index.html

[Jason Thompson]

But Mike, what about the stone(?) animals strewn throughout the property? They have to bring it up to at least a Doak 4.5 right? 





Love the thread by the way, one of my favorites of the year.

Olde Stonewall Golf Club - Ellwood City, PA

Michael Hurdzan/Dana Fry 1999

Doak Scale Score - 4 - 0?


and large.  (Note - This is NOT Stonewall Golf Club in Elverson, PA, which is also highly regarded in PA)

The course is really in the middle of nowhere so the drive along rural, winding hills to get there was interrupted somewhat  abruptly and incongruously by a giant Medieval-themed castle that serves as the clubhouse.   Somewhat bemused by the ostentatious edifice, I was more concerned about getting out as a single but not to worry...there was hardly anyone else there on a beautiful spring afternoon.

I had intended to walk but was assured in the clubhouse that was not really possible and I soon learned why.   The front nine was a bit of a non-obvious routing that seemed more interested in providing scenic views than sound golf.   

But it's probably because that was the only option on the overall property squeezed between Connequenessing Creek and over 300 feet of rocky, wooded elevation change one needs to navigate on the back nine.   I can't even imagine the construction challenges on such steep boulder strewn terrain, or the costs.   

Imaginatively, they tried to use some of those Stonehedgian slabs of rock to line creeks and build up tees and other retaining walls.

As such, H&F went for the visual drama approach and holes like the back to back all-carry or death par threes on 14 & 15 (202 & 241 yards from the tips, respectively) are the result.   Heck with walking, even the amusement park-like cart ride was daunting on such terrain.

I'd like to say that there some golf holes that played nearly as well as they spectacularly looked, but even the fairly decent low lying holes seemed overshaped and often played awkwardly.   In thinking about it, it may be a classic Doak 0, but the architects never had a fighting chance.

[MCirba]

But Mike, what about the stone(?) animals strewn throughout the property? They have to bring it up to at least a Doak 4.5 right? 





Love the thread by the way, one of my favorites of the year.

Jason,


They were stone??


Oh jeez...I thought I was hallucinating by that point!   


Glad you're enjoying.

[Jim Sherma]

Never thought I would see Rich Maiden mentioned on GCA.com. Haven't played it in many years.


The shortness of the course never allowed any of us to consider it a "real" course. All of the half-par holes were in the lowered direction (i.e. 3.5 par 4's and 4.5 par 5's - nothing in the other direction to offset them). Certainly never thought of it as anything worth thinking more deeply about. The effort to positively critique this course falls in one of three categories:


1: The sign of encroaching mental illness
2: Formal satire
3: The GCA equivalent of the Fonz jumping the shark tank


Still a fun course if you're looking to have a chance to drive a lot of par 4's. I believe that the owners at least at one time were the same as Wedgewood GC south of Bethlehem. Another short course but with a decent closing stretch of closing holes (14-18).

[Kyle Harris]

The shortness of the course never allowed any of us to consider it a "real" course.

Broke 60 every time you played it, then?

[Jim Sherma]

Not 50’s but always low numbers relative to what I was shooting elsewhere. It’s fun to have a crack at some par 4’s and reachable par 5’s. Not saying it’s not fun or that it doesn’t have a role in the golf kingdom. Certainly wouldn’t want a daily dose of it though.


I think the owners also own(ed) Fairview in Lebanon. Much better course with a few nice holes. The ownership of these courses always did a great job catering to their clientele. Doesn’t mean they are anything more than they are though.


A Doak 4 is much higher praise than I would ever give Rich Maiden. Doak 2 is more in line, with 3 a stretch. It does not reach average in the general area for sure.

[MCirba]

My friend Jim Sherma is a very good player and hits the ball a considerable distance. I find we are often in agreement but I would ask if this definition of a Doak Scale 4 has any resonance

)  A modestly interesting course, with a couple of distinctive holes among the 18, or at least some scenic interest and decent golf. Also reserved for some very good courses that are much too short and narrow to provide sufficient challenge for accomplished golfers.

[Tom_Doak]

Never thought I would see Rich Maiden mentioned on GCA.com. Haven't played it in many years.


The shortness of the course never allowed any of us to consider it a "real" course. All of the half-par holes were in the lowered direction (i.e. 3.5 par 4's and 4.5 par 5's - nothing in the other direction to offset them).

This would also apply to Kilspindie, which I just named as my most fun round of golf this year.


Get over the par thing, Jim.

[Tom_Doak]

holes like the back to back all-carry or death par threes on 14 & 15 (202 & 241 yards from the tips, respectively) are the result.

So how far do you have to carry it on the 241 yard hole, not to die?  And what lengths are the other tees?


The answers to these questions would be the difference between a 0 and an actual score.

[mike_malone]

When I saw that Tom Doak responded I thought he was going to bust on Cirba for his weak use of 1/2 Doak scale points. Man up Mike!

[MCirba]

holes like the back to back all-carry or death par threes on 14 & 15 (202 & 241 yards from the tips, respectively) are the result.

So how far do you have to carry it on the 241 yard hole, not to die?  And what lengths are the other tees?


The answers to these questions would be the difference between a 0 and an actual score.

Good question, Tom.

The 202 and 241 yardages I provided are from the back tees that play 7,103 yards.

From the 6681 yard tees the holes are 180 and 217, respectively.   Up another set to 6,200 they are 164 and 190.

Here they are for your viewing pleasure.

[MCirba]

When I saw that Tom Doak responded I thought he was going to bust on Cirba for his weak use of 1/2 Doak scale points. Man up Mike!

Mayday,

Perhaps it's just me but a 3.5 is more meaningful to me to describe a 3 that is somewhat better than an average course.   I try to use them only to make those type of points.   Glad you're enjoying. 

[MCirba]

Oakmont Country Club - Oakmont, PA

Henry C. Fownes/William C. Fownes 1903, W.C. Fownes/Emil Loeffler 1910-1935, Arthur Snyder 1952, Robert Trent Jones 1964, Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay 1978, Fred Garbin 1983, Arthur Hills 1988, Tom Fazio/Tom Marzolf 2005, Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw 2016

Doak Scale Score - 10



"Audacious" is the first word that comes to my mind at Oakmont with holes that have little time for modern notions of "fairness"  Here on the third the further one drives the more the shot needs to be squeezed into the uphill slope between the nest of bunkers right and the church pews left.


...leaving a blind to semi-blind approach (note the direction pole) to a ridge-top green with a wicked false front and a corresponding fallaway just behind.   Would anyone build this hole today?

What more needs to be said about Oakmont?   I was so excited to play there and so nervous entering that storied cauldron of human misery that I thought I would black out on a few of my first swings.   Thankfully, a day or so prior I had received some wisdom from my friend John Y. in western PA who essentially said, "When you get in trouble, don't be a hero.   Just get out of trouble".   It turned out to be sage advice.

Is Oakmont really a monster?   Well, yes, it can be but given that ferocity it is also the most playable, most strategic, and most captivating relentlessly difficult golf course I've ever played   There is always a place to miss, or to play safe, or to just chicken out and it's rare to lose a ball, unless perhaps in the drainage ditches which have been left to grow a bit wild.   That being said, this is a course where you really want to play from the members tees as those created for US Open play will quickly teach a person why no one is paying them to play the game.   It is also a course where you really need to think about placement on every shot and not just from an aerial perspective; the firmness of the ground combined with the slope means you always need to consider where your ball will roll and roll and roll to.

With the amount of architects who have been there over the years one might think it would be a hodge-podge of styles but thankfully the audacity of the original Fownes "a shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost" grand design and wonderful routing lives on 116 years later.   

Who today would design holes like the long par-four first along tight OB right to a green falling steeply away, or the tilted green of the 2nd hole where you worry that your coin might slide, or the 17th, where any number of options exist on the steeply uphill 322 yard blind hole?   Oakmont simply doesn't care that it's not fair.   

The heralded tree-removal program actually continues, and most recently everything along the tracks/turnpike has been removed, such that one can stand on the third green and see the entire golf course.   Majestic!   

The greens are everything they are claimed to be but I found them so wildly interesting that I can't think of another course where stroking a good putt along an intended line provides so much satisfaction, and even glee.   

Oakmont is also perhaps the nicest, most welcoming, most low-key and golf-loving club I've ever had the pleasure to visit.

More audaciousness can be found on the finishing hole and I'm hopeful that the picture from behind the green gives some idea of their nature.


 

[Jim Sherma]

Tom - It's not the par thing at all. I love half par holes and fun shorter courses. My critique of Rich Maiden is more on the side of repetition of short holes that just leave a lot of short wedge shots.


I also think that a course with a lot of half par holes can be great but there needs to be some going to the high side of the equation and not all going to the low side. Hershey Parkview (sadly NLE) was like this. There were 4 par 4's that could be driven and one par 5 that could easily be reached if you got your tee shot in the right place (easy to make 7+ if you didn't). At the same time there were 3 or 4 long par 4's and one long par 3 where a bogey did not lose much to the field and could even be the strategic way to play the hole on certain days. I think the fun of links courses given some wind is a function of a bunch of effectively half-par holes going in both directions. Rich Maiden only has them going in one direction that IMO leads to repetition of shots and strategy throughout the round. 

[Peter Pallotta]

"With the amount of architects who have been there over the years one might think it would be a hodge-podge of styles but thankfully the audacity of the original Fownes design and routing lives on 116 years later."

Mike - that's a very neat observation, one well worth unpacking in some future thread. And not only about Oakmont in particular, but more generally: to me, it a) recognizes the fundamental importance of routing to a course's essential character -- which is why I don't think 2 or 3 or 4 architects ever have to be named as having 'worked' on and 'changed' a course over the years; if they haven't changed the routing they haven't changed the course, and more interestingly b) it raises the question of why some courses seem more immune to the hodge-podge effect than others.

Also, re the photos you provided Tom for the previous course: they rang a bell. I played a course once last summer -- once -- built on similar topography and in much the same way. And I'm not too prone to letting architects off the hook because of the site: that first par 3 is a good example -- they went to the top of the hill and made it 190 yards long not because they *had* to but because they *wanted* to. I can't tell so much from your photo, but on a similar Par 3 at the course I played, they could've stopped half way up the hill and made it a 140 yard Par 3 or moved the tee way to the left and half way up, creating a really cool (and challenging) angle into the green etc. It's not the difficulty of that hole that bothers me: I've learned to take my medicine when it comes to my average game. It's the principle of the thing, i.e. putting the creating of a vista/postcard ahead of a playable and interesting golf hole.   

[Joe Bausch]

Is Oakmont really a monster?   Well, yes, it can be but given that ferocity it is also the most playable, most strategic, and most captivatingly difficult golf course I've ever played   There is always a place to miss, or to play safe, or to just chicken out and it's rare to lose a ball, unless perhaps in the drainage ditches which have been left to grow a bit wild.   That being said, this is a course where you really want to play from the members tees as those created for US Open play will quickly teach a person why no one is paying them to play the game.   It is also a course where you really need to think about placement on every shot and not just from an aerial perspective; the firmness of the ground combined with the slope means you always need to consider where your ball will roll and roll and roll to.

With the amount of architects who have been there over the years one might think it would be a hodge-podge of styles but thankfully the audacity of the original Fownes "a shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost" grand design and wonderful routing lives on 116 years later.   

Who today would design holes like the long par-four first along tight OB right to a green falling steeply away, or the tilted green of the 2nd hole where you worry that your coin might slide, or the 17th, where any number of options exist on the steeply uphill 322 yard blind hole?   Oakmont simply doesn't care that it's not fair.   

The heralded tree-removal program actually continues, and most recently everything along the tracks/turnpike has been removed, such that one can stand on the third green and see the entire golf course.   Majestic!   

The greens are everything they are claimed to be but I found them so wildly interesting that I can't think of another course where stroking a good putt along an intended line provides so much satisfaction, and even glee.   

Oakmont is also perhaps the nicest, most welcoming, most low-key and golf-loving club I've ever had the pleasure to visit.

More audaciousness can be found on the finishing hole and I'm hopeful that the picture from behind the green gives some idea of their nature.

More photos of Oakmont from a visit a handful of years ago:

http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/Oakmont/index.html

[MCirba]

Tom - It's not the par thing at all. I love half par holes and fun shorter courses. My critique of Rich Maiden is more on the side of repetition of short holes that just leave a lot of short wedge shots.


I also think that a course with a lot of half par holes can be great but there needs to be some going to the high side of the equation and not all going to the low side. Hershey Parkview (sadly NLE) was like this. There were 4 par 4's that could be driven and one par 5 that could easily be reached if you got your tee shot in the right place (easy to make 7+ if you didn't). At the same time there were 3 or 4 long par 4's and one long par 3 where a bogey did not lose much to the field and could even be the strategic way to play the hole on certain days. I think the fun of links courses given some wind is a function of a bunch of effectively half-par holes going in both directions. Rich Maiden only has them going in one direction that IMO leads to repetition of shots and strategy throughout the round.

Jim,


Thanks, understood and agree about the preponderance of short iron approaches.  Also agree that the abandonment of Hershey Parkview was a real loss.  That course was a blast!


In the case of Rich Maiden, why not play the 456 yard 11th and the 498 yard 18th as par fours, for an overall par 68, which seems reasonable at 5500 yards?