My Eclectic 2009

[Kyle Harris]

As always, these are holes I played for the first time this year and also their respective order in the course:

1.
2. Paxon Hollow Golf Course - Par 3 - 120 yards - A shorty but goody. Multi-level/undulating green with a wedge. Drop off long and left. No joy right as the ball is above the green sloping away.
3. Walnut Lane Golf Course - Par 4 - 310 yards - It's drivable but the slot to hit the green is exceedingly narrow as the hole falls into the pit of despair left and shots a little too far right get hung up in the rough above the green now falling away from you. Best to bunt one down the right side and flip a wedge into the tiny more-sloped-than-it-looks green. I'm sure many people walk away with 5 thinking they had 3 on the card from the tee.
4. Berkleigh Country Club - Par 5 - 560 yards - Up, over and around. The hole uses a shoulder in the terrain very effectively to obscure the clear path to the green - which is outside the dogleg to the left. The obscured - shoulder influenced - second shot puts a premium on the somewhat straight-forward tee shot.
5. Greystone Golf Course - Par 5 - 540 yards - Back to back Par 5s, yes. It's my list and I can do it. Good downhill dogleg left with a powerslot tee shot that gives the golfer a look in two. Laying up will guarantee the 5, but it's hard to think of 5 when your second shot is within 220 yards. A good hole for aggressive play that fits well between the Berkleigh contributions.
6. Berkleigh Country Club - Par 3 - 200 yards - A redan, with OB long and a narrow green. Short side. Die.
7. Jack Frost National - Par 4 - 420 yards - Great straight away par 4 with a deceptive cross hazard. The first bunker and second bunker are about 90 yards apart, but from the tee they both appear carryable. The second is really more in play for the approach shot.
8.
9. Philmont Country Club - North Course - Par 5 - 570 Yards - I do not understand one bit why this hole gets absolutely pilloried by many of the cognescenti that I know. It's a giant elbow right, it's close to being unreachable in 3, but it requires every shot to fight and find the angles for the next shot. I like it... heck, I love it. If you aren't capable of getting up and down from the front of the green - how capable are you of golf?
10.
11.
12.
13. Walnut Lane Golf Course - Par 3 - 160 yards - The contrarian in me greatly opposes Joe Logan calling this the worst Par 3 in Philadelphia. Uphill through a chute to a blind green.
14. Manor Golf Club - Par 5 - 550(?) yards. If you've ever asked yourself what it was like back in the day when the fairways were as wide as the corridor through the trees - this rough and tumble down the mountain Par 5 answers the questions. Without a doubt a highlight in the middle of nowhere. The Par 3s before and after are quite good too.
15. Paxon Hallow Golf Club - Par 3 - 175 yards. Down hill to a severe and perched green with death on all four corners. Gil Hanse's bunkering improved an already great site for a green.
16. Philmont Country Club - North Course - Par 4 - 410 yards. If Willie Park, Jr has a prototypical par 4 - this is it. Long, downhill to a fall-away green that is an absolutely bitch to miss. Deceptive bunkering that makes the green appear about two clubs closer than it is.
17. Juniata Golf Course - Par 4 - 340 yards. Juniata!? Huh? Really? Really. A great little uphill par 4 to a severely pitched green of the "two eggs on a skillet" variety. Get above the front left hole location and just write a 6 on the card and move to the next tee.
18. Brigantine Golf Links - Par 4 - 470 yards. The card says it's a 5, but really is best played for the green in two. Great finish that comes out of the houses/woods and right into the elements. Slightly uphill approach.

These were the standouts. I played a lot of new golf this year so the other holes will be filled in later.

[Ronald Montesano]

Although we stayed right across the street two summers ago, I did not get to play Jack Frost.  Only one hole made your list?  Was the course a let-down?

[Kyle Harris]

Although we stayed right across the street two summers ago, I did not get to play Jack Frost.  Only one hole made your list?  Was the course a let-down?

Hmm. I won't say it was a let down. Not at all actually as I do want to go back now.

My first reaction was that it was very similar to a number of other newer courses built in the area over the past few years. Then I got to the listed hole which actually made the course worth the trip.

The back nine has a very good stretch - especially the 18th.

This was a fairly prolific year for me in terms of new plays, so the course may have had a few holes (13 and 18 come to mind) make the list on a leaner year.

[Charles Scalzott]

Many of Philadelphia's really good par 4's can be found at Philmont North...this coming from a guy from a competing neighbor club .

Brigantine always plays as fun golf with its windswept fairways and better than average layout.  Conditions have improved in recent years as the city of Brigantine now pays the bills.  I agree 18 is a fun par 4.5.

I also like 3 (hard par 3), 9 (nicely bunkered green complex), 12 (green nicely angled between the fescue covered mounds on this par 3), at brigantine.

I've played Berkleigh several times (once in Patterson Cup) so I feel like I should remember it better than I do.  The par 5 you speak of is indeed a good one...hard second shot flying blindly over the crest of the hill.  I don't remember the par 3...will have to visit the site.  Happy to hear it didn't get dozed for houses as was intended a year or two ago...one benefit of the credit crunch I suppose .

[Kyle Harris]

Chuck,

I should probably add the 11th at Brigantine as well in the empty slot. As you may recall, I was playing very well the day we played it and I remember standing on the tee of 11 thinking I could very well walk off the green with a 7.

You're dead-on about Philmont North, too.

[Charles Scalzott]

11 is unique relative to the other holes and I do enjoy that short par 4 very much as well...very large slope in that green but...should hit a wedge close right?  Well...at least a player of your caliber.

[Kyle Harris]

11 is unique relative to the other holes and I do enjoy that short par 4 very much as well...very large slope in that green but...should hit a wedge close right?  Well...at least a player of your caliber.

I learned that after the fact. That's why the hole appeals to me, it's very possible to out-game yourself. In any sort of wind, that wedge becomes a much bigger issue with all the trouble around.

[Joe Bausch]

You're dead-on about Philmont North, too.

Ole Billie knew what the heck he was doing, eh?   

[Kyle Harris]

You're dead-on about Philmont North, too.

Ole Billie knew what the heck he was doing, eh?   

+1

I see what you did there.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

9 at Philmont North is a very simple hole to play. Just keep it left on your first and second shots and then hit a short iron onto the green close to the hole and then drop the putt for a birdie. 

There used to be an old newspaper article in the locker room from the Inquirer, circa 1960s, selecting 9 as the best par5 in the area.