Saucon Valley Weyhill course: photo tour post restoration (broken links fixed!)

[Bill Brightly]

David,

I agree that holes 12-18 are fantastic. Coming off the 11th green I always say to first time guests: "OK, the course gets good here" and they look at me funny, because the first 11 are also really good golf holes.

What is fascinating to me is that this is an accidental routing and not what William Gordon designed. When Beth Steel owned the course, the locker room was in the guesthouse building. Current holes 11 and 9 were holes 1 and 10 in the original routing, When Beth Steel sold the course to Saucon Valley, they kept the guesthouse as a meeting center, so SVCC had to use an a different building (the old farm caretakers' home) as a locker room, and needed a new hole to start with, thus creating the routing you played, and what I think is one of the finest 7 hole closing stretches I have ever played..

[Steve_ Shaffer]

I can't say anything other than what has been said above. I played Weyhill yesterday with Bill and Mike W. It was a beautiful fall day and  the "new" Weyhill passes the "walk in the park" test with flying colors. It's a course that shouldn't be missed if given the opportunity. Thanks again Bill.

[Mark McKeever]

Does anyone else think that the original 5th hole looks much, much better than the new?

Mark

[Bill Brightly]

Mark,

My God no. It was so over-bunkered! It penalized players coming up 20 yards short (making them hit a 30-40 yard bunker shot, depending on where the pin was) while the single digits flew right over that. They also cleared out many of the trees right of the green, opening up a great view of the stream, and a great look back the first hole and the old barn. Here are a couple of photos of Hole 5 before the work:







After the work, from the tee



From the left side of the green

[Mark McKeever]

Bill,
Thanks for posting the before and after photos.  We will have to agree to disagree.  While it may be less penal after the resto, the former unique bunkering now looks like every other hole on the course.  And for most member play its playing around 165 yards.  It's not like people are hitting woods into the hole.  For a mid iron, I don't think the shot required is an unreasonable request.  Heck, from the forward tees it plays very short.  Does the new green have that small front left hole location still?

I do agree that the trees and shrubs being removed to the creek came out really well.

Mark

[Kenny Baer]

I played Weyhill several years ago when they were in the process of renovating 18, it was probably 2007?  I thought it was great; the holes running around and over the ravines on the back are really special, Saucon is a very cool place that should get more pub IMO.

[Bill Brightly]

Bill,
Thanks for posting the before and after photos.  We will have to agree to disagree.  While it may be less penal after the resto, the former unique bunkering now looks like every other hole on the course.  And for most member play its playing around 165 yards.  It's not like people are hitting woods into the hole.  For a mid iron, I don't think the shot required is an unreasonable request.  Heck, from the forward tees it plays very short.  Does the new green have that small front left hole location still?

I do agree that the trees and shrubs being removed to the creek came out really well.

Mark

Mark,

Yes, there still is the small front-left piece of green which is a very cool pin position that they seem to use a lot.


There is absolutely NO CHANGE in the shot required before and after the work. If the pin is center or front and you and I mishit our iron, we still end up in the sand with a routine bunker shot. However, all the 18+ handicappers and many women who end up 20 short of the green are now not asked to hit one of the hardest shots in golf: the long bunker shot, one I NEVER had to face in all of my years playing the hole. So the old bunkering was penal for the worst golfers, and irrelevant to the lower handicaps. That might be "unique" but not in a good way, IMO.

The new left, right and center bunkers probably still get 90% of the business that the old ones did, and there must be 80% less sand to maintain.

[Joe Bausch]

I recently fixed all the broken links in this photo tour.  Now only if my driver game was as easily corrected!