Sunnehanna Country Club (Tillinghast) - A Photo Tour!! - All 18 Posted

[Mark Saltzman]

Tillinghast's Sunnehanna Country Club located in Johnstown, PA, about an hour east of Pittsburgh, is a course deserving of more attention.  Before discussing the course, I wanted to recognize the club's head pro, Carl Seelman, who could not possibly have been nicer to me and spent quite a bit of time pointing out and looking through old photographs of the course through the clubhouse.  Also, the club's superintendent, Ben Little, had the golf course in absolutely superb condition, running firm and fast even in a week and month that had seen quite a bit of rain.  

Sunnehanna is best known for hosting the Sunnehanna Amateur, one of the premier amateur tournaments in the country, whose past winners include the likes of Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Allen Doyle, Billy Andrade, Scott Verplank and Ben Crenshaw.  Remarkably, while the course can challenge the best amateur golfers in the country, it is enjoyable for a wide range of golfers, allowing for (and often encouraging) running approaches on most holes.  In many cases, the clever golfer can play cautiously away from the trouble for his par, but the bold / low-handicap golfer playing for birdie will run the risk of a slight miss that immediately brings bogey or worse into the equation.

Trees remain present, lining the sides of many fairways, but an aggressive tree removal program has seen them pushed back to create significant corridor width.  The bunker scheme as it sits today is changed from Tillinghast's original design, but a Brian Silva master plan should have that corrected in due time.

The clubhouse sits at the property's high point and the 420 yard first hole falls gently into a valley.  Though many golfers will have a short club in their hand, the sharply front-to-back tilting green will quickly make fools of those golfers who think they should fly their approach pin high.




Climbing back to the clubhouse, the 400 yard par-4 second hole often plays as the most difficult hole in the Sunnehanna Amateur.  While length alone will provide sufficient challenge for most, the hole is made more difficult by a severely tilted back-to-front green with a sharp false-front that makes running the ball onto the green nearly impossible.




The 380 yard third is, remarkably, drivable by some, but even so its virtues can make it a difficult birdie.  A lone fairway bunker protects the high side of the fairway 230 yards from the tee, and the golfer must choose whether he is willing to lay-back, leaving a blind 150 yard approach, or challenge the bunker for a clear view of the putting surface.




Successfully finding the fairway is no guarantee of success as the green falls hard from the front-right to the back-left.  If the pin is on the front of the green, a very delicate shot must be played to the front-right corner of the green, and any misjudgement can quickly lead to bogie.  Much like Oakmont's 5th, golfers that play too long a tee shot are left wondering how to keep their pitch from running through the green and are left with no margin for error.

[Ronald Montesano]

I don't know which misguided member of our DG made the assessment that photo tours had too many images, but I would like to have it out with said sir. Give us more photos, Mark. We know you take them, you take them well and they help us understand the course. I'm curious about this one.

[Mark Saltzman]

The downhill 400 yard 4th uses a single fairway bunker to maximum effect.  With a slightly angled green and a front green portion that tilts to the rear (noticing a theme yet?), the golfer will want to challenge the fairway bunker to provide the opportunity to land the approach short of the putting surface.  Interestingly, I would argue that an approach from the fairway bunker or right rough is preferred to an approach from the left side of the fairway.



Unfortunately, photos of the 5th and 6th did not come out, which is a disappointment as the 5th is an excellent par-3.  The hole might fail to impress from the view from the tee, but when the golfer gets nearer the putting surface, he is shocked by an awesome 50 yard deep, reverse redan green.

After the monstrous par-4 6th, played 435 yards back up the hill, the golfer reaches the 241 yard par-3 7th.  Clearly Tillinghast was not afraid to play up and down the elevation as this hole drops back sharply into the valley.




Far too often in modern golf we see counterslopes around the greens that not only discourage, but really prevent the golfer from running the ball onto the putting surface.  Not so at Sunnehanna where the golfer can use the contours short of the green to run the ball to the green's centre.  The green does begin to counterslope past its mid-point,  but this has the dual effect of calming running approaches, and penalizing the tiger who plays an aerial tee shot and misses long.




The short par-4 8th is, in my opinion, something of a work in progress.  The hole was once a 'kick-and-spit' par-4 playing about 300 yards where the golfer would play a straightaway tee shot leaving a pitch into a tiny green that was surrounded by five bunkers.  The hole has been modified considerably.  First, a 'path through the forest' was created allowing for a nerve-wracking forced-carry tee shot from the back two sets of tees.  Second, a new green was built some 30 yards long and right of the original 8th green.  The green itself is not a bad one, though its internal ridges stand out from the generally broader slopes at Sunnehanna.  Perhaps most disconcerting is a large tree fronts the 8th green, protecting against approaches from the right side, which also happens to be the side requiring the longer forced carry from the tee.  The original 8th green still exists, now being used as a practice green, and it will be fascinating to see how this hole continues to evolve and if any attempt is made to bring it back closer to its original form.

And then we reach the 9th, a hole that would take some serious cajones to route.  At 617 yards, uphill, and playing alongside both the clubhouse left and OB right, this hole is far from a birdie hole.

[Ronald Montesano]

The downhill 400 yard 4th uses a single fairway bunker to maximum effect.  With a slightly angled green and a front green portion that tilts to the rear (noticing a theme yet?), the golfer will want to challenge the fairway bunker to provide the opportunity to land the approach short of the putting surface.  Interestingly, I would argue that an approach from the fairway bunker or right rough is preferred to an approach from the left side of the fairway.

That's awesome. Reminds me of the fifth at Merion East, in reverse. 

Unfortunately, photos of the 5th and 6th did not come out, which is a disappointment as the 5th is an excellent par-3.  The hole might fail to impress from the view from the tee, but when the golfer gets nearer the putting surface, he is shocked by an awesome 50 yard deep, reverse redan green.

Are you shooting with film? 

Far too often in modern golf we see counterslopes around the greens that not only discourage, but really prevent the golfer from running the ball onto the putting surface.  Not so at Sunnehanna where the golfer can use the contours short of the green to run the ball to the green's centre.  The green does begin to counterslope past its mid-point,  but this has the dual effect of calming running approaches, and penalizing the tiger who plays an aerial tee shot and misses long.

I hate counterslopes that do that. Seriously, that's probably the one thing I notice on golf courses. I am a powerful, aerial golfer, but love to hit running approach shots as often as possible. Give me proper contours or give me death! 

The short par-4 8th is, in my opinion, something of a work in progress.  The hole was once a 'kick-and-spit' par-4 playing about 300 yards where the golfer would play a straightaway tee shot leaving a pitch into a tiny green that was surrounded by five bunkers.  The hole has been modified considerably.  First, a 'path through the forest' was created allowing for a nerve-wracking forced-carry tee shot from the back two sets of tees.  Second, a new green was built some 30 yards long and right of the original 8th green.  The green itself is not a bad one, though its internal ridges stand out from the generally broader slopes at Sunnehanna.  Perhaps most disconcerting is a large tree fronts the 8th green, protecting against approaches from the right side, which also happens to be the side requiring the longer forced carry from the tee.  

Whose idea was it? When was the work done? Who did the work? Was it the result of the hole being too easy for the Sunny Amateur?   

And then we reach the 9th, a hole that would take some serious cajones to route.  At 617 yards, uphill, and playing alongside both the clubhouse left and OB right, this hole is far from a birdie hole.

Cojones. Cajones are "drawers." 

[Jeff Taylor]

I often skip your tours as scrolling at the bottom of a multiple picture post becomes more trouble than it is worth. That being said, even seeing 60% of this course that I only played once was enjoyable.
You do play some great golf courses and your work is appreciated.

[Tom_Doak]

Mark:

I have heard of Sunnehanna for years but I don't think I've ever seen a photo before today.

It is one of many courses I'm trying to sort out whether I should go see before I complete volume 3 of The Confidential Guide.  Not enough time to see them all ... but your tour nudges me in its favor.

Did you happen to stop through New Castle CC ?  That's another on my "maybe" list.

[Ronald Montesano]

You could almost do a straight line of New Castle, Indiana and Sunnehanna, along route 422.

[Mark Steffey]

Mark:

I have heard of Sunnehanna for years but I don't think I've ever seen a photo before today.

It is one of many courses I'm trying to sort out whether I should go see before I complete volume 3 of The Confidential Guide.  Not enough time to see them all ... but your tour nudges me in its favor.

Did you happen to stop through New Castle CC ?  That's another on my "maybe" list.

you should stop Tom.  i would enjoy hearing your take.

Mark's photo didn't come through, but the 5th green is something else.  way too many times i've walked off 4 with a birdie only to then miss the green on 5 with my approach and double after a 3 putt.

the 8th hole was changed and put into play in the 1959 amateur.  William Gordon designed the hole and work started in 1957.  the bunkers on the right side of the fairway and which must be carried by a drive over the gully were added in 1999.

[Richard Hetzel]

As usual, great pics Mark! Keep them coming.

[Mark Saltzman]

Though the similarities may fall away with thoughtful analysis, the downhill par-3 10th immediately reminded me of the short, devilish 12th at The Country Club.  The hole was originally built without bunkers and even without overt hazards would be a very difficult recovery from any miss thanks to the small, steeply canted back-to-front green.




The 11th was one of the first holes at Sunnehanna to benefit from tree removal, and perhaps an unintended consequence is that the par-5 plays very short for longer hitters that can carry the corner of the dogleg.  For most, the primary decision is whether to try and carry a fairway bunker that cuts halfway across the fairway 150 yards short of the green.  Successfully doing so, the golfer has a downhill pitch to a green that tilts away from the golfer and I can't imagine I'm the first golfer to reach for the flatstick from 70 yards out!




Though neither is a bad hole, the 12th and 13th holes are the most forgettable on the golf course.  The 12th legs softly to the right over fairly flat land, and the 13th asks the golfer to challenge the high side of a tilted fairway or face a blind mid-iron approach.




In current form, the 14th plays as a very challenging 227 yard par-3 with a severe green that hardly accepts long approaches, but there is a reason for that.  The 14th tee once sat immediately behind the 13th green, making it another sub-300 yard par-4.  A ditch was designed (though I don't think ever built) some 75 yards short of the green, which would challenge the golfer to either lay-up leaving a 100+ yard approach from an awkward angle, or carry it to leave just a pitch to an open green front.  Like the 8th, this will be an interesting hole to watch develop over the coming years.




At one time, the snaking par-5 15th shared a fairway with the 12th hole on its left side.  Those days are long over.  A fantastic pair of bunkers cut diagonally into the tilted fairway ensuring a thought-provoking (and challenging) second shot no matter the tee shot.  Today, one of the two bunkers remain, but thanks to a very narrowed fairway it cuts across almost the width of the fairway and has become a 'can I carry it or not' question.  Recapturing the width and lost bunker may be the change I'd like to see most!






Like the 18th at Paramount CC and the 13th at Quaker Ridge, the 16th at Sunnehanna is an example of Tillinghast's 'Reef' template.  There is no doubt that the green on this 185 yard par-3 is well-protected, but the cleverly placed cross-bunkering hides the considerable fairway short of the green.






The 17th hole is a good microcosm for Sunnehanna, a longish par-4 that plays over rolling land, with limited but well-used fairway bunkering and a green that falls away from the line of play.  A very good hole.

The 18th is a somewhat unfortunate way to finish the round.  The hole has changed considerably, and the green was moved, thanks to a parking lot extension.  In current form, the hole plays as a short, uphill par-4 with a green, like the unoriginal 8th, with a series of small internal contours that don't fit well with the rest of the course.

[Ronald Montesano]

Glad you're still alive and kicking. Allow me to reiterate: more photos!! To hell with those who disparage the true photo thread.

[Jim Sherma]

Great looking course - I will need to put that on my list for this fall or next year. Good quick road trip could be Bedford Springs followed by Sunnehanna.

[Mark Steffey]

sorry for the delay.  i had these aerial pictures from a history of the club of 18 but haven't had time to put them up yet.

this shows 18 in the top right above the parking circle between the clubhouse and the pro shop in 2004.  all those trees have been removed from the left of the hole as seen in Mark's photo between the green & the tennis courts and from behind the green to really open up a skyline view.


this is before the tennis courts were put in from 1957 and you can see beginning of tree planting lining fairways throughout the course


here is an early picture from 1939.  there is a large bunker short and right of the green


this is from 1936 and shows the 18th green at the far right mid picture (the front of the green is not shown)

[Bill Vogeney]

Refreshing this thread. I had the extreme pleasure of playing Sunnehanna a couple of weeks ago while in the area. My friend who arranged the round and is a 15-year member of Oakmont (also hosted me at OCC) offered up his opinion of Sunnehanna's greens: he thought they could be tougher than Oakmont's, especially if they ever got the speeds cranked up. We played in the middle of a very rainy period for Western Pa, so they were maybe a 10-10.5  on the stump. A whole lot of slope to the greens, and above the hole should be avoided at all costs. Of note I thought #2 the uphill par 4, #10 the wonder little par 3, and 15-17 were just wonderful. I would gladly go back!!

[Joe Bausch]

Love Sunnehanna.  My photo album also contains some drawings and an early aerial:

http://myphillygolf.com/uploads/bausch/Sunnehanna/index.html

[David Lott]

Nice photos. I grew up in Pittsburgh and played some mountain golf near there and in NE Pennsylvania. I love the Pennsylvania mountains and the vistas they provide and the quirks and contours of the courses. Sorry I missed Sunnyhanna. I doubt I will ever get to correct the omission.