Riverton (Ross) and Tavistock (Findlay)

[mark chalfant]

There are so many great courses near  metro Philadelphia. As a fan of Donald Ross and Alex Findlay I wonder what are the strengths of these two courses in southern NJ.  If you were to choose two or three holes from each layout that are well designed or really fun to play, which holes come to mind. I think  Ron Forse or Jim Nagle did some nice work at Tavistock, is Riverton well preserved ?

Thanks 

[TEPaul]

"is Riverton well preserved?"


Mark:

I'd say it's pretty well preserved. The course had a Ron Prichard restoration some time ago, a pretty good tree removal program and it is very well presented right now. I think the course has always had its very own sort of special character. It's pretty short for the good long player with a number of short par 4s. There're quite a few interesting mounds on the course but I'm not sure if most or all of them are Ross originals. I think the highlight of the course is probably it's variety in its par 3s. I was surprised this year to see how the modern long player plays the short par 5 17th hole. They take a line fifty yards to the left of what we used to and if they pull off a good drive directly over the left swinging tree line they can be left with a 9 iron in even if a little blind.

[mark chalfant]

Tom,

Thanks  very much for your informative post. Have others had a chance to play either of these Golden Age courses ? Are there some compelling holes or fun greens at either course. Is Tavistock much hillier than Riverton  ?
Thanks  !

[mark chalfant]

Bump