Here is more on Royal Manchester (with stuff on Tim Freeland near the end, but no mention of who did an initial routing):
For the past 10 years, there's been a golf course in the works just outside Manchester in York County. That's about halfway between Harrisburg and York, just off Interstate 83.
And now, finally, it's opening next month.
The story behind the building of the Royal Manchester Golf Links is a long and twisted road. Think of it more like a double-dogleg par-5.
Years ago, PP&L sought to build a course on a bluff overlooking its Brunner Island Power Plant, hard along the banks of the Susquehanna River in northern York County.
Two different management companies, contracted by PP&L, tried to get the course up and running but failed. Hard-core local golfers knew of the course, called the Phoenix Golf Links during construction. Stories abounded of bunkers featuring black ash instead of regular sand, giving the place an almost mythic quality.
But then news about the course dried up around 2007. No news releases, no Internet updates, no nothing.
Enter Raspberry Golf Management, brought in by PP&L to give it one last go. Based out of Raspberry Falls Golf & Hunt Club in Leesburg, Va., Raspberry Golf runs another club, Old Hickory Golf Club, in Woodbridge, Va.
When the opportunity came to extend its footprint and bring a new course to the midstate, Raspberry Golf leapt at the chance.
"What we've heard from PP&L and the locals is that it was a start-stop, start-stop process," LaMott Smith, a principal partner with Raspberry Golf, said. "The public was saying, 'Sure, we'll believe you're open when you're open.'"
Well, locals, believe, because with some cooperation from the weather, Royal Manchester will open April 2.
The course was actually ready to go late last summer and could have accommodated golfers by Labor Day. But without a clubhouse, Raspberry Golf felt it best to wait until spring.
"Our mentality from day one was under-promise and over-deliver," Smith said. "Since we had no clubhouse, we wanted to open it complete. It was a roll of the dice but a business decision. We wanted everything in place and to not give a half-hearted experience."
The clubhouse is now built, and with staff being hired, this par-5 is about a six-inch tap-in away from being completed.
Smith said Royal Manchester will be links-style, with only about two dozen small pines dotting the layout. Among courses in the area, he pegs it as a favorable comparison to Hershey Links.
"There's really only two bodies of water," he said. "The real challenge will be the wind, given where it's located. It's pretty high up here."
And oh, yes, no black ash in the bunkers. Just regular sand.
Architect Tim Freeland, who worked under Gary Player at various courses in the East, is credited as the designer. Freeland was brought in when Raspberry Golf came into the picture, and although some greens and basic routing were already in place, Freeland did the bulk of the design work.
Raspberry Golf projects Royal Manchester to do about 15,000-18,000 rounds in 2010, well below what a public course usually does in a year. That might be the best it can hope for in the inaugural season. After all, there's been a lack of a fall selling period, a harsh winter, a shaky economy, and the state of golf at the sport's highest levels.
"Candidly, there's the Tiger factor," Smith said. "His fans may not get the itch to play. So far the television ratings have been way down, so it's a concern."
The only other concern might be finding the course. The best route for Harrisburg-area golfers would be to take I-83 south to either the Newberrytown or Strinestown exits. Follow the billowing smokestack at Brunner Island to Manchester.
It's only about 12 miles from downtown Harrisburg as the crow flies, but give yourself about 25 minutes for the trip.