[JESII]

Come on Mark, you can take a shot at Mayday's opinion if you feel it...he doesn't get offended, he just digs in his heels. Hell, we might be out there this afternoon hitting shots to test the theories...

Give 'em as much room left as they want and let all that slack be a noose around their necks.

Agreed...but hardly supporting evidence as it being the "ideal approach position"...

[Kyle Harris]

Come on Mark, you can take a shot at Mayday's opinion if you feel it...he doesn't get offended, he just digs in his heels. Hell, we might be out there this afternoon hitting shots to test the theories...

Give 'em as much room left as they want and let all that slack be a noose around their necks.

Agreed...but hardly supporting evidence as it being the "ideal approach position"...

Agree. I initially read it as the "right" side.

[Joe Bausch]

#7.  The second of three par 5's at Cricket, this one still has some trees, but many have been removed.



The bunkers left are in play for the better player.  I think down the left side is the play if desiring to go at this hole in two.  Otherwise, a more conservative tee shot out to the right, so a layup shot can be played up left is prudent.



From near the drive landing zone:



A typical view for a 3rd shot approach.  Note the opening to the green here for those trying to bounce one on with their second.



Looking back down the fw, this bunker to the left in the pic had a gigantic tree right next to it.



This view from long and a bit right of the green shows the clubhouse in the distance.  You could never see that previously as the old railroad track berm was lined with trees (more on that later!).

[mike_malone]

 I love #6. The way it goes downhill and the green lets the ball roll on when on the green is grand.

    I shouldn't have said #5 was an ideal landing area just a possible one. I'm not a fan of bunkers on slopes when you don't want to go there anyway. I think if fairway is beyond those types of bunkers more people would chose to go that way. On that hole a shorter shot with a view , especially to a right pin, might be an attractive option. Why not entice balls up that hill?  When you have interesting terrain you should use it.

[Powell Arms]

David,

The vast majority of the tree removal work was done in-house.  There is some good information on that with maintenance cost savings (and other stuff like porous asphalt lined bunker renovations on Militia Hill) at our superintendent Dan Meersman's blog here:

http://philacricketgm.blogspot.com

Did PCC do all of the tree removal in-house?

[Mark Chaplin]

I bet the 12th, 14th and 15th greens are playing far better and easier to maintain now the greens have been opened up.

[Joe Bausch]

#8.  Next up is the par 3 8th.  The very cool green is fronted by the same creek seen on #1 and #2.







From short and right of the green:



From over the green:



View from near the 9th tee.  Here you can see the practice facility at Cricket, which is a good one.  I believe in the winter part of the range is used for trap shooting!



Stay tuned for the 9th:  you may not recognize the hole now with so many trees removed!

[Joe Bausch]

Ok, on to the 9th hole.  First I must begin borrowing a handful of photos of the 9th from Gib's IMO piece.  Note in this aerial from 1938 that the club had already began planting trees on both sides of the abandoned railroad berm that runs along the right side of the 9th fw (the 9th green is in the bottom left corner):



And here is a picture from the tee of the 9th hole from September of a few years ago:



And there were also lots of trees left on the hole:





Look how big those trees got from this view behind the 9th green, and the shade they casted on the fw leading to turf issues:

[Joe Bausch]

Now for some astounding current photos!

#9.  A pretty tough par 4 that climbs gently uphill the last half, to a 2-tiered green with a false front.



Pretty amazing differences below that really needs no commentary!













I don't remember the right side of the fw ever having such nice turf!

[Joe Bausch]

And here's a big picture taken from the 7th tee looking across the 9th green with 3 tee in view, as well as the par 11th fairway on the other side of the berm.

[Powell Arms]

Great photos of a strong par 4 1/2. !  #9 saw some of the biggest improvements in turf health tee to green, and the tree removal dramatically opened up the tee shot. Previously, it was impossible to work the tee shot right to left.

Over the years, this hole has played the toughest in relation to par for me.

[Tim Martin]

I`m a big fan of the par 3 8th hole. Anything above the hole is treacherous as it`s hard to pick up the amount of slope from back to front in the photos.

[Wade Whitehead]

Wow.  I literally didn't recognize the view from nine tee.  That's astounding.

WW

[Steve_ Shaffer]

The work done on 9 is the piece d'resistance of tree removal for golf courses everywhere that are overtreed. I just stood on the tee amazed at the transformation. One of my favorite local par4s.

I'm a big fan of the par3 8th as well.

[Michael Blake]

#8.  Next up is the par 3 8th.  The very cool green is fronted by the same creek seen on #1 and #2.







From short and right of the green:



From over the green:



View from near the 9th tee.  Here you can see the practice facility at Cricket, which is a good one.  I believe in the winter part of the range is used for trap shooting!



Stay tuned for the 9th:  you may not recognize the hole now with so many trees removed!

Did they remove trees from behind #8 green?  If so, I think they should have left them there.  Though it looks like some are planted.
Is that the maintenence area?

Another great photo-thread & analysis Joe.

[Steve Lang]

The routing of the course is interesting.  I'm assuming b/c of the location of the clubhouse, the road the clubhouse is on, and the train tracks that ran through the property (running between holes 9 and 11) probably made Tilly choose to bring the 2nd hole back to the clubhouse, then play the short par 3 3rd, before going north of the tracks for holes 4-9.




IS THIS A SPECIMEN BUILDING?  ITS QUIRK IS HORRIBLE.. WHY NOT TAKE IT OUT TOO?

[Dan Herrmann]

You know what I really loved about #9 - bringing the railroad right-of-way back into the hole. 

PCC is a club with fantastic history, and bringing things like the railroad back into view is a tribute to the club's heritage. 

[Joe Bausch]

I was so stunned by the views on the ninth hole that I forgot to take a tee shot view on the short par 3 10th!  It is an interesting little cross-over as you walk behind the par 3 3rd to get to the 10th tee, then afterwards you leave the green near the 2nd green and 3rd tee.

#10.  This hole is bit nerve wracking as a wayward shot left might end up within the autos, and although the clubhouse looks awfully close, some back bunkers tend to land a shot that is long.

[Mark McKeever]

Im sure Doug has a few good mental pictures of the 10th hole!

Mark

[mike_malone]

 #10 and #4 are practically parallel par threes heading in opposite directions and yet they have a very different feel about them. #10 is elevated with a deep bunker fronting while #4 can be approached with a lower trajectory. Are there other examples of parallel short threes ? Are they as pleasing as this pair?

[Kyle Harris]

#10 and #4 are practically parallel par threes heading in opposite directions and yet they have a very different feel about them. #10 is elevated with a deep bunker fronting while #4 can be approached with a lower trajectory. Are there other examples of parallel short threes ? Are they as pleasing as this pair?

There are two (8 and 11) at Concord CC that are crackers. Both mid-iron length. One plays uphill, the other down.

[Mark McKeever]

Good note Kyle.  Forgot about the pair at Concord but it has been a few years since I've played it.

Mark

[Joe Bausch]

Are there other examples of parallel short threes ? Are they as pleasing as this pair?

#4 and #17 at Llanerch are pretty darn good too!  And similar to #10 at Cricket, on Llanerch's #4 you can hit two types of trunks. 

[mike_malone]

 Agree that #4 and #17 at Llanerch are a fine pair. Can't seem to recollect those at Concord though.

[Joe Bausch]

#11.  Here again are more dramatic photos of the results of substantial tree removal along the railroad berm.  The creek is only in play for the dub, and that ridge present on #1 and #2 is also there, but not reachable on the drive.



The preferred place, IMO, to be in the fw is rightish based upon the green contours. 



My drive was left of the ideal line.  The ridge (is this from an old railroad bed Gib, Powell?) functions to make the green obscured on the approach, but most of the flag is visible:



As you get on top of the fw ridge, looking back gives a tremendous view of the scenery change, with the 9th hole in view over the treeless berm:



A view from short and left of the green:



And from on the way to the next tee:

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