Commonwealth Nat'l (1990; Palmer): a photo tour (all holes up)

[Joe Bausch]

A quick search of the archives shows this Arnold Palmer course north of Philly has been discussed previously, but little in the way of photos:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35912.0.html

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,49207.0.html

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,7412.0.html

I played Commonwealth last Thursday afternoon with camera in hand.  The course is built within an office park.  Some people just hate that setting; for me, no big deal.  There are plenty of hazards, OB, etc.  I cannot emphasize enough to play the proper tees at CN or you might have a long day.  From the tips the course is a whopping 74.6/151.  My group played the member tees at around 6400 and 71.1/138. This place does not suffer hackers gladly.  Or maybe it does.

Previously the site was a 36 hole golf course by George Fazio, called Hidden Springs.

Here is the routing:



I'll put up the first three holes today (two are par 5's) before I head out for a round of golf in Maryland.  

#1.  Par 5.  Fairly simple opener, where the green is a good representation of what is to come, not overly contoured.  The hole is called "runway" as to the left is a runway for the former Willow Grove air station.



Tee view:



2nd shot view:



From short of the green:



From a rise just over the green:



#2.  Par 4.  An elevated tee shot and elevated green on this "Road Hole".



Tee view:



Approach shot view:



From over the green:



#3.  Another par 5, the first of five consecutive holes with H2O in play.



Tee view:



2nd shot view:



From left of the green:



From a rise just over the green:



More tomorrow.

[Joe Bausch]

#4.  Neat little par 4.



White tee view (some might try to drive the green from here, but still a very long carry, ~320 yards):



Approach shot:



From just over the green:



#5.  Par 3.



Tee shot view:



From over the green:



#6.  Dogleg left par 4.



Tee shot view:



You must hit a decent tee shot or not have much for your second shot:



Approach shot view:



From a hill over the green:



More later.

[Joe Bausch]

The hush is almost deafening.

#7.  Par 4.



Tee view (semi-blind where a lake is in play for bigger hitters).



Approach shot view to a 'Sunday pin' this day:



From left of the green:



#8.  Par 3.



Tee view: 



From short of the green:



From over the green:



#9.  Par 4.



Tee view: 



Approach shot view showing the shamrock bunker:



These bunkers short of the green give the bogey golfer fits:



From the hill over the green:



Back nine starts by tomorrow morning.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Let's count the forced carries:

Front

#3 2nd shot on par5 depending on where drive lands
#4 tee and approach
#5 tee
#6 tee
#7 approach

[Joe Bausch]

Let's count the forced carries:

Front

#3 2nd shot on par5 depending on where drive lands
#4 tee and approach
#5 tee
#6 tee
#7 approach

And there is more to come on the back nine!

[Joe Bausch]

#10.  Par 4.



Tee view:



Approach view:



From short of the green:



From just over the green:



#11.  Dogleg left par 5.



Tee view:



2nd shot view (I tried to cut the corner but got into this inside bunker, arrrgggghhhh!):



3rd shot view:



From just over the green:



#12.  Par 3.  This one is a brute if into the wind.



Tee view:



Dunk one and the drop area is no bargain at all, a 100 yard shot basically from the forward tee:



From left of the green:



You know I like creatures on golf courses.  On this mid-50's early spring day this large painted turtle was desperate to get some sun, so much that he crawled up and was balanced on a point of this rock!

[Doug Braunsdorf]

An ex-coworker of mine belongs to CNGC,  Mr. Shaffer would know him; he said CNGC was hard off the tee, and easier into the greens.  This appears true, it doesn't appear especially penal around the greens, but there appears to be a lot of trouble for the tee shot.  How did you feel about it?  This seems to be embodiment of 'hit the fairway, hit the green'.  Repeat. 

[Joe Bausch]

An ex-coworker of mine belongs to CNGC,  Mr. Shaffer would know him; he said CNGC was hard off the tee, and easier into the greens.  This appears true, it doesn't appear especially penal around the greens, but there appears to be a lot of trouble for the tee shot.  How did you feel about it?  This seems to be embodiment of 'hit the fairway, hit the green'.  Repeat. 

There is plenty of trouble off the tee for sure.  But I'm guessing perhaps 1/2 or more of the people that play there are not hitting from the proper tees!  If you are say higher than 16 handicap, you should not be playing the member tees.  And you should not be playing the tips unless you are scratch or better or just love getting beat up.   

[Steve_ Shaffer]

I understand that more members are playing the yellow tees now. I preferred playing a mix of yellow white.

With these ratings/slopes, CNGC is a test of golf.


   Black 74.6   151   
   Blue    72.9 149   
   Member  71.4   141
   White  71.1   138
   Yellow  69.0   126 
   Red  66.5   123

The "Member" tees must be new and are probably a mix of Blue/White



Like all courses, with frequent play and good course management, experience counts.

I believe that there are red stakes or white stakes that are seen on just about every tee shot.

[Joe Bausch]

#13.  Par 4.



Tee view.



Approach view:



Two views from just left and long of the green:





#14.  Par 4.



Tee view.



From short of the green:



From over the green:



A quibble I have about the next two holes is they seem a bit shoe-horned in.

#15.  Dogleg right par 4.



Tee view.



Approach view:



From behind the green:



The tour will finish later today.

[Joe Bausch]

#16.  Par 3



Tee view:



From behind the green:



#17.  Par 4



Tee view:



Approach from left part of the fw:



I like the shaping here short of the green (a green that pitches hard from left to right):



From long and left of the green:



#18.  Par 4.  The No 1 stroke hole.



Tee view:



Your last forced carry of the day!   



From over the green:



If you wish to view all the photos of CNGC, go to my web page here:

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/commonwealth/

[Steve_ Shaffer]

More forced carries on the second nine:

10 Approach
11 Approach
12 Tee shot
13 Tee and approach shots
14 Tee shot
15 Tee shot
17 Tee shot
18 Approach

This course is not for the faint of heart. See rating/slopes above. Just wait until the rough grows in. However, the club continually attracts single digit handicappers who relish the challenge and mid handicappers better not go for the heroic shot and just learn to manage the course.
Just imagine this course with greens like Lederach, for example.