Philly Cricket Wissahickon Restoration?

[Brian Colbert]

What a great day I had today on the Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon course. According to my wonderful host, they are going to close the course down for restoration next year. Who knows more specific details? Who are they bringing in, what is the extent of their work? Apparently they are reviving the original Tilly bunkers but are they doing anything else? My host mentioned to me that they may be re-routing the course so that the 9th hole is now the 10th hole.

[Tom_Doak]

Brian:

Did it feel like it needed to be restored?  Sounds like it was pretty good as it stands today.

[Brian Colbert]

Tom,

From what I gather they are planning on returning to the original Tillinghast bunkering, which based on pictures I have seen is a lot different from what they have now. I consider this to be admirable and based on the photos should make for some interesting changes. It is a great golf course right now; I would say one of the best "quirky" courses I have ever personally seen. Some great features that you rarely see are the two "dueling" par 3s, holes 3 and 10, both under 150 yards and running parallel to each other. The club house also comes into play on the par 4 2nd hole, and the old train line bisecting the train line is a neat feature too. The extensive tree work they have done there has been a marked improvement.

In all I think it's a great course the way it is now, but I think as long as they keep some of these features that make it a neat course the return to the original Tillinghast bunkering will be an improvement.

[Joe Bausch]

BC, there are a couple of GCAers that are members at Philly Cricket and I'm confident they will weigh in.

I know Keith Foster is the architect in charge of the restoration.

In late 2010 I was fortunate to be invited to Cricket with some other Philly golfers to see the results of the major tree work at the club.  To quote Oprah Winfrey:  wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!  

I had played at Cricket a couple of times about 12 years ago.  And the tree clearing project made the course almost unrecognizable in spots!  And I was thrilled.  The combo of the vistas created and the better turf health in places, particularly along the 9th FW, was impressive.

Check out the thread I started on this topic here:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,47391.0.html

[John Kavanaugh]

Not a big fan.  Get it...Big Fan.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Brian,

Here is the impetus for the tree removal program at Cricket.


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/a-cry-for-the-golf-course-by-gib-carpenter/


As Joe mentioned, the transformational work done so far has been outstanding.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom,

From what I gather they are planning on returning to the original Tillinghast bunkering, which based on pictures I have seen is a lot different from what they have now. I consider this to be admirable and based on the photos should make for some interesting changes. It is a great golf course right now; I would say one of the best "quirky" courses I have ever personally seen. Some great features that you rarely see are the two "dueling" par 3s, holes 3 and 10, both under 150 yards and running parallel to each other. The club house also comes into play on the par 4 2nd hole, and the old train line bisecting the train line is a neat feature too. The extensive tree work they have done there has been a marked improvement.

In all I think it's a great course the way it is now, but I think as long as they keep some of these features that make it a neat course the return to the original Tillinghast bunkering will be an improvement.

Brian:

I was actually familiar with the course ... my description of it in The Confidential Guide [c. 1996] mentions the dueling par-3's and the locker room coming into play on #2 ... I fanned an 8-iron onto the roof when I played there with Michael Bamberger long ago.

I was just trying to make the point that so many clubs are undertaking big restorations when the course they already have seems to be pretty good.  It's kind of amazing to me, especially with the economy such as it is.

[Brad Isaacs]

I played the course this last May. I must say that the head pro is a great guy. He was very gracious host. The Cricket Club is lucky to have Jim.
I can understand why they want to renovate the course. The bunkers seem to be at not quite the right distances for the modern game. With a restoration of Tillybunkers at the correct distances from the T, they  will take a course that is very good and transform it into a top 100 classic course. I can't wait to play it after the job is done.

Militia Hill is no slouch. Although it is bigger in every way, it too has its charms. It may not have quite as many charms as the Wisahickon though.  It was closer than I was lead to believe before I played it. Of note is the bunker design, the lining of the bunkers with asphalt is unique. I would assume that has been discussed in GCA before. I thought they played quite well and were very consistent.  Has any other course used this approach to bunkers?

[Powell Arms]

Guys,

Sorry for the delay in weighing in with a member perspective.

The need for the renovation starts win an infrastructure project. The bunkers and greens are essentially all original , circa 1922. They have clearly  been stretched well beyond their useful life.

In conjunction with that, bunkering that has been lost over time will be restored. That will all be done based on a plan developed by Keith Foster. That plan will restore the course consistent with he Tillanghast design of 1922 as modified by Flynn in 1928. In 1928, Flynn came to Cricket for a turf grass project and ended up changing the sequence of holes on the front 9, adding some bunkering and changing some angles of play. Items of note in Mr Foster's plan are:
Hole 4 (par 5): restore Grand Hazard from 270-370 yards.
Hole 11 (par 5): restore back tee about 30 yards right of existing tee so that tee shot must carry quarry wall and Militia Hill #3 green below
Hole 14 (par 4): restore grouping of 14+ pot bunkers fronting green
Hole 15 (par 3): move tee about 30 yards to the left so hole plays as a redan, pin at 150 - 210 yards.

I'll try to dig up some photos to post of those features in old aerials

A weakness of the course as it existis now are the three par 5's; all three run in the same direction and 4 & 7 are similar.  The restore holes will be some of the more memorable and challenging.

Work is scheduled to begin in late June of 2013, and be open for play in June of 2014. Sod is being grown now for the installation next fall!

It will be an exciting culmination of a process that has taken many years, and gained substantial momentum from Gib Carpenter's "in my opinion" article that prompted the tree management work.

And yes, we are thrilled to have Jim, as equally thrilled to have our director  of grounds, who is extracting every list bit of playability from our old Wissahicken infrastructure. 

[Doug Braunsdorf]

Powell, the work will be done next year, so it's safe to say the Philadelphia Open will be held on the Militia Hill course, correct?  In any case, I can't wait to see the finished product and hope that it (Wissahickon) will host an Open or Amateur very soon after. 

[Powell Arms]

Doug, the Philadelphia Open has been moved to 2015. Should be in great shape for an unveiling!

[Bill Shotzbarger]

Guys,

Sorry for the delay in weighing in with a member perspective.

The need for the renovation starts win an infrastructure project. The bunkers and greens are essentially all original , circa 1922. They have clearly  been stretched well beyond their useful life.

In conjunction with that, bunkering that has been lost over time will be restored. That will all be done based on a plan developed by Keith Foster. That plan will restore the course consistent with he Tillanghast design of 1922 as modified by Flynn in 1928. In 1928, Flynn came to Cricket for a turf grass project and ended up changing the sequence of holes on the front 9, adding some bunkering and changing some angles of play. Items of note in Mr Foster's plan are:
Hole 4 (par 5): restore Grand Hazard from 270-370 yards.
Hole 11 (par 5): restore back tee about 30 yards right of existing tee so that tee shot must carry quarry wall and Militia Hill #3 green below
Hole 14 (par 4): restore grouping of 14+ pot bunkers fronting green
Hole 15 (par 3): move tee about 30 yards to the left so hole plays as a redan, pin at 150 - 210 yards.

I'll try to dig up some photos to post of those features in old aerials

A weakness of the course as it existis now are the three par 5's; all three run in the same direction and 4 & 7 are similar.  The restore holes will be some of the more memorable and challenging.

Work is scheduled to begin in late June of 2013, and be open for play in June of 2014. Sod is being grown now for the installation next fall!

It will be an exciting culmination of a process that has taken many years, and gained substantial momentum from Gib Carpenter's "in my opinion" article that prompted the tree management work.

And yes, we are thrilled to have Jim, as equally thrilled to have our director  of grounds, who is extracting every list bit of playability from our old Wissahicken infrastructure. 

I'm looking forward to the addition of the sahara bunker on 4.

One question about 15 - will the tee be just behind where the water cooler is and play shorter? It maxes out around 210 yds right now.

[Powell Arms]

Bill, the line for 15 will be where the cooler is located. But the tee will be 20-30 yards behind there. It is fescue now.

[Kyle Harris]

I think the 16th green could use some bunkers in front, or maybe a plaque in the fairway.

[Mark McKeever]

Powell,

The grand hazard on 4 is going to be incredible!  Think Kyle can putt through that one?

Mark

[Malcolm Mckinnon]

The group is discussing the Cricket Club golf complex in Flourtown, PA here, not the main Clubhouse near the Wissahickon valley and the old nine holer course in Chestnut Hill.

The title of this post should read "Philly Cricket Flourtown Restoration?".

Just to be clear to non- Philly readers.

Malcolm

[Powell Arms]

Kyle - that plaque is definitely part of the restoration plans. It includes the background to the shot.  Asking the caddie for the yardage. And pulling out the putter to execute a beautiful 78 yard putt from the fairway for a gimmee.

Malcolm - the Tillingahst 18 in Flourtown is known by the members as the Wissahickon course. The 9 that remains of the 18 that hosted the 1907 & 1910 US Opens, known as St Martins, also saw substantial renovations over this past winter. There was a thread on that work a couple of months ago. That course has four sets of hickories available for use & enjoyment.

[Bill Shotzbarger]

15 is a tough hole but it doesn't get much better than 16-17-18 when the match is on the line. It's taken me at least a dozen rounds to realize that I need to hit a 3 wood on 17 because driver too often runs through the fairway on the right side. And the 18th hole speaks for itself.....

I'm trying to post a few pics but imgur is currently under maintenance....

[Bill Shotzbarger]

9th hole - there used to be trees all down the right side along the old train tracks. This hole is one of the best 500 in the world according to a book I own.



16th - fun tee shot (and fairway, apparently, huh Kyle?)



the all world home hole

[Joe Bausch]

It is a fun place, eh Bill?

Back in the fall of 2010 a number of GCAers were invited to Cricket to see the results of the tree clearing part of the restoration.  A fairly long thread from that day is here, with hole diagrams and photos:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,47391.0.html