[mark chalfant]

Ive heard good things about Hershey, but very little about other McCarthy solo designs.  Feedback about his courses and his design skills would be appreciated !


thanks

[Nate Oxman]

Hershey West is really good, designed with a great deal of ingenuity in my opinion. I could certainly play there every day for sure. It's as fun a golf course as any I've played in PA.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Wonder what the north woodsman Matt Frey thinks -  MJM did Massena CC and one in Loon Lake.   

[Jim Sherma]

At one time McCarthy had 54 holes designed in Hershey.


The West Course at Hershey CC (1930) which is still mostly original. 16 greens in the same site, 11 of which are original. All 18 holes in the original corridors. I’m obviously biased with Hershey as my Home club but I think the bones of this course is exceptional. If it was maintained with the same sense of purpose and precision as the higher end Philly area courses I believe it would be an honest peer.


Spring Creek - 9 holes originally called the Hershey Juvenile Golf Club. In order for an adult to play you had to be accompanied by a kid. 5 of the current 9 are original McCarthy.


Park view GC - 18 holes NLE. Wonderful layout on a rollicking piece of land that preceded the West by a year or two. Hosted many state level tournaments including the PA pub-Links. Closed in 2005. It was land locked and too short and compact for modern tournament golf. 10 or 11 holes were wonderful and a real loss to the local golf scene.


Hotel Hershey GC - 9 holes NLE. Course was behind the Hotel. Most of the corridors are still there but it was closed in 2001, I’ve spoken to many better players that spoke highly of it as a fun course that was suited for match play with small severe greens and tight corridors.

[MCirba]

Agree with my friend Jim Sherma on everything at Hershey, including bemoaning the loss of the wonderful Hershey Parkview municipal course.   Wow, that place had some great holes!

McCarthy also designed the first nine of Mahoning Valley Country Club outside Lehighton, PA, which is close to where I live.   The second nine by William & David Gordon is decent if predictable, but the front nine cleverly uses a winding river on four of the holes by daring you to play closer to the edge for advantage.   Unfortunately, it is generally along the flattish river plain so there isn't a lot of natural elevation to work with, nor are there many man-made hazards.   3 Doak Scale, probably.

[Jim Sherma]

Mike - I didn’t realize that McCarthy did Mahoning Valley’s front. Been a while since I played there. Your description of the Gordon’s 9 describes a lot of their work. Always thought Locust Valley was about as good as they got along with Saucon Grace.

[Chris_Blakely]

Maywood golf club in battle creek Michigan is very good on a nice rolling piece of property.


Chris

[mark chalfant]

Thanks for all the great replies

[MCirba]

Mike - I didn’t realize that McCarthy did Mahoning Valley’s front. Been a while since I played there. Your description of the Gordon’s 9 describes a lot of their work. Always thought Locust Valley was about as good as they got along with Saucon Grace.

Jim,


Sadly, Locust Valley is in its final days last I heard.   Some very good holes there and I like Bethlehem Muni a lot but they are losing money as well. 


Probably my favorite Gordons course is Medford Village in NJ but I havent been there in ages.  I have heard really good things about Sunnybrook but have not had the opportunity to play there yet.

[Mark Pritchett]

Forest Lake Club in Columbia, SC is a good McCarthy layout on a small parcel of land.  Great club with a lot of history, I would recommend a visit if you are in the area. 

[John McCarthy]

Most tasteful name in golf course architecture.

[Jim_Kennedy]

McCarthy's contract for the Hershey courses:

[Jim_Kennedy]

His obituary in Golfdom:


http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/golfd/article/1938jun52.pdf

[MCirba]

How amazingly cool is that??

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