It give me no pleasure...

[MCirba]

to try my best Steve Shaffer imitation commenting on the business of golf and announcing another course closing.

https://www.tnonline.com/mahoning-valley-country-club-close

This one hurts as it's one of the closest courses to my house and I usually play it a few times a year.   With a front nine designed by Maurice McCarthy in the 20s and a back nine by William & David Gordon in the 50s, no one would accuse the course of having cohesive architecture, but each nine was fun to play in their own distinct way.   Much of the front nine is flat in a creek plain and unfortunately with our 100 year rainstorms now seemingly a monthly occurrence it tended to stay wet, which I'm sure contributed to the declining volumes of play.

I'm hopeful they'll find a buyer for golf as real estate isn't an attractive option at that location for a number of reasons, but it would have to be someone looking at a business writeoff as it's tough to see the profit potential.

[Joe Bausch]

Sad to hear.


Photo album:


http://www.myphillygolf.com/uploads/bausch/MahoningValley/index.html

[MCirba]

Nice photos, Joe.

Does anyone want to guess which nine is McCarthy and which nine is the Gordons based on the pics?

C'mon...you have a 50/50 chance.   

[Joe Bausch]

This sounds like a fun game.  If you know the answer, please do not reveal.  Simply check out that photo album then post your reply here with your answer and reasons why, in a form like this:


Front nine:  this guy
Back nine:  that guy


Reasons:  keep it Twitter-like if you can.


Say by Sunday or Monday we'll tally the results and see how good you were!

[Bret Lawrence]

Joe and Mike,


I like the idea of this game, but Mike may have given away too much information in his first post.  Perhaps an edit will add to the mystery?


I enjoyed the photo tour, sad news!


Bret

[Dan Kelly]

I like the idea of this game, but Mike may have given away too much information in his first post.  Perhaps an edit will add to the mystery?

Does anyone read that far into a post anymore? 🤐

[Greg Smith]

Looking at the aerial photo, it looks like there are SIX holes on the front nine that bend to the right!   Gordon must have felt he had to compensate when the back nine was built, because just about every hole bends to the LEFT.