photo tour of Valley CC (Conyngham, PA): a Tillinghast design

[Joe Bausch]

One of my favorite golf courses in the Golf Association of Philadelphia is Valley CC in Conyngham, PA (my spouse's hometown!). I was fortunate to play it on Monday with my pal Matt Frey.

My Cobb's Creek co-catalyst Cirba provides the architectural heritage for the course:

Willie Norton/Dr. Casselberry 1909, A.W. Tillinghast 1919, Geoffrey Cornish 1955, Ron Forse/Jim Nagle 1999.

Here is the scorecard:





Here is the hole sequencing:



Don't let the yardage make you think it is a pea-shooters course. 

I'll post the front-nine this afternoon, so please refrain from any comments until all nine holes have been posted. I'll do the back nine in the coming days.

The leaves were popping and the lighting was good to excellent.

[Joe Bausch]

Valley CC opens with a par 5, the No. 1 stroke hole. It is fairly straight and plays a bit uphill with a sloped fairway tee to green. I think your better player will view it as a birdie opp as it tips out at 524 yards. You know you’re at an old school course when you arrive at the green! A deep bunker left, and another one right are no bargain. It looks to my semi-trained eye to be beautifully executed cut-and-fill technique.

All photos are clickable to a larger size.

[Joe Bausch]

The 2nd hole is a 200 yard par 3 playing downhill to a fall-away green.

[Joe Bausch]

 The 3rd is a downhill par 4 (314 yards) with a ditch left and water short and right near another contoured green.

[Joe Bausch]

The 4th is an uphill par 4 (343 yards) with fairway bunkers left, and a pesky fairway bunker jutting in from the right. It has a large green with a two distinct tiers and a pin position this day where the back slope could be utilized to bring the ball back to hole.

[Joe Bausch]

This downhill par 3 (185 yards) plays over water short and right of the green.

[Joe Bausch]

As the first photo shows on this downhill par 4 (369 yards), a quick cold rain hit us for about 5 minutes! This green is protected by a deep bunker left, and two more right and over the green.

[Joe Bausch]

The 7th is an uphill par 4 (308 yards) with another bunker jutting in from the right.

[Joe Bausch]

The 8th is a scenic par 5 (552 yards) with a wavy fairway and three bunkers to be navigated on your second shot. The green here is a not as contoured, but larger, than most others on the course.

[Joe Bausch]

The closing hole on the front nine is a par 3 running along one of the two roads leading to the clubhouse. The practice green, shared with the 18th green, in the background.

[Joe Bausch]

I’d forgotten how much time it takes to do a photo album on this site!

Enjoy, and note the pics are clickable to a larger size.

Back nine posted on Friday if all goes well.

[Matt Frey, PGA]

Thank you, Joe, for posting this photo tour! For those who have not played Valley, it has to be one of Tillinghast's most fun layouts.


Joe is correct when saying that the shorter course yardage is not indicative of an easy golf course; if golfers find themselves out of position, particularly around the greens, they will face difficult shots.


After playing Valley a few times, you start to learn where on the green (or off!) you need to land your golf ball to get it near the hole. The second hole's green may be one of the best examples I have seen of using green contours on your approach to have a manageable / makeable putt; hole Nos. 1-6, 9-10, and 14 have discernible contours for golfers to use.

[Phil Young]

Thanks for sharing those Joe. Valley CC has been in my "must get to" bucket list for far too long. Hopefully next year!

[MCirba]

The greens at Valley CC are outstanding in every respect.

[Joe Bausch]

The opening hole (10th) on the back nine at Valley CC is a fine par 4 (390 yards; No. 2 stroke hole).

[Joe Bausch]

The 11th is a downhill par 4 (385 yards).

[Joe Bausch]

The 12th hole is a downhill par 3 over aqua:

[Joe Bausch]

The 13th is an uphill, slight dogleg-left par 4 (350 yards) with cool chocolate drops left of the green.

[Joe Bausch]

The 14th is a down-then-up dogleg-left par 5 (522 yards) with a creek in play for your longer drivers. The 2nd shot tends to be semi-blind.

[Joe Bausch]

The 15th is an uphill par 4 (405 yards) with a bunker right of the green to be avoided.

[Joe Bausch]

The par 3 16th hole (214 yards) is not easy as the tee shot is semi-blind. The green is quite wide.

[Joe Bausch]

The par 5 17th hole (456 yards) plays steadily uphill with some mounding in the fairway about 250 yards out, two well placed bunkers short of the green, and deep bunkers left and right of the green with a false front and punchbowl-like in the rear.

[Joe Bausch]

The closing hole on the back nine (18th) is a slight dogleg-left par 4 (344 yards) with a long, skinny green that is shared with practice green.

[Joe Bausch]

Thanks for sharing those Joe. Valley CC has been in my "must get to" bucket list for far too long. Hopefully next year!

Maybe we can meet up, Phil!

[Jim Sherma]

Valley is a really great play. Played the middle tees with vintage hickory clubs a few weeks back and had a blast. I find the drive on the first hole a bit awkward and tight as a starter. Other than that it is such a joyous course with some quite extreme greens that are still very playable and seem to work well.


The stretch from Elkview CC up by Carbondale down to Valley CC is a really cool area for fun classic architecture (4 Tillinghast, 2 Ross, 1 Travis plus a few other courses well worth playing).