As anybody who reads these things can see, I am always in search of new golf courses to play. This trip was a little different, as I built it around playing a course I played seventeen years ago, but was anxious to see again. I'm starting to get the itch to return to great courses I saw a long time ago and plan on doing more of that this year. This trip evolved into an opportunity to play a course in Pittsburgh I had been desiring for years, and to knock off some Ross courses in Western Pennsylvania as well.
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| Pittsburgh Field Club |
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| Mill Creek Golf Course(South) Par three 13th hole |
The second course on day one was Pittsburgh Field Club. I'd been wanting to play this course ever since I drove by it twenty years ago on my way to play its very close neighbor, Fox Chapel. Designed by Alex Findlay, Field Club occupies some very undulating property northeast of the city.
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| Pittsburgh Field Club, Par three 4th in foreground with Par four 2nd back left, with first fairway and clubhouse up top. |
The clubhouse sits on the highest point on the property and the first tee shot tumbles some hundred feet down to the fairway. The course is also unique for having an elevator and bridge that take walkers from the 17th green to 18th tee.
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| Pittsburgh Field Club, 17th hole with elevator and bridge to 18 in the center |
Day two of the trip was all about Donald Ross courses. I began the day heading to the very western part of New York State. Chautauqua Golf Club has two courses, the Hill and Lake. I was there to play the Donald Ross designed Lake course. Like Ross greens on most public courses, these have shrunk over time, but they still have the trademark slopes that I love so much about Donald Ross.
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| Chautauqua Golf Club(Lake) Par four 17th hole |
Day two continued back in Pennsylvania at Conewango Valley Country Club in Warren. Conewango has nine holes of Ross, currently holes 1,9, 10-13, and 16-18. While the Ross holes were the highlight of the course, the rest of it, on more mountainous property, was tons of fun to play.
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| Conewango Valley Country Club, Par three 11th green in foregound, Par four 10th green in background |
I finished my second day in Erie, Pennsylvania and a round at The Kahkwa Club, designed by Ross, and currently undergoing a bunker restoration project by Kris Spence. The back nine on more undulating property is the highlight of the course.
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| The Kahkwa Club, Par three 15th hole |
The massive downhill and then extremely uphill par five 12th hole really stood out at Kahkwa as something we don't normally see from Ross.
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| The Kahkwa Club. The brilliant and massively uphill par five 12th hole |
I still had a little bit of time left in the day so I decided to re-kindle my love of rollercoasters by checking out the Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer Park. This wooden coaster is ranked in the top 10 of all wooden coasters every year, and visiting Erie without trying it seemed like a crime!
Day three of the trip began in Erie with a round at the Tom Bendelow designed Lake Shore Country Club. Lake Shore is a very narrow routing that meanders it's way through a neighborhood. The 1st tee and 18th green are the only things remotely close to the lake and clubhouse.
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| Lake Shore Country Club, Par five 2nd hole |
The biggest surprise of the trip was next on day three. Wanango Country Club in Reno, Pennsylvania was worked on by Ross, but also more predominantly by A.W. Tillinghast. Both nines at Wanango run up and down a large ridge, and the execution of the holes using the landforms is wonderful.
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| Wanango Country Club, Par four 4th hole |
This is one of those courses with amazing potential and with a proper restoration/sympathetic renovation it could easily reach the top 100 courses in the US. Given it's current situation, that's never going to happen, but one can always dream!
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| Wanango Country Club, Par four 15th hole looking back |
After my wonderful round at Wanango, I headed east to State College, Pennsylvania. I was in the home of Penn State to check out Toftress Resort designed by Ed Ault. This course was another pleasant surprise, with the front nine having more variety and movement than the back. Overall it was a very good course, and one of the best public courses in Pennsylvania.
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| Toftress Resort, Par three 10th hole |
The last day of my brief trip to PA was supposed to begin with the entire purpose of this trip, playing Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA near Philly for the first time in seventeen years. Unfortunately two inches of rain the night before caused Merion to push back tee times to the afternoon, which prevented me from being able to play. My only other planned round of golf that day was very late in the afternoon at St. David's so I found myself in a position I am never in, sitting around with nowhere to play golf! Luckily for me, one of my favorite courses in Philly, Gulph Mills Golf Club, was open and happy to let me play if I was willing to walk and carry. I anxiously headed over to GM, a course I hadn't played in over ten years.
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| Gulph Mills Golf Club, Par four 5th hole |
I played the back nine at Gulph Mills and ran into ladies day on the front so I headed to another course designed by Hugh Wilson, architect of Merion. Phoenixville Country Club is a nine hole course near Valley Forge. The course has a very small footprint but maximizes it's small acreage.
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| Phoenixville Country Club, Par three 2nd hole |
I decided to continue the nine hole theme after my round at Phoenixville and headed to Flourtown Country Club, a course worked on by Donald Ross, William Flynn, and George Fazio.
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| Flourtown Country Club, Par three 8th hole |
My final round on day four was the Donald Ross designed St. Davids Golf Club in Wayne. The first four holes are on relatively flat land, but after that the course gets very interesting.
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| St. Davids Golf Club, Par five 8th hole |
So that's its for my mostly Pennsylvania trip. I was happy and proud that I was able to turn disappointment into opportunity, plus it gives me an excuse to return to Philly again!
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SCORECARDS
