Royal Manchester #9- good risk reward par 5. Requires a great second shot to hold the shallow green or an accurate pitch across the pond.
Wyncote #12-14- such a great 3 hole stretch with a gettable short par 4 followed by a tough par 4 that really makes you think about your tee shot. Then you have a tricky little green complex par 3 that allows some creativity around the green.
Royal oaks #14- split fairway with the right side being slightly higher that allows a better view at the flag but potentially a worse angle depending on the shelf the flag is on. Lower fairway is opposite. Makes you really plan out your attack from the tee depending on pin placement.
Foxchase #17-dogleg right with a pond right and bunker at the bend left. Can lay back short of the bunker or cut off as much of the corner as you want to risk. See far too many people goaded into cutting the corner and splashing one in the pond when a shorter club left and short of the bunker only leaves a 130-150 yard shot in. Again just a hole that really makes you plan your attack and can make or break your round.
Broad run #18- great finishing par 5. 17 gets all the attention because the huge drop shot but 18 I think is a better hole. Reachable in 2 but requires a great drive and second shot. Still some risk if you go for it and fan it right into the pond. Alternatively a pretty safe easy 3 shot hole for shorter hitters or newer players.
Honorable mention:
ledgerock #12-16- I’ll keep this to the honorable mentions since it’s private but I’ll take this stretch of holes against any in the area. 12 is a drivable par 4 but don’t go left or you will be chipping from about 12 ft below the green. 13 might be the most picturesque par 5 in the area. Requires a good 3 shots to get on the green with a look. 14 is another picturesque par 3 but can be a brute with the pin back, wind and the pond lurking left. 15 you can absolutely bomb driver but better be accurate. Don’t leave the approach shot short or again you will be chipping from a ways below the green. Finally 16 is a shorter par 4 cape hole left so bite off as much as you want. Second is a wedge into a small tricky green so you need to be accurate.
Worst holes:
#18 crossgates- Impossible to reach in two and even after two good shots to get into position you hit way uphill into the green. No strategy and impossibly tough for beginners. Leaves a sour taste at the end of the round.
Crossgates #15 is also super dumb with a max 180 yard shot off the tee then another mid-long iron into the green across a valley.
Chapel hill #5- this one might be the worst in the state. Pond cuts across most the start of fairway so beginners good luck. Then oh you can clear that pond great, you now have about 30 yards to work with before another pond cuts the whole way across the fairway and goes far enough you can’t hit driver over both so your forced into a tough layup. For anyone but a single digit handicap this hole is a crapshoot and it doesn’t make sense at a course more geared towards beginners.
Pilgrims oak #15- this one is here purely because of the comically large slope that looks like a mini golf hole in the middle of the green. If the pin is back right on the upper shelf good luck.
I’m with you on 15 at PO. That green is outright silly and I love that course. I think 12 takes the cake though at Crossgates. it’s just so bad, if they just took down the tree left of the cart path at the bend it would be tolerable. Until then it’s either go for it or 185-200 off the tee. Anything less is blocked out completely anything more is in shit. The only hole that may be worse is 9 at donegal highlands. Yikes. I’ve had 7 irons get wet. It’s too much risk to go for it, and even if you do execute the layup properly, you have to hit a knockdown wedge to an elevated green with a stonewall face.
Wind get as crazy at overlook as it did at foxchase today? At one point we had balls moving from the wind on the greens. Hitting a flush 3 iron 165 yards to pin high then turning around and hitting 9 irons 150 the next hole was an experience for sure. Still a total blast though.
Yeah it was knarly out there. I was off at 8:30, so the first 5 holes or so were not bad. But the back nine was tough. Had my ball oscillate on the green a few times.
I spent a full summer in State College when I was in law school. Conservatively, I probably played 50+ holes a week since it was all covered by the membership. Probably the best bang for my buck I will ever receive in my lifetime.
What are the chances that we could put together a little tournament for in the summer for PA, or at least a meet up. That is if there is not already a tournament in the works.
I’m working on something now. But the course I want to have it at isn’t open for the year yet, so I’m having trouble getting a hold of anyone. But if it comes together like I hope, it’ll be a lot of fun.
I’ve never played it this early in the season, so the high fescue might not be so bad yet if you tend to be like me and not hit it consistently straight. By late Spring/Summer it gets pretty high and I’m always sure to pack more balls than I normally would.
I was there last weekend. Recently punched and sanded greens but they rolled pretty true. The fescue is cut down this early in the year so you won’t lose a ton of balls but lies can obviously still be iffy on the fescue hills. Best advice is to just be sure to pay attention to the wind as often with the way the land runs it doesn’t feel as strong as it is once the ball is up in the air. Usually blows towards the river from York towards Harrisburg and if the factory nearby is running you can use that to judge direction.
Outside of that its pretty much what you see is what you get but there are a couple dogleg holes where if you can carry the corner you get considerably shorter shots in. Specifically #4, #5, and #14 are all worth trying to cut the corner while #7 and #13 are better off with a safer line. Also #9 is incredibly shallow and tough to hold if going for it in 2 unless you can get your drive down to about the 150 marker. The pitch back isn’t easy either so most people unless you can bomb it are better off laying back off the tee to take the two massive bunkers out of play then using the downhill fairway as an easy layup shot that typically runs out a ton in the summer. Last bit of advice i can think of is EVERYONE seems to come up short on 17 so take more club. Its a deep green and its a longer uphill shot. You’re also down in between some hills so usually you can’t feel the wind in your face at all. I think last weekend while waiting on 18 tee for a slower group in front i saw a full group and another group of 2 all come up short on that shot.