Way too quirky and gimmicky for me. For example, they have an island green that follows a blind tee shot, but you better hope you didn’t hit your tee shot too well otherwise you’ll be in the hazard… but if you hang back to make sure you’re safe you have a blind shot into an island green 
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Jack Frost is my favorite up in that area by far. Second everything that @BJArmour said about the Mt Airy course, just straight up not a good time lol
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If you are interested in driving 40ish minutes check out Frosty Valley in Danville. Was a private club that has opened up to some public play. They also have cabins on site if you wanted to stay overnight and get some local brews.
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Frosty Valley is a fun course. We hold our Bloomsburg baseball alumni event there every year. But if you are in Stroudsburg area, it is a decent hike.
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Pocono Farms is a true delight - my buddy bought two different properties nearby so that he could play there anytime.
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While we are sort of on this subject, I think I have been effectively priced out of any house down the shore. My wife and I have discussed getting a place in the Poconos but don’t really know much of the towns/lakes/tiny hamlets.
We joined a club this year, so it might be that this is a year or two out, but some recommendations on nice towns easily reachable from Philly might give us an excuse to head up there and scout it out.
Cheers.
My family has had a house on Lake Wallenpaupack since the late 70’s. They bought lake front in 93. Someone from our family is up there every weekend from Spring to Fall and occasionally winter time. We will never leave. Love the lake and all things around it. Last time I looked though, prices for houses on lake front/2nd tier have risen to almost shore prices. Mostly New Yorkers that have left the city.
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Thanks, everyone. We’ll likely do Jack Frost one day, and then Great Bear and Shawnee the other. I appreciate the input!
@BJArmour @dornoch26 @Tibbs @tiltman9 @barnabyjones
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It’s a bit of a drive ( 45-60 minutes) but Sugarloaf Golf Club is sick. Played there in April with some college buddies and had a blast it’s got some great views, tough greens, and a nice blend of long par 3s and reachable 4s with a lot of dramatic elevation changes.
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Anyone up for playing this weekend, or already doing so and have a spot open?
Might be too late but I’ll throw in for Pocono Manor if you’re looking for a little one tier down filler. I’ve always had a lot of fun playing there. Can’t speak to what sort of shape it’s in these days but some fun shots from different elevations. JF is a fantastic course which I like better than Split Rock, for whatever reason despite their similarities I feel it’s a lot easier to lose a ton of balls at Split Rock. Maybe because I played it at a bachelor party last year with some guys who don’t play a lot and had to help them fish in the woods for balls by the end and leave some on tees for the guys behind us it was so bad.
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@Flex and myself have a tee time for Melrose CC on Sunday @ 10:20 Two spots open for any takers!
Edited: @Flex swore to never return to Golden Pheasant, so we switched to Melrose. Short and full of quirk (sometimes, but not always in a good way)
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@dornoch26 i maybe in. i will text you once i confirm
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Hey all, I will be visiting some family next weekend in the Bensalem area. Any recs for where I should try to play? I’ve played Jeffersonville, Bucks club (shoutout ZB), and Francis Byrne. My wife’s cousin mentioned Cream Ridge on the Jersey side.
Also, it looks like tee sheets book up fast in the city. Should I be looking further out from center city to have more availability?
Thanks
All those you mentioned are pretty far out of the city of Philly.
On the Jersey side, I’d recommend Mercer oaks or Mountain View (Mercer co courses) over cream ridge. In PA if you can snag a time at Makefield Highlands in bucks county, that is a great course.
Also in NJ there is Pennsauken down near the cherry hill mall that I enjoy. Frances Byrne is all the way up near Newark, NJ. There are many other courses closer to Bensalem than that. If you wanna go more central Jersey, the Rutgers course has many fans
But really Jeffersonville is the hands down best one, even if you’ve played there before.
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Thanks for the help!
By the way, I meant John Byrne, lol. IG has me all messed up from seeing all the reno posts of Francis. They live in Bensalem, so that’s my starting point. I think there are a limited number of times all be back to Philly, since my in-laws are moving near us in VA/TN, so I don’t want to waste time playing courses that won’t be memorable.
Any info about the pitch-n-putt they call Snipes?
@ChickPhilA bring nice about cream ridge. It’s fairly dreadful. Any of the Mercer courses are better, with oaks and Hopewell Valley good value.
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If you are looking for memorable, you aren’t in the best place. Sadly all the local courses to that area aren’t going to blow you away. What are you willing to drive? That would give us more of an idea of where to tell you to go.
Also Snipes is not great unless you are taking kids or people who don’t golf. It really is smalllllll. Not like a par 3 course, but everything is like 30 yards if I remember. Haven’t been in years.
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I’m not expecting too much from Snipes. Really just somewhere for me and the kids to get out of the house for a little bit, so Snipes might be good for that.
I think I’m just going to accept that we’ll play wherever we can get on. My wife’s cousin is purely a recreational golfer, so I’ll just go with what’s easy for him.
Thanks all for the recs
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Snipes is perfect for that. You can hit the range. Or hit the pitch and putt. 1 wedge and a putter.
Courses that aren’t too far that I would play: Makefield Highlands, Mountain View, the Mercer Courses, Five Ponds.
Hard Nos: Rancocas Valley, Middletown