Courtesy of Wyncote Golf Club
Eric F. Epler | [email protected]
With warmer weather expected this weekend, it’s never too early to start working on your golf game.
Whether you’re hitting the driving range or planning on sneaking in 18, we thought the timing was right to take a look at some of Pa.’s best public courses.
We assembled a small but golf-crazed selection committee and went for it. Our top 20 courses you can play list is below.
We thought the timing was right to take a look at some of Pa.’s best public courses. We assembled a small but golf-crazed selection committee and went for it. Our top 20 courses you can play list is below.
Courtesy of Toftrees Resort
All courses are listed with weekday/weekend greens fees with cart during peak season. Yardage is from the middle tees. All courses offer several layers of discounts for juniors, seniors, or military personnel.
Since we haven't played all of the 500-plus public golf courses in the state, please let us know your favorite places to play in the comments section below. Here we go.
20. Blue Ridge Trail
Courtesy of Blue Ridge Trail
Location: Mountain Top
Year opened: 2006
Design: Ault, Clark & Associates
Distance: 3,120 yards (Ridge), 3,066 yards (Trail), 3,084 (Blue), Par 72
Greens fees: $38/$47
Buzz: We'll visit the state's northeast corridor quite a few times during this countdown and it starts with the 27-hole facility at Blue Ridge Trail. Located south of Wilkes-Barre, BRT is a well-established play for residents and attracts outsiders with well groomed, and often tight, fairways and true greens.
19. Great Bear
Courtesy of Shawnee Inn Resort
Location: East Stroudsburg
Year opened: 1997
Design: Jack Nicklaus
Distance: 6,105 yards, Par 71
Greens fees: $70/$95
Buzz: While its sister track at the historic Shawnee Inn is a Tillinghast classic northeast design, Great Bear, just five miles down the road, has its own unique history. The once private club actually shut down in 2010 but was purchased by Shawnee owner Charlie Kirkwood at auction roughly two years later. Pumping countless resources into the project, golfers can again experience a solid up and down loop in the Poconos.
18. Makefield Highlands
Courtesy of Makefield Highlands
Location: Yardley
Year opened: 2004
Design: Rick Jacobsen
Distance: 6,157 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $53/$80
Buzz: This one comes highly recommended from the small selection committee. At Makefield Highlands, "redefining public golf" is not just a slogan. It's been recognized for his durability -- Jacobsen's design received heavy play during peak season -- and celebrated for details and customer service. Plus, the course occupying the former Pleasant Valley Estate just looks like fun.
17. Iron Valley Golf Club
Courtesy of Iron Valley
Location: Cornwall
Year opened: 2000
Design: P.B. Dye
Distance: 6,028 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $49/$59
Buzz: We encourage all golfers to give Iron Valley a few chances before reaching a final verdict. The P.B. Dye course offers two completely different nines, Tailings and Mine, which points to the area's long history of mining iron ore. While design features and course conditions never disappoint, first-time loopers can leave Iron Valley with tons of questions, like "What happened?" But there is an island green. Dye also gives you a handful of visually stunning par 4s. And there are rock formations, great green complexes, and railroad ties. You'll want to go back.
16. Raven's Claw
Courtesy of Raven's Claw
Location: Pottstown
Year opened: 2005
Design: Ed Shearon
Distance: 6,370 yards, Par 71
Greens fees: $55/$71
Buzz: When you hear the words strategic and intimidating, half of our selection crew gets the chills. Maybe Raven's Claw is a shot-maker's special, but that doesn't mean the mid-to-high handicapper can't enjoy this gem. You will need a strong disposition to attack Shearon's design, which offers a terrific and bold set of par 3s -- always a plus in our evaluations -- and the overall experience of a private club.
15. Toftrees Golf Resort
Courtesy of Toftrees
Location: State College
Year opened: 1968
Design: Ed Ault, Tom Clark, Brian Ault
Distance: 6,378 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $50/$64
Buzz: "Home among the trees" is the meaning of the word Toftrees. We'll buy it. The resort course near Penn State University has been admired for some time, mainly for sparkling conditions and overall challenge. If you enjoy that feeling of being alone on the course, Toftrees has plenty of space among its 1,500 wooden acres to get lost.
14. Links at Gettysburg
Courtesy of Links at Gettysburg
Location: Gettysburg
Year opened: 1999
Design: Lindsay Ervin
Distance: 6,277 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $64/$79
Buzz: It may take a few rounds to thoroughly enjoy The Links. For starters, merging the correct yardage with your game is paramount. Ervin's scenic design has water on the majority of holes and other hazards sprinkled throughout. With a slope rating of 136 from the white tees, bring a few extra pills. The backdrop, however, is terrific, and the red rock wall that frames the back of the par-3 signature hole is simply cool. So are the mini cannons for tee markers. Details matter.
13. Totteridge Golf Club
Courtesy of Totteridge
Location: Greensburg
Year opened: 2001
Design: Rees Jones, Steve Weisser
Distance: 6,186 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $39/$59
Buzz: The links-style golf course in Greensburg opened as a private club. Eight years later, officials flipped to a public facility to bolster revenue. The transition wasn't easy, but management continued its blue-collar approach to provide a fun, and certainly budget friendly, experience.
12. Berkleigh Golf Club
Courtesy of Berkleigh Golf Club
Location: Kutztown
Year opened: 1926
Design: Robert White
Distance: 6,359 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $42/$57
Buzz: Like Hershey CC, Berkleigh is thick with history and has only operated as a public golf course since 2007. That's right, the terrific venue, and longtime host of the LPGA's Betsy King Classic, was members only for more than 80 years. White, a Scotsman, was the first president of the PGA of America, but the course has stood up every season. At first glance, it's easy to understand who so many pro and amateur events have been staged here.
11. Penn National - Founders Course
Courtesy of Penn National Golf Club
Location: Fayetteville
Year opened: 1968
Design: Ed Ault
Distance: 6,464 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $65/$79
Buzz: You could easily couple Penn National's Iron Forge course, designed by Buill Love, and have a splendid 36-hole adventure. But we're sticking with the original Founders course, which Ault carved out of farmland. You get what you might expect from a northeast track, with trees bordering most holes and well-established greens, although larger than most. Fast, too. More good news is the fairways are more than generous. Even better is the relatively breezy par-4 opening hole, which hopefully sets the right mood for the rest of the day.
10. Jack Frost National
Courtesy of Jack Frost National
Location: Blakeslee
Year opened: 2007
Design: Terry LaGree
Distance: 6,297 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $59/$79
Buzz: If you're playing a mountain course there should be vistas and impeccable views, right? Jack Frost qualifies, with a twist. While playing an abundance of uneven lies is the norm on most mountain loops, Jack Frost provides mostly flat and wide fairways. The rising par-3 ninth is the best, and most difficult, hole on the course. If you couple with Great Bear, about 30 miles away, that's a solid weekend in the Poconos.
9. Tom's Run at Chestnut Ridge
Courtesy of Chestnut Ridge
Location: Blairsville
Year opened: 1993
Design: Bill Love
Distance: 6,293 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $55/$65
Buzz: Apparently, it's the Tom's Run creek, which frames several holes on the inward nine, and not a guy named Tom. You know, in case you were wondering. What's likeable here, aside from the natural look and feel you get from the Appalachian Mountains, are the sizable greens that putt true.
8. Inniscrone Golf Club
Courtesy of Inniscrone GC
Location: Avondale
Year opened: 1990s
Design: Gil Hanse
Distance: 6,210 yards, Par 70
Greens fees: $49/$59
Buzz: Inniscrone began as a lofty private facility but has operated as a municipal course for some years. It's a strong test with wonderful sightlines and lots of elevation changes. It's also filled with a splendid mix of member's style holes and difficult pars. In other words, it's a challenge that most golfers are searching for. Yes, you're smack in the middle of mushroom country, but the occasional trace of fragrance is part of the allure. One of the best bargains on the list.
7. Hershey Country Club - West Course
Courtesy of Hershey Entertainment
Location: Hershey
Year opened: 1930
Design: Maurice McCarthy
Distance: 6,480 yards, Par 73
Greens fees: Fee with resort stay
Buzz: A rich history does exist at Hershey Country Club, which the public can access while staying at Hershey Lodge or Hotel Hershey. Golfers can walk where Byron Nelson edged San Snead 1 up at the 1940 PGA Championship. For a great stretch (1978-94), the West Course also hosted the world's best in women's golf at the LPGA Lady Keystone Open. All in all, it's an engaging round with great views of the town and old factory, and you'll need every club.
6. Broad Run Golfer's Club
Courtesy of Broad Run Golfers' Club
Location: West Chester
Year opened: 2000
Design: Rees Jones, Keith Evans
Distance: 6,080 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $60/$71
Buzz: It's downright difficult to find a cosmetic flaw along the 372-acre facility. One part of your game that might suffer, however, is driving distance. With all the elevation shifts, the byproduct is tee shots don't exactly run out on climbing par 4s. No matter, Broad Run will stretch your game over ridges, near wetlands, and through valleys, all within about 40 minutes of center city Philadelphia.
5. Wyncote Golf Club
Courtesy of Wyncote Golf Club
Location: Oxford
Year opened: 1993
Design: Brian Ault
Distance: 6,074 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $59/$79
Buzz: On Wyncote's official website there is a page devoted to course accolades. You'll need to scroll down a dozen times to read them all top to bottom. For a relatively young golf course, Wyncote earned national attention in a hurry, and that's not easy considering Pa.'s history in the game of golf. The Heathlands-style course simply delivers on every front, especially if you prefer to navigate tall grass rather than trees on errant shots.
4. Olde Stonewall
Courtesy of Olde Stonewall GC
Location: Ellwood City
Year opened: 1999
Design: Dr. Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry
Distance: 6,200 yards, Par 70
Greens fees: $150/$150
Buzz: It's certainly a premium price to walk these pristine fairways about 40 minutes NW of Pittsburgh. However, you'll be talking about this loop the entire ride home. If the castle/clubhouse doesn't get you, the stone-lined tee boxes and 15-minute tee times during peak season will. It's a strategic move to allow golfers to thoroughly enjoy their rounds. Hurdzan has been talked about a lot this week as the architect behind Erin Hills, site of the 2017 U.S. Open.
3. The Golf Course at Glen Mills
Courtesy of The Course at Glen Mills
Location: Glen Mills
Year opened: 2000
Design: Bobby Weed
Distance: 6,011 yards, Par 71
Greens fees: $82/$98
Buzz: Glen Mills is simply a unique facility with an abundance of character. Owned by managed by the nation's oldest reform school, Glen Mills started popping up on top-end playing lists almost immediately. Part of the allure are the elevation changes -- the par-3 10th hole is a doozy -- and a terrific combination of member-style holes treacherous 4s and 5s.
2. Old Course at Omni Bedford Springs
Courtesy of Bedford Springs Resort
Location: Bedford
Year opened: 1895
Design: A.W. Tillinghast (1916), Donald Ross (1924)
Distance: 6,023 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $179
Buzz: Years ago, a colleague and I were excited to experience some of the resort's finer amenities. We should have scheduled the spa treatment for after the round at Tillinghast's Old Course. If you don't haul you're A-game to Bedford, well, hot rocks and the natural springs across from the resort won't help much. That's part of the allure, the test. Architect Ron Forse coordinated a massive reclamation project and added even more teeth. The greens are fast and pure genius, and you'll love the harrowing par 3. You'll know which par 3 when you see it. There's even a new clubhouse that opens this month.
1. Nemacolin Woodlands Resort - Mystic Rock
Courtesy of Nemacolin Woodland Resort
Location: Farmington
Year opened: 1995
Design: Pete Dye
Distance: 6,313 yards, Par 72
Greens fees: $195/$205 (caddy)
Buzz: There is plenty of buzz surrounding the unveiling of Nemacolin's newest crown jewel. Shepherd's Rock, another 18-hole gem from architect Pete Dye, is scheduled to open to the public on July 12. It's unclear if the new guy on the block will be tougher than the old one. That's right, Mystic Rock, the former home of the PGA's 84 Lumber Classic, runs a slope rating of 149 from the championship tees. Our advice is to step forward and enjoy one of Pa.'s best, public or private.
The Next Five
Lederach Golf Club, Harleysville
Golden Oaks, Fleetwood
Club at Morgan Hill, Easton
Birdsfoot GC, Fleetwood
Pilgrim's Oak, Peach Bottom
Ad Choices