Off the Fringe, “Golf’s best short read.” The award winning newsletter, sent twice monthly, that provides an unconventional perspective on the golf world.
Golfer Bob
Abbottstown
2009-05-20
$26 (cart included), played on Tuesday, May 2009 at 10am
Our group of travelling seniors played here for $27 with the Tee Time book, which is a dynamite bargain for a course of this quality.
The course has a small hotel in the clubhouse, a nice bar, and a well-stocked pro-shop. Staff is always professional and accommodating, especially in the bar. Snack bar is outside, and yesterday was staffed by a strikingly beautiful girl with a very pleasant personality. Overall, a good experience, even before the golf. Nice practice facility, too.
Course design and layout is superior! Excellent use of the rolling terrain, and clever use of woods and water, without the need to trick the course up with man-made moguls, railroad ties and other PB Dye trash. Tee boxes are generally large and flat, fairway landing areas are receptive and wide enough (except for #2), and there are a few fairway bunkers, but not an excessive number. Greens are large, most have some slope, some severe, and a few are modestly contoured. Bunkers are sprinkled around, and most are alongside the greens, as opposed to being in front, so the course is very amenable to bump-and-run pitches.
A couple of memorable holes:
- #2 is a relatively short hole, but the tee shot requires a minimum 200 yards through a tight chute of trees to the landing area, then a 90-degree left turn to the green, which is then only about 125 yards away. A very daunting hole: par is an excellent score.
- #8 is a long dogleg par 5, with the bend around a giant oak tree at 270 yards off the White tees: this presents us human beings with a real course management challenge, since we can not get past the tree on our drive. If we go left of the tree, water lurks out there; if we go right, we are surely in the woods; if we go over with a short iron, we still have 250 yards to the hole! Hobson-s choice.
Conditions were terrific. Fairways were lush, and greens were very consistent, putted about medium fast. Bunkers have a fairly coarse sand in them, so it takes a shot or two to figure them out: spend a minute or two in the practice area to check this out.
Course is walkable, although there are a couple of situations with pretty long distances from green to tee where the course crosses a local road (between #2 and #3, #8 and #9, #11 and #12, and #17 and #18). Also, there were several mowers at work on the course yesterday, and they were very courteous about pulling aside as we played: well done to grounds crew!
In summary, an excellent course, especially at this price. We highly recommend it.
Would travel: 20-30 Miles, Vacation Worthy
Bottom line: I would play again, Ranks with the best in this price level
Condition of Course, Difficulty, Layout, Price, Ambiance, No Houses on Course, Clubhouse, Pro Shop
$26 (cart included), played on Tuesday, May 2009 at 10am
Our group of travelling seniors played here for $27 with the Tee Time book, which is a dynamite bargain for a course of this quality.
The course has a small hotel in the clubhouse, a nice bar, and a well-stocked pro-shop. Staff is always professional and accommodating, especially in the bar. Snack bar is outside, and yesterday was staffed by a strikingly beautiful girl with a very pleasant personality. Overall, a good experience, even before the golf. Nice practice facility, too.
Course design and layout is superior! Excellent use of the rolling terrain, and clever use of woods and water, without the need to trick the course up with man-made moguls, railroad ties and other PB Dye trash. Tee boxes are generally large and flat, fairway landing areas are receptive and wide enough (except for #2), and there are a few fairway bunkers, but not an excessive number. Greens are large, most have some slope, some severe, and a few are modestly contoured. Bunkers are sprinkled around, and most are alongside the greens, as opposed to being in front, so the course is very amenable to bump-and-run pitches.
A couple of memorable holes:
- #2 is a relatively short hole, but the tee shot requires a minimum 200 yards through a tight chute of trees to the landing area, then a 90-degree left turn to the green, which is then only about 125 yards away. A very daunting hole: par is an excellent score.
- #8 is a long dogleg par 5, with the bend around a giant oak tree at 270 yards off the White tees: this presents us human beings with a real course management challenge, since we can not get past the tree on our drive. If we go left of the tree, water lurks out there; if we go right, we are surely in the woods; if we go over with a short iron, we still have 250 yards to the hole! Hobson-s choice.
Conditions were terrific. Fairways were lush, and greens were very consistent, putted about medium fast. Bunkers have a fairly coarse sand in them, so it takes a shot or two to figure them out: spend a minute or two in the practice area to check this out.
Course is walkable, although there are a couple of situations with pretty long distances from green to tee where the course crosses a local road (between #2 and #3, #8 and #9, #11 and #12, and #17 and #18). Also, there were several mowers at work on the course yesterday, and they were very courteous about pulling aside as we played: well done to grounds crew!
In summary, an excellent course, especially at this price. We highly recommend it.