In and near Philadelphia

[SiberianDVM]

I'm in Philadelphia, been here for a week, 3 more days to go. I have tried to make the best of it, playing some golf whenever I had the time. The city traffic is so bad, that I have just about given up driving to a local course during the week.

Last week the hotel mistakenly sent me to Bala Golf Club when I asked for a nearby course to play. When I got there, I found out it was private. Oops!! The pro took pity on me and let me play anyway. Thanks Chris!! No pictures of that one, but what a great old course right in the middle of a huge city. I walked 18 holes, with 2 members, in 3 1/2 hours, and loved it.

Saturday, I drove to Hershey. I had wanted to play Hershey West, but they were using the East and West courses for the PGA Club Pro Championship, so I played the much newer Hershey Links about 5 miles away. Great course, much like the Bears Trace course In Tennessee we played a couple of years ago. Lots of 3 foot tall fescue rough.

First picture is a 200 yard 3 that I luckily parred. I'm standing on the green, looking back at the tee box on the left, in amazement that I actually hit a 2 hybrid that far and got it to stay on the green!

Second picture is of a par 5, with a 220 yard carry off the tee over the barranca. That one took me a couple of tries to get a ball over, as the view of that tiny far off target psyched me out.

Great course, highly recommend you try it sometime. $125 on the weekend including cart, and it was not crowded at all. Watch out for the fescue rough as it is full of ticks.

Next: Atlantic City Country Club......

 

[SiberianDVM]

Atlantic City Country Club:

I drove there Sunday morning. I wish I had known it beforehand, but they have a tremendous Sunday brunch in the clubhouse. Don't eat before you go there!

This is a real old course, but absolutely gorgeous. HUGE old clubhouse, with locker rooms, restuarants, etc. It's actually in Northfield, across the marsh from Atlantic City. The "birdie" was invented here, and it has hosted a lot of tournaments.

I was supposed to be paired with 2 other guys, but they didn't show, so I played the front solo. At the turn, where I had a great outside grilled cheesburger, one of the young assistant pros came out and played the back side with me. Nice kid, hit the ball a mile.

Did I say the course was beautiful? It really was, and tough too, even it was "short". Some of the par 4s were 440 plus yards from the "middle" tees!!! I had to play them as par 5s.

Photo 1: clubhouse from practice tee
Photo 2: "Birdie" plaque nest to practice green
Photo 3: House next to teebox
Photo 4: cart paths made from old railroad ties

 

[SiberianDVM]

Photo No. 1: If I had the money, I'd buy it, and live here during the summer.
Photo No. 2: Where you don't want to hit it!!!! Even the "1st cut" was hard to hit out of.
Photo No. 3: This is the practice putting green next to the 1st tee. Actually it is PART of the 1st tee, as the "middle" and "back" tee markers are ON the putting green: the teeny little bells on the green past the 2 guys. I had to ask the starter, as I had never seen anything like that before. The guy in the long pants is the assistant pro I played with, James. Skinny little shit. On the plus side, a really cute cart girl named Michelle had an obvious crush on James, so she came by a LOT.

Other than the no-see-ums and green headed flies being downright VICIOUS, this was one of the better courses I have ever played. At $225 a pop, it should be, but in terms of fun, beauty, and history, I rank it right up there with Pinehurst #2 and much better than The Ocean Course.

All in all, I had fun, but I'm ready to GO HOME!!!

 

[Clugnut]

This is why you need to come to the forum more then once a month. I totally missed the fact you were going to be in town! Glad you had fun. Hershey Links is a blast, and I think more fun then the other 2. The East course would eat you alive. Nice 3 on that hole, its a hard one!

 

[SiberianDVM]

Oh, I'm here every day, mostly to read. My life is usually too boring to post about.

 

[eclark53520]

Oh, I'm here every day, mostly to read. My life is usually too boring to post about.

Pfft...what could be more exciting than an old guy that fondles chickens and rolls a BMW?


You didn't eat a steak sandwich with cheezewiz on it like those ****ing heathens Philly did you?


EDIT: I completely missed this thread till now....HTF does that happen?

 

[SiberianDVM]

Eric, I didn't post the thread and pictures until last night. I was bored and tired of watching porn.

 

[anonymous golfaholic]

Nice pics. Sounds like a fun trip.

I'm lovin the railroad tie cart path.

 

[eclark53520]

Eric, I didn't post the thread and pictures until last night. I was bored and tired of watching porn.

ic...i should pay attention to post times...and dates....

You didn't answer my question about the steak sammichs...

 

[SiberianDVM]

I'm lovin the railroad tie cart path.

They looked good. In actuality, they rattled your teeth and clubs. Everyone who played there a lot avoided them as much as possible.

Hard to adequately describe how beautiful this course was. Even the bunkering was beautiful.