It's time to check out the back nine at Walnut Lane, go here to see the front.
The tenth hole is 340 yards and tumbles dramatically downhill. The hole bends slightly left and narrows as it descends, with dense forest encroaching on both sides. You can use driver here, but unless you have a reliable draw, there isn't much room for error. A long iron or fairway wood is plenty, and is probably preferable. The green here slopes from front to back and is cut off from the fairway by some rough and low mounding, making an aerial approach necessary. So while you can get within 50 yards of this green, the second shot will almost certainly not stop anywhere near the hole. The higher you can get that approach shot, the more likely you'll be able to stop it near the hole.
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| The tenth hole. It's a little tough to believe this is within Philadelphia city limits. |
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| The tenth green. |
The eleventh hole is 140 yards but plays dramatically uphill, with the green perched on the edge of a small cliff leading down into dense forest. Trees also overhang from the left; that left-hand hole location you see in the pictures was all but inaccessible for me with a pitching wedge in hand. Maybe some people can draw their wedges 15 yards, but I can't. The green at least is on the larger side and sloped from right to left. Just don't miss left, and you should be fine.
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| The eleventh hole. |
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| The eleventh green. |
The twelfth hole is 335 yards and wraps around forest and the same deep ravine from the previous hole. The fairway is tilted hard from right to left and climbs up and over a hill, then dips down before rising back up to the green, which is on its own isolated shelf. There's a big dropoff behind, and a very deep bunker to left. This is a really good hole, as you can play safely with a long iron out to the right, leaving yourself a fairly long and potentially semi-blind second, use a fairway wood to try and reach the highest, flattest part of the fairway, or bend a driver around the trees, catching the downslope and getting yourself within 50 yards of the green (albeit you'll have a tough, steeply uphill pitch shot). The green is sloped from back right to front left and has a mild false front (the grass is too long for balls to run fully down the hill, but the idea is there).
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| The twelfth hole. |
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| The twelfth green. |
The thirteenth hole is 135 yards, making it Walnut Lane's shortest hole. It's also kind of weird. It plays straight up a hill to a tiny green tucked between a pair of bunkers in front, the road behind and to the right, and forest left. The green is highest along the center line and falls away on either side. My big issue here is that the margin for error on the tee shot is just so small, even with the hole's modest length. The fence marking the OB line is less than 10 feet from the back edge of the green and the bunkers short necessitate a fully aerial approach. It's just not a comfortable tee shot.
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| The thirteenth green. |
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| The thirteenth green. |
The fourteenth hole is 160 yards and is a fine but pretty unremarkable par 3. It plays over relatively flat ground, the green is pretty flat, and the two bunkers on either side present a fair but pretty typical challenge. Nothing here to write home about.
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| The fourteenth hole. |
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| The fourteenth green. |
The fifteenth hole is a 340-yard par 4 that plays from a high tee down to a fairway that turns hard from left to right. OB in the form of a major road follows the same curve, which makes hitting driver a dangerous proposition. It is very easy to fly through the fairway into oncoming traffic. A long iron or fairway wood is much safer, and will still get you within wedge range. The approach is slightly uphill to a shallow, elevated green with two bunkers left.
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| The fifteenth hole. |
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| The fifteenth green. |
The sixteenth hole is 150 yards and plays gently downhill to the most well-bunkered green on the course. There are three bunkers long and one short left. In addition, this green is sloped hard from back to front, and is incredibly slippery, even if you're putting/chipping up the hill. Like the fourteenth, this hole isn't particularly revolutionary, but it's decent enough.
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| The sixteenth hole. |
The seventeenth hole is a very long par 3, playing 235 yards through a narrow chute of trees to a large green. It does play downhill, which slightly mitigates the distance. Still, for a course this short it does feel a bit more like a short par 4. There's OB left, but beyond that, no real trouble other than overhanging trees.
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| The seventeenth hole. |
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| The seventeenth green. |
The eighteenth hole is 360 yards and plays to a blind fairway up on a plateau. The fairway is reasonably wide, which makes this a rare opportunity to use driver; the driver I hit here was just the second of the day. A bunker cuts into the fairway about 50 yards short of the green, but unless you're a professional golfer or close to it, you really don't have to worry about it on the drive. Far more people hit into on their second or third shots, I suspect. If you hit a good drive, the second shot will be a little wedge to a small green tilted noticeably from right to left. No bunkers around this green, though the left side is quite slippery and golf balls will easily run off. Overall, I think it's a decent finishing hole.
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| The blind tee shot on 18. |
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| The eighteenth green. |
Walnut Lane may only possess two-thirds the length of your standard 18-hole golf course, but don't let that deceive you into thinking there's nothing of interest here. The lack of length certainly does hold it back, but that doesn't stop holes like the fifth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth from being genuinely good holes. Plenty of golf courses don't come close to Walnut Lane in terms of strategic interest. And most golf courses don't have a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant (the equivalent of a Michelin star for restaurants people can actually afford to go to) literally a block away. Dalessandro's is a cheesesteak staple, and a round at Walnut Lane feels incomplete without indulging in a Philadelphia classic.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the drawbacks to Walnut Lane. The weekend walking rate is over $50, and that's kind of a lot for a par 62 golf course that's in typical municipal playing condition. Plus, while its great that such a beginner-friendly golf course exists in Philadelphia for all to enjoy, it does mean that Walnut Lane attracts a wide and ample crowd. I played on a day after a big rain, with no carts allowed on the course. I figured that would make for a recently quick round. No, it took nearly 4.5 hours to finish. And for this course? That's simply not acceptable or any fun at all.
So then, what's the final verdict? Walnut Lane is a fun course, and if I were guaranteed a 3-hour round, I'd happily play it again. But I just don't see a world where that can practically happen. Which is unfortunate, seeing as it's less than a mile away. I'd play with friends if they wanted, but I wouldn't come here on my own again.
