Review: Royal Manchester Golf Links (Part 1)

We're taking a step up in the golf world today.

Welcome to Royal Manchester Golf Links, located about halfway between York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. According to user reviews on Golf Advisor, it is the 11th best public golf course in the United States. Oh sure, this is the internet, and the people leaving these reviews may not be the most knowledgeable golfers in the world (Some examples: the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is No. 1; Pebble Beach is fifth, behind Sawgrass, Wyncote Golf Club, Ballyowen Golf Club, and Rams Hill Golf Club; Royal Manchester is ahead of Streamsong Red and Blue as well as Harbour Town), but hey, an award's an award, right? This place has got to be doing something very right to please the fickle denizens of the internet.

I didn't realize the course was so close to Three Mile Island.

My mission here was not necessarily to find faults, I mean, that's a terrible way to approach a round of golf, but let's just say I was highly skeptical that this was the 11th best public golf course in Pennsylvania, let alone the United States. I'm certainly willing to give credit where credit is due, but I look for more than good conditioning from my golf courses. So, let's see if Royal Manchester can possibly stand up to the hype the good people of Golf Advisor have given it.

The first hole is the classic opener: A medium length par 4. This one is just under 400 yards, but plays uphill. The hole, along with basically all the holes here, is framed by fescue-covered mounding to evoke the British links. Hey, it's Royal Manchester Golf Links, after all. The course specifically lists St. Andrews and Royal Lytham as inspiration, which I thought was a bit strange. The way the course generally plays through valleys is more reminiscent of Royal Birkdale, but I digress. This is a pretty simple hole, although you'll have a better angle to the green if you approach from the left side. The green is guarded by a bunker short right, and is angled so that you have more green to work with you're coming at it from the left. The green itself is quite big, and has a noticeable amount of break to it.

The first hole is relatively simple.

The first green. It was a perfect day for golf, 80 degrees, not too humid, a nice breeze... Couldn't ask for better weather.

The second hole is a medium length par 3 at just under 180 yards. The ability to hit a fade is highly recommended on this hole. You also do not want to be long, as that will leave you a very, very tough chip to a green sloping away from you towards a very big greenside bunker. Guess what I did. Go ahead, guess.

The second hole.

This isn't the last time you'll be seeing those stacks in the background.

The third hole is a par 5 that's 590 yards from the very back tee, but a significantly more manageable 526 from the next set up. Actually, Royal Manchester has an interesting system on the scorecard where they have the blue tees, which are the back, the white tees, which are the next set, and the blue/white tees, which are a mix of the two. The course is nearly 7,000 yards from the back, which is a bit too long for my taste, and 6,300 yards from the white tees, which is a bit too short. The blue/white tees are just over 6,600 yards, and that's just right. Call them the Goldilocks tees, I guess.

Anyway, the third hole presents the classic "cut off some of the dogleg to get a shorter second shot" challenge, with a native area right acting as the hazard to avoid. There's plenty of room left if you're not feeling bold. The second shot is blind no matter if you're laying up or not, and the third shot, if you have laid up, is up to a big, undulating green flanked by two greenside bunkers.

The third hole. Don't go too far right.

The third green, visible once you get over the hill.

The fourth hole is another mid-length par 4, slightly longer than the first at 410 yards. It is downhill, but it was playing into the wind the day we played. The wind is significant here, since there are no trees around to block it. It may not be a constant sea breeze, but if it's a windy day, you'll know about it. Clearly, you don't want to hit your drive in the fairway bunker right. The second shot is to a fairly shallow two-tiered green. As with most tiered greens, you're much better off if you end up on the same level as the hole.

The fourth hole. The stacks of the electric station are to the left.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a 430 yard par 4 from the back tee, but is a more manageable 370 yards from the blue/white tee. The golfer has a decision to make on the tee, either lay up to the right of the fairway bunkers, and leave a longer approach, or challenge the bunkers, and the constantly narrowing fairway, to leave a shorter approach. Hook the drive and you're probably on the road that bisects the property. The green is big and unprotected by bunkers, but there is O.B. long and to the left. With the flag in the back of the green, it's tough to get the ball all the way to the hole on the second.

Do you try carrying the bunkers off the fifth tee?

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is the shortest hole on the golf course at 164 yards. It plays slightly downhill and is guarded by a single bunker in front. Not much to it, it's a pretty straightforward and easy hole.

The sixth hole.

The seventh hole is another mid-length par 4. The tee shot is best hit to the crest of the hill, so you can give yourself a flat lie for your second. The second shot will probably only be a wedge or short iron to a bunkerless green, but this isn't exactly a birdie opportunity. Why? Well, for one thing the green slopes from front to back. I mentioned way back in my Little Bennett review that this is an instant yet oddly overlooked way to make a hole more difficult and interesting. Simply put, golf balls don't instantly stop if you throw a high shot at them. This is also a shallow green, so if you want to get the ball close, you gotta hit a run-up shot. That is made even more difficult with the little swale that runs right in front of the green. It's a good hole, difficult without throwing any hazards at the golfer, and of a modest length as well.

The electric station returns on the seventh tee.

The seventh green.

You can get a better view of the front to back slope from behind.

The eighth hole plays somewhat similarly to the first. It's uphill and doglegs gently to the right, though at 416 yards, it is noticeably longer than the first. The green is more interesting though, with a noticeable back tier. The hole was back there too, so if you didn't get your shot up to the proper level, you're in for a very long, difficult putt.

Looking up at the eighth fairway.

The eighth green. The back tier is visible from well back in the fairway.

The ninth hole is a short par 5, playing just under 500 yards. The tee shot to hit here is a draw which threads between the fairway bunkers into the narrow little valley the fairway sits in. So far, so good, but then we get a little bit of a stumble at the green. For some reason, there's a pond in front of the green. Now, I'm generally okay with ponds as hazards, even on "links-like" golf courses. But putting a pond in front of the green on a short par 5 is a terrible, terrible idea. There's a simple reason, fronting hazards take all the fun out of a hole. Especially a hole where the idea is to gamble. Unless I'm in perfect position, I'm always going to lay up on a hole like this to take the water out of play as much as possible. If the pond was to the side of the green, I'd be much more likely to go for the green, even from iffy positions, and as a result, I'd be more likely to find the water. Golfers, in general, want to be dumb. But this hole doesn't encourage dumb play, and I don't appreciate that.

Now, there is an additional bit of information I wasn't aware of on the fairway, and that is that there's a bailout area long and left of the green. However, if you go over there you're honestly not in much better shape than if you lay up 100 yards short of the hole. Sure, you're over the water, but the pitch shot you're left with is not easy. The green slopes away, and it's entirely possible you won't have much room to work with. Not to mention what would happen to a thinned shot.

The ninth fairway.

The ninth green, over the pond. We caught up to the group ahead of us here.

The bailout area I mentioned.

That's it for the front nine, next week we'll see the back nine.