Pocono Manor is an old golf course, with the original 9 opening in 1912. Now, the course website attributes this nine to Donald Ross, but some research shows that Donald Ross really wasn't active in Pennsylvania that early in his career. Also, the original holes that are still extant (1-6 and 17-18) really don't match Ross' style. It's far more likely that those holes were designed by someone else, possibly by a local, possibly by a pro golfer/architect named Herbert Barker. What is definitive is the architect of the other 10 holes: William Flynn, designer of Shinnecock Hills. I wish I'd gotten a picture, but they have his original drawings hanging up in the clubhouse, which was pretty cool.
Something also pretty cool: Pocono Manor had a touring pro who played on the PGA Tour for many years, starting in the 1950s. Art Wall isn't exactly a household name, but he won 14 PGA Tour events, including the Masters in 1959. (He also won the 1975 Greater Milwaukee Open at 51, making him the second-oldest man to win a PGA Tour event, only behind Sam Snead.)
Anyway, the course. The first two holes are a short par 5 and a long par 4, and both are fairly nondescript, though the second green is pretty small and heavily protected, especially for a par 4 that's 440 yards. Our first taste of real quirk comes at the third, a par 3 that I have to believe is thoroughly unique. The hole is 190 yards, and the green is nestled down in a 20-foot deep punchbowl, making it completely blind. Except it's only three-quarters of a punchbowl, since the back falls away by another 20 feet. The play is to land the ball short and let the dramatic slopes feed the ball onto the green. It was very soft during my round, and the punchbowl still did its thing; I can only imagine how crazy this hole gets during a drought.
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| The third hole. Not much to see; the green is roughly in the middle of this picture. |
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| The third green, small and surrounded by steep slopes. Unless you go long. |
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| The third green from behind. |
After a short par 4 with a tee shot over a deep valley to an undulating green (with a practice green just behind, oddly enough; this is where the course used to start and they just kept the putting green maintained for reasons, I guess), we get to the drivable par 4 fifth hole. It's 310 yards, but it plays something like 100 feet downhill, so even those of us who can't regularly blast the ball 300-plus can still have a go. A creek does cross 20 yards in front of the green, but from that high up, even drivers will land softly. It's not exactly a good option or the smart play, but if you're not being persnickety about score, it's a lot of fun to try.
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| The fifth hole. |
The sixth is a mid-length par 4 benched into a hillside, and then we come to the seventh, the first of the Flynn holes. It's difficult to outquirk the punchbowl third, but I think this hole manages it. The seventh is the shortest par 3 on the course, and in fact is pretty much the shortest par 3 anywhere, outside a par 3 course. It's 77 yards. Not 177 yards, 77. And it plays at least 50 feet downhill, with the tee high above the green, which is perched alongside a creek. All that's required off this tee is a half-swing with a lob wedge. You wouldn't think this would be a very difficult shot, and in reality, it isn't. But a lot of golfers struggle with pitch shots of around 50 yards, and the target is not inviting. The green is small and surrounded by trees, brush, and the creek short. Not to mention the distinct feeling of wrongness that comes from teeing a ball up and hitting with half a lob wedge. It's a weird, funky hole, but I love it for its unapologetic strangeness. The course is proud of their tiny little par 3, and they should be. It's a ton of fun.
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| The view of the seventh green from the tee. This is what you can see. |
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| What you can see if you lean over the edge. There's the green, and very little else. Just remember though, the hole's only 77 yards. Anyone could make that carry. |
After that, the course settles into a routine, most of the Flynn holes are solid, if unspectacular, utilizing the rolling landscape well. An interesting quirk: There are no bunkers on the 10 Flynn holes. None. And there are only three on the whole course, with two of them on 18. The course is so heavily forested and has great land, so honestly, bunkers are unnecessary. The eleventh, a mid-length par 4, features a deep depression that narrows the fairway significantly about 225 yards from the tee; either you lay up short of it, leaving a long approach, or you skirt left of it on a thin ribbon of fairway squeezed between the hollow and trees.
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| The par 5 tenth. |
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| The eleventh hole. |
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| The slightly crowned eleventh green. |
While the par 3 thirteenth isn't especially noteworthy, it does have a tough two-tiered green, one which I utilized to near-perfection, running a 6 iron down to 5 feet. Seriously, the ball rolled within a foot of the hole. Hole in ones are all luck.
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| The thirteenth green. Hey, I had the picture, why not use it? |
The fifteenth is a reachable downhill par 5, and there's a lot of mounding eating into the fairway. Obviously, you can hit off of those mounds, but finding one on your drive makes going for the green very difficult, if not impossible. Also, the green has a 2-foot high mound right in the middle, so finding yourself on the wrong side of that mound means a three putt is very likely.
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| The fifteenth hole. |
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| The fifteenth green. I was on the incorrect side of the green. |
The sixteenth (the last of the Flynn holes) is similar in ways to the fifth, in that it's a dramatic downhill par 4, except this one has an extra dose of quirk to it. It's not as far down to the green, but the whole fairway is sloped from right to left to an almost absurd degree. To hit the green you have to hit a draw, taking the helpful slope down onto the very small green, hanging above a near abyss to the left. It's not an easy shot, but laying up onto this particular fairway is less than appealing. I wouldn't want an awkward half wedge with the ball a foot above my feet to a green 20 or 30 feet above me.
After a par 4 that doglegs 90 degrees (this is another reason the Donald Ross connection for the original nine is doubted, he would have never designed a hole like the seventeenth), we come to the final hole, a par 3, oddly enough. As I said earlier, two of the course's three bunkers come here, and while they certainly are a hazard, they don't exactly add much. There's a pond in front, but that's pretty easily cleared, since it doesn't come within 30 yards of the green. It's a fairly nondescript hole, which is too bad, but it was the last hole, so here's a picture.
Overall, this is one of those offbeat old Golden Age courses that's gone through a century of benign neglect. Nothing much has changed in 100 years here. Some restoration work would help, as would a fair amount of tree clearing, but I'm not sure this would ever be a truly top-tier course. But it has its fair share of quirk, and that alone makes it better than most golf courses. I'd absolutely love to play here again, I just wish it cost a bit less. $50 isn't cheap for a course in this condition (the price does include a cart, but my point stands). To be clear, I don't mind the scruffy conditions at all, but this isn't a course that belongs in any discussion of good value.
Now, I want to compare this course briefly with Eisenhower, since my review of that course just finished. Pocono Manor isn't completely bunkerless, but 16 holes are, so I think we can put it in the same league as Eisenhower. Now, they went about their business in somewhat different ways (and somewhat similar, since both courses have issues with trees being too close in), but both show that you don't need bunkers to make an interesting, fun golf course. Maybe both courses would be better with a few well-placed bunkers, but they're not necessary if you've got great land and the imagination to use it. As for which one I preferred, I would have to say Eisenhower, since it's overall a better, more complete package (and the trees aren't quite as obnoxious), but Pocono Manor has several far more memorable and exciting holes. Give me 10 rounds at both courses, and I think I'd split it 6-4 or 7-3 in favor of Eisenhower.
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