Review: Monterey Country Club

What is the oldest golf course in the United States? It's a surprisingly difficult question to answer: News and records aren't particularly reliable when you go back 130-plus years. As of right now, the official record holder is Foxburg Country Club in western Pennsylvania, where golf has been played on the same site since 1887. However, there's a strong case for Dorset Field Club in Vermont, where a course seems to have been laid out in 1886.

If the website for Monterey Country Club, a 9-hole course in Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, is to be believed, it is the true oldest course in America, with a course being laid out in 1885. However, this claim is not substantiated by any sources, so there's no reason to take that claim at face value. Maybe one day I'll do the research and find out, but for now, let's assume that this claim is incorrect. A newspaper article from 1899 does confirm the course's existence, so while it may not be quite as old as it claims, Monterey is still a pretty old golf course. And there's history beyond the course: A minor Civil War battle was fought here (a Union raid on a Confederate wagon train retreating from the Battle of Gettysburg) and Wallis Simpson, who would go on to marry King Edward VIII of the British Empire, causing him to abdicate the throne, was born in a house across the street from the first fairway. In the early 1900s the golf course was attached to the Monterey Inn and marketed as a summer retreat for the D.C./Baltimore crowd. Over the years, it hosted multiple presidents, including Wilson, Coolidge, and Eisenhower.

The site, located adjacent to a mountaintop marsh, is dead flat, and the golf is decidedly primitive. Beyond neglect, nothing much has changed at Monterey in a very long time, so this is really a peek into golf's past. What did 19th century golf look like? Let's find out.

The first hole is by far the longest par 4 on the course, but this is a very short course, so long for Monterey means 390 yards. However, what it lacks in distance it more than makes up for when it comes to accuracy. The hole bends right around a road, and a ditch plus a native area narrow the fairway where a driver would end up. There is very little space if you hit your drive more than 240 yards. The prudent play is using a wood or long iron and laying back before the dogleg, favoring the left side (stray too far right and you'll be blocked out by trees). The second shot will be pretty long, but the green is completely open, so using a longer iron isn't a huge deal. The green is quite flat and very small, and also not cut very short. Many golf courses have fairways that run faster than Monterey's greens. As I said, this is a very primitive operation.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is somewhere in the 160-170 yard range (distances at Monterey are often not precise), making it the first of the course's five par 3s. While there are no bunkers, dense forest right and ditches and high grass left (and formerly a large tree) do a decent job of protecting this green, which is also essentially flat.

The second hole. That big tree protecting the left side is no longer there.

The second green.

The third hole is about 120 yards, playing over a couple of ditches to a reasonably large (by Monterey standards) green. There's a couple bunkers behind the green, which slopes from back to front. There's woods and marsh behind, but they're not hugely threatening. This is a good birdie opportunity.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is Monterey's lone par 5, playing a bit under 500 yards with marsh all along the right side. This course is quite unforgiving if your miss is a slice; the course is routed so that the trouble is always on the right. The entire left side has a line of trees, which is preferable to a lost golf ball, but still, you'll want to hit the fairway here. Do that and the rest of the hole is simple and open, with no bunkers and an uncomplicated green.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is about 150 yards, with a long mound running all the way across the hole about 20 yards short of the green. A very old-school mound. Beyond that, there's not much to this hole. No bunkers, no tricky green, just hit a solid short iron and you can walk away with a birdie.

The fifth hole.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is a very short par 4, maybe 250 on a good day, but it's one that makes you think a little. Two bunkers run across the fairway about 30 yards short of the green, roughly where many people going for the green with their tee shot would land their drive. You either need some height on the tee shot or scoot around the bunkers to the left by hitting a fade. Or of course, you can lay up short of the sand; the fairway is very wide, and the green is open. It's an easy par, but if you want that eagle, you'll really have to work for it.

The sixth hole.

The sixth green.

After five holes playing in the same direction, the seventh hole turns back toward the clubhouse. Unlike the first three par 3s, the green on this 120-yarder is very well defended. The green is tiny and protected by two bunkers encircling the front half of the green. The back side of the green is built up, so shots that go long result in extremely difficult chip shots, since the green does have some back-to-front tilt. Also it's tiny, so there's not much space for shots to roll out before they run out of space. Hit this green and you'll likely make birdie. Miss it and you may have to work for bogey.

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is the third and final par 4, playing around 330 yards. Beyond a few trees, there's not much to worry about on the tee shot, unless you're quite long and hit a giant slice. A good drive will leave a pretty simple pitch, although this green does have a bunker protecting the right side. It's not a big issue, but still, favoring the left side of the fairway on the drive is recommended. 

The eighth hole.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is tiny, 100 yards at most, but it's also one of the most delicate tee shots you'll ever see. Not dangerous, per se, since there's just one bunker in front and no hazards beyond that, but this green is honestly nearly impossible to hit. For one, this is definitely the smallest green on the course, and it's also the only one with any appreciable elevation change. The whole thing slopes from front to back, and it's split down the middle by a large tier. My family and I have played this course many times in the past 15 years or so, but you can count the number of times we've collectively hit this green in regulation on one hand. We're talking a success rate of maybe 2%. Even getting up and down is tricky, par is honestly a good score here.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

Should you go out of your way to play Monterey Country Club? No. It's extremely basic golf, and unless it actually is the oldest golf course in America, there's little reason to make the effort to see it. Maybe the most devoted of golf historians would get a kick out of the place, but if you come here with the expectation of seeing something interesting, you'll be disappointed.

That said, I'm perfectly happy to play here a couple times a year, since it's not especially out of my way. It's simple, basic, unpretentious golf that'll set you back $10 for nine holes. That's not a bad deal. And the course isn't devoid of interest. You can hack it around, but you can't hit the ball literally anywhere and be okay. Also, there's definitely some charm to the few old-style quirks scattered around the course. I'll sum up by saying this: There are golf courses I enjoy less than Monterey.