Review: Jeffersonville Golf Club (Part 1)

It's always nice getting back to a Donald Ross course. So long as the course even remotely resembles the original, you know you'll be getting a certain quality of design, and that's reassuring. That's why my brother and I decided to drive 2 and a half hours to a suburb outside Philadelphia to play Jeffersonville, a Donald Ross municipal course. Yes, another Ross muni in the Northeast. This one is at least slightly different; while it did open during the Great Depression, it wasn't initially built as a muni. It was bought by the city of Norristown in the 70s, all the while undergoing your typical benign neglect.

Luckily, Norristown recognized they have a genuinely good golf course in the late 90s and commissioned Ron Pritchard (the same person who renovated Bedford Springs) to restore and reenergize the course. Which it did; rounds per year went up by 33% or so. And work continues to this day on a smaller scale, which is absolutely fantastic. This is a course that is very well taken care of by people who care about the course. That should translate well, but let's find out just how good Jeffersonville is.

The first hole is not the sort of hole you like to see on a course without a driving range. At 450 yards, it is long, and the tee shot is not exactly easy. There's a group of three bunkers in the corner of the dogleg, which requires a drive of 225 yards or so to carry, with another group of bunkers just beyond if you don't cut off quite enough and go too far. A safe play out right almost turns the hole into a par 5, so that's not ideal. Assuming you hit an ideal drive, nicely cutting the corner, the second shot isn't exactly a walk in the park. It's a short or mid iron to a small, partially blind green with a decent amount of slope and undulation to it. There's only one small greenside bunker front left, but honestly? This hole doesn't need much in the way of greenside protection. It's a very tough opening hole, and not what you expect from a Donald Ross course.

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is 100 yards shorter than the first and plays significantly downhill, with a big group of bunkers in the corner of the dogleg. You definitely don't want to hit driver here if you're a longer hitter, unless you want to risk either going through the fairway into O.B. long and left. A fairway wood or long iron is all you need. The second shot will be a wedge over a small stream to a slightly elevated green tucked into the corner of the property. The back hole location which we got is pretty tough; there's a small shelf back there, so it's difficult getting the ball all the way back, and you're asking for a bogey if you go over the green. 

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green. Not the most scenic view in the world.

The third hole is a short and potentially drivable par 4 at just 290 yards, though it is uphill. The green is fairly shallow and angled behind a greenside bunker, which makes it difficult to approach, especially from the right with a partial wedge. Obviously, most golfers don't have the length to get to this green, which means dealing with a group of five bunkers right of the fairway. The bunkers even narrow the fairway right where one might want to lay up; in addition, the green is more blind the further back down the fairway you go. A 250-yard plus drive down the left is the best play, leaving a simple pitch down the full length of the green.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green.

The fourth hole is a tiny little 135-yard par 3 with an equally tiny green. The front half is barely 30 or 40 feet wide, which is a tough ask, even when you just have a wedge in hand. And if you miss the green on either side, a very likely scenario, you'll have a very tough second shot. There's just so little green to work with, and it's not like the green is flat either. If the hole is cut in the back, you'll have a bit more green, but still, this is a green that demands precision. Hit it and you've got a good chance at birdie, miss it and you'll struggle to make bogey. Just how a short par 3 should play.

The fourth hole.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a mid-length par 4 at 370 yards, playing to a wide fairway that's actually joined with the next hole. There are a couple of bunkers left, and the whole fairway slopes from left to right. Not a tough drive, but things get more interesting at the green. It's very wide and not particularly deep, with a very steep dropoff behind. Also, the green is separated into two sections by what isn't quite a tier, since the green is all at the same level at the front, but functions similar to one. While the right two-thirds of the green slope from back to front, the left third does the opposite; this results in a massive 3- or 4-foot difference by the back of the green. And when the flag is tucked in the back left corner, like it was for our round, good luck getting a putt from the right side close. That knob/slope down is nasty and very fast. This is a great example of how you don't need big, bold hazards to define a hole. A simple but well-placed elevation change can make all the difference, and turn an otherwise forgettable hole into something dramatic.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is ostensibly the longest hole at Jeffersonville, weighing in at 575 yards from all the way back, but for whatever reason all the tees were forward, placed on what can generously be referred to as an elevated batch of dirt (I'm assuming they were growing grass, but the grass seemed pretty grown to me), so the hole was playing more like 450. That is still par 5 length for 90% of golfers, so we'll treat it as one. The hole bends right around O.B. and a line of bunkers, and you can cut off as much or as little as you'd like. As the hole played, I was able to cut enough off to have just an 8 iron into the green. If you are laying up with the second shot, you'll want to fully commit, leaving a full wedge into the green. There's a lot of bunkers scattered around between that point and the green, and you don't want to leave yourself with a 50-yard bunker shot. The green is somewhat crowned, especially at the back, with a big bunker protecting the right side.

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is 380 yards, with a drive playing steeply uphill to a partially blind fairway. The hole doglegs left, with a couple bunkers in the left corner. Carry those and you'll have a much shorter and easier second shot. The green is long and narrow, with three bunkers scattered around. There's a lot of back-to-front slope to the green as well. 

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green. This is not an optimal location, but it worked for me.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is just under 200 yards and plays a bit downhill over a small pond, with a single bunker left. The green is pretty small and slopes sharply from back to front, but there's quite a bit of fairway around it. It's a typical Donald Ross move, leaving a decent amount of space between the water and the green. It's less dramatic, perhaps, but it's more lenient. The mere presence of that water is enough for most golfers, and this isn't a course that'll host any major tournaments. So why not make things a little easier for the person who can barely break 100? There's a lot more of them than people who break par every round. 

The eighth hole.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is 385 yards and doglegs to the right, with a pair of bunkers pinching the fairway about 240 yards out. You don't want to go too far left, otherwise you'll be blocked out by big trees. The green has a bunker right, is slightly elevated above the fairway, and is pretty much dead flat. There's also big dropoffs left and long to watch out for.

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.