Review: Quail Valley Golf Club (Part 1)

Now that winter is essentially upon us here in the Northeast, there's a whole lot of golfers with plenty of spare time. If you're ever really bored, here's a little something to keep you busy for a while: The alphabetical golf course challenge. I picked this up from a post on Golf Club Atlas, you take each letter of the alphabet and pick your favorite golf course that starts with that letter. You won't have every letter (good luck finding an X golf course), but you can get close. That brings us to Quail Valley in Littlestown, Pennsylvania, an otherwise-ordinary golf course save for the fact that its name starts with a Q. Is that a good reason to play and review a golf course? Not really, but it was only a 45-minute drive, so why not get Q out of the way? And besides, I've played new golf courses for less reason. 

The first hole is a simple 400-yard par 4. The fairway slopes a bit from right to left, and there are a few small trees, but otherwise there's nearly unlimited space on the drive. However, because of the bunker left of the green, favoring the right side of the fairway is a good idea. The green is also pretty straightforward, with not much in the way of significant undulation. 

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is 185 yards, and at the very least it's a bit more interesting than the first hole. The green slopes a fair amount from back to front, and is guarded by a deep bunker left and a tree right. That tree is very much in play, and I'm guessing it catches quite a few slices. And that bunker probably sees more action because of the tree as people bail out left. I'm not usually a big fan of using trees in such a bold manner, but this one works well. 

The second hole.

The third hole is a mid-length par 4 playing to a pretty narrow fairway, squeezed by trees on both sides (and O.B. to the right). Using driver isn't the greatest idea, in my opinion; you're better off using 3 wood to hit the fairway and accepting the longer second shot. The green is medium sized and slightly domed in the front, with a bunker front left and a significant falloff behind.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green.

The fourth hole is 565 yards from all the way back, which is pretty long by most course's standards, but at Quail Valley things are different. We'll get to that. The drive here is very open, which is good, if a bit boring. A stream cuts across the fairway about 75 yards short of the green, so the lay-up does require some restraint if you're not confident in your ability to clear it. The green is shallow and wide, with a single bunker right.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a fairly long par 4 at 425 yards, with a very narrow stream (more of a ditch) lurking the whole way down the left side of the fairway. A solid drive over the crest of the hill will leave a wedge or short iron into the green, which is relatively long and narrow and has a pond right. In addition, a small bunker lurks long and left to catch people playing a little too safely.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is a fairly short par 4, playing 350 yards. There are numerous large trees crowding the fairway, and the hole doglegs significantly about 75 yards short of the green. If you want to ensure a clear second, you need to hit the drive at least 225 yards, but since the fairway is narrow using driver is a dicey proposition. It shouldn't be an issue if you're playing from the whole way back, but it is something to think about. The green is on the larger side but has bunkers left and short, plus the green slopes away slightly at the back, so one should be careful not to fly their wedges too far. You can quite easily end up in an awkward position over the back of this green.

The sixth hole.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a mid-length par 3 with a green sloped from back to front and a single bunker left. There clearly used to be another bunker right, but it's been grassed over (presumably to relieve the maintenance budget, there are a few grassed-over bunkers at Quail Valley). All in all, a pretty simple hole.

The seventh hole.

The eighth hole is 385 yards and bends nearly 90 degrees about 250 yards out, with the fairway ending in a cluster of trees. With more tree in the corner of the dogleg, you'll need to hit a fairly specific drive to ensure a clear shot at the green. If you do that, the pond that splits the fairway about 50 yards short of the green is no issue. The green is sloped from back to front and a single bunker protects the right side.

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is a 540-yard par 5 with a tee shot playing uphill. You need to get over the hill to get a view of the green, but with forest left and a blind marshy area right (luckily you see it on the first hole, so I did know it was there), this is a fairly tight tee shot. If you're not going for the green in two, you'll want to lay up out to the left, and preferably as far as you can. The ideal position is where the fairway bends right. This will give you the best angle into the green, which is angled left to right and has a large bunker in front. Second shots laid well back will have to go straight over that bunker, as will people going for the green in two.

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.