Review: The Golf Course at Glen Mills (Part 1)

If you've got connections, you can hardly beat Philadelphia as a golf destination. Merion and Pine Valley may hog the glory and rightfully so, but Philadelphia has an enormously deep bench of excellent private golf courses. It's arguably behind only New York City in terms of sheer quality and quantity.

Of course, if you don't have connections, a golf trip to Philadelphia isn't quite so spectacular, but last October my brothers and I took our annual golf vacation there anyway. We did gain access to one particularly good private golf course, which we'll get to later, but for the most part it was public golf for us riff-raff. And yes, I am aware that I just reviewed Jeffersonville, a very good Philadelphia-area golf course, a couple months ago and if I'd planned these reviews better I would have thrown that review in along with these, but I didn't. Oh well.

We start off our Philadelphia swing at the Golf Course at Glen Mills (yes, that's their official name), a newer course west of the city, off in the outer suburbs. Designed in 2000 by Bobby Weed, Glen Mills certainly gets a decent amount of attention by the golf publications in their rankings of top public courses. It's fourth in Golfweek's listing of top public courses in Pennsylvania, for example. 

The first hole starts things off in a relatively gentle way. The fairway is one of the widest on the course and at 374 yards, it's certainly not a long opener. The tee shot plays uphill, with four bunkers lining the right side. However, while you can hit your drive pretty much anywhere, the green is protected by two bunkers left, so you're definitely better coming from the right, taking on the fairway bunkers. That will leave you with a nice downhill wedge or short iron from a good angle. The green is pretty undulating, as are most at Glen Mills, so don't expect too many easy putts.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole plays parallel to the first and is a much stronger test. At 431 yards, it's a fairly long hole, and the challenge off the tee is to carry a veritable sea of five large bunkers. Doing so will provide a solid angle and view of the green. There is plenty of space out to right (plus you'll see your ball land), but that will leave a slightly longer second and pretty much no view of the green, since it'll be blocked off by mounding and more bunkers. That said, the second shot is tough no matter what, since the green is slightly domed and falls away slightly at the back. You definitely need to be precise with your iron to hit this green in regulation.

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

A slightly better view from the second fairway.

The second green.

The third hole is a mid-length par 4, just under 400 yards. It doglegs left, with two large bunkers in the corner. If you want the best angle into the green, you'll need to carry those bunkers, or at the very least get pretty close to them. Bailing out right is certainly safer, but it'll leave a longer second over a fairly deep bunker. The green is not especially large and tilted very significantly from back to front. This is one hole in particular you don't want to be putting from above the hole.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is the longest hole at Glen Mills, weighing in at 570 yards. It's a wide and sprawling hole, the fairway weaving back and forth over the landscape around bunkers and native areas. The fairway bends left about 300 yards out, and you can run out of space if your drive isn't far enough left. The second shot is over a large native area with numerous scattered bunkers, and the challenge here of course is how much of that space do you feel comfortable carrying? The grass in that native area was short enough to find golf balls for our round, but obviously that may not always be the case. The green is pretty large and open in front, but there are four small bunkers left and right, and a decently steep falloff into brush and forest lurking just beyond.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

After four holes playing in a largely open space, the fifth moves into dense forest. A 180-yard par 3, that length is mitigated by the 30-foot descent down to the green. This is not an easy tee shot, and not just because of the forest encroaching in left and long. The green is decently sized, but it's shallower than you might expect, and a large bunker short means you need to fly your tee shot the whole way. No running shots on this hole. Precise club selection, successfully judging both the descent and any wind, is the name of the game on this hole.

The fifth hole.

The fifth green.

The fourth may be the longer hole, but the sixth feels every inch of its 545 yards. The hole is cut through dense forest, with the fairway partially obscured by trees. If you've got a big fade on command, you can hit driver, but 3 wood or even a long iron is probably the smarter play. Obviously, that makes this a three-shot hole, with the second shot complicated further by the steep left-to-right tilt of the fairway. You do get a flatter stance if you can find the very right side, however. The green is pretty undulating and guarded by three deep bunkers to the right; this means you'll want to favor the left side of the fairway on the second shot. I did not do that, and I had basically no chance of keeping my third shot (from about 60 yards away) anywhere near the hole.

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a long, uphill par 3, which doesn't sound like a thrilling combination, but this is one of Glen Mills' best holes. The tee shot is obviously dicey, with the green hanging over a group of very deep bunkers right. The green is the star of the show; it's long and puts one in mind of waves on the ocean. Lots of humps crossing the green. That makes putting quite tricky. Your best play is to aim out left and fade in the tee shot, utilizing the hillside to bounce the ball toward the hole. It's a tough hole, but unlike some holes on the back (spoilers), it's completely doable and not overly punishing.

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is the shortest par 4 at Glen Mills at 320 yards. It's an awkward hole, with a gigantic ridge dominating much of the right side. There's only a sliver of fairway left between the hill and forest. However, the fairway does widen beyond the hill. There is space, despite some looks to the contrary. A good fairway wood or long iron, favoring the right side, is likely the best play. Driver is certainly possible and some people may have the length to reach the green, but this isn't really a drivable par 4. The green is elevated and extremely shallow. You won't be running up a shot into it. Better to lay a bit back in the wide part of the fairway and leave an 80- to 100-yard wedge second.

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is fairly long from all the way back at 430 yards. The fairway starts well left and swings right for a couple hundred yards before turning back left near the green, avoiding a low spot filled with trees. You'll want to favor the right side; that will leave a better angle into the green. I think if you stray too far left on the tee shot you may also be blocked out by trees. Much like the previous hole, this green is wide and shallow, with a steep dropoff short left that you really want to avoid. The hole location we saw, all the way left, is one you want to be very careful off. Miss on the short time and you'll have a real hard time making par.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

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