Review: Lederach Golf Club (Part 1)

Normally, if you see the phrase "housing development" associated with a golf course, it's a sign to avoid that particular course. Houses and golf don't go well together. Golf courses created specifically to sell houses rarely elevate themselves beyond the mundane. How can you expect a golf course to be good when its integrity is compromised from the very start? When real estate prices come first, the golf suffers. Now, it's not impossible for a housing development course to be solid if it's well designed, but I guarantee you that if the architect had been given a freer hand over the same property, the result would be a lot better.

That brings us to Lederach Golf Club, a surprisingly well-regarded housing development course, designed by Kelly Blake Moran in 2006. It may not get any love in the rankings, but golf course enthusiasts generally hold it as one of the best public courses in the Philadelphia area. There's a reason my brothers and I went out and played it. And while there's literally no chance the houses help the course, the question is: How badly do they hurt Lederach? 

The first hole is labeled as being 450 yards on the scorecard, but if those tees exist, we couldn't find them. Instead, this is a short par 4 of about 350 yards, playing to a wide fairway cut off about 225-250 yards out by a pair of deep bunkers. If you want a nice short second shot, you'll need to carry those bunkers. The green here is the real story though. Most of the greens at Lederach are like this, but it's quite an introduction on the first hole, seeing a large green filled with massive humps and bumps. Not sure how many other places the flag can go other than front right, but that front-right hole location is pretty fun. Lots of opportunity to use the mini-punchbowl to bring shots in close to the hole. And there's also lots of opportunity to end up on the wrong side of the mounds and leave yourself an extremely difficult putt. All in all, a decent opening hole.

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is a mid-length par 4 (for real this time, it's just the first hole that lies) that doglegs left around a deep fairway bunker about 250 yards out. The fairways plenty wide around it and there's no distinct advantage to carrying it, so really all you need to do is avoid it on the tee shot. Which I did not do. Oops. The green is the real story here; it's L shaped and separated into three distinct sections, with the lower middle section and two moderately higher wings. There's also a small hollow in the corner of the L. It's a fascinating green attached to a fairly uninteresting hole, basically. 

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole is a sprawling 560-yard par 5 with an alternate fairway in play to the right if you're bold and long enough to carry a series of mounds and flirt with a small marshy pond. Do that and this green is easily reachable; play safely out left and this is a definite three-shot hole. The second shot, if you're laying up, is pretty straightforward, but there is a central fairway bunker about 75 yards short. The green is pretty tame, so if you have hit the green in two, you'll have a great shot at eagle.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green.

The fourth hole is 430 yards and is one of Lederach's best holes, if not the best. It doglegs right around a hill, with trees and native area all down the left side. You can play down the left side, and that will give you a view of the green, but you'll have a worse angle and a longer shot. Play right and you'll obviously have a blind second, but the second will be much shorter and from a better angle. The green is long and narrow, with a bunker left and a steep dropoff into O.B. long. It's also a bit like the second green, in that the front and back are their own sections elevated above the middle. You can end up with putts with a ton of break if you end up in the wrong part of the green.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a deceivingly difficult par 3. Sure, when you look at the scorecard and see it's 235 yards, you'd expect it to be tough. But then you get up to the tee and see nothing. No hazards, a wide open green and fairway. It's almost inviting. But this green is very shallow and sloped from front to back, so it's easy to run over. In addition, the terrain in front of the green is not exactly inviting of running up shots, with a small knob front left especially troublesome. My brothers and I played this hole in a combined 4 over, which goes to show that sometimes you don't need hazards to provide difficulty.

The fifth hole.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is a 530-yard par 5 and the first time you're really confronted by housing. Before this they've only been on the periphery and very out of play. This fairway however is rather narrow, with O.B. left and small stream right. Of course, the challenge on the tee is to cut off as much of the stream as you dare. If you're bold enough, you can reach the green in two. If you're laying up, the second is mostly a matter of keeping the ball in play, as there's no real trouble out there. The green is small and sited behind some large mounds, which are an issue for those coming at the green from a long way out but not so much for people who lay up. 

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a pretty straightforward 180-yard par 3. There's a bunker left and the green is far from flat (noticeably sloping from right to left, so getting up and down from the right side is tricky), but there's no other big noteworthy hazards or difficulties, so this is a reasonable birdie opportunity.

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is 370 yards and the tee shot is a bit interesting, as you have to hit through a gate of two trees on opposite sides of the fairway. There's certainly no lack of space, but it does feel a little out of place on a course that's otherwise very wide open when it comes to trees. There's also a small fairway bunker right in the middle, so you'll want to watch out for that. The second shot is semiblind, with a deep bunker protecting the front-left portion of the green. This is another very tough green to hit; much like the fifth this one is shallow and sloped from front to back.

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole may be a par 4 doglegging around an incongruous pond, but at the very least it's not a long par 4. At 375 yards, it's fairly manageable and there's plenty of room to miss left. Of course, not only does bailing out left leave you with a longer second from a worse angle, the terrain goes from undulating to heaving, so you'll almost certainly have a very tough stance. The green is elevated and not large, with it falling away on all sides and a bunker front left. It's very tough to hold if you're not coming at it from the ideal place. Not a long hole, but still plenty difficult.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

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