Review: Penn National Golf Club - Founders (Part 1)

In a state as golf rich as Pennsylvania, it's almost comical for any facility to claim itself as the state's "national" representative. Not that isn't presumptuous any time a golf course slaps a "National" at the end of its name, but in a state that's home to Merion, Oakmont, and about 50 classic William Flynn designs, you almost have to appreciate the sheer chutzpah.

Anyway, welcome to Penn National, a 36-hole golf facility in the heart of Franklin County, conveniently located precisely nowhere near either of Pennsylvania's primary population centers. I don't care that 95% of Pennsylvania's great golf courses are private, literally no one from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh are coming out to play Penn National. If you happened to grow up in the area, however, then yes, Penn National was the premier public golf experience. I played the two Penn National golf courses many times as a junior golfer, with this month's course often serving as the culmination of the summer junior golf tour season.

Founders is the older of Penn National's golf courses, built back in the late 1960s by the Mid-Atlantic's omnipresent designer of average golf courses, Ed Ault. My memories of it are ... not exactly fond. Most Ed Ault courses I've played aren't exactly difficult, but I don't think I ever played a good round at the Founders course. And that certainly colored my opinion of the place. But it's been many years, and I've seen a lot of golf courses since I was a teenager. Maybe opinions can change?

The first hole is a mild opener and a good opportunity to open with a birdie. At 355 yards, it's quite short, but if you do use driver, the fairway is pinched beyond 250-275 yards by a group of trees left (as well as a fairly superfluous fairway bunker) and O.B. right. A 3 wood gives you a lot more room to breathe and you'll still have just a wedge for the second shot. The green is fairly large and, while it isn't flat, it's got the sort of broad, sweeping (and relatively charmless, in my opinion) undulations to it that many courses of this era have. There are three bunkers around it, and a pond lurks in the background, mostly out of play but never completely out of the question for those of us who aren't scratch golfers.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is 530 yards; the drive here is mostly blind, with the only fairway visible from the tee being well out of range of any driver. Water does lurk left, but long hitters can hit beyond the reaches of the pond; the fairway itself is fairly wide but does feature some significant right-to-left slope. A draw aimed down the right side will take a big bounce, bringing the green more into play on the second shot. For those laying up, the second shot is very simple, just a matter of advancing the ball to your ideal yardage; if you are going for it in two, the green, while plenty big, is quite shallow and has three bunkers in front and to the left, with the gap between the two front bunkers being very narrow. Not exactly an inviting target when you've got a long iron or fairway wood in hand.

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green. That back-right hole location was actually quite tough, with the green in that section running away rather than toward the fairway.

The third hole is a mid-length 190-yard par 3 that plays over level ground to a long, fairly narrow green with three bunkers around it: one short left, one long left, and one right. Certainly not the most interesting hole in the world, but stern and demanding enough that you can't sleep through it.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is a mid-length par 4 that heads straightaway over level ground; there are big, mature trees on both sides, with O.B. and a fairway bunker lurking left. I'm not a big fan of these sorts of narrow fairways with trees hemming on from both sides, but at the very least, there are no low-hanging pines on this hole. Miss the fairway and you can still work golf balls between the trunks without getting caught in branches and leaves. But since the hole is only 380 yards, driver really isn't necessary; a driver or long iron will still give you a short iron into the green, which is medium sized andflanked by sand.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a longer par 4 at 425 yards, doglegging slightly right around a fairway bunker. The ideal drive just barely carries the ridge crossing the fairway, hitting the downslope and bounding forward. Do that, and the second shot will be just a wedge. Fail to get that big bounce, and you'll have a mid iron second. The green has bunkers left and front right, with a noticeable fallaway on the back-left corner. Interestingly, I distinctly remember having particular difficulty with this hole in the past, but for this round, this was where I had my sole birdie of the day.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is 370 yards, but while it technically isn't very long, the hole plays steadily and significantly uphill, and the fairway is very narrow, squeezed between dense trees on both sides, with a couple bunkers right making things even tighter. Driver is really not the greatest choice in the world here; far better to put yourself in play than try to get close. A good 3 wood will leave a wedge or short iron up to the green, which is semiblind and tucked behind a row of three deep bunkers, with another bunker left. It's not an easy hole, but neither is it the toughest hole on the course, as the scorecard claims. Not entirely sure how they came to that decision.

The sixth hole.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a massive 615-yard par 5 that feels like someone stole a hole from the second Penn National course and snuck it onto the Founders course. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike this hole, but it does feel very incongruous with the rest of this course. And there's a reason for that; this hole isn't original. The original seventh was built over 20 years ago to make room for a line of houses; it played parallel and directly next to the sixth, ending at basically the same spot as the current seventh green. I only played it a couple times before play was swapped over to the new hole.

Anyway, the seventh plays slightly downhill to what is easily the widest fairway on the course, with a single large fairway bunker left. It's a very inviting drive, and you can quite easily blast away. The second shot is more difficult, the two bunkers right at about 150 yards from the green are pretty easy to clear provided you've hit a good drive, but the line of bunkers left of the fairway are a different story. Of course, if you're smart you should never be on the left side, as this green is best approached from the right, but those left-side fairway bunkers look nice, at least. The key bunker is the small one right in front of the green; since this green is on the shallow side, any pitch shot from the left half of the fairway will have to directly contend with that front bunker, making it difficult to get the third close to the hole. As I said, it's preferable to be right, allowing you to pitch more directly along the axis of the green and avoiding the front bunker entirely.

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is a return to (narrow) form, being a 435-yard par 4 that's arguably the toughest hole on the course. The fairway is quite slender and slopes pretty hard from left to right as it's squeezed between big trees left and bunkers right. To further complicate matters, the green is best approached from the left side. The ideal drive is a draw down the left side, fighting the slope to stay up high; just be sure not to go too far left or trees will block out your approach. The right side of the fairway is obviously easier, but that will leave you with a tougher angle. The second shot is semi-blind and to a green protected by three bunkers, one left and two deep bunkers right.

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is just over 200 yards, though it does play a bit downhill, mitigating some of that length. The green is pretty big, though it is well guarded by five bunkers. It also has quite a bit of undulation to it, and if you find the wrong part of the green you'll be left with a very tough two-putt.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

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