Review: Penn National Golf Club - Iron Forge (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Penn National's Iron Forge course, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is a 420-yard par 4 that plays slightly uphill to a fairway tilted from right to left. There's a long line of bunkers down the left side, and a single small one right at precisely the point where you'd like to hit a safe drive. Still, it's a good aiming point if you hit a nice little draw to catch the sideslope for some extra distance. The second shot is a wedge or short iron up to a bunkerless green nestled among some low mounding.

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth green.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a sprawling 540-yard par 5 with a giant fairway bunker dominating the right side of the hole. If you want to go for this green in two, you have to challenge that bunker; if you play to the left of it, the fairway runs out quite quickly to the point where driver will just go straight through. From the left side, all you can really do on your second is lay up to the wide part of the fairway just short of the pond about a hundred yard outs. Meanwhile, an aggressive drive can leave as little as a mid iron into the green. Obviously, the pond is very much a factor for those going for the green in two, but a well-placed drive ensures you won't have to carry any of it. The green itself here is on the small side and pretty heavily sloped from back to front, so playing safe and going long isn't quite the winning strategy you might think.

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is just 330 yards, but since it plays significantly uphill reaching the green with your tee shot isn't realistic. The hole bends left about 225-250 yards out, with a cluster of bunkers lining the corner; you can either use a long iron or fairway wood to lay up in the wide part of the fairway, leaving a full wedge into the green, or you can use a driver and try to hit a draw, keeping the ball as close to those bunkers as you can. Obviously, the first option is much safer, but you will have a worse angle, courtesy of a small bunker protecting the front right portion of the green. While the green itself doesn't exactly have tiers, it is roughly divided into three sections, so finding the right portion of the green is important.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is 180 yards but plays much shorter, as it descends the same hill the golfer just climbed on the twelfth. There's not a whole lot to this hole; obviously you want to avoid the sprawling bunker left of the green, but beyond that, you're pretty safe. Just don't drastically overclub. The green isn't flat, but it isn't anything extraordinary either. 

The thirteenth hole.

The fourteenth hole is another shortish par 4, playing 365 yards as it once again climbs the large ridge that the previous two holes negotiated. The fairway isn't narrow, exactly, but it isn't wide either, and it's pinched in slightly by bunkers on both sides. While it will make the hole play longer, 3 wood is the best play here; it's more important to find the fairway then to gain 20 or 30 yards. Even with the conservative play, the second shot should still be a wedge. The green is pretty long and narrow, with a large bunker right.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is a mid-length par 4 with a dramatic downhill tee shot to a wide fairway that sweeps left around a pair of bunkers. Carry those bunkers, and you'll have just a little wedge into the green from a very favorable angle. If you play more conservatively out to the right with a fairway wood, you'll have a much longer second and you'll have to carry the greenside pond (this is the last one). Plus, the green will be angled more harshly, with very little space to work with. Of course, while you don't want to miss right, bailing out left of the green isn't much better. The prospect of an awkward chip shot from a severe downhill stance with water just a few feet away from the green is not an inviting one.

The fifteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is 200 yards and plays over a valley (the water from the previous hole sits at the bottom but doesn't come into play). Three bunkers surround the green, one front left, one front right, and one behind. The green has a significant back-to-front slope, so if you want to miss, short is the place to do it.

The sixteenth hole.

Much like the Founders course, Iron Forge has a giant par 5, though this one comes at the end of the round. The seventeenth hole is just over 600 yards, and you very much feel every bit of it, as the hole plays noticeably uphill. While the fairway is generous, there are bunkers on both sides, and the constant upslope means drives won't roll out much. A good drive will put you in position to get over the top of the hill and clear the two bunkers, bringing the green into view. From there, it's a pretty simple wedge, though the green is small and quite narrow, with two bunkers closely guarding both sides.

The seventeenth hole.

Approaching the seventeenth green.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is a mid-length par 4 that doglegs hard right around a pair of large bunkers; if you lack the distance to carry them, you have to go out right, leaving a short or mid iron into the green. But if you're a longer hitter, you can play more aggressively and potentially leave yourself as little as a three-quarter wedge for the second shot. The green is fairly narrow, with a bunker short right and another long and left. This used to be one of, if not my absolute favorite hole, simply because I was long enough to cut the dogleg and leave a really short second shot. It's definitely not a bad hole, but I don't think I hold it in such high esteem anymore.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

My thoughts on the last hole really sum up my general thoughts about Iron Forge . I used to love this course, and I'll always have those fond memories to look back on. And to be clear, this is a good golf course. It's fairly interesting, the greens are generally fairly solid, and it's tough while remaining pretty user-friendly. I certainly like this course more than its older, more traditional parkland brother. Ultimately though. it's just a fairly good golf course. There's nothing great or revolutionary here, and the course doesn't really ever fully commit to the links-style bit, leaving its identity a bit muddled.

Obviously, when it comes to value and price, Iron Forge is the same as Founders, but I'd be much happier playing here again since I do like this course more. I would choose to play Iron Forge again. You would have to convince me to play Founders. It also seems to be less busy, which is a definite plus in Iron Forge's favor. And back in the day, I would have said Iron Forge is also nicer to look at, but nowadays the fairways are lined with obnoxious houses, so that kind of goes out the window. At least the course is walkable, as the houses did come after the course was built.

Overall then, I would call Iron Forge a solid choice for any golfer in the area, and honestly, in terms of public golf it's the best course around. You need to go to Frederick (or to Bedford Springs) to find anything I'd call definitively better than this, and that's an hour from Penn National. And sometimes that's all you can really ask for.