Review: Raystown Golf Resort (Part 1)

My junior golf career was hardly illustrious, but over the years I did pick up a few small victories, and my first-ever victory occurred when I was 12 years old at a golf course just north of Huntington, Pennsylvania, then called Standing Stone. That sort of thing sticks with you, but my family would soon find junior golf events closer to home, and so I never went back to play the course again. Standing Stone wouldn't exactly fade from memory, but with no reason to head an hour and half up north, I didn't give much thought to it for a few years. 

That changed when I began to attend Penn State for college, and guess what golf course was right on the road to State College? Standing Stone. Of course, I was always coming or going from school, so I never had time to go out and play, and even though the course wasn't that far away, college students are not exactly known for having bundles of free time or money to go and play golf. Even on post-college visits to State College to see friends, I would pass by the golf course every time and wonder just what the course was like, but would never stop.

Fast forward to last summer, when I saw an intriguing piece of news: The course I knew as Standing Stone — designed by Geoffrey Cornish in 1972 — was now Raystown Golf Resort, and it was reopening after being bought out in March 2025. This isn't the first time the course has been bought and sold (with it undergoing a name change to Sunset between 2020 and 2024), and quite frankly the new business plan made me a bit dubious. My memories of the golf course were 20 years old, but I didn't think the course was anything too impressive, and trying to make it a destination resort seemed ... optimistic. So, I decided that now was the best time to go and finally revisit Standing Stone/Sunset/Raystown, just in case things don't go well for the new owners. 

The first hole is actually the longest hole on the course, playing 555 yards to a fairway that's mostly wide open, save for a single bunker left that the fairway bends left around. A second bunker about 100 yards from the green gives people laying up something to think about. The green is slightly elevated and has bunkers left and long. Not a particularly tough or interesting opening hole, but the bunkers are well placed and do help the cause.

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green. Also, if that flag looks extra tall, that's because it is. All the flags at Raystown were like this, and it really messed with my ability to judge distances. Every iron and wedge shot felt closer than it actually was.

The second hole is 380 yards and plays slightly downhill to a fairway sloping from left to right with a single bunker left and some brush right. Because the fairway isn't wide and because there's a pond short of the green that can catch the drive of the longest hitters, a 3 wood is probably the best choice on the tee shot. That will leave a wedge or short iron into a small green flanked by bunkers.

The second hole.

The second green.

The third hole is a fairly short 345-yard par 4 with three staggered bunkers pinching into the fairway. Because of that, unless you're willing to hit your tee shot all of 200 yards, you pretty much have to deal with at least one bunker. Still, using driver can put you in an awkward spot to approach this green, which is protected by bunkers left and front right. A 3 wood or long iron is probably the best play on the tee, as that will give you a full wedge instead of a three-quarter wedge over sand that you won't be able to spin properly. 

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green.

The fourth hole is a mid-length par 3 playing over a pair of bunkers (with another left) to a fairly small and relatively shallow green. I think this hole would be a bit better if it were shorter; 170 yards is kind of a long way to carry those bunkers and expect the ball to stop on the green. Not impossible, but not something Raystown's clientele is likely going to be able to do on command.

The fourth hole.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is 425 yards and plays straightaway over level ground. The obvious hazard is the native area left, along with a pond that you can't see from the tee (I would ordinarily be opposed to this, but in this case it's an additional hazard, not the only one). This naturally draws you out right, but favoring the right side will leave you with a tough approach over a big bunker. Favoring the left gives you a much better angle into the green. Not a complicated hole, but not a terrible one either.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is a 200-yard par 3 that plays slightly uphill to a narrow green flanked by bunkers. That's really all there is to this hole.

The sixth hole.

The seventh hole is 350 yards, and while the fairway is initially quite wide, it's pinched in at the landing area by three bunkers, two left and one right. The hole's short enough that you can lay up short of them and still have a wedge or short iron at most for the second shot. The green here is guarded by a large bunker left, and there's a ridge running through the middle that makes judging the speed of putts from the wrong half of the green a bit tricky.

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is where, for lack of a better term, things start to get interesting. The first several holes were all quite flat, but from this point forward, elevation change plays a role. Here, this 415-yard par 4 plays noticeably longer than the yardage indicates. The bunker in the corner of the dogleg is an obvious aiming point, and clearing it will leave a short iron into the green, which is tucked behind a pair of bunkers. It's quite a tough approach as the green is very small, so you do want to use driver and challenge that fairway bunker. 

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole plays dramatically downhill from a high tee to a fairway pinched in from the left by two bunkers. From such a lofty vantage point, though, a solid driver can clear those bunkers, giving you much more space to work with as well as a wedge or short iron approach into this 435-yard par 4. The green has some back-to-front slope to it, and is guarded by a large bunker right and a pond lurking left.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

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