Review: Coudersport Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Coudersport Golf Club, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is not especially long at 340 yards, but you have to add a fair amount to that distance, as the hole climbs dramatically uphill as it bends left to right up the side of the ridge. While the drive is incredibly wide open, the second shot will be from a precarious hanging lie. And when you take a peak at the green, carved precipitously from what is very nearly a cliff, it doesn't matter that you probably only have a wedge in your hand. This is a white-knuckle approach; you drift right at all and you're making a very large number. The green, while not super dramatic, is hardly easy to putt and has a couple of humps and bumps to make things interesting once you get onto the surface. I'm not sure which approach is tougher, this one or the one at the third, but they're both very fun.

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth green.

The tenth green.

Speaking of fun, the eleventh hole may technically be the longest par 4 at the course, playing 430 yards, but it descends the same hill we just climbed on 10, cascading down the hill as the fairway bends right to left. A big draw, aimed at the end corner of the right tree line, will go a very, very long way. Even golfers of relatively modest length like me could reach the final big downslope and end up having just a little wedge second shot. That said, the green here is the most undulating and difficult to putt on the entire course, and there's no help from a general back-to-front slope here either. Overall, this is just a really fun hole; there's nothing to distract you from enjoying the fun tee shot and the green is no pushover.

Interesting fact, a eleventh used to be a short par 3 at the top of the ridge, with this hole (the twelfth) being a more direct and shorter par 4. I'm not sure when the change was made, but both Google Maps and the course website still talking about or showing the old eleventh. A 2019 Google Earth image may show the new routing (there's a cut in a small group of trees behind the former eleventh green, showing where the new eleventh tee is), but everything is covered in snow so it's difficult to tell for certain. I'm going to go ahead and say that the course was changed between 2016 and 2019. Whether or not the change is good is obviously not a question I can answer for certain, though just judging from the new hole I did play (we'll see it later), I would be inclined to favor the old routing. 

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

From the twelfth hole onward, Coudersport is restricted to parallel holes alongside a stream, so the dramatic elevation changes we've seen previously are done. Ultimately, that does mean we've seen the best the course has to offer, though these last seven holes certainly don't lack strategy or charm.

Anyway, the twelfth is a 350-yard par 4 that plays straight ahead to a fairway of modest width. The ridge comes in from the left, so any drive that misses a little left will bounce back into play. The green is medium sized and bunkerless, though there is enough undulation to it to make the approach matter and putts from the wrong part of the green a bit tricky.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is 340 yards and features a drive from an elevated tee carved out of the forest. It turns the hole into a slight dogleg and also means that, if you want to hit driver, you really do need to hit a draw. Otherwise, you'll run out of space and run into the stream that runs down the right side of the hole. Since the hole is of modest length, a 3 wood or long iron is really all you need on the tee shot. That will leave a full wedge for the second shot, which is admittedly fairly tough. This green is two tiered and flanked by bunkers, and even if you do find the right section of the green, the surface has some pretty noticeable break to it. It's not the most difficult green on the course, but it's no slouch.

The thirteenth hole.

Approaching the thirteenth green.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is just under 300 yards, making it potentially drivable for longer hitters. However, the stream cuts diagonally across the hole about 200 yards from the tee. That's a modest carry, but with trees lining the right side, the amount of space on the far side of the stream is not massive. A fade is the shot to play if you are going for the green; if not, you're better off hitting a mid iron to 200 yards, leaving a full wedge for the second. Laying up also takes a bunker that's about 10 yards short left of the green mostly out of play. 

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is a mid-length par 3 playing over completely flat ground to a fairly undulating green that slightly falls away from front to back. There's a bunker just behind the green, and one short right, and while you'd need to hit a pretty big hook, the stream is lurking 20 yards or so to the left.

The fifteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is technically (by a single yard, according to the scorecard) the longest hole at Coudersport, playing nearly 530 yards. The hole sweeps left around a hill, with only a small amount of fairway visible from the tee. You do not want to aim at that, however; the ideal aiming point is either directly over or just left of a small tree halfway up the hill. Failing to do so will bring the stream right and beyond the fairway into play. A good drive can bring the green into play on the second. The hole is bunkerless, so lay-ups have little worry about, but if you are going for the green in two, there is a pond left of the green. This, I would say, is the last good hole on the course.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The sixteenth hole from behind the green.

The seventeenth hole is the new addition, replacing the old eleventh hole. It's a downhill par 3, playing just over 150 yards over a pond to a large, wide-open green that really does just sort of sit out in the middle of nowhere. I guess the stream is technically in play long and left, but for the most part this hole just has very little to offer. It's not even a particularly interesting green. As I said earlier, I don't know for certain that the old eleventh was better, but considering how bland this hole is, I can't imagine this is the better choice, interest wise. It does present a nice view, at the very least.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is a par 5, being virtually identical in distance to the sixteenth. It does play in the opposite direction, at least, so the change in wind direction provides some variation. The hole is essentially flat and the fairway bends only slightly left; otherwise, this playing corridor is wide and there are no bunkers. You're basically just hitting it as far as you can, and like the previous hole, the green isn't anything to write home about. Definitely an anti-climax at the finish, unfortunately.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

Coudersport Golf Club has a lot of pressure on its shoulders; this is quite literally the only golf course in Potter County. That's not a huge population, granted, but it does mean that, if this course doesn't satisfy you, you've got a long drive to find something else.

Fortunately, I think this is a fine golf course. There are some bland holes, but never anything bad or unlikable. It's got some funky quirk to it, and the third hole is legitimately fantastic. The tenth and eleventh as well are very fun holes, and while the stream section at the end lacks visual drama, there's some good golf there as well. The conditions were better than I was expecting, particularly for mid-October at a point where winter was rapidly approaching. Not pristine, of course, but for a public golf course in the middle of a forest the place was certainly very green. As one might expect from rural Pennsylvania, the cost is pretty modest; it was under $30 to walk 18 during the week. Maybe slightly more than I anticipated, but not anything too crazy. 

While it's not something I'd go an hour-plus out of my way for, I enjoyed playing Coudersport, and if and/or when I'm in town again (I'd like another try at Cherry Springs with a functioning telescope), I'd happily play here again, and not just because it's the only place to play. It is genuinely a worthwhile course from a design point of view.