Review: Merion Golf Club (Part 2)

We're back with the back nine at Merion, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is a very short par 4, playing just over 300 yards. The tee shot plays from atop a hill across a valley to a fairway that turns about 90 degrees 250 yards out. The green is perpendicular to the tee shot line and is surrounded on all sides but the front by two large bunkers. The play on the tee here is not to go for the green, but to play away, out as far to the right as you can (there are four fairway bunkers protecting the right side). This will leave you a pretty easy pitch and the opportunity to make a birdie.

The tenth hole.

The eleventh hole is 360 yards and occupies a special place in golf history — this is where Bobby Jones closed out the US Amateur in 1930, securing the one and only calendar Grand Slam. The hole itself is a bit of a weird one, and proof that even Golden Age architects could break the rules for playability. This 360-yard par 4 plays downhill to a blind fairway; hitting the fairway is imperative to make the second shot possible. The green here is cut off from the fairway by 75-100 yards, all alone on the far side of Cobbs Creek. It's a small green as well, and with a bunker left and a dropoff long, there really is nowhere to miss here. 

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is 400 yards, though since it's uphill the entire way, it effectively plays a bit longer. The tee shot plays through a chute of trees to a fairway that bends right, squeezed between bunkers left and trees right. As on the tenth hole, it's actually better to be on the outside of the dogleg; this gives you a better angle for the second shot. The green here is narrow, squeezed between bunkers both left and right, and sloped hard from back to front.

The twelfth hole.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is by far the shortest hole at Merion, playing a thoroughly modest 120 yards. That's a hundred yards shorter than the next-shortest par 3, the 220-yard third. Obviously, such a short hole presents a great opportunity for birdie; but of course to get that birdie you need to hit the green. If you don't, you'll find yourself in one of the many deep bunkers completely surrounding the green. So, either you've got a potential easy birdie or you're working to make bogey.

The thirteenth hole.

The fourteenth hole is 450 yards and marks the beginning of Merion's closing stretch. It's also an example of the ridiculous things golf courses have to do to stay relevant to the modern professional game; the back tee on this hole has come all the way back to the putting green. Anyway, the hole bends left around a road, with the fairway snaking back and forth between bunkers the whole way. Obviously, this tee shot favors a draw, and a good one will leave a shortish iron up the hill to a medium-sized, well-bunkered green.

The fourteenth hole.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is 425 yards and presents a very tough challenge on the tee shot. The road from the previous hole is even closer here, coming within just a few feet of the fairway in the landing area. A string of three bunkers right tighten the tee shot even further. Using a driver obviously puts you within wedge or short iron distance, but there is so little room out there. A fairway wood or long iron is a bit more comfortable, but will leave you with a much longer approach. The green is well-protected by sand, and is heavily undulating.

The fifteenth hole.

The sixteenth hole is perhaps the most famous hole at Merion, which is saying something considering the company it keeps. This 430-yard par 4 is notorious enough to be included in the top 18 in The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes. But on the surface, it's really fairly simple. The drive heads downhill into a valley to a blind fairway, threaded between bunkers and heavy rough on both sides. The approach then heads back up, across a quarry filled with rock, sand, and brush, to a two-tiered green sloped sharply from back to front. Not exactly revolutionary, but when you're on the ground, you do understand why this hole is so well known. That second shot up the hill and over the quarry is absolutely terrifying, even though it really isn't that long a shot. And it's especially tough if you miss the fairway, which is very easy to do. Every shot demands the utmost care, attention, and execution, which really is Merion in a nutshell. 

The sixteenth hole, from the fairway.

The sixteenth green.

Looking back down the sixteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole is a giant 245-yard par 3 where the tee shot plays over the quarry to a tiny-looking green out on the far side. The green is heavily undulating and surrounded by bunkers, but in a small mercy, there is a bit of fairway short that can be used to run the golf ball onto the green. But there's also a false front of sorts front left, so if you don't quite have enough steam, the golf ball will roll back down. Obviously, this is a very demanding hole, but it's the seventeenth hole at Merion, would you expect anything less?

The seventeenth hole.

The eighteenth hole is a long par 4 and a classic in every sense of the word — Ben Hogan capped off his post–bus crash win at the 1950 US Open with a famous 1 iron into this green. The hole is 500 yards and plays across the quarry to a mostly blind fairway that tilts hard from right to left. That tilt only gets more severe the further you go, which means there is some benefit for the professionals (and US Amateur competitors) to using 3 wood on this tee and leaving a longer second shot. Still, this green is tough; it's decently wide but the bunkers front right and left favor a fade, which is difficult to achieve with the ball above your feet. Plus, it also falls away toward the back, which means you need to be precise with your distance to avoid running the approach through the green entirely. 

Crucially though, while this hole is immensely difficult, it remains completely playable. The quarry is easily carried (the gap between tee and fairway is only 150 yards or so), and while trees and OB do lurk far left, there is a plethora of space out to the right. No trees, no bunkers, nothing. If you want to play this hole cautiously and accept a bogey, you are completely free to do so. That's probably the smart thing to do, and would likely win you the hole the majority of the time. But if you've only got the one chance to hit that crisp faded long iron from the Ben Hogan plaque, of course you're going to take it.

The eighteenth hole.

Had to take a picture of the Ben Hogan plaque.

The eighteenth green, from behind.

I have to confess: Before my day out at Merion, I didn't really understand what the hoopla was all about. With many great golf courses, the reason for their greatness is pretty obvious. Yeah, of course Cypress Point is great, just look at it. Merion is a tightly routed parkland course crammed into a Philadelphia suburb, and even on the ground, it's not exactly impressive to look at. There are very few postcard views. And it's no strategic gem either (the fifth is an obvious exception).

So, what does make Merion so great? It's simple; Merion demands focus and execution on every shot. On most golf courses, even the really good ones that I've played, there are times when you simply don't have much to do. An easy tee shot where you're free to hit driver, a dull approach shot to an open green, things like that. Merion has nothing like that. To score at Merion, you need to carefully consider what you're doing at all times, and then you need to hit that shot precisely. It's a battle from start to finish, and if you have a good round here, you know that you've earned that score. Also, Merion is way hillier in person than it looks on TV, and that elevation change really adds a lot of interest.

Is it perfect? No, of course not. The fairways are weirdly mown, a casualty of a game that's grown beyond the course. And while the greens are clearly very good, I don't know if I'd call them great. Some are very good, like the eighth and seventeenth, while some are kind of indifferent (like the first). 

Even so, I left Merion fully confident that it was by a comfortable margin the best golf course I'd ever seen. Courses like Atlantic City, Southern Pines, or George Wright are great, but they're still nowhere close to Merion. It's just a shame that so few people will ever get the chance to play or even see it.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Dreambuild

The brewery: Love City Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "This West Coast-Style Pilsner is brewed with German Pilsner malt and hopped with Riwaka, Chinook, and Citra hops. Dreambuild is a clean, crisp, lightly hoppy lager beer with assertive notes of sweet pink grapefruit, pineapple, and citrus."

Would I buy it again? This was a decent beer. Not great, a little hoppier than I would have preferred, but not excessively so. It was very good to drink after a long day outside, but it's not something I would go for in most circumstances. It's just the old adage again: If you're competing in the Yuengling market, you have to do something special, and this beer just didn't.

Review: Walnut Lane Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Walnut Lane, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is 340 yards and tumbles dramatically downhill. The hole bends slightly left and narrows as it descends, with dense forest encroaching on both sides. You can use driver here, but unless you have a reliable draw, there isn't much room for error. A long iron or fairway wood is plenty, and is probably preferable. The green here slopes from front to back and is cut off from the fairway by some rough and low mounding, making an aerial approach necessary. So while you can get within 50 yards of this green, the second shot will almost certainly not stop anywhere near the hole. The higher you can get that approach shot, the more likely you'll be able to stop it near the hole.

The tenth hole. It's a little tough to believe this is within Philadelphia city limits.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is 140 yards but plays dramatically uphill, with the green perched on the edge of a small cliff leading down into dense forest. Trees also overhang from the left; that left-hand hole location you see in the pictures was all but inaccessible for me with a pitching wedge in hand. Maybe some people can draw their wedges 15 yards, but I can't. The green at least is on the larger side and sloped from right to left. Just don't miss left, and you should be fine.

The eleventh hole.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is 335 yards and wraps around forest and the same deep ravine from the previous hole. The fairway is tilted hard from right to left and climbs up and over a hill, then dips down before rising back up to the green, which is on its own isolated shelf. There's a big dropoff behind, and a very deep bunker to left. This is a really good hole, as you can play safely with a long iron out to the right, leaving yourself a fairly long and potentially semi-blind second, use a fairway wood to try and reach the highest, flattest part of the fairway, or bend a driver around the trees, catching the downslope and getting yourself within 50 yards of the green (albeit you'll have a tough, steeply uphill pitch shot). The green is sloped from back right to front left and has a mild false front (the grass is too long for balls to run fully down the hill, but the idea is there).

The twelfth hole.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is 135 yards, making it Walnut Lane's shortest hole. It's also kind of weird. It plays straight up a hill to a tiny green tucked between a pair of bunkers in front, the road behind and to the right, and forest left. The green is highest along the center line and falls away on either side. My big issue here is that the margin for error on the tee shot is just so small, even with the hole's modest length. The fence marking the OB line is less than 10 feet from the back edge of the green and the bunkers short necessitate a fully aerial approach. It's just not a comfortable tee shot.

The thirteenth green.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is 160 yards and is a fine but pretty unremarkable par 3. It plays over relatively flat ground, the green is pretty flat, and the two bunkers on either side present a fair but pretty typical challenge. Nothing here to write home about.

The fourteenth hole.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is a 340-yard par 4 that plays from a high tee down to a fairway that turns hard from left to right. OB in the form of a major road follows the same curve, which makes hitting driver a dangerous proposition. It is very easy to fly through the fairway into oncoming traffic. A long iron or fairway wood is much safer, and will still get you within wedge range. The approach is slightly uphill to a shallow, elevated green with two bunkers left.

The fifteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is 150 yards and plays gently downhill to the most well-bunkered green on the course. There are three bunkers long and one short left. In addition, this green is sloped hard from back to front, and is incredibly slippery, even if you're putting/chipping up the hill. Like the fourteenth, this hole isn't particularly revolutionary, but it's decent enough.

The sixteenth hole.

The seventeenth hole is a very long par 3, playing 235 yards through a narrow chute of trees to a large green. It does play downhill, which slightly mitigates the distance. Still, for a course this short it does feel a bit more like a short par 4. There's OB left, but beyond that, no real trouble other than overhanging trees.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is 360 yards and plays to a blind fairway up on a plateau. The fairway is reasonably wide, which makes this a rare opportunity to use driver; the driver I hit here was just the second of the day. A bunker cuts into the fairway about 50 yards short of the green, but unless you're a professional golfer or close to it, you really don't have to worry about it on the drive. Far more people hit into on their second or third shots, I suspect. If you hit a good drive, the second shot will be a little wedge to a small green tilted noticeably from right to left. No bunkers around this green, though the left side is quite slippery and golf balls will easily run off. Overall, I think it's a decent finishing hole.

The blind tee shot on 18.

The eighteenth green.

Walnut Lane may only possess two-thirds the length of your standard 18-hole golf course, but don't let that deceive you into thinking there's nothing of interest here. The lack of length certainly does hold it back, but that doesn't stop holes like the fifth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth from being genuinely good holes. Plenty of golf courses don't come close to Walnut Lane in terms of strategic interest. And most golf courses don't have a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant (the equivalent of a Michelin star for restaurants people can actually afford to go to) literally a block away. Dalessandro's is a cheesesteak staple, and a round at Walnut Lane feels incomplete without indulging in a Philadelphia classic.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the drawbacks to Walnut Lane. The weekend walking rate is over $50, and that's kind of a lot for a par 62 golf course that's in typical municipal playing condition. Plus, while its great that such a beginner-friendly golf course exists in Philadelphia for all to enjoy, it does mean that Walnut Lane attracts a wide and ample crowd. I played on a day after a big rain, with no carts allowed on the course. I figured that would make for a recently quick round. No, it took nearly 4.5 hours to finish. And for this course? That's simply not acceptable or any fun at all. 

So then, what's the final verdict? Walnut Lane is a fun course, and if I were guaranteed a 3-hour round, I'd happily play it again. But I just don't see a world where that can practically happen. Which is unfortunate, seeing as it's less than a mile away. I'd play with friends if they wanted, but I wouldn't come here on my own again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Summer Love

The brewery: Victory Brewing Company, Downington, Pennsylvania

Description (from the website): "You never forget your first love. And we bet you'll never forget the years of celebrating all that's great about summer with Summer Love by your side. Baseball. Beach Days. BBQs. This Golden Ale delivers big flavor and big nostalgia through a fine balance of clean pilsner malts and citrusy, earthy Simcoe and Tettnang hops.​"

Would I buy it again? So, this beer was a bit hoppier than I was expecting, but it also had a nice juiciness to it as well. I actually didn't know what this was (other than a beer from Victory) and I thought it was a pale ale, not a golden ale. It's quite good though, very pleasant to drink, and I would buy it again. 

Beer of the Week

The beer: Just Like Himmel

The brewery: New Ridge Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description: No description for this one, but it's a Vienna lager. Annoying, but seeing as the brewery burned down at the end of January and they're currently rebuilding, I think we can forgive them this time around.

Would I buy it again? I went through quite the range of emotions when I first found New Ridge Brewing Co. on Google Maps. 

"Oh nice, a brewery that's like a mile away. That's a nice easy walk. Let's see what they've got on tap ... oh, they're closed. They had a big fire."

So, when my girlfriend and I went to a free concert at a nearby park and saw that New Ridge were serving beer, I had to buy some. Clearly from the image I was not prepared for beer reviewing. But the beer was great, which is fitting, because Just Like Himmel won gold in the Vienna lager category at the Beer World Cup. It was malty and had a lot of heft, but was still perfectly pleasant to drink outside on a warm evening. I would happily buy this again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Eraserhood

Brewed by: Love City Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Our signature hazy IPA is a love letter to our neighborhood, the Eraserhood. Off-beat and vibrant, this IPA is triple dry-hopped. Huge flavors of mango and pineapple with a smooth, round body. Moderate malt backbone and juicy finish."

Would I buy it again? Like the amber lager last week, Eraserhood represents a pretty typical offering in the genre of hazy IPAs. It's quite fruity in a pleasant way, which helps take the edge off the hops. I don't know about that malt backbone, but this is on the juicy side of IPAs rather than the bitter side. What really sells this beer, though, is the ABV: 7.2%, making it by far the strongest beer on Love City's menu. Not that I didn't appreciate it, because it is good for an IPA, but I do need a reason to buy IPAs (especially multiple times). Strength is a great way to ensure I do.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Small Paradise

Brewed by: Love City Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "Small Paradise is a Czech-style Amber lager we brewed this beer with our good friends from 2SP Brewing Company from DelCo. Small Paradise is a slow fermented traditional lager fermented with Czech yeast, malt and hops. Complex yet crushable, this amber lager boasts notes of sourdough, caramel, and dark fruits complemented by a refreshing dryness and floral Saaz hops."

Would I buy it again? This beer was about as amber lager as amber lagers get. It was nice and malty, drinkable but with plenty of substance. Not too hoppy, either. I don't think it'll win any awards, but as a beer to actually drink, it's tough to beat. I'd buy it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Koffee Kake

The brewery: Victory Brewing Company, Downington, Pennsylvania

Description (from the website): "Locally brewed. Locally baked. Locally loved. This very tasty collaboration between Victory Brewing Company and TastyKake takes the delicious flavors of TastyKake's Koffee Kake into a sweet ale with notes of pound cake and cinnamon."

Would I buy it again? The coffee cake flavoring is a lot more subtle than I was expecting. I'm not sure I would have figured that one out in a blind taste test. As a beer, it's fine and perfectly drinkable, but the relative lack of "pound cake and cinnamon" is disappointing. I probably would not buy this again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Santa! I Know Him!

The brewery: Evil Genius Beer Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "A complex Belgian-style ale that kisses Santa Claus. Our holiday saison is brewed with rose hips, chamomile, black currants, and dark candy syrup. Complex and intriguing, this is the one who broke dad’s leg lamp."

Would I buy it again? I don't think I've ever had a holiday/winter-themed saison before, since that particular style is more associated with spring. And you know what? If this beer is anything to go by, that's a mistake, because this particular saison is excellent. Cool and refreshing to drink, with the rose hips and chamomile playing gently with the syrup and beer undertones. I hope it's still around next time I go beer shopping, because I'm definitely buying more.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Is Butter A Carb?

The brewery: Evil Genius Beer Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Description (from Untappd): "The only thing better than pretzels and beer is pretzels in beer, and EG has teamed up with Auntie Anne's to bring you just that. This crisp Oktoberfest-Style Lager was brewed with malt, hopes, and warm, soft pretzels for an extra dose of rich flavor. Don't get it twisted."

Would I buy it again? Perhaps I had unrealistic expectations for this beer. After all, the other pretzel-flavored beer I've had is one of my absolute favorites, and beer and pretzels are such a natural combination. And I think, if I had this beer in isolation without previous knowledge of Aldus' pretzel beer, I'd probably like this beer a whole lot. But I have had Aldus' pretzel beer, and this one just doesn't compare. It's a solid beer, and there's a bit of that bready saltiness, but it just doesn't capture the pretzel magic that Aldus managed. I'm afraid I just could not buy this one again. Once you've had the real deal, you can't make due with a pale imitation.

Review: Paxon Hollow Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Paxon Hollow, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is quite simply fantastic and the best hole on the course. The tee shot drops down into a valley with a stream running down the middle; the eighteenth is on the other side. On a course filled with short par 4s, this is the shortest, playing just 275 yards. That means quite a few people can seriously think about going for the green in two. But of course it isn't that simple. You've got the stream right and a pond left. The line of bunkers on the far side of the fairway, along with the two greenside bunkers short right, would lead you to believe that the ideal place to lay up is as close to those fairway bunkers as you can get. But that leaves a delicate pitch shot, and when the hole is left or in front, it's almost impossible to get that pitch close, thanks to a subtle left-to-right slope on the left portion of the green. The direct approach of going for the green is of course and option, but there's a lot of sand, not much green to work with, and a pair of well-placed trees lurking just right of the line you'd want to take. Miss at all to the right and you could end up behind them with no shot at holding the green with the second. 

The tenth hole.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a 450-yard par 5, but this is definitely not an automatic birdie. The drive, hit through a chute of trees, goes down to a fairway tilted severely from left to right. There's a road left and trees and high grass right; the playing corridor is reasonable but far from spacious. Your first instinct on a fairway tilted like this one is to hit a draw, but with trees looming in so close and O.B. left, you'll need to be precise to avoid both while still using driver. A fade will likely roll out into the right rough. The second shot, if you're going for the green in two, is a long iron or wood up a big hill to a semiblind green with a deep bunker front right. The green is not large, not particularly deep, and one of the more severe on the course. Both my brothers three putted this green, but I think we got a particularly difficult hole location on the right side on a significant slope.

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is 360 yards and plays over two valleys, one that is carried over the drive and a second, narrower valley that the second shot plays over. The drive should ideally be laid up to the top of the plateau in the fairway. While one can hit driver, you'll end up at the bottom of the second valley, leaving yourself a partial wedge up a giant hill to a small green tilted pretty strongly from back to front that's surrounded by numerous small bunkers. That's not really a shot you want. It's much easier to use a long iron and leave a longer second shot from a relatively flat stance and with a full view of the green. Paxon Hollow may be short, but holes like this show that it's not a course you can overpower.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole, a 360-yard par 4, looks pretty similar to the first and fifth off of the tee: There's a valley filled with long grass left, and you need to decide how much to carry on the drive. The fairway is very wide out to the right, making it a safe bailout, but if you do that, you'll quickly regret your choice. If this isn't the smallest green at Paxon Hollow, it's got to be close, and it's basically an island, separated from the fairway by three bunkers short(including one that's maybe 5 feet in diameter) and backed up by trees and brush beyond. And we're not talking about a flat green either, it's got plenty of slope to it, mostly from right to left. That makes approach shots from the right side of the fairway extra delicate. You want to be as far up and as far left as you dare here, challenging an always-narrowing fairway. The risk is worth the reward here.

The thirteenth hole.

Approaching the thirteenth green.

The thirteenth green.

While the back nine here is incredibly strong, the fourteenth hole is the weak link on the chain. It's not a bad hole, but it lacks that extra bit of strategy and style found elsewhere. The tee shot is blind, with O.B. left and scattered trees and a couple of fairway bunkers right. At 381 yards, it's the longest par 4 on the course, and it's one of the few holes at Paxon Hollow where you can comfortably hit driver without really thinking about it. The green is perched on the edge of a valley beyond, so long is a very bad miss. There's a bunker front left and another about 20 yards short of the green, which is tilted from back to front.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is the longest of Paxon Hollow's five par 3s at 180 yards, and by far the most difficult of the set. It's got a good claim for being the toughest hole on the course. The green is built into a hillside and is perched precariously over dense forest to the left. The green is medium sized, but with two bunkers right and three left, there's not much room to miss. Right is obviously safer than left, but the green has a fair amount of right-to-left tilt to it, so it's tough to keep chips from the right side close to the hole unless you're very precise.

The fifteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

When you're dealing with a small, hilly site, it's only natural for there to be a few routing eccentricities, and while the sixteenth here is far from the most egregious example, it is noticeable. You play a par 3 going out, walk a hundred yards further on to this tee, then turn around and come back the way you came. This hole is 320 yards and bends nearly 90 degrees right, wedged between the previous three holes which form a triangle around it. The odd routing is easily forgiven because this is a good hole, and no pushover either. Off of the tee, you can either lay up to the center of the fairway or challenge the bunker in the corner of the dogleg, potentially leaving just a pitch or chip to the green. However, this green is tiny (it's something like 40-50 feet wide), sloped from left to right with no back to front tilt to help slow shots down, and protected on both sides by sand. If you do try to get close to the green, you have to be directly in line with the axis of the green to be able to hold it. If you have to carry some of either bunker, you'll either have to flop it up and on, or accept that your second shot will probably roll through into the back fringe. If I were to play this hole again, I think I'd lay up and come at this green with a full wedge. That's probably the better play.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

When I played Pocono Manor back in 2021, I thought the tiny drop-shot par 3 seventh hole there would be pretty unique. And while it certainly remains the shortest par 3 on an otherwise full-length golf course I've played, the seventeenth at Paxon Hollow gives it a run for its money in every other regard. At 116 yards, it's the shortest hole on the course, and it plays straight downhill to a green that's got to be something like 75 feet below the tee. And there's trouble in the form of bunkers short and a stream long to make the task of judging the distance all the more difficult. The green is medium sized, but it's wider than it is deep, so there's really not much room to work with. Just remember though, this hole effectively plays under 100 yards. It's within everyone's reach.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is Paxon Hollow's longest hole, playing 535 yards through the same valley as the tenth hole. The stream in the middle cuts the fairway in two at roughly 250-300 yards out, so you probably won't want to hit driver. Trees also crowd in on the right, a little too much so in my opinion. I think clearing out a few trees would make the decision off the tee a bit more interesting.  There's just no space for a driver, so the best play off the tee is pretty clearly a long iron or fairway wood. You just have to accept this is a full three-shot hole. The second shot is to a narrow, heavily sloping fairway with long grass left, and if you didn't get your drive far enough out, the stream lurks to the right. There's also a tree protecting the right front part of the green, and that will block out shots that don't keep to the fairway. The green itself is on the larger side but is two tiered; there's a lot of back-to-front slope here. I wish the tee shot was a little more interesting, but beyond that this is an excellent finishing hole, and the setting is top tier. Especially in the fall with the trees in full color.

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

What more can I say about Paxon Hollow? It's an endlessly fascinating course, and one that punches way above its weight. It's not difficult in the traditional sense, and you can go out and shoot a good score here. But you can't just go out and do that. You need to think, you need to put yourself in the right position. Paxon Hollow defends itself by taking driver out of your hand, and it gets away with it because it rarely forces you to do so. You can hit driver on pretty much every hole, there's nothing stopping you from doing so. It's just rarely a good idea. You can't overpower this course. So while it is way under 6,000 yards, it never feels that short.

I also want to give special recognition to the back nine, which I personally believe can stand tall with the best courses I've played. It might even exceed them in some cases; I think the tenth is the best of the 108 holes I saw during our Philadelphia swing. And that's including a past and future major championship host (we'll get to that soon). The front nine is a bit weaker, with some exceptions (particularly the fifth and eighth), which does hold Paxon Hollow out of my top 10, but even the opening stretch isn't terrible. 

As for value, Paxon Hollow is a little on the pricy side: $65 on weekends and $50 during the week, with no discount for walking. That's a bit annoying. It's quite a bit more than Jeffersonville, which is an ever-so-slightly better golf course. But the conditions are on the whole excellent for a public course, and the golf is interesting enough that I absolutely think Paxon Hollow is worth the price. I'd absolutely play there again.