Review: Sunset Golf Course (Part 2)

It's time to take a look at Sunset's back nine, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is by far Sunset's most memorable hole, and the sort of hole you don't see every day. The front nine is situated on a hill overlooking the river, as is the tenth tee. The rest of the hole, and the back nine in general, is much closer to river level. That means the fairway here is about 150 feet below the tee. You don't often see elevation change like that on one hole. It also means that the tenth, which is 345 yards long, is drivable by more people than you'd expect. The only obstacle really is the fact that the hole is quite narrow, hemmed in by big trees, but they're honestly really easy to carry and the fairway widens out past the 275-yard point, so why not use driver and fly over everything? It's pretty fun. The green itself is fairly small and falls away at the back. I don't think I'd call this a good hole, but it's certainly quirky and memorable.

The tenth hole.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a shortish par 3 at 160 yards, playing over the corner of a pond to a large two-tiered green. It's a good thing these greens run pretty slow, because that tier is big and it is sharp. Which is curious to me; the course isn't old but the earthwork here is pretty crude, befitting a pre-bulldozer construction era. A bit of a mystery, but it does make tee shots a bit more interesting; you really don't want to be on the wrong level of this green. 

The eleventh hole. It'd look quite nice if it weren't for the Porta-potty. 

The twelfth hole is 360 yards and plays to a narrow fairway bending left in between clusters of trees. You definitely want to find the fairway here, so you may want to use less than a driver. A solid drive will leave a wedge into a medium-sized green protected by a long bunker to the right.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is 370 yards and despite playing basically parallel with the previous hole, is quite a bit different. For one thing, the hole is pretty steeply uphill, with the fairway also tilted from left to right. The farther up you go, the more awkward of a stance you'll have for the second. But hanging back will leave a long and steeply uphill second shot to a nearly completely blind green. The green is quite large and fairly undulating, and there's nothing around it, so at least you're not hitting into any potential hazards. The awkward stance and large elevation change is enough of a hazard.

The thirteenth hole.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is a fairly long par 4 at 430 yards, though that length is somewhat mitigated by the downhill tee shot. It's not anywhere close to as much as the tenth, but it's a good 30-40 feet. The second shot should be a short or mid iron to a slightly elevated green protected by a single bunker right. This is quite a tough green to hit; it's small and that five feet of elevation does more than you might think.

The fourteenth hole.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole lists itself as 200 yards, but the tees were up significantly, such that I only hit a wedge. It is uphill, and with a long bunker taking up the vast majority of the front section of the green, it does play long and you do need to carry it the whole way. Beyond that, there's not much to this hole.

The fifteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is, at 517 yards, the longest hole at Sunset (this isn't a very long course). It plays along the side of a hill the entire way, so you'll have to reckon with a severe right-to-left slope for pretty much any shot not within 10 yards of the green. There's no sand on this hole, but there is a pond lurking left for much of the second half of the fairway. You can steer clear of it, and there's no real reward for laying up near it, so you're better off laying up right. The green is similar to the eleventh; there's a very sharp tier running through the middle, so you don't want to end up on the wrong half.

The sixteenth hole.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is not the most inspired hole in the world. The tee shot is mostly blind, with the landing area over the crest of the hill. It's wide, with only the occasional tree to worry about, so you can use driver without fear. A good driver will leave just a wedge into the green, which is quite small and slightly elevated.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole plays along the same hillside you descend coming off of the tenth tee, so the fairway's tilted pretty severely from right to left. The hole is routed through fairly dense trees (and is quite narrow), so this is actually a pretty tough finisher despite its modest length. It's very important to find the fairway, which may mean using a wood or long iron. That will leave a short or mid iron into the green, which is small and falls away severely to the left. There's even a retaining wall left to keep the green pad up. Left is a very bad place to miss; you'll struggle to get up and down from down there. Considering how open the rest of the course is, this one doesn't really fit in well, and I'm not just saying that because I made a quadruple bogey here. It's a bit too tough for a course that is in general not difficult.

The eighteenth hole.

The eighteenth green.

Of all the golf courses out there, Sunset is certainly one of them. That's about all I have to say. Okay, yeah, the tenth is certainly something that'll stick in my mind, but the rest of the course isn't really worth the time and effort. It's not hugely expensive, but it's not cheap either, and it's certainly not in particularly good shape. The tees in particular got very bad as the round went on; the eighteenth tee was literally nothing but dirt and sand. And it certainly doesn't have particularly compelling design. There are a lot of golf courses in the Harrisburg area I haven't played, but I can say with a reasonable amount of confidence that there are better options.

Review: Sunset Golf Club (Part 1)

I've been curious about Sunset Golf Course for a while. Not because of any particular design heritage (it doesn't have any), but it seems to have an intriguing location up in the hills lining the Susquehanna River. Also, I have a friend who I visit fairly often who lives very close by, so I go through the Middletown, Pa., area more often than most people who live 90 minutes away. And since I'm kind of running out of interesting golf courses within reasonable driving distance of home, any amount of curiosity is enough to convince me to try a course out. 

This isn't a very promising start. Or a convincing one. Sorry, not every course can be fascinating. (I promise things will get better starting next month.)

The first hole is 370 yards and a fairly welcoming opener to start things off. The fairway doglegs hard left about 250 yards out, so if you're a longer hitter you'll definitely need to cut some of the dogleg, or risk running out of fairway. The long grass bordering the fairways at Sunset is distinctly of the "you won't find it in there" variety. The second shot is a wedge or short iron to a medium-sized green overlooking the Susquehanna River. This is the one decent view of the river we get, so enjoy it.

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is not the most fun hole in the world if you play from all the way back. From the white tees, it's a mid-length par 4, but from the tips, it's about 100 yards longer ... and still a par 4. At least on the scorecard. Practically, it's a par 5 (Sunset is a par 70, so it's not like adding an extra par 5 makes it some nontraditional par). The fairway is partially blind as it negotiates a series of small hills; if you can hit a solid drive of about 275 yards, you'll get to the top of the hill and receive a good view of the green. That leaves a wood or long iron to a green sloped from back to front and rather well guarded by three bunkers. Like I said, this is a par 5 in all but name, and 5 is a perfectly reasonable score here.

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole is a longish par 3 at 210 yards, playing over a valley to a wide and fairly shallow green. There's a large bunker short left and another out to the right. It's not an easy hole, but it's not a particularly exciting one.

The third hole.

The fourth hole is a mid-length par 4 playing uphill to a fairly narrow fairway squeezed between bunkers left and high grass right. You definitely want to favor the left side; like on the first, you can run out of room pretty quick on the right. A solid drive will leave a wedge or short iron to a fairly small green protected by four bunkers, two on each side.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is just under 200 yards and plays to a fairly large and undulating green. The front half is protected by three large bunkers, with a pretty narrow gap in between. You probably just want to aim at the center of the green no matter where the hole is located. Hole locations on the left or right edge are going to be tough to get to.

The fifth hole.

The sixth hole is a very short par 5 at only 470 yards, which is in fact less than the second hole, which is a par 4. Yeah, that's a weird one. There's not much to see on the tee; the fairway is completely blind and the trees are oddly distributed to make it look like there isn't a fairway at all. It is out there though, bending left than right to the green. Favoring the left side is a good idea, since trees about 100 yards short in the corner of the second bend will block tee shots that drift too far right (which is easy to do considering the fairway slopes from left to right). The green is on the small side and flanked by sand. It's an excellent birdie opportunity overall, especially if you place your drive correctly.

The sixth hole. Trust me, it's out there. The ideal line is along the right edge of the two small trees on the left side.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole plays parallel to the sixth and is also a short par 5 (though this one is at least technically longer than the second). It's also quite confusing off of the tee, since the only fairway you can see is offset way left and absolutely not where the hole goes. A good line is just right of the cart path. Get far enough and you'll have a long iron or wood into a small green with a big bunker right and forest left and long.

The seventh hole. Not sure why they routed the fairway/cart path where they did.

Approaching the seventh green.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is a very short little par 3, just 135 yards. tucked against forest left. There are two bunkers right of the green, which is the primary source of interest here. It's a pretty undulating green, so two putting is no simple task. The hole location I saw was up on a small shelf, making it particularly tricky. This isn't quite as easy a hole as it looks.

The eighth hole.

The ninth hole is a mid-length par 4, and a pretty tough one at that. The fairway is not wide, slopes severely from right to left, and is wedged between a bunker right and dense brush and high grass left. If your driver can clear that right-hand fairway bunker, then driver isn't a bad choice; if not, you may want to consider using a club to get you into play. That will obviously leave a pretty long second shot uphill to a semiblind green protected by two small bunkers, one on each side. This is a hole to make a safe, cautious par on and walk away. 

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green.

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

Richland Golf Club Review

The par 4 2nd

That's right, more golf! Hey, it was another weekend with excellent weather, how could I not play some golf? The course at hand today is Richland Golf Club in Middletown, Maryland, and I played it on Monday, February 20th. This is a course that I have never played before, and to be perfectly honest, I probably won't be playing again for a while, if at all. In season, it's out of my price range, and there's a big, big problem with the course. The routing is terrible. Obviously, I don't know why exactly that is, but I have my suspicions. I think real estate came before golf integrity. Yes, it's one of those kind of courses. There are houses all over the place, occasionally flanking both sides of holes.

The par 3 4th

Naturally, the routing suffers because housing came first. The holes are disjointed, and the site is very hilly. I used Golfnow to make my tee time, which means I got a cart, and for once, I was kind of glad I had it. This was not a walking-friendly golf course, and for me, that's a bad thing. The disjointed golf doesn't just mean you get holes a long way from each other, but you also get a bunch of holes crammed together awkwardly. On the back nine, we go from par 5 to par 3 to four straight par 4's, all of which are similar in length. The first 3 (12, 13, and 14) run parallel to each other, are dead straight and basically completely flat. Taken in isolation, I actually liked those holes, and the 15th hole is semi-blind from the tee, and blindness in any form is something you don't see often enough. But together? Those holes lose some of their charm, and become more tedious than enjoyable.

The par 3 6th

Of course, most people don't care about routing. Not when you have a cart. The only reason I noticed was because I was thinking about it. The course itself was in excellent condition, and despite its flaws, I enjoyed a good number of the holes themselves. Maybe it was just because I was playing fairly well. Hit a lot of good drives, and I would have done better than 79 if I had remembered how to putt. And I will say this: the complimentary yardage book was a fantastic touch. And not just because it was necessary on a few holes, it was genuinely useful and informative.

As for the golf course itself, the front nine is significantly hillier. It starts off pretty difficult, with a long par 4 that I would say is the second or third hardest hole on the course. It's not an easy start. The fourth hole, a downhill par 3, features a stone wall and is visually appealing. The ninth hole is shorter than the first, but I would say it's more difficult, especially into the wind, the way I played it. There's a big ravine that splits the hole in half, and reaching that ravine was even more difficult into the wind. Admittedly, my drive wasn't very good, but I still had 190 yards left on my second. Then I hit a fantastic shot, one of the best iron shots I've hit in a while. Didn't make the birdie putt, but still, it was a nice way to end the nine.

The par 4 13th

The back nine is a lot flatter and more compact, as I've mentioned. It plays near a creek, which comes into play on a couple of holes. The nine begins and ends with par 5s, the 10th is downhill, reachable, with no water, which, on paper, I played in a very standard fashion. Green in regulation, 2 putt par. That misses the topped drive. But I managed to recover, obviously. The last hole plays uphill, is also reachable, and has water in play near the green which I managed to hit in 2 and birdie. Only birdie I had during the round. I've already talked about the four par 4s, and the other hole of note is the 17th, another long par 4 with a ravine running across the hole. I do not like that hole, it's too narrow, it's got OB on the right, and too many forced carries on a course are just annoying to deal with. I parred the hole, but still, it's not a good hole.

I paid 33 dollars to play this golf course at 11 AM on a holiday. Was it worth the price? I mean, I guess, but I wouldn't play much more than that for a housing-development friendly golf course. It really does spoil the design and the routing. I want to say that the course looks good, and without the houses, it would.

I also played Glade Valley Golf Club this past weekend, and I liked that course more. I didn't get any pictures of that course, I was playing with three random people, and I will definitely play that course again. So there's that to look forward to, right?

UPDATE: I can't believe I didn't remember this when I was writing this at first, but just how appropriate is the name Richland for a golf course? It just makes too much sense.