If you’re looking for a great little golfing getaway where you can get to play in the very footsteps of some of the game’s greatest champions, try teeing it up and shooting for the flags at The Poconos golf courses of Shawnee-on-the-Delaware, Wolf Hollow and Great Bear Golf Club.
A fantastic, and famous, place to do things like hiking, camping, boating and river rafting, The Eastern Pennsylvania region right on, and along, the beautiful Delaware River, Shawnee, Wolf Hollow(also known as Water Gap Golf Club) and Jack Nicklaus’ Great Bear GC provide players and golf enthusiasts from near and far and around the world with some of the very best golf in some of the most scenic and idyllic settings that any golfer of any age and would be sure to enjoy and remember and want to go back and play again and again and again.

Perhaps the most picturesque course in the whole, and legendary, Delaware River and Water Gap Region is the iconic Shawnee-on-the-Delaware. Host of the 1938 PGA Championship won by Paul Runyan over Sam Snead, Shawnee opened in 1911 with the first 18 holes of its now 27 designed by World Golf Hall of Fame architect A.W. Tillinghast, architect of Winged Foot and Baltusrol. Shawnee’s undulating greens and lush fairways and the historic Shawnee Inn was, many say, the very place where the idea of a professional golf tour, the PGA, were originally planned. A totally unique and wonderful island golf course, and the first course designed by Tillinghast, resort owner CC Worthington hosted a professional tournament in 1911 which then after became The Shawnee Open which became one of the first events after the PGA was formally founded. Two-time defending US Open Champion John J. McDermott from Philadelphia and Atlantic City Country Club, America’s first native-born US Open champion, won the Shawnee Open in 1913. Band leader Fred Waring, a world-famous entertainer, purchased the Buckwood Inn in 1943 and renamed it The Shawnee Inn. Waring brought in celebrities to vacation at and perform like Bob Hope and Lucille Ball and the game’s best players to play and compete at including a young Arnold Palmer who, as it would turn out would meet his first, and long-time, wife Winnie Walzer, whose family were members of Shawnee, at the club. Adding to the already incredible legacy at Shawnee, Palmer’s fellow Hall of Famer, and multiple US Open champion Hale Irwin, won the 1967 NCAA Championship held at Shawnee.

Shawnee offers many great Stay-and-Play packages including overnight accommodations, a full breakfast and 18 holes of golf on Shawnee Inn’s 27 hole golf course year-round.
Shawnee’s downriver neighbor, located just a short walk from the Appalachian Trail and just a few miles off Route 80, the mountainous Water Gap Golf Club, or Wolf Hollow, is another great place to play some great golf where some of golf’s greatest players ever to play also played. Walking the fairways of Wolf Hollow, opened nearly a hundred years ago(1922), you can almost feel the spirit of maybe the game’s greatest, and most entertaining, professionals, Walter Hagan. Hagan, third all-time in major championship wins to only Jack Nicklaus’ 18 and Tiger Woods’ 15, won the 1927 Eastern Open, one the professional tour’s top stops in the PGA’s early days of
the 1920’s which Water Gap Golf Club hosted from 1926 to 1928. Players today get to test their mettle, and accuracy, as they shoot for the short, and postage-stamped, 120 yard par 3 4th hole which Hagen, winner of 11 major championship tournaments, nearly threw away his ’27 Eastern Open triumph by over-shooting the green and then taking an almost inconceivable 11 on. Playing from an elevated tee to an elevated green with nearly 50 foot drops over and to the left, precision is the name of the game at the tricky little 4th, nick-named Hagen’s Folly ever since, is a shot-makers dream.
“Hagen is one of the biggest legends of our game,” said Wolf Hollow head PGA professional Bill Lee. “ It’s amazing that he played here and won here.”

Known for its hilly terrain, classic old-school style greens and resort clubhouse, Wolf Hollow is a must-play golf course for golfers who like to be challenged and love golf and its history.
And if history and great golf is your pleasure, then playing Great Bear Golf Club, designed by the game’s greatest major champion, and maybe the greatest player who ever lived, Jack Nicklaus, is a terrific treat, as well. One of The Golden Bear’s favorite designs, Great Bear GC integrates three lakes, several streams, and wetlands, with bridges and rolling terrain that is fun-to-play for golfers of all abilities. Playing a shade under 5,000yards from the front tees, and only about 6,100 to 6,500 from the middle tees(blue and gold), Great Bear Golf Club is a fun and player friendly track that’s ideal for any golfer of any ability. Rated a Top 8 Best Golf Course in Pennsylvania by GOLFWEEK magazine, and a Top 100 Women Friendly course in the country by GOLF FOR WOMEN magazine, with convenient and affordable Stay-and-Play packages, Great Bear Golf Club, located in Stroudsburg, Pa, is, without-a-doubt, a great golf destination for everyone.10en Friendly Courses in the Country – Golf for GolfLink.com

“Only one golf course architect could do justice to the natural beauty at Great Bear Golf Club – the one known worldwide as The Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus. His 18-hole championship design demonstrates why he’s been considered the master of his game for decades. Nicklaus has taken the natural advantages of the site and worked harmoniously with them to create a course that, besides it’s play, is an experience in itself. Integrating the three lakes, several streams, wetlands, small bridges and rolling terrain, Nicklaus has created a course that presents itself differently to golfers of varying skill. For the experienced player, the course offers interesting challenges and pro tees that will bring out your strongest game. Yet it’s also designed to be a course with the ultimate in playability, ensuring enjoyable round after round, revealing its intricacies and craftsmanship the more you play it. Great Bear is destined to be one of the Golden Bear’s great ones.”
There are dozens of terrific, and maybe more famous, golfing meccas around the country to go and play, but if you want to play some of the most scenic, and serene, golf where legends like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Walter Hagen played, then the Delaware Water Gap Region in Eastern Pennsylvania is a place the place for you.

By Sean Fawcett

Technology is a wonderful thing. 

And that applies doubly to the golf world. 

Where would we be without the metal driver, graphite shafts, milled-face putters, titanium inserts? 

And technology even enhances our wardrobes – desert-dry shirts, non-glare sunglasses, UV protective clothing, waterproof shoes, secure-grip softspikes. 

But nowhere has technology made more of a difference than in golf course architecture. The artists who sculpt the wonderful golf courses that we enjoy so much are now equipped with high-powered chisels. 

Those chisels are put to work in the most challenging settings when an owner is bound and determined to construct a golf course in the mountains.  

For years, conventional golf course architecture wisdom claims America contains far more “bad” mountain golf courses than “good” ones. That’s because, for years, the architects were forced to do battle with rocky mountain terrain using only pick and shovel … and a lot of sweat. 

Courses like the William Flynn-designed Upper Cascades course in Hot Springs, Virginia – acclaimed by many as the finest mountain course in America – are a rare treasure from the era of golf course antiquity. 

Fortunately, the construction of mountain golf courses improved greatly … and got a lot easier … around the end of the last century. Modern earth-moving equipment, laser leveling, enhanced aerial photography and the art of selective blasting allowed architects to tame some of the wildest terrain in North America. 

Courses with 200 feet, 300 feet, 400 feet of elevation change … and more … started to appear regularly. But golfers no longer felt that golf in the mountains required the assistance of a sure-footed yak and a Sherpa guide. 

A shining example of how far mountain golf course architecture has come can be found on the western edge of the Pocono Mountains. The three newest golf courses in the region – Eagle Rock, Blue Ridge Trail and Jack Frost National – all tackled some extremely severe landscapes. 

The major difference between these courses and many constructed 50, 75, 90 years previously is simple. They don’t feel like you are playing up and down the sides of the mountains. 

“The secret has always been clearing wide enough corridors through the trees and ribboning the fairways so that every shot is not an uphill, downhill or sidehill lie,” says Keith Devos, general manager at Jack Frost National.  

Easier said than done. In most cases, clearing all of that acreage requires a lot of money – to purchase sufficient land and to do all of the tree-clearing. 

Blue Ridge Trail golf course – the 27-hole facility located in the appropriately-named town of Mountain Top – is a perfect example. It began as a 9-hole golf course in the early 90’s. In the late 90’s, as more money became available, it grew to 18 holes. Just past the turn of the century, the final 9 holes were added. 

The design team of Ault and Clark weaved a consistent layout … then management took over from there. 

“Fortunately, Ault and Clark gave us a design that we were able to maintain with a reasonable amount of labor and funds,” explains Tony Barletta, the longtime general manager who is easing into semi-retirement. 

The golf world refers to that quality in course design as “sustainability.” Too often ego-driven architects design a course that is a superintendent’s nightmare. Not at Blue Ridge Trail. 

Barletta wouldn’t let that happen. His background came from the superintendent world. When combined with current superintendent Duane Schell, the end result is a one-two punch on the side of sustainability. 

“Growing grass in a mountain environment is not easy,” adds Schell. “You have a short season, violent weather swings and, especially in the last two years, a lot of water. We were a bit fortunate in that we were able to adapt to the climate one step at a time over a number of years.” 

At Eagle Rock, the huge resort near Hazleton, there also was a stutter step in the construction process. Arnold Palmer designed the original 9 holes … then economic difficulties caused a change in ownership. The new management team finished the remaining nine holes. Only the keenest of architectural analysts can detect the differences. 

Years later, the golf course has proven to be one of the most important amenities at this multi-faceted resort. 

The most important result of the construction of these three courses – beginning 25 years ago and ending 12 years ago – is the product that stands before us now. 

The trio often is lauded as containing the three finest-conditioned courses in the Poconos. The superintendents are not fighting the architectural design. They are living in harmony with it. 

That is the ultimate testimonial to sustainability.  

By TONY LEODORA 

The conclusion of the 2018 McCarthy, Wyoming Valley Country Club’s premier golf tournament, was eerily similar to the finals of the previous year’s event.

With darkness fast approaching on a gray overcast Sunday and some rain falling, club member Art (Artie) Brunn, Jr., and partner Mike Lynch of the Country Club of Scranton, won the 2018 McCarthy crown on the second playoff hole of the finals.

Brunn Jr., one of the top amateur golfers in Northeastern Pennsylvania and who was teaming with Lynch for the initial time in the McCarthy, closed out Wyoming Valley Country Club (WVCC) members Drew Mamary and Eric Plisko on the second playoff hole.
Brunn Jr. hit a 4-iron on the par-5 first hole onto the green and two-putted from some 17 feet for a birdie four for the victory.
Plisko, the 31-year-old former topnotch Hanover Area and Temple University athlete, had a chance to continue on the playoff but his putt within 10 feet just missed after second shot came up short in the rough near the front bunker.

In the finals of the 2017 McCarthy,guest Eric Williams, another of the area’s finest golfers, struck a 4-iron onto the par-5 first green and two putted for the victory with almost total darkness on a rainy cloud-covered day.His winning partner was member Scott Henry.
Both the 2017-18 matches featured some great shot-making and high drama.

The 2018 McCarthy finals saw Brunn Jr. get his team off to a one-hole lead when his downhill 30-foot birdie putt found the bottom of the cup on No. 1. Plisko’s second on the opening hole of regulation went deep into the right woods near the green but he chipped out to the fringe and his fourth hit the cup but failed to drop.

Plisko saved par on the second hole of regulation after his short downhill chip for birdie rolled six-feet by the hole. Brunn Jr. and Lynch both hit the green on their second shots from the fairway and two-putted for pars.

It was on the par-4 third hole that Plisko and Lynch both hit great shots from the fairway with the latter sinking his putt from three feet while Plisko knocked in an eight-foot putt.

The match drew even on the drivable par-4 fourth hole when Plisko’s first shot landed just 15 to 20 yards short of golf architect A.J. Tilinghast’s fast and undulating greens. Former Temple golfer, who is also now among the elite amateur golfers in Northeastern Pennsylvania, chipped to within six feet of the cup and holed it for birdie three to even the match. Here, Brunn Jr. missed his bird from about 12-feet out.

On the par-3 fifth hole both Lynch and Plisko hit their tee shots to some seven feet from the hole but on different angles. Both players had successful putts from some five feet to square the hole.

The par-4 sixth hole saw both Lynch, Brunn Jr. and Plisko carding birdie 3s. Lynch just missed an eagle when his chip shot came up a foot short.

It was on the steep downhill par-3 seventh hole that Mamary and Plisko took their first lead of the match when Plisko’s tee shot landed just five-feet, five inches from the pin that was located back right of the green. He made the putt to go one up. Mamary also hit the green but had a lengthy birdie putt.

Both teams produced par-4s on the uphill eighth hole before faltering on the dogleg ninth. It was here that Plisko was the only one to hit the sloping green in two but three-putted for a bogey five. Brunn Jr. and Lynch faltered on the hole and made 5s.

The uphill par-4 10th hole saw Mamary and Plisko go two up in the match when Plisko’s short chip landed a foot from the hole for a gimme bird. Lynch and Brunn Jr. had lengthy and tricky birdie putts that failed to go in.

Lynch got his team back to only one down on the long par-5 11th hole when his second shot rolled onto the green and two-putted for a bird.

Lead for Mamary and Plisko went back to two holes on the par-5 12th hole when the latter’s second shot landed short of the green. His chip shot stopped four feet from the hole and he made the putt.

Prior to Plisko’s putt on the 12th hole Brunn Jr. just missed his 4 from some five feet.

Both Brunn Jr. and Plisko found the 13th green on their tee shots with Plisko’s leaving him a long putt for a bird on the tricky undulating green. He made his four-foot putt for a par while Brunn Jr. thrilled the large crowd in the McCarthy stands and alongside the clubhouse when his first shot almost got him a hole-in-one. He two-putted for a par to win the hole and go one down.

The two teams finished with par-4s on the 14th hole before Plisko and Brunn Jr. hit the green on the long par-3 15th hole. Mamary’s first shot just trickled over the green, leaving him a tough downhill chip.

Unorthodox, Mamary’s one-handed chip almost found the bottom of the cup for a bird. After Brunn Jr. missed his 15-foot bird Plisko calmly sank a 10-footer for a bird to go two-up once again with just three holes to play.

This is when Brunn Jr. dug deeper and went on to win the 16th and 17th holes to square the match with birds. He said his dad’s voice kept ringing in his ears to never give up despite the tough road ahead. His late father, Art Brunn Sr., captured many a golf championship and was one of the all-time great amateur golfers in the region.

On the 16th hole all four golfers were on the green with the second shots. They faced long tricky putts when Brunn Jr. canned his 25-footer for a three to win the hole and go one down.

The long par-4 17th hole saw Brunn Jr. smash a long drive to the fairway, where he proceeded to hit his second shot some three feet from the hole. The bird was conceded when Mamary and Plisko failed to make pars.

Lynch could have won the McCarthy title on the par-4 18th hole but mised his bird from some 10 feet uphill and that led to the first extra hole, the par-3 13th.

Mamary and Plisko both hit the green on that first hole of the sudden death playoff but missed their first putts from long range. Brunn Jr. had to make a clutch bunker shot and four-foot putt to continue the match before he ended it on the second hole of the playoff.
Brunn Jr. is the boys golf coach at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre and owners of a State championship golf title. He and Lynch, defending club champ at the Country Club of Scranton and Lehigh University graduate, have teamed to win several of the premier golf championships at the Country Club of Scranton.

Ironically, Brunn Jr. defeated Mamary and Plisko for the McCarthy crown in 2016 when his partner was club member Rick Berry. Berry, who is battling cancer, was on hand Sunday afternoon to serve as an unofficial referee for the match.

Lynch said John McCarthy of McCarthy Automotive and Tires, tourney sponsors, is a friend of his.
He stated that the McCarthy family are great people and that it was a privilege to win the championship.
College and high school standout basketball official and club member John Leighton and partner and guest Jack Nicholson, captured the 2018 McCarthy shootout over the other 14 flight winners.

Despite all of the rain prior to the tournament, golf course superintendent Chris Snopkowski and his greens crew did a magnificent job in the manicuring of the beautiful 18-hole Wyoming Valley Country Club golf course, founded in 1896.

Kudos go out to head golf professional Pete Korba and his staffers and to general manager Robert Gebhardt and his staff for their hard work in making the 2018 McCarthy a success.

Joe Butcher is president of the club while tourney chairman was Atty. Bob Bull.

By John Zimich

           Some things in life are more difficult than others. Then there are the things that are really hard.

            Like trying to hit an 88 mile per hour slider.

            Or Chinese arithmetic.

            Or making your wife happy.

            In the world of golf, there is nothing more difficult than creating a good mountain golf course. It is the ultimate challenge for a golf course architect.

            The problems are many – severe elevation changes, heavily wooded areas, rocky terrain, lack of topsoil, cold climates.

            As a result, there are many more bad mountain golf courses than there are good mountain courses. And even on the good courses there is the common occurrence of stumbling across a bad golf hole.

            In many cases the cost of construction on a mountain golf course site becomes prohibitive … long before the project nears completion. Then the owner starts to cut corners.

            The land is not terraced. Boulders are not removed. Rock ledges are not dynamited. Trees are not taken down.

            The final result is similar to trying to play golf in a bowling alley. Golfers have to walk single-file down the fairways. Anything other than a striped drive, down the middle, is a lost ball.

            When golfers come across an excellent mountain layout, it is a treat. And one of the areas that supplies golfers with a nice assortment of mountain treats is the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

            The older, less playable mountain courses are still serving a purpose. But there are also a number of newer layouts that prove all good golf does not exist at sea level.

            Here is a quick synopsis of the best mountain courses in the Poconos. Note – the 27-hole layout at Shawnee Resort is not on the list … because the course sits on the flatland along the Delaware River. The mountain scenes surround it, but the course is virtually dead flat. Good golf course … but not really a mountain course.

            For a good mountain golf experience, try the courses listed below.

Blue Ridge Trail GC

It took 15 years to complete the golf course at Blue Ridge Trail – near the intersection of Interstate 80 and Interstate 81, on the western edge of the Poconos. Design work was done by the famed Ault/Clark firm, based in Maryland.

Tony Barletta, a golf course superintendent by trade, was the original steward of the project. Nurturing the course as if it was his baby. Now in semi-retirement, Barletta has turned the reins of the operation over to Duane Schell, the current general manager. It should come as no surprise that Schell is also the superintendent.

Course conditions always have been of optimum concern at Blue Ridge Trail. The quality of the overall golf experience is a combination of quality design and consistent manicuring.

“When this course was built, we cut extra-wide corridors through the trees,” explained Barletta. “Too many mountain courses have too many trees and the fairways are too narrow.”

Blue Ridge Trail definitely passes the “walk-in-the-park test.” Very few houses clutter the views. Each hole is a secluded gem … surrounded by nature.

Jack Frost National

            The newest golf course in the Pocono Mountains is Jack Frost National. Opened in 2007, the course is built to a large scale in order to take advantage of the many overwhelming vistas. Once again, wide corridors are the key to the success of this layout.

            “It is impossible to play a round of golf on this course without stopping a number of times and admiring the views,” says Jack Frost National director of golf Keith Devos. “There are some high points on this course where you can literally see for miles.”

            That is not hyperbole. A number of locations – including from the three-year-old pavilion that is the perfect spot for a comfortable post-golf respite – afford golfers a 30-mile view.

            The optical features are not the only strongpoint of Jack Frost National. It is a championship golf course, built to host high caliber competitions. Stretching to 7,256 yards from the back tees, it is the longest golf course in the Pocono Mountains.

            The strength of the course is the green complexes – bewitchingly beautiful and beguilingly difficult, at the same time.

Eagle Rock

            Just outside Hazleton is Eagle Rock Resort, an enormous property that is a four-season destination as well as a housing development that includes more than 900 homes. In addition to all of the recreational amenities on the property is a well-maintained golf course that is as enjoyable as it is challenging.

            The first nine holes were designed by Arnold Palmer, until an economic downturn put a halt to the project. The second nine holes were completed by the Texas-based company that took over development of the area. The final result is a course that takes a nine-hole excursion away from the clubhouse situated at the highest point on the property, then returns on another exciting nine-hole excursion.

            Once again, comfortably wide fairways are the key to the playability of this course. In addition, trees are kept far away from the greens, producing excellent conditions on the putting surfaces.

            The only problem with the course is that at many times it is extremely crowded … with deer! Eagle Rock Resort is a nature-lovers paradise … that just happens to have an excellent mountain golf course in the middle of it.

Woodloch Springs

            Woodloch Resort is a 2,000-acre property north of the town of Hawley, in the far northeast corner of Pennsylvania. Known throughout the country as a quality family vacation spot, it has an extremely interesting golf course at its core.

            The course opened in 1992, after a painstaking construction process under the direction of Louisiana-based architect Rocky Roquemore. Although most of Roquemore’s experience came working in the flatland areas of America, he proved that he had the imagination and skills necessary to handle a rugged mountain property.

            The Woodloch Springs Golf Course has a number of severe elevation changes – and a cavernous gorge in the middle of the infamous 14^th hole.

            Head golf professional John Pillar has been at Woodloch Springs since the beginning and he still proclaims with amazement, “I would walk around this property when it was being built and I couldn’t imagine how they could ever make a golf course out of it.

            Pardon the repetition, but wide fairways, continued tree management, uncrowded green complexes and proper soil management are the keys to success at Woodloch Springs. The course is annually among the best-conditioned courses in Northeast Pennsylvania.

            Building and maintaining a good mountain golf course is a very difficult proposition. But a number of courses in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains prove that the task is not impossible.

By Tony Leodora