Skippack Golf Course is not the most challenging track around or the most exclusive. But daily-fee players in the northern suburbs looking for another mid-level, reasonably priced municipal course for a little variety may find Skippack worth a look.
Skippack, off Route 73 in the Montgomery County town of the same name, is fairly wide-open and forgiving for much of the front nine. There are, after all, only 16 bunkers on the whole course.
But the back nine, with water or tree-lined fairways on nearly every hole, can be tight, stingy, and a bit more challenging.
Skippack has enough hills and doglegs to make most golfers work, yet, except for a few holes on the back nine, it takes a truly errant shot to put you in a wicked situation. The course plays as high as a 120 slope from the back tees - the national average is 113 - or as little as a 110 slope from the front tees.
For the cost-conscious golfer, perhaps the best feature of Skippack may be a host of discounts and reduced off-hours greens fees. After 6 p.m., you can tee it up for as little as $9.
``It's not like any other course around here,'' head pro Wes Hollis said. ``And if somebody hasn't played here for 10 years, they will be very pleased and surprised when they come back.''
The reason is that in 1990, the state park system, which owns and had managed the course, leased it to American Golf Corp., the giant golf-course management company. American spent $1 million refurbishing the clubhouse, added a new sprinkler system, cart paths and a driving range, and did extensive work on the traps.
Last fall, the company rebuilt the front tees, and now it has added a third set of back tees that lengthen the course from its previous 5,734 yards to just over 6,000. That's still a bit short, but the course plays longer because of the rolling terrain.
In coming seasons, Hollis said, mounding will be added to several holes, and the number of bunkers will be increased to about 40, with most on the front side.
It's a wonder the course exists at all. According to Hollis, the state bought the property a number of years ago, intending to flood it to create a reservoir. But local residents voted down the idea, preferring to keep the land as a golf course. Eventually, the state called in American Golf Corp.
``It was pretty much a cow pasture when we took it over,'' said Hollis, who grew up playing Skippack and is doing most of the design work himself. ``We have a master plan.''
Indeed, the front side could benefit from enhancements.
For the first few holes, Skippack has a kind of wide-open, typical ``muni'' look and feel that doesn't really get the juices flowing.
The first hole, a 360-yard par 4 with a slight dogleg, is rather ho-hum. And No. 2, a 521-yard par 5, although it is reachable only by big hitters, doesn't offer much fight.
But things pick up on the latter half of the front side, thanks to the 423-yard, par-4 sixth, which has a huge trap in front of the green, and the 213-yard, downhill, par-3 seventh.
The real challenge at Skippack doesn't come until the back side, however. There, the tree-lined fairways tighten, and Zacharias Creek, which slashes across the course, comes into play on three holes.
Among Skippack regulars, the favorite hole is No. 13, a 450-yard, tight, downhill par 4. It's easy to see why. The hole, the No. 1 handicap hole, is picturesque and tough, requiring a well-placed tee shot onto a shelf and a long approach shot over Zacharias Creek.
Actually, No. 13 is in the midst of what might be called Skippack's version of Amen Corner. The 11th hole is a fun, 173-yard par 3 over a creek and into a green surrounded by trees. The 12th, uphill with trees lining the right side of the fairway, is probably the best par 5 on the course. And No. 14, a tight, uphill par 5, can also spell trouble for the golfer with a wayward driver.
Designed in the 1950s by Harris Smith and Bob Benabia, Skippack was redone in 1988 by X.G. Hassenplug, who also designed Five Ponds in Warminster and Radnor Valley Country Club.
Orginally published April 13, 1997