Huntingdon Valley Country Club
Our "library series" event was at Huntingdon Valley Country Club with a focus on William Flynn and his work at the Club. Wayne Morrison, guest speaker, educated us on all things Flynn, started with some history on Flynn's early life. He then touched on William Flynns contribution to Pine Valley, his work at Shinnecock Hills, and design work at host club Huntingdon Valley. Everyone received a copy of his 2,500+ page The Nature Faker.
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Wayne provided us the original routing and plans of the course as Flynn laid it out so we set tees to recreate the original Flynn routing. Many walked away surprised how long some of the par 3s were, how short the par 5s were, and how varied the par 4s were.
Course Review
By Preserved Links Member: Chris Mavros
www.Golfadelphia.com
6,316 yards, 134 slope from the Black tees (Toomey/Flynn)
Course: In Huntingdon Valley, PA, HVCC was built by the Flynn and Toomey firm in 1928. Flynn headed up the design while Toomey was involved in its engineering aspects. Red Lawrence worked with Flynn here, who designed Desert Forest much later on as one of the nation’s underrated treasures. Like Desert Forest, those that worked under and learned from Flynn are some how as well as a kept secret as you can get nowadays, but many of my favorite courses come from them. HVCC is no exception. In fact, it is my favorite Flynn course played.
There are 27 holes here, with each set of nine holes named; the Flynn, the Toomey and the Centennial. The main course is the Flynn and Toomey nines and that is what this review focuses on. I’ll need to return to check out the Centennial!
The course is in fact set in a valley. Running along its ridges before eventually coming down to its floor where a stream meanders through and then back up, using both sides of the valley walls, the routing is spectacular for several reasons. It takes advantage of the hilly terrain and incorporates it into play, it ensures a number of random lies that are anything but flat and it allows the firm and fast conditions to flourish. And oh my, are the firm and fast conditions here amazing. It goes beyond fast greens and its nearby run off areas to the fairways. The terrain and conditions feed off each other. Elevated tee shots into the valley floors, walls leering this way and that, bunkers creating more slopes off their edges or collecting overambitious shots and water diversifying the strategy and challenge throughout the round. Flynn was also king of angles and that is certainly the case here. The endless battle of positioning oneself on one side or position to the other after endless pondering is one of the pleasant attributes of his courses. Here, the routing and terrain may lure the golfer to believe proceeding in one direction means the higher side is always preferable, which switches as he turns directions, but this will only help some of the time. The width and slopes complicate the affair, which results in considerable options no matter the direction or position on the course.
Andrew Green’s restoration work here focused on revitalizing the brilliance of these design features. Removing trees, re-edging of bunkers, resurfacing of tees, widening fairways and some work on the greens, the focus was on Flynn; not the work itself. The result was as intended. The course is now reinvigorated as the original design features and intended conditions bask in glory. The work by greens superintendent Scott Anderson is likewise tremendous, focusing on the all the right aspects of play. When I write about restoration that moves us forward (https://golfadelphia.com/2019/05/18/restoration-that-moves-us-forward/ ), the work here is exactly what I’m talking about.
One word that kept coming back to me during the round was, authentic. The course played like a classic marvel, free from any attempt to modernize or use the restoration work as a guise to fundamentally change or recapture the spotlight. The focus was on preserving the Flynn aura without leaving any footprint or impression from the restoration. The course is now astounding because of it.
Fresh off a few days at Prairie Dunes, it was good to be back local. The clubhouse overlooks the course below and in that sense, it reminded me of Manufacturer’s which wasn’t very far away. My game was in a weird spot at that time, where I’d vacillate between disaster mis swings and hitting it 15 yards further than I was used to but it was more the latter and was feeling good walking off the range. With a clear mind and excited to experience another wondrous Flynn in our area, we headed out.... For The Full Course Review, Click Here
www.Golfadelphia.com
6,316 yards, 134 slope from the Black tees (Toomey/Flynn)
Course: In Huntingdon Valley, PA, HVCC was built by the Flynn and Toomey firm in 1928. Flynn headed up the design while Toomey was involved in its engineering aspects. Red Lawrence worked with Flynn here, who designed Desert Forest much later on as one of the nation’s underrated treasures. Like Desert Forest, those that worked under and learned from Flynn are some how as well as a kept secret as you can get nowadays, but many of my favorite courses come from them. HVCC is no exception. In fact, it is my favorite Flynn course played.
There are 27 holes here, with each set of nine holes named; the Flynn, the Toomey and the Centennial. The main course is the Flynn and Toomey nines and that is what this review focuses on. I’ll need to return to check out the Centennial!
The course is in fact set in a valley. Running along its ridges before eventually coming down to its floor where a stream meanders through and then back up, using both sides of the valley walls, the routing is spectacular for several reasons. It takes advantage of the hilly terrain and incorporates it into play, it ensures a number of random lies that are anything but flat and it allows the firm and fast conditions to flourish. And oh my, are the firm and fast conditions here amazing. It goes beyond fast greens and its nearby run off areas to the fairways. The terrain and conditions feed off each other. Elevated tee shots into the valley floors, walls leering this way and that, bunkers creating more slopes off their edges or collecting overambitious shots and water diversifying the strategy and challenge throughout the round. Flynn was also king of angles and that is certainly the case here. The endless battle of positioning oneself on one side or position to the other after endless pondering is one of the pleasant attributes of his courses. Here, the routing and terrain may lure the golfer to believe proceeding in one direction means the higher side is always preferable, which switches as he turns directions, but this will only help some of the time. The width and slopes complicate the affair, which results in considerable options no matter the direction or position on the course.
Andrew Green’s restoration work here focused on revitalizing the brilliance of these design features. Removing trees, re-edging of bunkers, resurfacing of tees, widening fairways and some work on the greens, the focus was on Flynn; not the work itself. The result was as intended. The course is now reinvigorated as the original design features and intended conditions bask in glory. The work by greens superintendent Scott Anderson is likewise tremendous, focusing on the all the right aspects of play. When I write about restoration that moves us forward (https://golfadelphia.com/2019/05/18/restoration-that-moves-us-forward/ ), the work here is exactly what I’m talking about.
One word that kept coming back to me during the round was, authentic. The course played like a classic marvel, free from any attempt to modernize or use the restoration work as a guise to fundamentally change or recapture the spotlight. The focus was on preserving the Flynn aura without leaving any footprint or impression from the restoration. The course is now astounding because of it.
Fresh off a few days at Prairie Dunes, it was good to be back local. The clubhouse overlooks the course below and in that sense, it reminded me of Manufacturer’s which wasn’t very far away. My game was in a weird spot at that time, where I’d vacillate between disaster mis swings and hitting it 15 yards further than I was used to but it was more the latter and was feeling good walking off the range. With a clear mind and excited to experience another wondrous Flynn in our area, we headed out.... For The Full Course Review, Click Here
Course Design Notes
Sketches Provided By: Wayne Morrison, Flynn Historian
Congrats to our Champions Zack Baratz, Russell Dekker, and our host champion Eric Kubilus!
Course Photos
Provided By: @NCR1183
A special thanks goes to the staff at Huntingdon Valley CC who provided us with a memorable experience, amazing lunch and dinner, fantastic beverages, and impeccable service & assistance throughout the day.