 |
|
|
||
|
|
|
Site of the Senior PGA Tour Bell Atlantic Classic, Hartefeld National is on its way to becoming one of the top public courses in the country. With its newly renovated 1740's farmhouse welcoming your arrival, you begin to sense something special. As you enter Hartefeld's first-class facilities, you think, "impressive." Then, as you walk out to their practice facilities... greatness appears. If Hartefeld's massive oval practice green, marked with an inner rough and flagpole does not strike you, hitting balls before you play may become a habit as you stare into a distant valley on one of Hartefeld's two practice sites. Like the smell of the ocean from a summer breeze, so is the smell of fresh top soil synonymous with Hartefeld National. For Avondale is the mushroom soil capital of the world. The perfect setting for a young course, less than 10 years old, that is destined for greatness. Though the turf is still thin in places, the foundational roots are in place to establish a plush green paradise. As you look around the club house grounds at Hartefeld, you can sense the desire for perfection led by the Director of Golf, Bill Jeremiah, a former assistant at Pine Valley.
Remember, this is a prelude to the mountains, with several uphill shots to greens guarded by severe slopes, deep sand bunkers, and knee-high fescue rough. These elements, combined with occasional gusts of wind, might add an additional 1,000 yards by days end. On to the first tee, where if you suffer from first hole jitters or are just rusty from a lengthy car ride, the first three holes at Hartefeld give players a chance to warm up. At 579, 162, and 410 from the tips, only the 3rd hole appears to have a few tricks up its sleeve. The first hole, a par 5 at 505 yards from the middle tees is straight away. An elevated tee looks out over a small valley and back up to an elevated fairway which gently sides left, then gradually turns up hill to the green. While this view is pleasing to the eye, you ain't seen nothing yet! As you make your way to the first green, hopefully with a chance for birdie or eagle, keep this in mind: your tee shots must stay within 15 yards, left or right, of the center of the fairway. If you do this, you will hit most of the fairways at Hartefeld. If not, you might have to visit the pro shop after nine to buy some more golf balls. Large fairways quickly give way to a first and second cut of rough that flow into a countryside of fescue grass. While several holes remain true to a links design, thousands of trees surrounding Hartefeld give some holes a more traditional look. For example, No. 2 is surrounded by a grove of trees. The par 3 second, 121 yards from the middle tees, is a touch shot down hill to a long shallow green. Watch your club selection: anything long slopes down into fescue or deep rough. Finally, the par-4 3rd doglegs to the left up a steep hill leaving some players with a blind second shot. However, at 376 yards from an elevated middle tee, a decent drive will leave other players with a middle iron shot to a partially visible green.
Third, these greens almost all have two, sometimes three tiers: therefore keep the ball below the pin. Fourth, get ready for the best stretch of holes this nine. Regardless of your score, keep your head up, there is a beautiful view awaiting you from every elevation change. The 450-yard par 4 4th, in my opinion, is the most difficult hole at Hartefeld. It is obvious that this is the second longest par 4 on the course, but the deceptive landing area lures golfers into a false sense of security. On the score card, this is a straight hole with a slight bend to the right. However, standing from an elevated tee, looking out over a ravine to a raised fairway that bends sharply to the right, you think a tee shot to the right center of the fairway is a smart play. Wrong! The forest on the right hides the fact that the fairway you see from the 392 yard middle tee, about 50 yards wide, quickly narrows to 15 yards at 200 yards. In addition, two fairway bunkers hug the left side forcing the average player right. Thus, any drive struck over 190 yards to the right center of this fairway will end up in the deep rough, making any thoughts of getting on this green in two impossible. For those of you who actually walked to the left of this tee to see the best position to come into this hole, your work is not over. Two groves of trees surround this elevated green on both sides. Your approach shot, probably with a mid-iron, needs to be shaped from left to right. While big tee shots allow a player to take these trees out of play, this slippery green might convince many that this is Hartefeld National's toughest hole. The 534-yard par 5 5th is what I call desert mountain. Though this is not Hartefeld's signature hole, it is the most unique hole on the course. From the tee, this hole is laid out in 3 sections: a tee shot to the left or over a grove of trees, a 3 tiered fairway sloping severely downhill to a ravine lined with a creek, and a uphill shot over a mountain side of eight sand bunkers to an elevated green. With an elevated tee and severe downhill fairway, it will not take much of a drive to have a chance to reach this green in two. Nonetheless, your ball must come to rest on one of the three flat tiers or else you will be left with a downhill sidehill lie to a severe uphill green. Have fun, but beware of these bunkers. Finally, at the end of this three hole stretch, we find Hartefeld's signature hole. The best way to describe the par 3 6th is to image a beautiful New England pond, built on the side of a mountain, with a rustic dock, surrounded on one side with trees, in the middle of fall, with their leaves in full splendor. Take this picture, add a magnificent clubhouse above, and the excitement of a Senior PGA Tour event and you create a masterpiece. Just one more thing, this 198-yard par 3 from the tips includes one massive roller coaster green. It has the makings of a championship miniature golf course, just don't putt your ball into the back bunker or off the front of the green.
Holes 8-13 wind around the club house, through thick woods, down toward and over a marsh, and up a steep climb to one of the finest pieces of property this course owns. A road separates the previous holes from the future gems that await you. While holes 13-16 are no Amen Corner in terms of difficulty, their beauty lies in the design. Some golf holes ruin a countryside, these 4 holes were meant to be here. Each hole flows into the next as the aesthetic beauty of each intensifies! The 507-yard par 5 13th, 581 yards from the tips, sets the tone for this magnificent landscape. Nestled upon a plateau, this tee shoots you down hill to a large fairway embraced by trees, gently turns you to the right and up a small incline to a green where a picture is worth a thousand words. After leaving a pristine countryside of wild grasses, you enter an Amphitheater in the woods. Completely surrounded by trees, the 198-yard par 3 14th, 151 from the middle tees, drops over 100 feet to a green which overlooks a ravine to the left. Fifteen, a 392-yard par 4, may be the most scenic straight away inland hole in Pennsylvania, if not the country. After the tee shot, this hole is nothing. However, you first must carry a drive at least 200 yards from the middle tees over a ravine that surrounds an elevated fairway on three sides.
As you walk to the 16th tee, something clicks in your mind, like you have seen this hole before. While some holes at Hartefeld can be compared to the great holes of links courses around the world, this short par 5 is reminiscent of the long par 4 18th at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, New York. An uphill tee shot must avoid strategically placed fairway bunkers to a fairway that gently slopes and bends to the left. At 458 from the middle tees, players are faced with a blind second shot uphill to an elevated green guarded by a large front bunker. While you may not get the sensation of hitting a 4-wood within 10 feet, like Corey Pavin on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open last played at Shinnecock, you will feel blessed to have the opportunity to play at Hartefeld National. Seventeen and eighteen are great finishing par 4's, but most likely you will be so overwhelmed by the beauty of 13-16, these holes will be forever sketched in your mind. If I would have told you earlier that it would be $114.40 to play any day during the week, you would have said, "forget it!" However, if you want a memorable day of golf at a first class facility, Hartefeld National is for you. Make your travel plans today and you won't be disappointed. Hartefeld National |
|
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
 |
Add GolfPublisher.com articles/headlines to your web site |
|
© Copyright 1997-2008, WorldGolf.com, LLC. For questions, comments or suggestions on any of our network publications, Contact Us! | |
Pennsylvania's Hartefeld 
As you open the Hartefeld National scorecard and yardage book, given to you by the starter, you might ask the question, "What is so hard about this course?" 5,065 yards from the front, 5,936 from the middle, 6470 from the back, and 6,969 yards from the tips. "You have got to be kidding!" Hartefeld may seem a little short for a championship course, but don't let this yardage deceive you.
Three holes into your round, you need to begin to learn several things. First, the large generous fairways, make the greens appear smaller than they actual are. Second, hitting approach shots up the steep hills at Hartefeld are at least one to two clubs more than the distance in the fairway.
Usually, I would come to the end of my allotted words by now, but I must tell you about the greatest four hole stretch, I have ever played. After the first 7 holes at Hartefeld, you leave the links style holes behind for a while and enter a somewhat bland or traditional style of holes.
Once you achieve this unenviable task, your second shot must carry a sand bunker on the right and guard against out of bounds to the left. Besides not walking this course, as you can image the hills, my only other advice is the take a moment to enjoy the view to the left of the 15th fairway. Be still...unless of course you are holding up the group behind you.
