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Lehigh Country Club  William Flynn's Lehigh Country club is defined by the Little Lehigh Creek and its deep valley. Lehigh Country Club was founded in 1908 and opened its present course in 1928. The current 18-hole course is a very well-preserved design of the firm of Toomey and Flynn: that is being designed by Flynn and built by Toomey. Toomey's role in the engineering is a very important part of the creation of this golf course. Lehigh Country Club is located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a scant 40 minutes from the main line of Philadelphia where one can find such Flynn masterpieces as Manufacturer's, Philadelphia Country Club, Huntingdon Valley's 27-holer and Rolling Green. Lehigh gives little if any quarter to any of these better known examples of Flynn's work except some length and exposure. Exposure has in the twenty-first century changed considerably as Lehigh has finally and deservedly come to national and international recognition. The club had formerly shied away from publicity but opened its doors to the panelists of US golf magazines early in the century, being almost instantly recognized as a top 100 Classical Course by Golfweek Magazine and later as a top 100 Course in America by Golf Magazine. Golf Digest's criteria are unfortunately far too heavily weighted towards testing the most elite skilled player rather than recognizing architectural excellence, yet Lehigh stands on the brink of recognition by that panel as well rating number seven in the state of Pennsylvania.
There is one facet of Lehigh Country Club's excellence that nothing short of sudden mass insanity afflicting the members will ever change - it is quite simply at the pinnacle of excellence in golf course routing - anywhere in the world. The land on which Lehigh was laid out so skillfully has 150 feet of elevation change that is negotiated top to bottom three times without any sense of deja vu in the uses of the elevation. A scenic drop shot par 3, a diabolical cross-diagonal ridge uphill par 4, a wonderful hilltop to hilltop short par four and the unique 11th hole - a spectacular and challenging par 5 are used to make the most of the 90 feet of elevation change steeply leading up and downhill to the Little Lehigh Creek which defines the property.
Original routing courtesy of Lehigh Country Club ( VERY! large version) You need minimum 526 memory to handle just it. I recommend opening in additional window or tab. If you keep it open in such a manner, you can refer to it at any time that you choose while reading this course tour.
The steep banks lend character to these holes that define the course and validate the greatness of the routing. Along the banks of the little Lehigh Creek no other so dramatic piece of property exists as on which the Lehigh Country Club is located, in fact a course would likely not be built on such a property today. The humble creek that provides the river valley is rather short but feeds the mighty Lehigh River and eventually empties its contents to the Atlantic via the historic Delaware River. The journey around Lehigh's eighteen takes an equally majestic trip. Routed as an outer anti-clockwise first nine, one reconnoiters the property with only the second and third holes being routed in the same direction. The second nine goes less true to the clockwise direction but again has only 16 and 17 as consecutively similarly directed holes. In each case the pair contains a par 3, however none of the par 3's can be confused with any other.
Flynn's courses are noted for very strong and distinctive sets of par 3's and Lehigh is no exception. The shortest sixtenth has an extremely challenging green, the two (3 and 7) coming in at nearly 230 yards each could hardly be more different and while water defines the visual beauty of the lucky thirteenth, there is a very safe option for all players even though that water must be carried.
It was very typical of Flynn to include but one long hole per nine. Indeed, only two par five holes are present but immeasurably different. The sixth has less than ten feet of elevation change located on the plateau at the far end of the property from the clubhouse. It is often best attacked on the ground - the green is indeed set at and below the grade of the fairway. The picturesque eleventh almost histrionically tumbles over 90 feet from tee to green and demands an aerial approach across the Little Lehigh. Six has seven bunkers while the eleventh is essentially bunkerless and currently possesses the smallest green on the course.
A little has been done to Lehigh's architecture; mostly overzealous planting of trees especially coniferous and flowering, but a professional master plan was drawn up and actually thinned the trees a bit in the 1990's. Ron Forse, architect of the first master plan has already started to consult and in the fall of 2007 and has made a first visit towards that plan. A bunker restoration plan aimed at improved drainage is underway currently and one bunker that was in complete opposition to the tenets of Flynn's designs has been removed. Restoration of some fairway widths has been realized over the past few years and is to be fine-tuned. A primary goal of improving turfgrass quality and a return to firmness and ground speed is also underway.
Lehigh, differently than many clubs of the classical ilk, has resisted thoughtless narrowing of playing corridors mistakenly thought to make the course more demanding. At this time no trees are determining strategy nor interfering with design elements although some are hindering air circulation, drainage and shedding organic material that make ideal turf conditions a bit more effort than ideal. Interestingly some root structures have been seriously exposed at some of the surface drainage grading skillfully placed during Lehigh's construction.
Lehigh has also partnered with the Nature Conservancy and has become Audubon certified. A streambank reclamation project using wetland plants has been put into action to limit damage to the golf course. Several sequential floods from the increased development of neighborhoods upstream from the course were depositing silt on the course during heavy rainstorms. Being such a narrow and steep valley in such a short area, water levels rise and fall quickly but the plantings act as a natural filter for the silt washed downstream through the course.
Sometimes the flooding has been rather impressive.  (Photo courtesy of LCC website) Hole Photos and Descriptions Hole 1  Hole 1: Away (Hole names are mine) 419 yards
Par 4 at 420 yards is a dog-leg to the left. It bends such that a tee shot must be long enough or positioned well enough to have a good angle to the green. Interestingly, this hole had until 2007 a bunker on the right side of the fairway (seen above) at over 300 yards off the tee. This had been added after the original design of Flynn had been completed. It was an odd duck that needed to go for three reasons -1) Flynn didn’t build framing or aiming bunkers – a common modern design feature that provides the golfer with comfort, 2) It was unreachable and not in play and most importantly 3) It provided no strategy whatsoever. Being unreachable, there was no strategic merit to its existence. Flynn often did design so-called reverse angle dog-legs in which the outer side of the hole gave a best angle, but the first hole at Lehigh gives you a break in that nearly every pin position on the green is accessible form the left side of the fairway. In fact the least receptive pins (on the far right side of the green on or near the small shelf) are realistically only accessible from the left side of the fairway.
This green and greensite is fairly typical of what to expect at Lehigh. Flynn made potato-chip shaped greens with flips up and down although the majority of flips are up at Lehigh (and down at Shinnecock Hills, for example) with greens at grade (not elevated above the fairway). Created by shaping and enhancing existing contours these greens are of the push-up variety (as opposed to USGA or “California” Spec greens seen in modern construction) and were contoured with surface drainage in mind. Peripherally placed pins are generally most challenging and can run out a great deal if the slope is on the direction that you are putting. Large sweeping drainage-enhancing slopes will make putts roll and roll if attention is not carefully paid to speed and this overall slope at Lehigh.  Hole 2  Hole 2: Wake-Up 350 yards
From the card, 350 yards is not very impressive in this age of technology. A quick glance reveals a rather uphill tee shot to a heaving sea of a fairway. Ideally in firm fast conditions, one must give careful consideration to the large humps in the fairway that will propel the ball to a variety of seemingly unlikely places including out-of-bounds on the entire right side. Many a modern architect would be tempted to ruin this fairway by flattening it in the name of fairness. A single left fairway bunker remains to save the shorter hitter from the woods left, but a similar ball from a long hitter will just run into the woods. This was restored in 2007 as yet another post-modern “comfort” bunker was removed. Considering that a pull-hook and a push fade are both deadly, wake up indeed. But stay awake for that upcoming second as well.
The uphill character of the hole continues as a near-skyline green continues the demands of this hole. A single fallen oak is all that need to go to restore the skyline feature and provide even less perspective and comfort to this approach. A skyline green dictates that nearly all of the green is blind and provides a horizon making perspective and judgment more difficult. (To see a wonderful skyline green - check out the photo from Wilmington North under “Short Hits”). A small false front and a back left slope away add further interest to this green fairly steeply sloped back to front. Flanking bunkers left and right with saving bunkers (remember the O.B.) on the right complete the green complex. Only the first in a number of very interesting short par 4’s at Lehigh, number two can yield 3 to double digits. Careful, thoughtful strategic play is rewarded as this green can be putted of, can yield multiple putts and punishes the careless shot.
Hole 3  Hole 3: Lang Whang 228 yards
From the back marker to the center is 228, but the green is 38 yards deep, so a lang whang is oft needed. Even the member’s tee is a stout 209. A very pronounced left-to-right kick off the left flanking bunker needs to be kept in mind. There is a very unforgiving slope to the out-of-bounds right of the green if you miss the right flank bunkers. The front is wide open, less to help you run it on as to aid your thoughtless over-cooked above the hole putt towards a front pin run down the fairway. One of the safest areas on this green is toward the right and toward the back of the green – needing more than ever your “Lang Whang”. Flynn hardly ever built an indifferent par 3 hole and certainly none at Lehigh Country Club.
Hole 4  Hole 4: Farmhouse 343 yards
Another short par 4 of just over 350 yards it could hardly be more different from the second. An elevated tee commands a spectacular view of the Little Lehigh Creek and must be carried on the first or second shot. No fairway bunkers were ever a part of this hole and a steeply sloped uphill fairway complicates matters. Fast and firm the ball will bound into the rough or roll back down the hill; when slower the player is surely left with a severe uphill and sidehill lie to negotiate the delicate wedge shot required. This challenging, severe and certainly among the most sloped greens to be found on the course is extraordinarily unforgiving. Out of bounds right and also behind the green rarely is a factor. The sloping bowl nature of this green set on the side of a hill makes holing putts anything but routine. Take a moment to look back down the hole after playing and before crossing the road to help with the next time that you play the hill. This green is benched into a very steep portion of the hill and is very difficult to read. Even very experienced members see pins that they have never seen before and have their green-reading skills taken to the limit.  Hole 5  Hole 5: Deception 397 yards
Crossing the road holes five and six are accessed. Teeing off uphill on five one is confronted with a true dog-leg with a very difficult carry of the trees at the right corner. The carry of the bunker is less demanding and playing a fade to the left is less demanding so - but each progression leaves the player with a longer approach shot. The approach to the hole is where the deception comes into play. It appears at first glance that a miss to the left is more forgiving than one in the deep bunkers right – five being the first green complex not flanked by greenside bunkers on both sides. A swath of fairway extending to the left of the green presents a dilemma to the better player with closely mown grass providing a dizzying array of options. For the less skilled player it is an easy decision to putt from this area. Creating doubt is a wonderful way to increase demands on the better players and short grass is a maddeningly deceptive way to create this uncertainty. The bunker shot from the right is to the receptive shape of the green while the chip, flop or putt from the left takes the player’s ball over the ridge and onto a downhill and sidehill slope. Tom Doak reporting for Esquire magazine awarded Lehigh a coveted “7” and this fifth was reportedly his favorite green complex on the course. Its designation as first handicap hole is warning to the player to be on his toes. Several large oak trees have recently been removed near the sixth tee to improve turf firmness in this green complex and to similarly aid the sixth tee. The front one-third of this green is very sloped and above the pin brings the fairway back into play. This hole also plays longer than the card length of just under 400 yards. About 60 feet of elevation is added tee to green. .  Hole 6  Hole 6: Dog-Leg 533 yards The first of two very distinctive par fives, number 6 at 533 yards has three bunkers in view to direct you to a blind landing area. The fairway cut to the right of the bunkers is completely out of view so teh player msut be on top of his distance and direction on this shot. Over the bunkers is rather rumpled and can provide you with an uneven stance for your lay-up or approach shot. The slope also can propel you through the fairway depending on the aggressiveness or lack thereof on your tee shot. Flanking bunkers complicate the landing area at about 130 from the middle of the green and paired bunkers pinch the run-on entrance to the green. This green is actually below grade so that balls run on the green from up to 50 yards short so ball spin and speed after landing can be very important. Front pins and left rear pins are the most accessible on your second shot with mid to back right the hardest hardest to access due to ground contours. The front right bunker adjacent to the green can be used in a myriad of ways by the skilled player - to slow a shot, take off spin, re-direct a shot and more. The buildup of the surrounds to that bunker also make play from that bunker to many pin placements nearly impossible. It is just one of the reasons that one never wants to miss any shot on this entire hole - fairway, lay-up, green - to the right. A gentle to pronounced right to left slope dictates ground play on this hole after the dog-leg. There is much subtlety at work here that can lead one to a six or seven from the fairway if played carelessly and even larger numbers come into play if you miss a shot to the right and try to be greedy. As with all well-designed and strategically flexible holes, checking the pin sheet before the tee shot can save you from that impossible shot. Similarly, played with thought this is a definite birdie hole. |
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