Ross is Still the Boss at Jeffersonville

Jeffersonville Golf Club
Jeffersonville, Pa.
Yards: 3012/3138 - 6150
Par: 35/35 - 70
Rating: 69.4, Slope: 124
Score: 50/48 = 98
Date: June 26, 2009

It is always a treat to play a course that was designed by a legendary golf architect. On Friday, I played a round at Jeffersonville Golf Club, which is located just northwest of Norristown in Montgomery County. Jeffersonville is a Par 70 municipal track that was designed in 1931 by renowned golf architect Donald Ross, whose other legendary designs include such notable courses as Aronimink, Pinehurst #2, Oakland Hills, Oak Hill, Interlachen, Inverness and Seminole. The course was purchased by West Norriton Township in 1972 and they spent $2.3 million in 2002 restoring to as close to Ross' original layout as possible. It is a classic example of how a course can be challenging without a lot of gimmicks. There are a lot of holes that dogleg left or right, have double doglegs, play uphill or downhill, bunkers that line fairways and guard greens, as well as devilish greens that have false fronts or slope off on the front, back or sides.

Jeffersonville Golf Club Scorecard

Jeffersonville has decent length, measuring 6150 yards from the white tees and just over 6400 from the tips. The opening hole is a 434-yard Par 4 that plays across a small valley to an uphill fairway that doglegs left. The second hole, which plays downhill at 333 yards isn't any easier, with the green sitting on a plateau that has a creek crossing the front and right and out-of-bounds left and behind. There are two Par 5s: the 557-yard 6th hole, which doglegs right and features an almost blind second shot, and the 516-yard 18th Hole which doglegs left off the tee and then right back towards the green. One of the unique things at Jeffersonville is the pinsheet that is given out with scorecards in the proshop. With each green broken into thirds numbered 1, 2 and 3, it tells in what portion of the green the hole is located on that day. During our round, the pins were in #3.

Jeffersonville Golf Club Pinsheet

Usually, to play a course designed by such a legend, you would expect to pay $75 or more. But Jeffersonville's rates are truly in the spirit of municipal golf. To walk costs $26/35 during weekdays/weekends and to ride costs $42/51. The conditions of the course were excellent for a public facility. In fact, Jeffersonville is so respected, it is playing host to the Philadelphia Publinks Championship on June 29.

The 2nd Green is surrounded by a creek and OB

As for my round, my goal was to better the 100 I had shot at Jeffersonville two years ago. I felt pretty confident coming off last week's 90 at Mainland Golf Course. Although I was forced to hit Driver a few more times at Jeffersonville than Mainland, I still used my 3-Wood and 2-Hybrid off the tee a great deal. Unfortunately, I was back to fading or slicing the ball off the tee again. This put me some difficult spots to try and go at the green on my approach shots. My short game was either good or bad, depending on the hole. I did have success from the bunkers, which I found more than my share of, and my putting was again fairly consistent. I was disappointed to have five 7s on my card, although two of them came on the Par 5--I made an 8 on both last time. I did take some confidence away from the fact that I hit the ball solid, had a putts for par on the last five holes, and did break 100.

The blind approach shot at the Par 5 6th Hole

I would strongly recommend putting Jeffersonville on your must play list. It is a wonderful opportunity to experience golf as envisioned by one of the great golf architects, and at a price that can't be beat!

The Par 5 18th Hole doglegs left off the tee

Additional photos of Jeffersonville Golf Club:

The 3rd Hole, a short Par 4 which plays uphill

The Par 3 4th Hole

The straightaway 5th Hole

The 8th Hole, a downhill Par 3 with a creek in front

The approach to the 10th Green

The long 13th Hole doglegs left

with a creek in front of an elevated green

The long uphill Par 3 15th Hole

The Par 4 16th Hole

The approach to the 18th Green

Photos by The Muni Golfer