June 2025 – Glenmaura. What an unbelievably hard golf course! I rank hardest courses in my Bethpage review and would add Carnoustie, Cape Breton Highlands, Whistling Straits , Metedeconk and Butler National to that list of tough courses I played after the Bethpage post. Glenmaura is right there. Though from the member tees where we played, it slopes to a middling-to-tough 132 slope – it played much harder than that. You have tight corridors to contend with and there are hazards to carry on most of the holes on your drive, your approach, abutting the green or all three. And if you slice into the woods (even a little), you can kiss your Titleist goodbye. I had the dreaded sleever on the above hole – losing a sleeve of balls on one hole. Then add in the uneven lies and elevation changes, whew boy. While I don’t mind a tough course here and there and it doesn’t really affect my personal rankings, I could never play this course as my home course and this despite that the member tees from my home course slope to 139! Played with my buddies Brent, Scott and Richie and when you combine the heat when we played, with the toughness and the fact we were kicking ass on the Nassau, Scott and Richie actually walked off the course on 16. This is not a frolic in the park.
Glenmaura had always been the “must play” course in the Poconos. It was always highly ranked in the Golf Digest state rankings, had a great reputation and buddies who had played it many moons ago always raved. Unfortunately, I could never get on it. Even though, I have been playing more and more in the Poconos of late and have played other great privates in the area like Scranton, I couldn’t arrange Glenmaura until finally this year.
We kind of pushed to play ASAP as the course will shut down nine greens starting in July of 2025 and the other nine in 2026 so if we didn’t play now then it would have been at least 2027 before we got on. The conditioning, which was always great, was good but indeed the problems with the greens (not sure what it is) meant that the upper nine greens were recently punched and not great. The lower nine greens were much better but even then not what you would expect from a top state ranked course. All of which is why they are redoing them and which is why (I guess) the course has dropped precipitously from the best in state rankings. Consider, Glenmaura was ranked 20th in PA in the 2005-06 rankings (which I still have in print) but is not even in the top 40 as of the May 2025 ranking. Also, the ol’ kick in the nuts style courses are dropping as the newer open and user-friendly courses start populating the rankings. It’ll be interesting if Glenmaura recovers in the rankings any after the greens are redone.
All that said, I still put Glenmaura in my top 200 and still think the course is one of the more aesthetically pleasing ones I’ve played with good conditioning and top-notch facilities – including an unheard of reciprocal guest rate of just $50!!! I’ve played much worse for 200-to-300% more $$$$.
I beat the shit out of the area on my other Pocono golf reviews so won’t go into that here but look at the Huntsville or Scranton reviews for my thoughts/recommendations on the area. To the course.
What you can’t tell from the map above is that Glenmaura is separated by the upper or front nine which requires a tunnel and switchback ride up the mountain to get to and the back nine or lower which is more open (very slightly) with less elevation changes. The course was designed by Dr. Michael Hurdzan (a doctorate in plants and soil YAWN) and Larry Mize. I’ve played 10 different Hurdzan courses with Erin Hills being the best and the rest being rather pedestrian.
The first is a 530-yard downhill par five. What you can’t see but I included the layout below is that the fairway is split at about 240 yards by a waste area that the big to even moderately big hitters could reach. I hit my age-reduced 200-220-yard-drive to the fairway and got to about 150 yards out on the second shot. Then I would toe the ball into my buddies’ cart and then on in four (but the toe ball would have me swinging tight and scared all day for fear of repeating). Then, beyond the tough carries and tight corridors, the greens were also crazy and we couldn’t read speed at all as some were much slower owing to the aeration and others’ speeds seem unaffected. A three-putt seven to start the day! Glenmaura starts you off with the #1 handicap to start the ass-kicking from the first shot.
No photo of the second (171 yards, par three, 17 handicap). Bogey. This is three. 407 yards. Dogleg par four. Not a lot of room left to start a sweeping fade and I hit it into the trees to take a double after a drop.
Here is four. A short par four measuring just 340 yards. Scott would birdie and I would add another double after having trouble around the green.
Five is 376 yards (par four) and just the 11th handicap hole. Pretty straight and would get on in three and two putt but at least I didn’t double.
Here it is. The par-five 6th hole where I would lose the sleever. Looks pretty benign from the tee…
Here’s the approach I showed above. I laid up perfectly to the end of the fairway and had some mental block with my hybrid – starting with the dreaded toe ball on one. I put three in the ravine in various places and just picked up. This round was already adding up to be one of the worst of the year for me.
Here’s seven from the members tees at 170 yards. As you see left and short are lost balls I put it short right so at least didn’t lose a ball and got a bogey.
On eight a drive to the left will go into the crap and to add ridicule to punishment, your drop is blocked out. So I yanked one left and had to punch out. Too far across and then I put it 0n the apron with a nice seven iron. A bad chip and three putt later and you get your second triple of the round.
Here’s the Indian (Native American for the woke folk) that guards the ninth. Par three. We all put it in the shit before the green and I just said “Fuck it” and snapped this shot instead of the Indian instead of playing out. The 53 was the worst nine I had hit in a year of really bad golf.
OK it’s a new nine. Here is ten. It’s a 514-yard par five to kick off the back. Surprise, water all along the right. I finally had a good drive, approach and was just short on my third and lipped out my par putt for a bogey. The par fives here are all tough as indicated by their handicap. Here it’s the six handicap.
The 11th is the easiest hole on the course. Just 128 yards and I was still way short but a nice Texas wedge up to about five feet and I finally parred a hole.
Twelve is a short par four at only 366 yards and we would all miss par putts for bogeys.
You see how tight this course is. Thirteen is just 355 yards and the 16th handicap but would put it in the sole trap and had to burn a wedge to get out so still couldn’t get on in three and chipped up and two putt. Luckily my partner was on fire and the thumping would begin in earnest.
Another tough par five (#2 handicap) – 14 is 548 yards from the tees and I would drop a short drive just over the junk but would matriculate nicely up the rest of the hole for a satisfying bogey as both opponents were in their pockets.
The approach on 14 – that’s right after a tough 540-yard trek, you still have a green sitting on a water hazard requiring a tight shot. I luckily got on in four with a nice wedge.
Fifteen is 182 yards. Everyone was either short or right but I made the apron and my bogey actually won the hole.
Here’s sixteen. Just 355 yards but as Tuco would say…
On retirement I finally got around to watching Breaking Bad. What a great show. Wrapped this, then El Camino (movie) and Better Call Saul. Highly recommended. Anyway 16 has a hidden hazard to the left and beyond the green. This was the back breaker for Scott and Rich. I put my second shot just into the hazard but on a grass patch. Had to chip backwards and just missed my par putt. Here’s across the green looking at the other side.
Seventeen is another short hole at just 337 yards. But the green sits on a creek and stone wall. Tough approach shot and we couldn’t find my ball so assumed I went in. Glenmaura is relentless. Below was my approach.
Finally 18. Where the fuck does your drive go? I aimed to the left of the trap and nailed the drive STRAIGHT! Perfect. But even though I saw a video of this hole before playing and knew there were two greens and Brent reminded me on the tee box, by the time I got to my ball I was so delirious from a finally hitting a great drive and after the long slog through 100 degree index heat I forgot, and figured I would aim for the center of the wide green over the reeds. See below. Of course hit it again perfectly straight and right into the creek separating the two greens.
And that’s the approach on 18 don’t aim right of the green assuming it’s one green. So I did like the course but in the heat and with how hard it was, I was happy to be done. So we won our match and the added penalty for walking off the course cost our opponents a pizza-and-beer dinner at some dive bar with good “Detroit-style” pizza called Solerno’s which is my buddy’s favorite pizza. Another area buddy recommended Revello’s. So end your tough day at Glenmaura with some local pie!
Golf Scrapbook 