Golf Scrapbook Blog (The Other Ones)

Country Club of Scranton

Clubhouse from nine fairway

Played Country Club of Scranton in 2021 with a group of friends from a reciprocating course up in the boonies. They all agreed it was their favorite up there and was excited to play to see for myself. It’s an old-style course, designed by Walter Travis, in 1927. It’s not brutal but the greens are really undulating and they let the rough up so it wasn’t a push over, even though we played from the whites and about 6,100 yards.

Since I just played Scranton and it is fresh, I can kind of walk you through the course. All yardages are from the whites but they can stretch this to over 7,000 yards so it would make a nice PGA event venue.

One is a gentle downhill par four measuring 363 yards. It’s pretty open but I duffed my drive and hit hybrid, wedge and two-putt for a five. Two was short at 320 yards and was able to go driver gap wedge and two putt for par. The green complexes are all really great and the third is a tricky green squeezed up front on both sides by deep bunkers. Missed right and couldn’t get up and down so settled for another bogey. Four is the only par five on the front that’s pretty straight forward and five is a long par three that, as with with most holes at Scranton, has the front of the green protected by bunkers on either side.

Six is the longest par 4 on the front and plays slightly downhill with OB all down the right-hand side which I found. Luckily I crushed my provisional drive and almost holed out from 150 yards for a tap in bogey after an OB. Seven is another mid-length par four and a slight dog leg right – another bogey. Eight is a drivable par four, up hill with the green that’s again pinched on either side. There are a cluster of trees off the left-hand side of the tee so you can’t aim for a fade. Unfortunately I found the trees and the ball dropped straight down. I scrambled up the hill for a six on a 265-yard hole. Ugh. Nine is also up hill and leads you back up to the clubhouse (picture above).

Ten comes back down the hill and is one of the most undulating greens on the course. I got my second to within 20 feet and putted through the hills and mounds to within 5-feet where I promptly pushed my putt and settled for another bogey. We had a little closest-to-the green thing and I was within 10 feet on the 11th but it was a slider and I lipped a hard slider and missed the uphill come-backer. You cross the road again for 12 and remember this if you ever play ere as it is not well marked and none of us had a clue where to go. Another straight, uphill hole, another bogey after my drive of the day. Fourteen is the longest hole on the course measuring 500 from the whites. It’s a blind drive and you don’t know where to aim. Advice? Aim over the bunkers on the left. I didn’t know and put it into the bunker on the right and the bunkers all have steep faces and eyebrows requiring an eight or higher club just to get out. And yet another bogey for me. Fifteen comes back up the hill and things suddenly took a turn for the worse as I was now hooking the ball and shanking my wedges and ended up in the linen. Sixteen has a creek that crosses the fairway at about 280 yards. Seventeen is another long par three and 18 is a short par five from the whites that I still managed to take a bogey after yet another shank.

All in all, if you love classic courses with moderate elevation changes, intriguing green complexes and a men’s grill straight out of 1975, then Scranton should be on your must play list. I talk about the area in my Huntsville write-up but since Scranton is the home to The Office, I’ll add a little interesting The Office trivia:

  1. Phyllis was actually the casting director for the show and was selected to play the part
  2. Rainn Wilson (Dwight) auditioned for the role of Michael Scott
  3. John Krasinski (Jim) actually shot some footage of Scranton on a research trip — and it was used in the opening credits.
  4. Dwight’s cousin Mose is one of the show’s writers
  5. Creed was actually in the band Grass Roots and wrote and released the song he sings on the last episode.
The first from just off the tee
The second hole from the fairway. The two bunkers pinching the front of the green is a common theme at Scranton
Here’s the par-three third
The par-five fourth – there’s a little water off the front left of the green to watch out for
Five is a longer par three which is 176 from the whites
Six features OB right and a downhill approach to the green
The play on seven is over the bunkers to the right
While short, eight requires a laser straight or draw off the tee – the trees prevent aiming left for a fade
Ten is straight downhill off the clubhouse porch. The green in the distance is actually 11
The 11th.
Twelfth approach – you’re across the road for one hole in the back
Load up at the “halfway house” before 13. Pretty straight forward, avoid the bunker to the left.
Looking back to the clubhouse from the 14th tee
The approach on 14
I yanked my approach way left and finished this hole in my pocket. Shouldn’t be that hard.
Here’s your approach if you yank or drive left on 16
Seventeen is a pretty non-descript par three (pretty long at 184 from the whites)
The 18th reminds me of the 18th at Arcadia Bluffs (a great short par five)
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