Penn State Golf Courses

I played this course yesterday, and the course was in very nice shape. The sand was fluffy and light, the fairways (what little I saw of them) were in good shape, and the greens were soft and held nicely. The course was well worth the price, as my group all had American Cancer Society golf books, with which you only pay the cart fees (also good for several other courses in the area). A wonderful treat for a duffer like me.

Overall I really like the course and its layout, but I was left quite a bit disappointed by the conditions. It’s been a hot dry summer thus far and thus totally expect that any non irrigated / wild areas to be brown and dry. However, a lot of the primary play surfaces such as tee boxes and fairways also had large patches of dead totally dry grass and/or nuisance species that have crept in and overtaken the grass. A few other things like the odd dandelion growing out of a bunker wall or sand that was hard and compacted also just contributed to the impression that course maintenance was being left to slide a bit.
As things were on the day I played, I’d say the current conditions do not justify the prices being charged. However, if the maintenance was a bit better I’d happily pay to play here again since I really did enjoy the course itself.