A Trip Back in time

The first* Pennsylvania Left-handed golf tournament is in the books.  (* - we know there was a Pennsylvania lefty organization back in the 1940's but we are not sure when their last event was.  So this is essentially the first in a long time!)

It was a homecoming for me.  Our family moved from Pennsylvania to Florida in 1972.  The last time I had played Green Pond Country Club was in a Kiwanis tournament in 1976 when my dad entered my brother and I in their tournament at Green Pond.  That makes it 50 years since I had seen the place.

The visit brought back many good memories. 

First on my agenda upon arrival was driving around to the places I lived.  One was only about 1 mile from the new Fairfield Inn where we stayed.  I was able to see the place we lived for about four years in Belfast.  I couldn't see it using Google Maps street view but when I drove by I was able to distinguish it well.  I even stopped by Bar Don Lanes where I bowled from about 1963 through 1971.  I drove by the building where my sister and her husband ran Hank's Power Mower Service.  The building has been expanded but does not currently appear to be in use.

The course has changed a little over the last 50 years as you can probably imagine.  The trees are much taller and thicker if you are trying to escape them.  The tree in the middle of #2 fairway about 300 yards off the tee is no longer there.  That tree probably would have almost completely blocked the already narrow fairway had it still been standing.  Holes #6 and #7 seem to be completely different.  It seemed like the course was a lot tighter than I remember.  Some of that could be that as kids we played from the white tees and we also didn't hit the ball so far.  In the tournament, I played the Blue tees and many of those were on new tee stations well behind where the whites used to be.  As kids we tried to just get to the top of the hill with the tee shot on hole #13.  Even from the Blue tees today, that was doable.

The subdivisions to the east of hole #3 or west of the entire golf course were not there 50 years ago.  The Green Pond fronting hole #14 is still there.  Golf professional John Kulhamer reminded me that there used to be a pond on hole #18 also.  He reported that it started leaking and so it is no more.

The buildings are all new from when I last played there.

As far as the course goes, the greens were very firm.  I pretty much had to play to just short of the green to keep the ball on the green.  The greens however, were in great shape and putted well.  The fairways were also in great shape.

Special thanks to John Kulhamer for all his efforts in making this event a success.  He was like the Energizer bunny staying busy making sure everything ran smoothly.  Now that the word is out in the area, maybe more lefties will participate in the future.  It was amazing to hear the different ways that people found out about the event.  Here's hoping for many successful years of the tournament!