A good, LONG walk spoiled

There is nothing like hitting the links on a brisk spring Saturday afternoon.

I decided to check out one of Erie's many local courses that I had not yet played. I drove out to little Girard, Pa., actually outside of Girard and off the beaten path to a place called Elk Valley. When I arrived it didn't seem that busy and I walked over to the club house that looked like a converted barn. There was a group of three ahead of me, but no problem, I'd just take my time on the putting green prior to teeing off.

The first thing that surprised me was the price. It was $10 to walk nine, but holy cow, what a bargain! When I pay that kind of price, I envision playing a burnt out municipal course with poorly manicured greens or usually a very short course. Take Riverside back home for instance. It's a course of fair length but horribly maintained. Some courses, like Wilson or St. Mary's aren't necessarily short but everything is squeezed together that it makes it almost unfair. Orchard Ponds in Erie is a course I love. They take great care of it but it's so short that every hole is a driver and pitching wedge.

Not Elk Valley. The layout is well designed and challenging. The fairways are tight but it won't kill you if you miss. But my favorite part about it was the length and the size and speed of the greens. The greens were huge, in perfect shape and very fast. I love courses with big greens. It makes me feel like I playing on a pro course. That is what separates good courses from the bad. There is water that comes into play and forces you to shape the ball off the tee and think out approach shots. However, there is not a single bunker on the front.

I played from the back tees today. I wish I would have played the back nine too but I just didn't have 18 in me today. The back tees are significantly more challenging, offering tougher angles, and a couple of the holes are diabolical, especially when the wind is whipping like today. The par 3, fifth hole is 203 and uphill. Anything to the left or long and you pay the death penalty. But there is a row of trees down the right that makes you want to stay left. The sixth hole is about as pretty a hole as I've ever played. It's 590 yards with a creek on the right and it cuts across the fairway to challenge your approach. The scorecard lists No. 9 as 453 but the tees were back to 493 today. And it's all uphill and dead into the wind. This is one of those holes that proves your manhood. Just grip it and rip it.

As you can see, I really liked the course. But the big problem is this. The course is so nice for such a great price that EVERYONE plays it. Play is very,very slow and you might as well get used to someone watching you tee off on every hole. The group ahead of me wasn't the problem. It was just so busy that it got log jammed. Standing and waiting several minutes between almost every shot makes it difficult to keep loose and keep in rhythm. I still managed a 44 despite the windy conditions, the fact that I was playing there for the first time, and I had to stand and wait so much. I didn't have a stop watch going, but I believe it took me nearly 2 1/2 hours to play. That's at least an hour more than it usually takes. I can make it around Orchard Ponds in just over an hour.

But hey, a top-notch course for 10 bucks? I can't complain that much.