Taken individually, the holes at the nicely conditioned Hershey Golf Resort's East Course are classics, echoing the parkland U.S. courses built in the decades from the 1920s and through the 1960s. Just one problem: The par 4s and 5s share one consistent, and eventually boring design conceit: Elevated tee box to tree-lined fairway below and then up to elevated green. A variation of greenside bunkering and one or two doglegs thrown in do not do enough to change a feeling that grows over the first nine and reaches the nagging stage on the back nine: Haven't I seen this all before?
Apparently the owners of the golf course, the same folks who run the Hershey Resort, have heard it before. Rumor is that within the next year, the East Course will be closed for significant renovations, possibly even re-routing and the combination of holes from both the East and West courses (the latter a 1930 design credited to Maurice McCarthy). Architect Lester George, insiders suggest, has been tapped to do the work. If that turns out to be the case, expect drama and variation in the routing, and fewer elevated greens. Mr. George will shave down some tees and greens to make things a little more exciting.
I hope the photos below provide an idea of the nice canvas any architect will have to work with at Hershey, and show as well how beautifully designed some of the holes are.
This was my first trip to Hershey, and with its huge amusement park and what I perceived as a kind of cheap Disney World atmosphere, I thought I would find it tacky. But the town displays an air of refined fun, with very little neon to pollute the atmosphere, and enough good golf courses to keep an avid linkster well satisfied over a long weekend.
The first hole at Hershey East is a beauty, a reachable par 5 that dares you to fly the deep bunkers that guard the green.
The green at #9 is among the most elevated among Hershey East's many elevated greens.
If you don't hit your tee shot down the hill in the fairway at #18, your shot to the green will not be elevated. It will just be about 200 yards on the par 4. If you make the hill, you have a shot you can look up to.
A couple of par 3s at Hershey East are actually downhill, including the challenging 17th.