Green Meadows Golf Course (North East, PA)

This was one of the more disappointing courses I’ve checked out. The back nine was chocked full of trees to the point the par threes doglegged. It overshadowed a decently designed front nine and left me with a poor taste in my mouth. I reckon Robert Boyd, who is the architect of record (1975), was also the owner, and maybe he ran out of money or was a super accurate driver of the ball. Either way, a conscience effort to trim back branches and remove multiple trees could make this a local darling among Erie golfers. 

Courses like Green Meadow are very instrumental to introducing people to the game of golf. I think having a nice setting, being in good shape, and being fun are a few of the keys. This course checks those boxes … on the front. Well, the back does play alongside the vineyards and the course as a whole is in fine shape. The price point is great! $21 to walk eighteen holes is 1990s pricing. There’s some good qualities here, for sure, but to travel anything more than twenty minutes is unwarranted. I’m being generous so I’ll give Green Meadows a 3 (average)(worth driving thirty minutes to play). 

#2 503 yards par 5

Favorite Hole: The green on this hole was very cunning. The front edge is not circular but angled, so you can be hole high but in the fairway. That point of green is challenging to get an approach close and anything past the pin is fast. 

Worst Hole:There’s several to choose from on the back but the 291 yard fifteenth is my choice. The back tee was fine but the white tee, where most people were playing, is literally behind a huge stand of trees. My playing partner, who was on his second year, hit a nine iron from the tee just so he could get it over them. 

Diamond in the Rough: The 423 yard par four eighteenth has the potential to be a great finisher. A creek crosses diagonally, forcing a powerful drive down the shorter carry left side. A row of pine trees seventy yards from the green defines the left side. It’s a well contoured putting surface, and if they could get rid of those trees, then this would be an ending worth talking about! 

#17 514 yard par five

(I played the back tees at Green Meadows and did reasonably well on the front nine. A bladed chip on six started a series of unforced errors and saw me bogey the last four holes on the front. When the driver is not your friend, super tight corridors like the back become pitch out fests. An 83 was what I deserved.)