(The beautiful par three fourth plays over a scrub filled gully. I love how the green is perched on a knob, and the sand trap reinforcing the difficulty of the shot. Note the fairway of the second hole in the background, giving the golfer a glimpse of what's to come.)
Very rarely am I mesmerized pulling into a golf course, but Erie caught my attention the moment I was driving up the first hole. The bunkering especially grabbed it, and the ruggedness of the terrain had me chomping at the bit to play it. 
(The road coming in literally drives past the first hole, OB stakes lining the pavement. It can be a very intimaditing tee shot, but the fairway opens up once you get past the curve.)
(This is the par five second. The bunker is several yards short of the green, but look at the shoulder and the influence it has on the approach and the putting.)
Three and four were my two favorite holes on the front. Besides being beautiful, they were bold. Three was really a stunner. 
(This pic is from beginning of the fairway. From the tee, the drive is semiblind, and the player has to decide to hit it into the valley or try to drive it far up the hill........a more accurate view of the challenges of the third. Note how not one bunker can be seen looking back towards the tee.)
The biggest challenge Tillinghast had at Erie was the elevation change, and designing holes basically on a side of a hill. I was really intrigued to see how he solved that issue. 
(What a great tee shot at the par five fifth!...
....the green all downhill at the end of the fairway. It's possible to land the second shot fifty yards short and have it still end up on the putting surface! That is the beauty of the hole! How much roll do you play for? And what kind of shot do you play to get it?)
There are five holes that go downhill, but only four that go up. This is done by routing a couple holes across the top, and by utilizing the land opposite the clubhouse. The eleventh, thirteenth, fifteenth, and eighteenth all played towards the clubhouse. It was great!!
(Look at the back of seven green and how it's "tipped" to prevent balls from running off the back.)
(The eighth is only 140 yards, but I love how it's tucked in a little corner with the seventh hole playing above it. Everything slopes towards the right, and that front bunker is placed exactly where one would land the ball to funnel it onto the green.)
(Yes the ninth is a slog playing straight uphill, but look how the green is built up and how it entices you to hit a great shot!)
The back nine begins with an awesome par four!
(My favorite hole on the course! I think I could just drive balls from the tee and watch the ball caroom off the sideslope in the fairway...
(Notice how seventeen is downhill, and how the real landing area is twenty yards short of the green. Better fly it super high if you're carrying it all the way to the putting surface.) ....the real key to the tenth is feeding the ball onto the green without it running off the back. With the ball below your feet, this bunker is very much in play.)
The eleventh is one of the four holes that play uphil, but when the green is this perfectly placed, appreciation is all that can be thought. 
(How can you not love this approach shot?!)
(All you see on the thirteenth is the flagstick behind the bunker. In reality, there's several yards between the sand and green.)
The last three holes are very interesting. The sixteenth is only 316 yards, and a good drive can possibly find it's way onto the green. 
(Do you layup to the top for a flat lie or hit it as far as you can and take a chance with a downhill lie?)Then seventeen follows with a 243 yard par three! Yikes! It's amazing how the old architects had no qualms designing par threes that were borderline unreachable. 
I heard eighteen had the biggest gain in the renovation as Mandell reclaimed the original back tee set against the woods, and made this into a legitimate par five again. 
(Look at the landforms you have to transverse to get to this green....
....this big hill challenges the last shot. You can barely see the flagstick while the clubhouse beautifully backdrops the hole.)
My love for municipal courses has allowed me to "find" some really great places, and Erie Golf Club is by far one of my favorites. I can't believe how under the radar it is. I played Brackenridge Park down in San Antonio, another Tillinghast course that was renovated, and it received national acclaim. I feel Erie Golf Club is better. The only thing that concerns me is the condition. While it was good when I played it, I always wonder if the city is going to keep making that commitment. That said, I will find myself here a few times a year. I give it a 6 (very good)(worth driving 2hrs).
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