Culbertson Hills Golf Resort (Edinboro, PA)

If you want to understand how time effects a golf course, a trip to Culbertson Hills would be a good field trip. Built in 1931 atop a hill, the course offered beautiful views of Edinboro Lake, and it’s Tom Bendelow design had championship length with every fairway and green closely guarded by an array of sand traps. 

(The 421/361 yard par four seventh requires a long accurate drive to set up this unforgiving approach over the water.) 

Fast forward to 2020 and the area is so chocked full of trees that one could easily not realize a lake exists on the other side of the road. Every bunker is grassed in, and 6800 yards is no longer considered championship. 

(The 431/419 yard par four second plays uphill to a circular green. Trees line both sides of the fairway. This is the longest par four from the white tees.)

Today’s Culbertson Hills relies on length and accuracy to challenge golfers. Each hole is heavily treelined and secluded from the others. Long accurate drives are the key to scoring well. The greens are various lengths and sizes with little slopes to tuck a pin. Wayward drives will have little chance to recover. 

(The 224/201 yard par three third is uphill to a green fronted by terrain that falls away to the right. It plays very long and the proper miss is short left. Missing right will find the trees and lead to a bogey or worse.) 

The heart and soul of Culbertson is unquestionably the par threes. Two of them are very long and will wear out your three wood. The shortest one is cleverly designed. Even par on these four holes will gain strokes on the competition. 

(The 216/201 yard par three thirteenth is over a shallow valley to a mounded green. A roll in the middle of the putting surface is the defining feature. Three putting is a legitimate concern regardless of where one is. Three is a terrific score.) 

(The 165/154 yard sixteenth is the shortest par three on the course. The green is angled against a grass bunker with a small tier in the rear. Overall, it’s a good chance for a two, but be cautious when they employ the back pin position.) 

I feel at one point in time this was a hell of golf course. When Bendelow was with American Park Builders of Chicago, he was designing some of the best courses in the country. Culbertson Hills was viewed favorably in that light. It’s a continuous eighteen holes and meanders out into the countryside until it turns around at the thirteenth and heads back to the clubhouse. It’s a fun romp and is the right mix of difficulty. A couple lowland water hazards guard the 7,8,9 greens. The 581 yard par five ninth in particular is a very fine hole. 

(This view of the grass bunkers illustrates the mounding that defines the hazards. They once held sand but nowadays the mounds themselves add variety by interfering with the stance and lie.) 

Northwestern Pennsylvania is littered with hidden gems. The lumber, oil, and steel industries were booming at the turn of the 1900s, and the old architects built a lot of cool stuff in these hills. Some of my favorites include Conewango, Wanango, Erie Golf Club, and Pennhills Club. I wouldn’t put Culbertson in that group, but it’s just a notch below. I give it a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour to play).