Glen Mills - Pennsylvania - USA

49th Pennsylvania - Best in Area
The Golf Course at Glen Mills,
221 Glen Mills Road,
Glen Mills,
Pennsylvania (PA) 19342,
USA

  • +1 610 558 2142

  • Paul Stuhlmiller

  • Bobby Weed

  • Bob Pfister

Glen Mills is situated a 45-minuute drive southwest of Philadelphia and the 18-hole layout is part of a privately-funded educational establishment for around a thousand troubled teenage boys from all over the country. Opened for play in 2001, the course might be described as an “outdoor vocational classroom” where students can learn about a whole range of golf-related topics, such as agronomy, landscape management, or even maintenance mechanics.

Designed by Florida-based architect Bobby Weed, the course was constructed with almost a hundred and seventy sand hazards (many of them revetted pot bunkers) so shot placement and course management are all important around here. “Most people can’t go to Scotland,” said Weed, “but at least the golfers in and around Philadelphia will now have the feeling of a St Andrews-style bunker.”

Par fives are well defended with hazards on the corner of doglegs, there are a couple of driveable short par fours at the 8th and 12th holes, and the five par three holes are of varying lengths, played uphill, downhill and across water. “Open fields, forested uplands, streams and wetlands provide great diversity for the routing,” says the architect, who also advises golfers to “keep their ego in check to achieve the optimum score.”

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Reviews for Glen Mills

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Description: Designed by Bobby Weed and opened for play in 2000, The Golf Course at Glen Mills is set out on property owned and operated by the oldest reform school in the country. Rating: 6.5 out of 10 Reviews: 2
TaylorMade
Mark White

Glen Mills is a very fine public course just west of Philadelphia in its suburbs. It has a few very good holes such as the 10 and the finishing hole but it also has a few extremely silly holes such as the woeful 8th, the dull 9th, and the silly 11th. The 8th and 11th are on bad pieces of land.

If one cannot get on a decent private club, then this is definitely a good back-up plan as it is affordable and you will enjoy your game of golf.

September 28, 2019
5 / 10
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Ethan Fisher

It really surprises me that Glen Mills is only 40th in the state rankings. I played with 2 gentlemen who both agreed this is the best public golf course in the Philadelphia area. It's easy to see why they would think that! There's a nice combination of short, medium-length, and long holes here. #7 is a great long Par 3, #14 is a great short Par 3. #8 is a great short Par 4, #18 is a great Long Par 4, etc. There are some fantastic green complexes here and some excellent bunkering as well. The aforementioned 14th hole I thought represented both of those features. Good usage of water hazards as well. The thumbnail attached with the course showcases the 11th, which utilizes a creek along the entire left side. Adds a lot of visual appeal, and challenge as well. A narrow fairway in between that creek and some very thick rough on the right makes that hole stand out too. Overall, it's a course that has some great holes out in the open, but some beauties tucked amongst some dense trees as well. Would love to play it again.

May 17, 2017
8 / 10
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