Glenmaura National

Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry set out the course at Glenmaura National Golf Club in the early 1990s and its most celebrated hole is the 18th, where a split fairway plays to a pair of stone-fronted greens. Fairways occupy rocky, wetland-laden terrain close to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton airport and collectively they comprise a surprising tough test of golf.

In The American Private Golf Club Guide author Daniel Wexler writes: “Demonstrating a dash of modern flash and plenty of scenic views, Glenmaura offers a number of appealing holes, particularly in the latter half of the front nine, where the 548-yard 6th (played across a creek-filled ravine), the 193-yard7th (its green angled beyond the same hazard), and the 417-yard 8th (running along the edge of an ancient quarry), constitute an especially strong run.

Another robust stretch begins at the 581-yard, pond-guarded 14th, then continues on through the 240-yard 15th and the 460-yard 16th, the latter’s green wedged into a bend in the creek. Glenmaura’s most famous hole is the 385-yard 18th, which plays to split fairways and a pair of stonewall-bulkheaded greens, one of them an island.”