Green Valley is a fine private golf course designed by William Flynn. The course sits on land that flows up and down, but not as dramatically as many of the courses in the Philadelphia area.

The greens are well defended and the fairway bunkering is decent as one would expect from Mr. Flynn. The green surfaces are defined by slopes and tiers as opposed to swales and mounds. My only criticism is that the green speeds have always been slightly slow whenever I have played it. One negative to the course is the lack of interesting green surrounds. The course does not have small humps, mounds or dramatic run-offs into short grass.

There are many holes that are delightful such as the fifth, a par 4 over 400 yards which is the number one index hole playing as a gentle dogleg right to a fairway that tilts to the right with a green on slightly higher ground. The sixth is another gentle bend to the right with a well-placed outer corner bunker. There is another bunker on the right about 50 yards short of the green followed by flanking bunkers at the front corners of the green. This is one of the more interesting greens on the course. The twelfth, a short par 4 playing uphill is the most well defended green on the course with five surrounding bunkers.

The final three holes are good. The sixteenth is a longer par 4 which falls downward from the tee with a green placed off to the left after a fairway that seems to be going right but is straighter than it looks. The seventeenth is a dogleg left par 4 at more than 400 yards with six bunkers. Another mid-length par 4 finishes the round with a small pond fronting the green which has a somewhat central spine.

I liked the par 3’s as there is good variety in their greenside bunkering. One criticism is that there is only one mid-range par 3 with the others over 190 yards. The longest is the fifteenth at 219 yards.

Of the par 5’s the eleventh is my favorite even if it is short at just over 500 yards. I liked the visual look of the hole with its many bunkers lining both sides of the fairway as one nears the green. Longer hitters will have to concern themselves with either laying up or taking on the stream that crosses the fairway in a left to right diagonal (right is closer off the tee). It has a green with a slight false front.

While Green Valley is not in the top twenty of Philadelphia area courses, this is a course that is a pleasure to play. If it has more interesting green surfaces and surrounds, as well as quicker green speeds, it would have a chance to move up.