Olde Stonewall - Pennsylvania - USA

One will find Old Stonewall in the Borough of Ellwood City which sits on the western edge of Pennsylvania near the Ohio boarder. The 8,000 residents of Ellwood City are indeed lucky to have a course of this caliber in their backyard. The other two public courses in Pennsylvania I would put in the top 3, Bedford Springs and Mystic Rock, are both part of a resort but not so here. The course conditions were excellent when I played, rivaling what one would expect at any private country club. The two nine are different in character and both are very good. The front nine is more traditional with two par 5’s and two par 3’s. The back nine is quite dramatic with some significant elevation changes. One of the things I liked was that the architects let the land dictate the back nine. There are no par 5’s and the two par 3’s are back to back. That’s what the site dictates. The routing could be confusing but the signage does a great job of getting you to the right spot. It reminded me a bit of another great course, Greywalls in Marquette, Michigan in that respect. The par 4’s on the course are the real stars. Lots of risk and reward and you need to think about your second shot when hitting your first. People will disagree about which hole should be the signature hole on the course which is a pleasant problem to have. I found the fairways to have adequate width even when they looked more narrow at the tee. The course may not be for everyone. If you only like to walk when you play the back nine’s elevation change is probably too much to make that a rational decision. Having played many courses in this region of the country, if you drew a 75 mile circle around Old Stonewall, I doubt you would find a more exciting venue open to the public.