The ninth at French Creek

French Creek Golf Club in Elverson, PA is often overlooked when people discuss Philadelphia golf. Located across the street from Stonewall, the course occupies much more difficult terrain than its neighbor. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner did a clever job of routing the course to create a fun, playable course. This video (after the jump) includes Wagner discussing the course and how they decided on its rustic look.

[vimeo width="530" height="340"]http://www.vimeo.com/1969756[/vimeo]

The idea of genteel neglect is one that needs more exploring, especially in these tough times. It doesn’t mean just letting things go, but rather a conscientious effort to not worry about clean edges and perfect lies. We may be seeing this more and more in golf, not by choice but out of economic necessity and that is not at all a bad thing.- W.S.

This video was taken in April 2008, when I was there doing a few touch-ups on some bunkers.

Bruce Cadenelli took over as head greenkeeper at French Creek Golf Club, in the fall of 2007. I was there in April of 2008 doing a few touch ups on a couple of bunkers for Jim Wagner and Gil Hanse. Bruce was excited about the potential of the golf course and was hard at work getting it to play as firm and fast as it was designed to play.

Bruce is one of those old school supers who don’t spend a lot of time in thier offices. He was constantly on the course, checking up on a number of projects or even grabbing a broom and helping his crew brush sand into recently aerated greens. I did not get back up to French Creek last summer to see if all his hard work was paying off, but I have no doubt that it did.