Penn State Golf Courses

The Penn State Golf Courses are two 18-hole courses located in State College, Pennsylvania, operated by Pennsylvania State University. The individual 18-hole courses are named after the school colors, blue and white. They, along with their practice facilities, are the home of the men's and women's golf team and all intramural golf activities of the university. The practice facilities include a double-sided driving range with both natural grass and artificial teeing areas, and several putting greens located throughout the facility.

Penn State Golf Courses

Penn State Golf Courses logo.
Club information
Location	1523 W College Ave State College, Pennsylvania
Established	1926
Operated by	Pennsylvania State University
Total holes	36
Website	Penn State Golf Courses and Facilities Pennstategolfcourses.com
Blue Course
Par	72
Length	7,219 yards (6,601 m)
Course rating	75.2
Slope rating	138
White Course
Par	72
Length	6,328 yards (5,786 m)
Course rating	71.1
Slope rating	129

History

20th century

The first green of the White Course, which was the first green of the Blue Course prior to 1994 revisions.

The eleventh course green, which was the 18th green prior to the 1994 revisions.

Golf has been played at the university since the first rise in popularity of the sport in the United States in the latter half of the 19th century. However, the sport was not popular enough to merit a formalized golf course until 1921 when two professors, Bob Rutherford and R.D. Pryde, laid out nine holes on the west end of campus. The sport apparently became quite popular as nine additional holes were laid out in 1922 by noted golf course architect Willie Park, Jr., with the work being completed in 1926. While keeping the general layout of the initial nine holes, Park significantly altered the greens and bunkers to match his own style of design.

The Willie Park course came to be known as the College Golf Course, since the school had yet to be named a full-fledged university. The course featured large push-up style greens and some dramatic bunkering much like those found at Park's Sunningdale (Old) Course. Wide fairways and closely mown areas around the green integrated the features together and provided a diverse play field for Penn State golfers.

Two notable changes were made to the golf course during this beginning era. Sometime between the opening of the course in 1926 and 1939, the first hole was abandoned. The first tee had been located near the golf pro shop in Rec Hall, however, the site also doubled as the dirt road that would become Atherton Street (U.S. Highway 322). This not only presented a logistical problem, but a safety issue as well, and a new hole would be needed. The new hole was constructed near the old hole, but as a par-3 with a new greensite. The old first green is still used to this day in vastly different design as a practice putting green.

Having a par-3 as an opening hole proved to be unpopular and it was during this time that the order of holes was switched, with the 10th hole becoming the 1st hole. The new par-3 served as the tenth and the nines were flipped from there.

Another set of changes in 1949 included the addition of several large specimen trees planted around the course by Frank James, who served as a construction foreman for Park and other noted golf architect, Donald Ross.

The sixties saw an era of increased tree planting on the course, as corridors of play were lined with many small pine trees. The university (a designation earned in 1954) had decided to use the golf course open areas as a test facility for various trees and forestry techniques. While the dual use of the golf course is a noble idea, the tree plants did substantially alter the character and playability of the golf course, and to this day have caused significant changes to be seen.

By the late 1960s, changes in technology and a growth in the popularity in the game, mainly led by the professional success of Pennsylvania native Arnold Palmer, created demand for a second course. The university hired the golf architecture firm of Harrison & Grabin (both Penn State graduates) to design what would become the "Blue" Course. The University Golf Course's name would be changed to the White Course, but would still exist in the same form. From the beginning the Blue Course was intended to be a better representation of the game during that era, and this most noted in its total length of 7,008 yards (a full 1,000 yards (910 m) longer than the White Course). This course was built farther west of the White Course and was operated from a separate location off West College Avenue. The 3rd Hole of the Blue Course ran next to and parallel to the 13th hole of the White Course.

The Blue Course became the home course for all intercollegiate golf competitions at Penn State, primarily because of its length.

By 1993, the expansion of the university and the inconvenience of running the golf operation from two separate locations lead Penn State to consider new alternatives regarding the golf courses. Noted golf architecture firm Ault, Clark & Associates (ACA) developed a master plan that would retrofit both courses to be run from the Blue Course's West College Avenue site and add an additional nine holes to become the second nine of a new Blue Course.

The plan changed several holes on the existing Blue and White Courses. These changes eliminated the existing 3rd, 8th and 9th holes of the Blue Course, and also the 13th hole of the White to allow for a new White Course front nine consisting of the remaining holes from the old Blue. The new back nine for the Blue Course reflecting a typical ACA design. Six holes that did not fit in the new White Course routing were retained as a small practice course.

The opening of a new clubhouse in 1994 signalled the new era of Penn State golf. However, university expansion necessitated the destruction and development of the six hole course, which had been dubbed the "Nittany Course". These holes were completely eliminated by 2002.

21st century

A scenic garden on the Blue Course.

As of November 2005, work was done on some significant renovations to both courses. Tree removal and the construction of new tee boxes to add length, major changes to the 7th and 8th holes of the Blue Course were completed in the spring of 2007. The new "Lion" tees now measure 7,228 yards (6,609 m) Par 72. Several changes were also made to the Nittany Lion golf teams practice facilities. In August 2007 a 2-acre (8,100 m²) area short-game practice facility was opened that is for the exclusive use of the Nittany Lions Men's and Women's Varsity Teams. The area includes two 5,000 sq ft (460 m²) greens with one used exclusively for putting and one attached to a 100-yard (91 m) and 50-yard (46 m) fairway for wedge practice.

Scorecard

Blue Course

Blue Course

Tee	Rating/Slope	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par		4	4	4	3	5	4	4	3	5	36	4	4	5	4	3	4	4	3	5	36	72
Black	75.2 / 138	396	424	480	216	581	401	465	215	518	3696	440	351	623	382	190	411	439	181	501	3518	7214
Blue	72.3 / 134	366	398	402	190	550	390	432	175	511	3414	400	318	602	363	168	343	419	172	487	3272	6686
White	70.4 / 128	356	365	394	180	507	380	400	161	504	3247	383	310	566	353	142	320	376	162	446	3058	6305
Gold	69.1 / 123	348	331	386	169	489	371	370	138	449	3051	372	276	527	326	131	287	364	152	432	2867	5918
SI	Men’s	9	7	1	15	13	5	3	17	11		6	16	2	12	14	8	4	18	10
Red	69.7 / 126	284	247	281	135	391	304	332	129	439	2542	313	260	471	263	105	274	306	144	397	2533	5075
SI	Women’s	9	13	11	15	3	7	5	17	1		6	14	2	12	18	10	8	16	4

White Course

White Course

Tee	Rating/Slope	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Par		4	4	5	4	3	5	3	4	4	36	5	4	3	5	3	4	3	4	5	36	72
Blue	70.5 / 130	401	379	534	339	202	513	169	352	356	3245	465	357	169	565	210	323	203	315	492	3099	6344
White	69.4 / 127	389	358	523	326	159	496	163	345	350	3109	458	349	160	556	184	314	190	302	480	2993	6102
Gold	68.1 / 124	363	340	515	318	142	444	141	325	345	2933	453	340	150	529	176	306	166	295	400	2815	5748
SI	Men’s	9	5	1	13	17	3	15	11	7		8	4	16	2	18	10	14	12	6
Red	68.5 / 117	299	309	431	269	125	388	134	318	265	2538	352	305	129	458	131	242	148	281	390	2436	4974
SI	Women’s	9	7	1	11	17	3	15	5	13		6	8	18	2	16	12	14	10	4

Cross Country

The Blue and White Courses host home meets for the Penn State Nittany Lions men's and women's cross country teams.

External links

• GolfClubAtlas.com Review