Welcome back
The greens were your ticket out
Welcome back
To the same old place that you golfed about
Well, the names have all changed
Since you hung around
But those greens have remained
And they’re turning around
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back…
John Sebastian could have been singing about the return to Oxford Valley Golf Course by graduates of Pennsbury High School who learned to play on this track. For those who could not join us today, let’s see how Oxford Valley Golf Course has changed since we graduated in 1968!
After last nights rain, the “unmowed” fairway was long, soggy, and hard to find my drive (in the fairway) at Hole #1. It’s fairly wide-open as long as you hit it straight. Any shank or slice will be caught by the high fence that guards the senior center to the right. We senior citizens need all the help we can find.
Hole #2 was getting cut so the fairway was now starting to take shape. At this par 4 there is tree trouble down the right side, and a watery ditch that bisects the fairway about halfway down this hole. So far the fairways and greens were not in very good shape. I’ll discuss this later.
Hole #3 is a 230 yard par 4. Yes you read that correctly – Par 4, 230 yards! It’s always exciting to be able to drive the green on a par 4 but disappointing when the eagle putt doesn’t drop and you have to “settle” for birdie! There can be trouble on this hole for the high handicap player who has difficulty getting the ball airborne. At the par 3 fourth hole you need to clear a pesky little creek that looks like it winds throughout the course. The par 3 fifth hole is 160 yards long and is surrounded in the back by trees and the front by bunkers. A few quirks on the hole are the telephone poles that run down the left and the wires that cross high above the fairway. Both could possibly come into play.
Hole #6 is the third consecutive par 3 and the number one handicap hole. There is a big tree that grows horizontally into the fairway from the left and partially obstructs the view of the green. I guess it’s up and over to find the putting surface. Up and over the tree we go only to find a bunker that fronts the green. The course may not be in great shape now, but the layout is providing a challenge. We totally misread the direction of Hole #7. The scorecard reads par 4, 295 yards but there is no course diagram. We see a bunker in the distance, so the green must be up there somewhere. Oh to have young eyes again! We pull our drivers and both of us don’t even come close to the bunker as we dump our shots into that pesky creek. Then we discover the bunker is at the end of the fairway and the green is at a 45-degree angle to the right with another ditch to clear (plus more telephone lines to avoid).
By now you have probably determined this is an executive par 31 course (of course, unless you went to Neshaminy). Hole #8 is the 4th par 3 and will cause issues if your tee shot is a “wormburner” or lands short of the green. You guessed it, more water and reeds in front of the green. The final hole is the easiest of the par 3s and it showed when we both recorded a par on the scorecard.
Rating – Par (33 out of 60) : It was fun to step back in time and play the course of our youth. I haven’t been on this course since 1973! As of 2021 the supervision of the course is now under the management of Spirit Golf Management. They have their work cut out for them in regards to course conditions, but the course has the makings of a fun par 31 track.
Yeah, we tease Ed a lot
‘Cause we make fun of his shot(s)
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back…
141 S. Oxford Valley Road, Fairless Hills, PA 19030; 215-945-8644; www.buckscounty.org
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