Ever since the notorious C.O.V.I.D., golf has had a major resurgence. One could say that I'm talking about in terms of interest, but what I'm really talking about is the pricing. Most courses are obnoxious with where their greens fee pricing is and in terms of the ROI you get commensurate to course conditions.
The area at different times had multiple, what I would call, value play courses but over the past few years things have changed.
Tumble Brook closed.
Willow Brook closed.
Bethlehem Municipal's 9 hole course (no way I'll ever call that a golf club) is a dump and over run with carts.
The last man standing is Sawmill.
Below is what you're getting into:
www.sawmillgolfcourse.com/course-information
I've played here a ton this year. Time for the good and bad.
Good:
Pricing is super cheap. After 3pm it's $15 for a round. Can't beat that anywhere.
Overall, tee times are easy to come by.
Open year round.
No holes are super intimidatingly long.
Bad:
Course conditions are all over place. Several holes/tees are still decent, lush and green even with the lack of rain this year, while others are near impossible to get a tee in the ground (#7 & #8 currently).
Pace of play here can be a major issue. Even when they have rangers here, they're a joke. Either smoking in the parking lot or hanging out at #1 but never getting on to the course to try and undo any logjams.
I've done 18 here (always walking - never with a cart - weekdays only) in a touch over three hours and it's also ballooned to around five hours.
With that said, are any of the holes here that hard? Not really. No extreme doglegs or water and what sand they have is minimally maintained and plays like hitting off the parking lot asphalt. The only issue here would be elevation. The course is set on a hillside and certain holes like 5, 6, 14 and 15 have some healthy incline to them.
If you come, you can either call for tee times or go here:
foreupsoftware.com/index.php/booking/20706/5485#/teetimes
Is Sawmill a five star course? Of course not, but you're also not paying for a five star course either. To a degree, it's honestly stupid to complain when you're paying $15 or $20. Nothing here is that bad.
If you want better, plenty of areas course that will be happy to soak you for many times more than what SM charges but won't have the fun and interesting quirks this place has.
Good Enough. read more