Pros:
What a treat to find what they've done with the old Manor Township Park course!
+ A park niner with two tees: a genuinely beginner-friendly layout from the greens, and some challenges from the whites.
+ Excellent signage, large poured concrete for the long tees and a single large, numbered flush-mounted paver for the short tees. Re-use of the original baskets (they appear to be the same brand as the ones at nearby Herr Park: sturdy, professional quality baskets with deep tray - but the poles are a bit wider diameter than common commercial brands, and the hits sound different than anything out there)
+ Playing the White (long) tees, you start with the same first hole across the creek as the old layout, and the next two open holes seem very similar to the old layout (though the logs guarding the third green are a nice touch). Then the fun begins:
Hole #4 is new: it's only 144', but it crosses the creek and goes hard to the left
You have to backtrack past the sixth tee and up a hill to find the tee for #5, which is a pleasant enough shot back down through trees with a low ceiling
.Hole #6 is a long wooded alley with the creek running along the right
Hole #7 might be an acquired taste: it's a short uphill 212' with a mando on the right forcing you to play up through a very tight grove of trees with a low ceiling. I'm still not sure there's a window larger than a shoebox. The best touch is that the basket is perched at the edge of a dropoff. It's a very fun hole that you might initially hate when standing on the tee
After an uphill left-turning open on #8, you reach the single best feature of the new layout: the redesigned #9. Now a par 4, they've turned the hole around, making the initial shot requiring about 220' to clear the creek (it's downhill and plays a lot shorter), and then turns left, leaving about 200' to a creekside basket, completing the layout's loop. There's adequate room to bail out if you don't want to risk the creek from the tee - and short tee is placed to make the water carry unnecessary
Cons:
- At 1511' and 2403' the layouts aren't geared toward long throwers looking to air anything out. This is a park nine (but a really good example of a park nine) with layouts designed for newbies and for experienced players who like the thrill of water crossings
Other Thoughts:
~ New information sign at the first tee with disc return box and paper scorecards. Bathrooms nearby
~ I don't often rate nines 3.5. Those have been nines that have alternate tees that make them genuine 18's like Mt. Bradford and East Hanover, or they've been in really interesting spots, like Meadowcreek Gardens in VA or Hotel Hershey. But I keep coming back to the words for 3.5: "Very Good." And Conestoga Creek is a very good nine in a park. I'm happy this randomly turned out to be my course #400 on uDisc