The Country Club of Harrisburg, located in the state capital of Pennsylvania, has hired Nagle Design Works to implement a long-term masterplan to return its course, as far as possible, to the style created by its original architect, William Flynn.
“The club was founded in 1896, but Flynn built the golf course in 1917 – it was one of his first designs,” says Nagle. “A few years later, another architect came in, and eliminated a large proportion of Flynn’s course, and over time, other holes have been wholly redesigned. The club’s desire – and the reason for this plan – is to bring back as much of the Flynn look and feel as they can.”
Nagle says the course is blessed with a dramatic piece of property. “The course possesses a combination of violently heaving and gently rolling topography, and has the potential to uncover some of the most beautiful vistas in Pennsylvania, with views to distant ridges and to the valley of the Susquehanna River.
“It has a wonderful set of varied par threes, and the par five eleventh has enormous potential. It was a Flynn hole, but the green was moved and rebuilt at some time, and is not good. We can build a more Flynn-link green. It has a number of short par fours, much like the opening five holes at Lancaster – which is not far away, and was built around the same time – which are strong in interest, variety and intrigue.
The project is currently in the planning stage. “We will use this year to develop our ideas,” says Nagle. “The club is planning a new irrigation system, and that will drive the scheduling.”
Cynthia McComsey, Harrisburg’s general manager, said: “Jim Nagle is a recognised authority on Flynn courses. His goal is to preserve the Flynn design aesthetic while modernising the infrastructure.”