Tattersall Golf Club

Tattersall, one of a dozen new courses developed around the country by Meadowbrook Golf Group, the company that manages the Philadelphia city courses, should eventually stand toe-to-toe with the other pricey country-clubs-for-a-day in the Chester County neighborhood, namely Hartefeld National and Wyncote.

The 6,826-yard course, designed by Rees Jones, is ready, waiting and looking good.

The plan, naturally, is to establish Tattersall as part of the "rota" of fancy, daily-fee courses in Chester County. The hope is that golfers who can afford $100 greens fees will play Hartefeld National one week, Wyncote the next, then Tattersall.

"Our experience with this kind of customer is that about 20 percent become regulars and view it as their country club, and 80 percent have it in their rotation of courses or play it on special occasions," Mike Rippey, vice president of Meadowbrook, said the other day.

For the upscale crowd, that would make for an interesting mix of courses. After a recent round there, I came away thinking Tattersall can play in that league, although it is very different from both Hartefeld, which can play long and demanding, and Wyncote, which is largely wide-open and rolling.

Tattersall, while not brutally difficult, can also be demanding, playing to a 73 rating and 132 slope from the tips. It rolls across the hills, down into the valleys and, in places, through the woodlands of Chester County. In several places, you'll find yourself pausing to have a look at the commanding view. In other places, it can be downright tight, fraught with danger for the wayward shot.

What good golfers will immediately like about Tattersall is the need for shot-making. Jones, son of the late Robert Trent Jones and Golf World magazine's architect of the year in 1995, doesn't build tricked-up golf courses, although his layouts also aren't forgiving of the truly lousy shot. Jones builds substantial courses - he designed Lookaway in Bucks County, too - and he makes you work for par on most every hole.

That becomes evident right away at Tattersall with an opening par 5 that flows down toward a waste area, then back up a hill to a mostly blind green. If you're not careful, you can make a double bogey before you get your shoes tied.

From there, Jones slashes across hillsides, carving out a string of six long to mid-length par 4s (only one par 5 and one par 3 are on the front) that don't give you much chance to relax. Every chance he gets, Jones likes to confront you with a shot that's dramatic in appearance - often with a change in elevation - and also makes you wonder if the yardage is correct.

The 429-yard seventh is the brute of the front, for my money. It's fairly long but also narrow, with a wooded hillside on the left and a right side that plummets down toward very bad things.

The stars of the back nine are the 12th, a sweeping 528-yard dogleg par 5 that begins from an elevated tee and works its way around and back uphill; and the 13th, a 197-yard downhill par 3 that boasts a green bigger than a lot of townships in Chester County.

The most curious hole on the course is the par-3 17th, with its 100-foot drop down to the green. Out of curiosity, I hit two balls there, one from the tips (193 yards) and one from the front tees (129 yards). Go figure - I hit the green from the back and missed it from the front.

At 551 yards, the par-5 18th is the longest hole on the course and a terrific closing hole. It would also be one of the most attractive holes at Tattersall, if there were not an obtrusive series of giant electrical towers that spoil the sight. Oh, well.

All in all, Tattersall is a winner. Just be sure to pack your credit cards along with your A game.

Originally published Aug. 6, 2000