18 hole layout that makes clever use of the property surrounding a family friendly RV park.


+ Very good diversity of holes on this 6000' par 59: there's open, wooded, changes in elevation, protected, windy. The course keeps you interested


+ Navigation is pretty intuitive. There's one spot where the walk from 5 to 6 crosses the 16th tee, but there's enough signage on the tees to keep looking around for the right one


+ The par on hole #2 (par 5, 530') is a little generous, allowing for a placement shot before entering the woods - but the rest of the pars on the course seem right. It's mostly 3's with a few 4's sprinkled in


+ The best feature of the course for me was the mix of open and wooded holes. Not many of the holes are memorable, but the challenge of adjusting from open holes to wooded, then back to open and back again to wooded makes for a fun round

- The five "field holes" (#7 - #11) are carved on an open hillside of deep grasses. You can air it out from the tees; some of the holes feature wide fairways, and others have landing zones mowed into the grass. #11 is a too-clever design though: it's a 500' slightly downhill par 4 with a narrow center fairway cut through a pattern of deep grass hazards for the first 300' or so. It's pretty enough to look at from the tee (there are pictures on this site), but if you don't land in the very narrow center strip, there's a 50/50 chance you've ended up in deep scrub of the type where you have to be standing right over your disc in order to see it. This hazard just creates lost discs and slow play

~ It's an unusual layout in that you're walking through a very active RV camp, with a long walk to #1 and back to the parking area from #18.You're mostly away from other activity, although one tee is directly in front of the porch of a rental cabin


~ Twin Grove is a good design, but it feels pretty much unmaintained - like it was put in, gets a little bit of attention like mowing and some new signs here and there, but it's largely an afterthought. Fun to play, but nothing really special



AMENITIES:
Old DGA baskets that still catch fine; gravel tees that are really just framed dirt; a mix of old and new signage. Bathrooms, restaurant and general store serving the RV residents at the front where you park


RECOMMENDED COMBINATIONS:
Easy to combine with Camp Swatara and Sweet Arrow Lake, or head south to the courses in the Lebanon area

Mostly concrete intermediate level tees with a couple gravel tees, and a single Discatcher basket position for each hole. Decent tee signs and navigation. Nice use of the elevation creating some fast greens and mixing up mostly par 3 holes, you play uphill, downhill, across a valley and slope, straight shots, and a couple turning shots. You will play the full gambit of hole types from woods into the open, or open into the woods or wide open with tall grass/rough to the side or through some heavy woods. Grass fairways were mowed.

Amenities include camping, pool, amusement park, restaurant, restrooms and small pro shop.

On the course map, hole 8 is oriented almost 90 degrees the wrong direction. The gravel tees were rutted and hard to tee from. A couple holes play a little close together and close to other park users. The rough can be rough and there is some poison ivy in there. Hole 1 basket position is on a small ridge with the water overrun collection behind just behind it, so it was a bit muddy and the other side of the basket is a steep slope prime for rollaways. Hole 2 has a fairly narrow gap to the basket.

Overall Twin Grove is a solid intermediate level course, but there is nothing that will blow you away here other than some of the views of the mountains. There is very little seclusion on the course, there are RV's, cabins and tents throughout much of the course, so you kind of feel like you are invading someone else's territory when playing.

If you are coming here to just play the course, you park in the main lot toward the right side where the main office is, then walk through the gate. There is no fee to play. To hole 1 tee keep walking straight uphill behind the gate and you will find the tee by the wood line. I took a right after the gate to hole 2 by accident because I saw a basket and tee over there. So I started on hole 2 and then I misplayed the hole to the tee of hole 1 and looked around for 2's basket all confused. I'd recommend playing here if you in the immediate area and looking for a good intermediate level course to play.

Good usage of the various elevation changes available.

On-site restaurant and shop.

Single tee/basket location.

A few holes where the main goal is not to lose your disc in knee-high grass.

Course is set in the open fields (holes 7-11) and woods (holes 3-6, 12-18) which border RV sites and gravel access roads of the camp. Holes 1 and 2 are mixed, with tight exit (#1) / entry (#2) points. Baskets are new, signs are sufficient, and tees (concretex13, gravel for open holes 7-11) are good. Benches, too.

The course offers a decent mixture of challenges:
• While straight off the tee will serve you well ~1/3rd of the time, you will need some turns - lefts a bit more than rights. Some turns are quite sharp, usually mid-fairway, but most are subtle/late
• While there certainly are some flat holes, you will have a few downhills, uphills, cross valleys, over ridges, and cross-slopes, but nothing overly extreme - a nice blend.
• As stated before, ~2/3rds of the holes are wooded, large to mid-sized hardwoods, so trunks, vice branches, will be the objects to miss. Throwing lanes ranged from fair-to-tight, challenging, but not grotesquely so. The grass was high in the open, but the fairways were decent-sized, and the views were nice, especially looking down from #8.
• Distance had the least variation, as the wooded holes almost all fell into the 260' +/- 30' range.

Favourite hole: #2. The longest hole at 525', it is open the first ~2/3rds, with a right-to-left slope. You then enter a treeline to find a small open space just before a tiny stream. The basket sits on the other side, with a few large hardwoods protecting it.

A solid course worth visiting if passing through the area.

Navigation is easy for the most part. Not limited to one type of hole, there are both open and closed. Challenging, but fair. Elevation changes make for some fun shots. Flow was good, got around quickly. Enjoyable. Easy to get to, just down the road from the 81 exit.

Thorn bushes need to be cleared, fairways and rough need some care.

The course plays to a par 59, which is fine for someone of my skill, but better players will likely think that 57 is a more accurate number. Will visit here again for certain.

Good concrete tees on most of the holes, passable stone tees on some. No long walks between holes. Excellent signage.

Lots of thorn bushes, and dead fall very close to fairways. Rough is rough but the dead stuff could have been carried a few more yards away.

I liked it. Course will wear in well.