By: Nathan Kuhta

As the weather warms up and the grass slowly dries, it is time to put away the snow shovels and pick up the golf clubs. For those of you who are located in Northeast Philadelphia or around Holy Family University, looking to either get into golf or find new courses to try, here are three options located near you, and what they bring to the table.    

To start off this journey, we look no further than just down the road from Holy Family as we arrive at John F Byrne. Located at 9500 Leon Street, Byrne is the perfect golf course for new golfers to learn the game.  

Coming in at a very reasonable $45 for weekdays and $55 on weekends for 18 holes and a cart, it allows you to get a full driving round in without breaking the bank. As far as the course goes it offers a large variety of par 3s and 4s with many offering challenging and fun shots with elevation gain/decrease and tight fairways with well placed bunkers.  

Two par fives on the back nine allow you to really test your drives as well, both coming in at over 500 yards. One of the drawbacks of Bryne includes no driving range, meaning that you will need to go elsewhere to work on your game before your round.  

For our next course, keeping local to the northeast area, we go just down the road and into the Bensalem Township Country Club. Located at 2000 Brown Ave, Bensalem comes in at almost 1000 yards longer than Byrne, making it a good course for those with big drives and good carry.  

The overall experience of the course is tougher than Bryne, with narrower fair ways and tougher greens on top of the already mentioned longer yardages. This makes Bensalem a good course for those who have a little experience but want to challenge themselves to get even better. 

Bensalem is also home to a driving range, where you and your friends can come and get a small bucket of balls for $6 and a large bucket of balls for $12. The range itself is elevated over where you are hitting, making it really easy to track your ball, and the turf mats allow you to get your game right, no matter the weather.  

Coming in at a walking round of $40, it is a little cheaper than that of Byrne; however, if you want a cart, there will be an extra charge on top of it, pushing it just over the cost of a riding round at Byrne.  

For our last course, we are going to journey a little away from the Northeast area and look at Mountain View Golf Course, located in Mercer County, New Jersey. Coming in at a par 71, it is the longest golf course of the three.  

It is also the most expensive course, coming in at $55 for a weekday round and up to $80 for a weekend round. This price does come with benefits, though, as the course is the nicest of the three courses and also offers the best variety when it comes to par 3/4/5’s.  

This course is the most challenging of the three courses, taking an experienced golfer to really enjoy it. If you are looking for a nicer course to take your friends, look no further than Mountain View.  

Overall, the three courses offer great options for new golfers, as well as seasoned vets. The price ranges and experiences are something to take into consideration when you are booking your first tee time. As we get closer to warmer weather and plenty of golf to go around, check out these courses to help elevate your golf game and experience!  

Nathan Kuhta is a senior at Holy Family University that is majoring in Secondary English Education. He plans on teaching and coaching baseball at the High School level upon his graduation.