In order to accommodate the first phase of a subdivision that is due to break ground later this year, the York, Pa., club rebuilt two of its holes, which it unveiled for public play on April 11. Future phases could cause the course to eventually merge into one 27-hole facility with neighboring Heritage Hills Golf Resort.

A pair of holes at Springwood Golf Club in York, Pa., which were first created years ago but unveiled for public play for the first time on April 11, have been developed to accommodate the forthcoming Bridgewater subdivision’s first phase, the York (Pa.) Dispatch reported.

Springwood leases the land which currently comprises the course from Keystone Custom Homes, and the course had long known that development was a possibility. In fact, course officials had the new holes built years before as a preemptive measure, the Dispatch reported.

However, various delays kept the subdivision project from moving forward until recently. York Township approved the plans for Bridgewater’s first phase at its March township meeting. With groundbreaking expected to begin this year, the time was right to unveil the replacement holes, the Dispatch reported.

The Springwood track follows its current layout through the first four holes before passing what used to be the tee box for the former fifth hole. From there, golfers take a new path to an area in the northeast corner of the course where a beaten path winds its way through signs of work ahead. The new fifth measures 325 yards from the white tees and 345 from the blue set, the Dispatch reported.

The next hole, also new, is a lengthy par 3 that snaps to the right and tucks its green inside a wooded area that shields the right half of the hole. It measures 187 yards from the white tees and 207 from the blue, the Dispatch reported. 

Matt DeRose, president of Heritage Hills which also manages Springwood, predicts future phases might one day cause the course to merge into one 27-hole facility with Heritage Hills Golf Resort. One day, it might even force the two to combine and become one 18-hole layout that begins and ends at the current Heritage clubhouse, the Dispatch reported.

“Of course, the pace of this plan is driven by home sales and 36 holes will remain as long as possible,” DeRose said. “At a minimum, 36 holes will remain through Bridgewater Phase 1 and possibly through Phase 2. It is expected that the new (Springwood) layout with the three new holes will exist for approximately five years.”

Under the new layout, the old par-4 fifth hole is now the seventh hole and the old par-4 sixth hole is now the eighth hole. As of now, the ninth hole will be the old par-5 seventh hole. However, the changes this year won’t stop with the new pair of holes. Once groundbreaking begins for the subdivision, the ninth hole will also be altered, the Dispatch reported.

Currently, it plays to its original design. After the groundbreaking, the tee boxes will stay, but instead of being a downhill, dogleg right par-5, it will soon bend to the left at about the same spot it now starts to slope downhill and move right. It will remain a par 5. The old par-3 eighth and par-4 ninth holes are no longer part of the course design. The back nine is unchanged, the Dispatch reported.

For those who aren’t fans of the game, but enjoy dining at the on-site restaurant Bogey Macaw’s, no changes are planned and it will remain in operation, unaffected by the development. In fact, DeRose said that “enhancements and improvements are planned in the near future,” the Dispatch reported.