Raven’s Claw – Pottstown, Pa
9.5/10

I felt it was necessary to give Raven’s Claw an honest review because people don’t seem to understand its value. We paid 49 dollars to tee off at 1:50 (their twilight is 2) and we actually started at 1:40. Tell me how many other courses actually tee you off before your tee time (and give you the twilight rate). They also give you a players card which allows the a 10th round for free after you pay for 9 rounds. Just another amenity that makes you want to play this course. The staff was also extremely friendly and the club house is kept clean, neat, and organized. We even ate at their restaurant after our round and the food was good and beer was priced right. Back to the golf.

We played from the blue tee boxes which measure a shade under 6400 yards which should explain the 400+ yard par 4’s and 600 yard par 5. This is not your beginners course. The first hole is a relatively straight par 5 which is probably one of the easier holes on the course but I haven’t had much success. The course really delivers challenging shot after challenging shot. The length wasn’t even the issue as I was driver, 9 iron a decent amount of the time on the par 4’s. Even on holes where I was hitting a 2 iron or 3 wood off the tee, I was getting there in 2. The par 5’s played fair and the par 3’s are really where you can score because they are not that difficult. The par 4’s are usually winding dog legs where long, straight drives make them doable. If you can’t get off the tee though, you are going to have some problems. The 230 yard par 3, 17th, is probably the hardest hole for the novice. It plays like a par 4 essentially and you ob is happening if you hit the ball right. You really want to play from the fairway because hitting out of the rough can prove cumbersome. On 16 I topped my drive right into some thick stuff and I my next shot literally went 15 yards as my club was just eaten up by the rough.

The biggest issue of the course was the pace of play as our round took us about 4 and half hours. This is of no fault of the course though as they have rangers who are making sure people are keeping pace. Problem was the two groups ahead of use, both twosomes, were plain bad and if you are bad on this course, you are going to be spending a lot of time searching for your ball. However, if you are the only person on the course, I think you can play a 3 hour round. I also didn’t feel like they over crowded the course as there was no wait on the tee-box. The bottom line is that this course is the premier course of this area. I’ve played most Montgomery County courses and this is in a league of it’s own. Also their pricing is completely fair for a golf course of this caliber. This is the best value in our area, no if, ands, or buts.