Great Bear Golf Club
About
Great Bear Golf Club in East Stroudsburg offers northeast Pennsylvania's only Jack Nicklaus-designed course. Formerly known as Great Bear Golf & C.C., it changed ownership in 2012 but both the quality and popularity of the course have remained constant since it first opened in 1997. The course has garnered plenty of recognition over the years including being ranked as one of he best golf courses in Pennsylvania by both GolfWeek and Golf Digest. Nicklaus utilized the natural features of the site including the lakes and streams, rolling terrain, and abundant wetlands. In addition to all of the natural hazards, he also added nearly 50 strategically placed bunkers. Great Bear is a fair test but Nicklaus incorporated playability into his design as well, giving it appeal for a wide range of skill levels.
Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Black | 71 | 7025 yards | 73.5 | 143 |
Gold | 71 | 6537 yards | 71.5 | 139 |
Blue | 71 | 6105 yards | 69.8 | 135 |
White | 71 | 5754 yards | 68.2 | 133 |
White (W) | 71 | 5754 yards | 74.0 | 137 |
Red (W) | 71 | 4949 yards | 69.1 | 129 |
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black M: 73.3/142 | 376 | 189 | 455 | 514 | 462 | 436 | 175 | 578 | 373 | 3558 | 460 | 222 | 405 | 199 | 451 | 523 | 191 | 441 | 575 | 3467 | 7025 |
Gold M: 71.5/139 | 339 | 183 | 426 | 495 | 413 | 395 | 157 | 548 | 337 | 3293 | 424 | 196 | 383 | 178 | 437 | 508 | 166 | 417 | 535 | 3244 | 6537 |
Blue M: 69.8/135 | 323 | 162 | 403 | 475 | 393 | 375 | 127 | 503 | 322 | 3083 | 389 | 182 | 362 | 162 | 388 | 492 | 146 | 387 | 514 | 3022 | 6105 |
White M: 68.3/132 W: 73.2/131 | 308 | 155 | 384 | 466 | 375 | 340 | 112 | 483 | 291 | 2914 | 369 | 168 | 341 | 135 | 359 | 477 | 133 | 366 | 492 | 2840 | 5754 |
Red W: 69.0/125 | 279 | 127 | 341 | 437 | 311 | 300 | 96 | 447 | 265 | 2603 | 302 | 153 | 285 | 115 | 211 | 408 | 97 | 327 | 448 | 2346 | 4949 |
Handicap | 11 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 7 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 18 | 4 | 6 | |||
Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 35 | 71 |
Handicap (W) | 12 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 13 | 17 | 5 | 15 | 9 | 1 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Grill, RestaurantAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Banquet Facilities, Showers, Lockers, Locker RoomsAvailable Activities
Swimming, BilliardsAvailable Sports
TennisReviews
SGEMEM
Always enjoyable playing this track . Pace of play always steady, course always in good shape and the staff is very accommodating. Could have helped to see the cart girls a few more times during the round especially w/o water in the course. A suggestion get rid of the noodles in the cup.... no longer necessary. Great spit and time.
I was supposed to have a tee time for 9-5 at 910am but Great Bear said I didn't have one but got us out anyway but i noticed it was switched to 9-8. Please refund my money.
Classic Nicklaus - some oddities with club
The design was what I thought from what little I know about Nicklaus design methods. I had to play a variety of shots, but my swing was 'on' so it didn't bother me. As the introduction said, it's not designed for the scratch golfer, but for the more normal Joe out there. So you got a good round with a taste of design without coming away feeling beat up.
The fairways were outstanding. Wonderful to hit off. Tee boxes good, not great nor bad. Greens were in good shape but very very slow. There was heavy rains late in the previous day and that slowed down the entire course and made the greens roll like stuck in mud. The traps were often full of water. That was something I thought odd. A top course the friday before labor day weekend in touristy Poconos and they aren't pumping the water out. I've been on lesser courses who do that the day after a heavy rain.
The folks I met were all friendly. I found the layout very odd, let me explain. Hole number 1 is past part of a hole and over a road. The 8th hole ends at the club house, then you go back over a road to play 3 holes, then back on this side to finish and a few holes there are not near each other. The range is a distance away but not toooo far. It took away from the experience. I like the traditional hole organization and being a modern built design I didn't understand why.
But it's one worth playing. i'd like to try it again when it's not so wet and see how it plays.
The down side to this course is that you often exit the fairway a long distance from the green and the cart path is up a steep hill and you might have to walk back to your ball
Hidden Gem
Very nice design. The course was in excellent condition, very good pace of play and friendly staff.
A Jack Nicklaus Signature Course
We got this course for a great 'hot deal' on GolfNow for a Monday round. If you can do that, it almost feels like stealing! The condition of the course was fabulous. Greens were relatively quick and very true. Tee boxes level and manicured. The course is challenging but playable. Not a lot of level lies in the fairways, so be good with that. A great variety of holes. Long and short par 3s, 4's and 5s. We hit every club. A terrific day. We were quite satisfied
Well done Jack.
Loved the track. Bit of a challenge. Great terrain.
Prime course conditions.
Great course!
While this is a beautiful course in fantasy shape, the pace of play is HORRENDOUS! This is a resort style course so there are people out there who have NEVER picked up a golf club before. And no rangers to speed up play.
This was the second time playing there and it was the same slow play.
Where did golf etiquette and courtesy go? Not here.
Enjoyable Day
The course was in re as l good shape, especially the greens. Finished th he round in about 3:30 on a perfect weather day. Course is pretty open, with a variety of different challenges. Recommend highly.
Top notch
5 star across the board....played in the early morning.
What's not to like
Always a great time and exceptional Value. course was in great condition from tee to green. Only negative...they let too many twosomes out.
Never a bad round
Course conditions were good. Greens seemed a little slow. It would be nice if fellow golfers would take the time to repair divots and their ball marks on the greens. I can't tell you how many greens were full of unrepaired ball marks. Disappointed that cart person was only working until 4 pm. We were only at the turn. Other than those minor issues it was a very enjoyable afternoon. One of the best courses in the area!!
Great value
I was a single got sent out right after a group of 4 and had a group of 3 sent out right behind me so that was kind of annoying but all in all everything was fantastic course was in great shape will def go again
What a course!
This is the best conditioned course I’ve played in a long time. The fairways are like carpets and the greens are fast.
I will definitely play here again and ya can’t beat the price of $35 on Golfnow is the best!