3 Lakes Golf Course
About
3 Lakes Golf Course originally opened in 1923 under the name Alcoma Golf Course. Along with the name change, it also opened its doors to the public and has since become a local favorite. It's known as one of the best values for your money in the area, offering country club-style golf at public rates. The layout was designed by Emil Loeffler, who designed two other courses in Pittsburgh – Highland Country Club and Shannopin Country Club. The course sprawls across more than 150 acres of gently rolling terrain, providing rolling fairways and undulating greens. The classic layout is tough but fair. You'll be tested with a variety of different lies and the holes have plenty of diversity as well, ranging from some that are on the shorter side to others that are monstrous.
Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Black | 72 | 6504 yards | 73.4 | 140 |
Gold | 72 | 6080 yards | 71.4 | 135 |
Silver | 72 | 5157 yards | 68.3 | 126 |
Red (W) | 72 | 4159 yards | 72.2 | 130 |
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black M: 72.2/130 W: 77.7/133 | 349 | 350 | 480 | 140 | 490 | 145 | 360 | 412 | 362 | 3088 | 390 | 262 | 530 | 392 | 355 | 356 | 416 | 186 | 529 | 3416 | 6504 |
Gold M: 70.2/126 W: 75.6/128 | 330 | 340 | 460 | 130 | 475 | 127 | 340 | 382 | 350 | 2934 | 360 | 201 | 520 | 355 | 345 | 330 | 402 | 173 | 460 | 3146 | 6080 |
Silver M: 66.0/118 W: 70.6/117 | 287 | 314 | 440 | 120 | 430 | 112 | 290 | 297 | 315 | 2605 | 320 | 164 | 397 | 295 | 258 | 310 | 318 | 105 | 385 | 2552 | 5157 |
Red M: 62.1/105 W: 64.0/103 | 200 | 215 | 339 | 105 | 320 | 104 | 215 | 252 | 220 | 1970 | 235 | 105 | 390 | 220 | 205 | 200 | 250 | 74 | 330 | 2009 | 3979 |
Handicap | 15 | 11 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 12 | |||
Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 72 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Snacks, GrillAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Banquet Facilities, Lockers, Locker RoomsReviews
Great course for the price
Course was in decent shape for how dry it has been the past two weeks. Greens were fast and in decent shape for this time of the year. Staff were very friendly. Great course to play for beginners and advanced players alike!
Good course, good price
Course was in decent shape, greens were a little patchy but thats to be expected this late in the season, but they rolled nice and were fast. Fairways were in great shape. People that worked there were relatively nice however they did not have our golfnow tee time on file.
5 hour round
First time on this course. Teamed up with two nice younger guys. Had fun but took so long to get around. Ranger was on the first hole and eating hot dogs at 10. Liked the variation in tee box distances. Very severe hillside on some holes. Fairways are good. Greens are fast but golfers are not fixing their ball marks. Bunkers , Not good with hard compacted sand and puddles of water. Not sure when I'll be back.
Thank you so much for taking the time to review 3 Lakes. We strive to be the best public golf course in Pittsburgh area, which sometimes makes Saturdays a very busy day. We are glad you had fun and like the variation in tee box distances. Unfortunately, the fog delay on the Saturday you played pushed a large group event into regularly scheduled tee times (and had the ranger on #1 & #10 as starter for most of the day) and the pace of play suffered. This is not typical. We would love to see you back again to enjoy the fast greens and good fairways at 3 Lakes Golf Course.
Thank you so much for giving 3 Lakes Golf Course a good review! We are so pleased that you would recommend this course. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Pleasantly surprised!
This was my first time golfing this course and I was pleasantly surprised. The course is in very nice shape and well maintained. It's very hilly, but there aren't many courses in Southwestern Pa. that aren't. I definitely plan on golfing here again, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys playing the game.
Thanks for playing the now public 3 Lakes Golf Course! We are so happy to hear you found the course conditions are well maintained. 3 Lakes strives to be the best public golf course in Pittsburgh. We look forward to seeing you again!
Nice Layout
Just played 3 Lakes, liked the layout, fairway/greens conditions were excellent, hilly, very sloped fairways and some blind shots but overall really liked the course.
Thank you so much for playing 3 Lakes and for taking the time to write a review! You are so right about the slope. We are one of the most challenging public courses in Pittsburgh. Our course guide in the proshop is free & can help with the few blind tee shots (or you can "forecaddy" those tee shots for each other). Thanks again. We really appreciate it and look forward to seeing you again soon!
Great day on the course
Was paired up with 3 others from Golfnow. Had a great time and finished 18 holes in 3.5 hours. The course was pretty simple for the most past, most holes were straight away with sand around the green. The greens had great speed and rolled true all day. I enjoyed all the par 3s because they were not overly long. This is a great course to go have some fun with your friends. I would definitely go back for the $20 price, but couldn't justify paying the full $40.
Thank you so much for choosing 3 Lakes! We strive to make 3 Lakes Golf Course the best public golf course near downtown Pittsburgh. Hope to see you again very soon.
Need a ranger
They sent out 4 of us as singles. We all eventually caught up to a foursome of seniors. 1 skipped 3 holes to get in front of them. Myself and another single jumped in front of them rather than wait forever. The foursome mouthed off to me and I told them they had numerous chances to wave people through. If they had a ranger he could have told them to let each of us to play through or grouped us to solve the issue.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions! We strive to be the best public golf course in Pittsburgh and having a ranger patrol is part of the equation. When the forecast or day of the week is keeping the tee sheet open, we often will not have a ranger and send singles out alone (unless we know the players). On busy days, we are forced to make pairs. If you are willing to play with others in the future please let the proshop starter know. Thanks again for your 4-star rating and recommending 3 Lakes to others! Hope to see you soon.
Challenging course with fast greens
First of all, there aren't 3 lakes, but there are 3 dirty ponds and plenty of dated amenities. Luckily I reserved my tee time with a hot deal or else I would have been very disappointed with spending $40 to golf here. As a golfer who shoots in the 85-92 range I found this course to be fairly easy off the tee box, however the greens were very difficult to read and quite hard, which resulted in minimal hold on my approaches, not to mention they were also covered in a lot of sand. Besides the green conditions, the course is quite hilly with a lot of sloped fairways, was not that visually appealing, had a nice course guide booklet, and offered moderate fairway conditions. Also, the clubhouse is not labeled that well and the course is actually kind of confusing to navigate. I wouldn't golf here again nor would I recommend this course, its below average compared to what is available in Western PA.
Thank you for your detailed review. The course name came from a competition when a player hit his tee shot from 17 into 3 different lakes. Sounds like you had that kind of day. Thanks for the compliment on the course guide book. Our objective is to create the best private-turned-public golf course in Pittsburgh area. The clubhouse and course were designed for members, not one time players. I'm sorry we didn't hit the mark.
Thank you so much for your positive review! 3 Lakes Golf Course strives to be the best public golf course in the Pittsburgh area. We are so happy you would recommend it to others. See you soon!
Rude Staff and horrible experience!
The staff was extremely rude and were not helpful at all. My cart wasn't cleaned out and dirty. I was never told what 9 to go off of and the course was a wreak. Muddy and soaking wet. Course was maintained very poorly. I will never go here again and will actively encourage others to avoid this course at all cost! One of my worst golfing experiences yet!
I'm sorry to hear we were below par for this experience. In the future, please check into the proshop before hoping on a cart and loading your bag. The cart you took had just been returned by other players. I hope this helps you have a more enjoyable round when you play other courses.
Thank you so much for this positive review! 3 Lakes Golf Course strives to be the best public golf course in the Pittsburgh area. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Fun Course
My first trip to 3 Lakes after seeing it on GolfNow for Pittsburgh regularly. Excellent value for the money and a nice course on a compact layout. Had a brief rain shower during my round, except for a couple low areas the moisture absorbed quickly. Will definitely keep 3 Lakes in mind for future rounds.
Thank you so much for this positive review! 3 Lakes Golf Course strives to be the best public golf course in the Pittsburgh area. I am glad you thought it was an excellent value and was a nice, fun course. We look forward to serving you again soon.
Thank you so much for this positive review! 3 Lakes Golf Course strives to be the best public golf course in the Pittsburgh area. Thank you so much for recommending us to others.
Bad bad shape
The tee boxes were in bad shape. Every hole had bare spots on the fairways. The greens weren't in very good shape either. Almost 5 hours to play 18. The leafs were so bad was looking for balls even in the fairways. It'll be awhile before we go back her if we do
Thank you for taking the time to review 3 Lakes. I would encourage you to try to come during golf season and see the conditions instead of the very last playable day in October. The variety of tee boxes allows for players of all ability levels to play. Most fairways are tree lined and in PA the wind can move the leaves around quickly. I know you will have fun if you come back again.
This course was nice at one time
Large patches of fairway with no grass on just about all holes. Tee boxes were just in bad shape.
Thank you for taking the time to review 3 Lakes. The irrigation system is being added to with lateral sections on 4 fairways so the large patches of lost fairways will be no-more. There are 4 tee boxes to choice from to allow players of all abilities to choose. Grass tee are the focus of our improvement today!
Fun Golf Course
Fun golf course, lots of hills and elevation. Fairways and greens had a fungus, but it looks like it's improving. Greens are still pretty rough, but puttable. Really a fun course with some interesting holes. Staff is rough around the edges, no real golf pro just a guy running the register. Driving range is pretty bad, range balls appear to be fished out of the lake. Pace of play is good. Not a great golf course, but really fun to play. For $25, it's a fun time.
Discount
Course was not in good shape at all, though we have had lack of rain there is more problems than lack of rain, nearly all approaches were bare or had only spots of grass and all greens were patchy . i have golfed here in past and course was usually in good shape, if you are having issue with some kind of disease or something let people know or at least discount the rate. i used to like this course but will not play it again until next year when hopefully something is done
Greens are unplayable
All 18 Greens have a disease and are unplayable. Impossible to putt from short distances. Do not play this course until next year, after greens are fixed.
Thank you for pointing out the great quality for the price. The greens are legendary and I will relay the compliment on the staff! 3 Lakes strives to be the best public course in Pittsburgh. We look forward to seeing you again soon.