Franklin D. Roosevelt Golf Course

First and foremost, this is a Philadelphia public course!!! Anyone who is expecting Torrey Pines or Bay Hill should keep on looking. The staff was beyond friendly, showed up an hour early and they let me move my tee-time w/no problems. The course conditions were mostly decent, some greens had HUGE divots, but again you get what you pay for. I was solo, so it took me about 3.5 hours to finish. I would have done it faster, but a father and son were ahead of me and they were ridiculously slow, but I asked to play through and they were more than accommodating, then I flew through the course. Since I live in S.Phila, this is usually my go to course, making the trip to Byrnes (NE) or Walnut Ln (Roxborough) can be a pain in the neck…so in closing, the course is great for the price, again it’s a Philadelphia public course, but overall it met/exceeded my expectations and with a little TLC, this course could be one of the best in Philly. For those who know the areas public course, its not a good/maintained as Byrnes or Walnut Ln, but it’s better than Cobbs Creek or Juanita.
I will say this; the driving range is really, really bad! I wanted to hit a few balls prior to my tee-time, but the area was filled w/bugs and dragon flies. I doubt they read this, but this needs to be addressed ASAP.

First and foremost, this is a Philadelphia public course!!! Anyone who is expecting Torrey Pines or Bay Hill should keep on looking. The staff was beyond friendly, showed up an hour early and they let me move my tee-time w/no problems. The course conditions were mostly decent, some greens had HUGE divots, but again you get what you pay for. I was solo, so it took me about 3.5 hours to finish. I would have done it faster, but a father and son were ahead of me and they were ridiculously slow, so I asked to play through and they were more than accommodating, then I flew through the course. Since I live in S.Phila, this is usually my go to course, making the trip to Byrnes (NE) or Walnut Ln (Roxborough) can be a pain in the neck. I will say that the food at the "19th hole" is just Hot Dogs/Pretzels, save your money and check out Philly Live, which is right down the street...so in closing, the course is great for the price, again it’s a Philadelphia public course, but overall it met/exceeded my expectations.

I'm a fan of this course but I know its not the best. It really needs more maintenance and could be a very good course if it got the TLC it deserves. Greens were in good shape, but there was alot of mud in the fairways, so much so that at one hole they had us play from the 150 mark and play it as a par 3 because the fairway behind us was too muddy to play on. I lost at least one ball in standing water right next to the fairway.

What I do like about this course that it is very inexpensive right now and that I can get there real quick from my home. I typically play it by myself because my friends give me grief when I recommend playing here. I will play it again and again though.

The biggest drawback to this course is that most of the people who play it are at or below my level of skill, and pace of play can suffer because of this. They are pretty relaxed with their drinking regulations though.

The staff are friendly, but the course is in terrible condition. The front 9 was supposedly closed for maintenance, but people were definitely playing on it. You can't tell the difference between the fairway and the rough, and my golf cart got stuck in the mud because of the lack of drainage. There was also goose droppings EVERYWHERE.

I wouldn't even recommend this course to novice golfers.

This coarse was in horrible condition. The ground was so hard I broke more tees trying to put them in then hitting off them. The "GREENS" were 50% sand and full of holes. The grass was way to high - Also causing tons of hornets all over the fields. The golf carts were aged , slow, and had engine issues (Had to replace the cart after front 8)..
The only thing they had going for them was the friendly staff. They were nice, but nice doesn't make up for the worse golf conditions in my life and I have been to 40+ in the area.

Friendly staff, great smell from Tastykake baking if the wind is blowing the right way. (if it blows the wrong way an occasional whiff of petrochemicals from refinery).

Course needed a little love but a great day of golf in South Philadelphia overall.

NOTE-a fair amount of wildlife here-deer and badgers seemed unfazed by humans.

The " Hot Deal" of $29 wasn't even acknowledged. Had to pay full price for a horrible course. You would think at $41 a round that they would atleast have a cart path. The greens looked like incomplete jigsaw puzzles. For the price they charge its absolutely not worth it. I'd still regret going even if I got the deal at $29 for my round. I don't know how this course is still in business.

The course conditions are raged! The course was unplayable at times! Needs a complete overhaul!

For the amount of money I spent it was disappointing the condition the entire course was in. The fairways were not maintained could not find even the balls that were well hit because of the high grass. The golf paths were like off roading and the greens were in very poor condition. The course has got a really bad bee problem most likely because it is below sea level and is very wet. I know it's public and does not have the same funds as other courses but it should not charge $46 then if they cannot maintain it adequately for that money.

I am relatively new to the game and have played about a dozen different course in the past 15 months. Without a doubt, FDR is the worst course I have played. Most recently the front nine was closed due to standing water, but water on this course is not unusual. Starting at the beginning - make sure your cart is fully charged. On two occasions we have had to limp back to the clubhouse to get a new cart because the one we selected was not fully charged. The fairways are littered with potholes and ditches. The rough is always very high and the grass that has been cut is allowed to lay on the ground in clumps and strips of dry dead grass are all over the place. In the fall, the fairways are covered with goose feces. The tee boxes are in poor condition and finding the next one can be difficult because the course is poorly marked. The only upside is the staff. They are always very nice. Why do I play here? It's convenient for me and the fellow I play with every month or so.

$12 would be a fair price for this course. $45 is ridicoulous. High grass on fairways, standing watter puddles EVERYWHERE, course design from hole to hole is terrible, there is the fairway then 3 inch rough that eats balls. Especially on the blind shots. -- Positive: the greens were well kept, but very slow. Pace was good because nobody was there. -- Did not enjoy my day.

The course is in deplorable shape. The city can't even grow grass correctly with rain and sun provided. Don't waste your time.

The course was pretty much a swamp, with larger puddles and wet areas everywhere, the fairway is so long you can easily lose a ball in the fairway. In addition for some reason they do not pick up mower balls, they are everywhere and make it very confusing while looking for your ball. The greens were in pretty nice shape but very long needed cutting and also due to the rain very spongy!