u000006251987

I moved to the Scranton-WB area in 1987 and played this course regularly due to the layout and condition of the course. It is probably the best layout of the courses in NEPA. Unfortunately, the course went downhill about 6-7 years ago and I stopped playing it. Recently, a friend of mine played the course and indicated that it wasn't that bad. With that in mind, I gave it another chance but was quickly reminded why I haven't played it since 2016-17. I honestly have nothing positive to say about the course except for the greens which were actually in good shape for the most part. They played fast, which completely surprised me considering the obvious neglect the rest of the course is experiencing. Even though it only cost $30 to play, I would highly recommend that you stay away from this miserable dog track. It's truly a shame that this once terrific course is now a complete dump. I wish someone would buy it and shut it down for a full season or more in order to refurb the entire facility.

Have played this course numerous times over the years and although it was never in great shape, it was always decent and playable. Most recently, it has really fallen into a disgraceful state. The only aspect of the course that I would come close to rating 3 stars are the greens. Fairways and tee boxes are beat up and in desperate need of attention. I understand that we haven't had much rain this summer but it's obvious that the problem is more than a lack of water. As is the case with Sand Springs' other facility (Edgewood) it appears that the focus has drifted away from investing in the golf course and paying (pun intended) more attention to the events (weddings, banquets....) side of the business. Not sure if/how any homeowners are impacted by having a golf course in their community but I would be one irate resident if I had to pay any type of association fees related to the course. Unfortunately, my group, along with others we previously steered towards playing Sand Springs will not be returning. We've already added Edgewood to our list of run down courses that should be avoided and Sand Springs joins that list.

After a season of back and forth discussions of trying new courses away from our area (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) we decided to try Mahoning Valley Country Club. I want to start by stating that the use of the word(s) "Country Club" is a definite misnomer. The access road to the "Club" gives you an immediate impression of the mistake we made playing this course. This road hasn't been paved or cared for in what looks like a decade or more and the parking lot...probably even longer. The next indication was the lack of vehicles in the lot or golf carts lined up for use. The pro shop attendant was more than happy to take our $48 for our round (at least $24 too high for what we were about to experience) and inform us that "conditions are good but it's 90 degrees since we had a little rain through the night". The use of the phrase "a little rain" was quite misleading since every single fairway on the front 9 from tee to green was saturated not to mention the rough along the fairways. It was obvious from the first tee on that this course has suffered tremendously with extensive bare patches (in some cases more patches than fairway grass). The cart paths..... well let's just say again that they certainly were not up to Country Club standards or even run-of-the-mill public course condition. The final complaint I have is that when we went to have a bite to eat and a drink when we finished our round at 1:00 pm, the clubhouse which had an opening time of Noon listed, was closed for the day. The positive part of our day was that the practice green, course greens and tee boxes were in good condition. The course itself is a fun layout and 7 of the back 9 fairways were in decent playing shape but due to the obvious lack of financial upkeep this course desperately needs, we will be avoiding this "dog track" in the future.

Total shame what has happened to this course over the years. The good; Great Layout. The bad; everything except the Great Layout. I've played this course off and on since moving to this area in 1987 and it's been up and down condition-wise over that period of time. Right now, it is in the absolute worse shape I've seen it and has continued to go down hill over the past 3-4 years. This problem is not the result of poor weather thus far and that cannot be used as an excuse. Lack of financial input to the course as well as the run down pro shop, bar and dining area is glaring. Please, please, please sell or shut down the course altogether. As I stated in the beginning, the layout is great but I'm afraid it's too late to revive this one.

This course was top-notch and on par with any country club conditions. I'm from Pennsylvania and wish this course was within driving distance (I was in Massachusetts for the weekend which was a 4.5 hour drive). Highly recommend anyone in the Boston area needs to play this course.