Pocono Manor Golf Club - East

1911–1912: Ross’s initial nine for the Inn. The original resort golf effort at Pocono Manor coincided with the Inn’s early growth. The club’s own historical page states that Donald Ross completed plans in 1911 for a nine-hole course to serve Inn guests and cottage owners, after which construction commenced; “opening” references for the East Course consistently cite 1912. The page also notes, with an eye on Ross’s broader practice, that he “did not visit many of his designs personally,” a caveat that bears on authorship questions addressed below.

Early 1920s: Flynn expansion to a full eighteen. By the early 1920s the resort sought a longer, more varied course. Multiple independent and resort-adjacent histories agree that William Flynn expanded the course to 18 holes, with resort material specifying 1924 as the date by which the East Course reached 18. The “Flynn phase” pushed holes across what is now Route 314, creating today’s split-property feel and introducing a set of longer two-shotters on the far side.

Mid-century tournament era and televised matches. Through the 1950s–60s, the East Course hosted televised All Star Golf match-play episodes and welcomed touring professionals for exhibitions; Art Wall, Jr., who represented Pocono Manor as “touring professional,” won the 1959 Masters while on the Manor’s staff. In 1977 the East Course staged the LPGA Pocono Northeast Classic (winner: Debbie Austin). These uses sustained a public identity for the East Course long after the Flynn expansion.

2019–present: fire, closure of the Inn, and the golf return. The Inn suffered a catastrophic fire on November 1, 2019, closing the hotel; the East Course reopened for play in May 2020 and has operated since, with further promotional updates posted in 2025 as the golf side re-established regular tee sheets and memberships. This context helps explain modest facility changes unrelated to the historic routing.

Documentation note: Neither the club site nor public archives reproduce Ross plan sheets for the 1911–12 nine or Flynn drawings for the 1920s expansion. The 1924 date for Flynn’s 18 is well established in resort and trade pieces; the specific mapping of which present-day holes trace to Ross’s original nine is not formally published by the club.

Unique Design Characteristics

Two-author structure legible in the routing. The East Course reads as a Ross-seeded, Flynn-completed hybrid: a compact, old-style opening run of shorter, angle-driven holes near the clubhouse and a broader-scaled middle/late section across Route 314. Contemporary descriptions emphasize “quirky par-3s” and an “old-school feel,” both consistent with a 1910s/1920s composite rather than a single-period build.

Par-3 personality and false-front pressure. Public hole guides and local reviews repeatedly note compact one-shotters with firm, front-tilted targets that punish shots above the hole. That set—spread across the round—helps the course defend par 72 at modest yardage. These present-day traits are compatible with the Ross portion of the build (small pad targets) and Flynn’s period style (elevated greens on shallow shelves), though assigning any single par-3 to a specific 1911 or 1920s plan requires primary drawings.

Crossings and contrasts. The move across Route 314 introduces broader vistas and a different wind presentation. This side includes the holes most often credited to Flynn’s expansion and accounts for much of the card’s yardage. In round-strategy terms, the back-nine crossing produces a shift from compact angles to longer carries into open shelves, a change that matches how independent sources describe Flynn’s contribution at Pocono Manor.

Candidate survivals of Ross’s nine (with caution). A popular independent blog, citing conversations on-site and resort lore, suggests that today’s 1–6, 17, and 18 trace to Ross’s nine, with 7–16 as Flynn’s work. Because the club has not published plan sheets or a definitive hole map, this allocation should be treated as secondary and unverified; it is mentioned here to guide further archival work.

Historical Significance

A resort course where Ross and Flynn intersected. Pocono Manor’s East Course is instructive within the Ross catalog as a resort commission that did not remain a stand-alone Ross: Flynn’s expansion to 18 (c. 1924) is integral to how the course plays now. That two-author lineage, preserved in club and trade histories, makes Pocono Manor a case study in how northeastern resort clubs evolved from early nines into full eighteens during the 1920s building wave.

Television and tour resonance. The East Course’s All Star Golf episodes and the 1977 LPGA Pocono Northeast Classic give the property a modest but notable place in televised and women’s-tour history, supplementing its long association with Art Wall, Jr. as resident “touring pro.” These events were important in sustaining name recognition for the East Course during decades when the resort cycled through ownership and capitalization changes.

Current Condition / Integrity

Routing integrity and the Ross/Flynn balance. The 18-hole East Course remains in service, with no recent evidence of wholesale rerouting. Given the lack of published plan sheets, a precise hole-by-hole integrity map must be provisional. However, the “Ross near the house / Flynn across 314” pattern is consistent across resort narratives and independent summaries, and aerial inspection on modern mapping shows a natural contrast in scale that fits those accounts.

Greens, surrounds, and bunkering. Public photographs and round-guides depict small-to-mid-size greens with front-edge tilt and restrained bunkering positioned to influence lines rather than simply frame targets. The club does not cite a modern master-plan restoration architect for the East Course comparable to other Ross venues; present conditions instead reflect maintenance-led presentation after reopening. Without plan overlays, the degree to which current green pads match 1910s/1920s construction is undocumented in open sources.

Facilities and operations. Following the Inn fire, the golf side reopened in May 2020 and continues to offer public tee times and memberships; as of 2025 club news updates highlighted renewed activity and staffing. This operational continuity is relevant because it confirms that the East Course—the Ross/Flynn layout—is the venue in play today (the West Course, by contrast, is the George Fazio 1960s layout that is treated separately in public listings).

Sources & Notes

Pocono Manor Golf Course — “History.” Asserts Ross plans in 1911 for a nine-hole layout and recounts Art Wall Jr.’s association with the club; provides context for early operations.

LINKS Magazine (archival feature), “The Accessible Donald Ross.” Notes an initial Ross nine (1912) with William Flynn expanding to 18 thereafter. Hotel-Online (resort archival release), “The Inn at Pocono Manor’s Centennial Celebration.” Explicitly states the East Course “opened in 1912 with nine holes designed by Ross and was expanded in 1924 to eighteen by William Flynn”; also summarizes the West Course (Fazio) chronology.

Pocono Record (news), “Massive blaze at Pocono Manor Resort & Spa” (Nov 1, 2019). Fire coverage. WNEP / Club + Resort Business / club site news posts. Golf reopening after the fire (May 2020) and subsequent operations updates (2025).

GolfPass Video Library, “Tommy Bolt vs. Art Wall at Pocono Manor.” Documentation of All Star Golf tapings at the East Course. Wikipedia (LPGA), “Pocono Northeast Classic (1977)” + GolfPass “one-hit wonder venues.” Identifies the LPGA event and winner Debbie Austin. (Used for tournament verification only.)

Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau listing. Marketing summary that the East Course “was touched by designers Ross and Flynn” and has hosted notable players.

Worldgolfer blog review (2023).

Secondary claim that today’s 1–6, 17–18 trace to Ross’s nine and 7–16 to Flynn; included here as unverified guidance for future archival work.