Brandywine Valley PA/DE Golf Weekend
West Chester PA to Wilmington DE
T&L Golf, Sept/Oct '07
http://www.travelandleisure.com/tlgolf/articles/golf-golf-in-wyeth-country
Golf in Wyeth Country
The historic Brandywine Valley offers bucolic charm outside Philadelphia
From September - October 2007
by Jeff Silverman
Technically, the Brandywine Valley traverses two states and three counties, incorporating both the college town of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and the banking hub of Wilmington, Delaware. But we locals like to think of it as Wyeth country, the heart of which runs along the Baltimore Pike (also known as Route 1), a quiet corridor that connects Chadds Ford to Kennett Square just north of where Delaware's arm fits into Pennsylvania's shoulder. It's along here that the valley's most noted resident, Andrew Wyeth, has for more than half a century used the bucolic landscape of rolling, open fields—perfect, by the way, for golf courses—as inspiration for his provocative art. It's here, too, that George Washington suffered one of his worst defeats of the Revolution and that countless slaves exited to freedom via the Underground Railroad. The early Dutch, Swedish and Finnish settlers loved this land, as did the du Ponts, whose giant chemical company began in 1802 as gunpowder mills along the Brandywine River. Today the area is known for its antique shops, its mushroom farms (over half of the nation's crop is grown in Kennett Square) and the du Pont family's magnificent houses and gardens. So if golf isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Brandywine, you're excused. But four days in the lush valley may cause you to reconsider.
Day One Whether arriving at Philadelphia International Airport or detraining in Wilmington, point your nose straight for the Inn at Montchanin Village, located just south of the Pennsylvania border in Delaware. Formerly a DuPont company town, the village was reconceived in the mid-1990s as a country retreat with twenty-eight rooms and suites grouped in several charmingly refurbished houses on landscaped grounds. It was named the world's best hotel under $250 in Travel + Leisure's 2006 readers' poll.
Unpacked or not, it's off to Avondale, just northwest of the border, for a round at Inniscrone Golf Club, one of minimalist architect Gil Hanse's earliest designs. Originally a private club, the course challenges with rolling contours, fescue-fringed bunkers, blind shots, a cagey double fairway on the par-four sixteenth and a finale that calls for a rousing drive over a valley and up an escarpment.
If it's still light enough, head northeast toward Kennett Square, then detour north onto Route 82 for a scenic drive through Unionville, which is renowned for its manicured horse farms and panoramic views. Don't be afraid to branch off onto the side roads; the natives—both equine and human—are usually friendly.
Back at the inn, relax over dinner at Krazy Kat's, housed in a former blacksmith shop. Feast on the Muscovy duck or the wild rockfish with locally grown golden chanterelles.
Day Two Rise early for coffee and culture in Chadds Ford before a mid-morning tee time at the Golf Course at Glen Mills, on the northeastern edge of the valley. Fortify yourself with fruit pancakes or a shiitake mushroom omelet at Hank's Place, a local breakfast institution where you might even run into Wyeth, who lives nearby. If not, there's plenty of his art on display just across the Baltimore Pike at the Brandywine River Museum. The museum also offers tours of Wyeth's former home and the studio of his father, N. C. Wyeth, half a mile down the road.
At Glen Mills, take in one of the most acclaimed daily-fee golf courses in Pennsylvania—and a remarkable success story in golf. Bold, brassy (you won't see the bottom of a flagstick from the tee until the drop-shot par-three tenth) and well maintained, Bobby Weed's design opens like a links and then descends into a quarry before roaming through testing hills, valleys and old farm fields. But that doesn't begin to tell the tale, for this is the nation's only course owned and operated by a reform school. The Glen Mills Schools, the oldest reformatory in the country, has long held out the poetic promise of a mulligan in life for boys who certainly could use one. This is one round you'll feel good about playing no matter your score. The course provides a vocational laboratory in greenskeeping for seventy kids a semester, and your golf fees help support the school's programs and college scholarship fund.
After the round, stop at Jimmy John's Pipin' Hot Sandwiches, a fixture since 1940 on the Wilmington Pike (Route 202), five miles south of West Chester. This roadside eatery's crunchy hot dogs are legend, as are its kitschy electric trains. Then visit Baldwin's Book Barn, a converted nineteenth-century Chester County dairy barn with more than 300,000 volumes shelved in a maze of side rooms, nooks, crannies and lofts that are delightfully easy to get lost in. You might well find owner Tom Baldwin, a low-handicapper who is always happy to talk about the royal and ancient endeavor, sitting by the wood stove with a Jack Russell terrier in his lap. Golf books line the shelves of an upstairs chamber.
Have dinner at the Gables at Chadds Ford, located in a renovated house and barn believed to be a stop on the Underground Railroad. The exotic-mushroom soup is a must.
Day Three Ready to play thirty-six? The first stop is Wyncote Golf Club. Though it lies at the tip of Amish country in Oxford, Pennsylvania, some fifteen miles west of Kennett Square, when you arrive there you'll think you're in Brigadoon. In true Scottish fashion, architect Brian Ault's award-winning heathland adventure is treeless and prey to the winds. Be sure to pack your best knock-down shots and bump-and-runs. In addition to skilled shotmaking, Wyncote requires a stout heart, especially if you're walking: Each nine begins with a long par five around a lake and ends with an uphill three-shotter.
Afterward, backtrack a half hour into Delaware and experience an entirely different challenge at the two-year-old White Clay Creek Country Club, located between Wilmington and Newark. The layout wraps around Delaware Park race track—on most holes you can hear the bugler calling horses to the post. Arthur Hills wove the routing beside, around and over creeks and marshland to create a layout demanding forced carries and prudent decision making. Unless you have a bazooka in your arsenal, choose your tees wisely.
If two rounds is too much, spend the afternoon strolling through Longwood Gardens. The former estate of Pierre S. du Pont, great-grandson of the conglomerate's founder, this 1,050-acre spread (roughly a third of which is open to the public) offers testament to his curiosity and his wealth. It's a wonderland of cultivated flora and Italianate fountains. Year round, Longwood's four-and-a-half-acre conservatory is aromatic with orchids, roses and other floral and arboreal displays.
Toast your stamina afterward by sampling some of the twenty-seven beers on tap, including local suds from Victory, Yuengling, Yards and Troegs, at the Half Moon Restaurant & Saloon in the heart of Kennett Square's revitalized State Street. They all complement the house specialty: game, from native bison (ranched next door in Unionville) to far-flung imports such as ostrich, kangaroo, alligator and wild boar.
If you're in the mood for something more formal, the candlelit Dilworthtown Inn in West Chester, a former stone-and-brick home that predates the nation's independence, is consistently ranked among the region's poshest establishments. It began service as a tavern in 1780, having been trashed by the British three years earlier following their victory in the Battle of Brandywine. The inn has been serving the public ever since.
Day Four Getaway day starts with a wake-up call amid the wild elevation changes and tree-lined corridors of Deerfield Golf & Tennis Club in Newark, just west of Wilmington. Originally a satellite facility of DuPont Country Club, the course functioned for several years as the private reserve of MBNA executives until Bank of America swallowed the credit-card giant in 2005 and posted its interest elsewhere. That decision is paying off: These days Deerfield is a superb state-owned course.
Finally, take a tour of Brandywine Battlefield Park in Chadds Ford, site of the largest one-day confrontation of the American Revolution. Both Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette slept here. It's a shame they were too preoccupied to bring their clubs.
Trip Planner: Brandywine Valley
Playing
Golf Course at Glen Mills
Architect: Bobby Weed, 2000. Yardage: 6,646. Par: 71. Slope: 138. Greens Fees: $79–$95. Contact: 610-558-2142, www.glenmillsgolf.com.
Deerfield Golf & Tennis Club
Architects: William and David Gordon, 1955. Yardage: 6,323. Par: 70. Slope: 136. Greens Fees: $68–$76. Contact: 302-368-6640, www.deerfieldgolfclub.com.
Wyncote Golf Club
Architect: Brian Ault, 1993. Yardage: 7,149. Par: 72. Slope: 130. Greens Fees: $40–$75. Contact: 610-932-8900, www.wyncote.com.
Inniscrone Golf Club
Architect: Gil Hanse, 1998. Yardage: 6,657. Par: 70. Slope: 143. Greens Fees: $54–$64. Contact: 610-268-8200, www.inniscronegolfcourse.com.
White Clay Creek Country Club
Architects: Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest, 2005. Yardage: 7,007. Par: 72. Slope: 140. Greens Fees: $60–$95. Contact: 302-994-6700, www.whiteclaycreek.com.
Staying
Inn at Montchanin Village
Rooms: $179–$399. Contact: 800-269-2473.
Dining
Dilworthtown Inn (New American), 610-399-1390. $$$$
The Gables at Chadds Ford (Regional), 610-388-7700. $$$
Half Moon Restaurant & Saloon (New American), 610-444-7232. $$
Hank's Place (Diner), 610-388-7061. $
Jimmy John's Pipin' Hot Sandwiches, 610-459-3083. $
Krazy Kat's (New American), 302-888-4200. $$$$
Other Activities
Baldwin's Book Barn, 610-696-0816, www.bookbarn.com.
Brandywine Battlefield Park, 610-459-3342, www.ushistory.org/brandywine.
Brandywine River Museum, 610-388-2700, www.brandywinemuseum.org.
Longwood Gardens, 610-388-1000, www.longwoodgardens.org