Nick Ciattei
One of the long-time staples of the Mid-Atlantic golf scene has been Carroll Valley Resort in Fairfield, PA. For those of you who have not heard, the Carroll Valley Resort and the golf course are now under the ownership of the adjacent Liberty Mountain Resort. You have to go back to the early 1960's to find the origination of the Carroll Valley Golf Course. In the late 1960's, an era of the residential communities, a major one was being planned in the Fairfield area. The project would include single family housing as well as a golf course and skiing. The community was to be called Charnita, dubbed that after the first names of the developers, Charles and Anita Rist. Even though the entire project never came to fruition, you can credit the Rist’s for the Carroll Valley Golf Course and adjoining ski resort as well. The course opened in 1968 and was designed by Ed Ault, and architect responsible for many of the classic courses in the Northeast. The skiing operation was taken over by Snow Time Inc. in 1974, and renamed Ski Liberty. Even though the two have been separate operations, most of the public has always thought they were one and the same. Well, now they are. Director of Marketing Anne Weimer said the ultimate goal of Snow Time is to blend both facilities into one coherent unit. “We have 99 rooms now between the two, and are looking to updating the buildings and infrastructure of what was the resorts hotel.” So, with that said, let’s look at the Carroll Valley Golf Course at Liberty Mountain Resort!
The golf course is one of the few you will ever find with this unusual combination of holes. At Carroll Valley, you’ll encounter six par 3's, and five par 5's, along with the remaining par 4's to complete the par 71 layout. Stretching from nearly 6,700 yards from the blue tee to a very woman friendly 5,000 yards from the red tees, this rare collection of holes gives you more scoring opportunities than the traditional course breakdown. The ladies will also enjoy an additional par 5 in the mix giving them a par 72. Having taken several golf groups to this facility, it’s easy for me to state that this course is favorable to most women golfers.
One of those par 5's kicks off things on the front nine at Carroll Valley. An elevated tee box provides golfers that ever loving first hole downhill opening shot. The gentle dogleg right on number one is followed by a sharper bend in the same direction on the par 4 second. The par 3 third has an unmistakable resemblance to the twelfth hole at Augusta National. Instead of Rea’s Creek, here at Carroll Valley, It’s Tom’s Creek! This pesky water hazard meanders it’s way throughout and it’s literally a golf ball magnet. The 584-yard par 5 fourth is the longest hole on the course and requires a forced carry over the creek to the green. The ninth is also a par 5, with a pivotal dogleg right over and around a large lake. To add to this difficult hole, it’s uphill after the tee shot playing to a green perched between bunkers at the top of the property. It’s also a great hole to view the Liberty Mountain slopes in the background.
Most will attest that the tee shot on the par 4 tenth is the most challenging you’ll face all day. Water borders the entire right side and in front of the green on your approach. The par 5 twelfth is a straight, downhill beauty where a good drive may lead to a “go for it” decision with the creek looming in front of the green. Several tough par 4's make up the meat of the back nine at Carroll Valley, most notably the sixteenth, which is rated the toughest hole on the side. Seventeen is the finale of the five pars, while the eighteenth is a good, long par three that plays back to the resort’s original lodge. Several rooms shave 50-yard line seats for that final birdie putt!
“We are very excited about the golf course addition. With the maturity and challenge already present, we have no changes planned for the golf course”, Weimer added. With the acquisition of the Carroll Valley Golf Course, The Liberty Mountain Resort can now boast the four season label. This is not the first golf venture for Snow Time, who acquired Whitetail Golf Resort back in 2006 to coincide with the nearby Whitetail Ski Resort, which Snow Time developed. Golfers in the Mid-Atlantic have long recognized the Carroll Valley Golf Course as one of the best for value and playing condition in the region. With Snow Time and Liberty Montan Resort now at the helm, look for those continued characteristics to be evident for years to come.
