North Park Golf Course

For a public golf course, North Park has plenty to offer in terms of challenge and value. The main downside of this course is that the staff are difficult to deal with and it gets extremely crowded.

My #1 tip to get on the course quickly is to show up when they open on a weekday. The strangest thing about this course is that they don’t take tee times. Yet, large groups and informal leagues seem to just show up and skip the line. The staff are disorganized. Avoid the course on weekday evenings and on the weekend, since there are leagues on weekday evenings and on the weekend it just gets way too crowded.

The course itself is fairly interesting and challenging, especially for a public course. The signature hole is #1. It’s an uphill Par 5 (511 yards) with traps on both sides. There is plenty of variety in this course as well, with 3 holes over 500 yards and 4 Par 3 holes.

On the course you’ll find medium to narrow fairways with dense treelines on both sides and rolling hills throughout. The course is especially scenic first thing in the morning. The back 9 are flatter than the front 9. Overall, this course is moderately difficult.

There’s a cafe, driving range and pro shop. Amenities are fairly basic. Pace of play can be extremely slow on this course. Not just because of the number of people, but also because of how they run large groups through the course and let everyone in these large groups tee off at the same time. Rangers are also difficult to come by, and when they do appear, they have been known to yell at patrons (including junior golfers.)

The terrain also needs work on this golf course. The grass is generally on the long side, and other golfers do a poor job of repairing divots. This course is very difficult to play after a recent rainstorm, since the water tends to pond. I’d recommend playing this course on a sunny day. Allegheny County residents get a 10% discount. Green fees are $20 on the weekend for residents and a cart rental is $19.50.

Would I recommend this course? If you can get in at the right time without waiting too long, then yes, Don’t expect much from the staff. Enjoy the welcome challenge that this course has to offer and ignore the rest.

Course is good challenge for most average golfers. Staff is as noted: rude, cronyist,argumentative, vindictive, phony (pretend nice). I, personally, have seen them berate a father on Father's Day in front of his small son. If you were trying to decrease business, this is the management staff for you! It almost seems purposeful. (shooting to privatize a course owned by the people?? They tried to do that once before, but were deterred by public backlash. It wouldn't surprise me if this were just a sureptitious end-around to the same effort. You know! "we're loosing money, citizens; we have to do something!!" It's defies belief that they haven't asked themselves why they are not crowded to the gills anymore (especially on friday, saturday, & sunday mornings. North Park used to be a jewel in the crown of Allegheny County Parks and Recreation. The course is a great layout and (presently) reasonably priced..They promoted the previous manager around 8 years ago,and it's been downhill ever since. The course is what brings the golfers. The staff is what keeps them away.