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4.9
307 Reviews (307)
5 Stars
209
4 Stars
86
3 Stars
7
2 Stars
1
1 Stars
4
Conditions
4.9
Value
4.9
Layout
5.0
Friendliness
4.1
Pace
4.0
Amenities
3.2
99.6%
Recommend this course
300 out of 307 reviews
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0
5 Stars
0
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
0
Value
0
Layout
0
Friendliness
0
Pace
0
Amenities
0
0%
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Average Rating
Avg Rating
5.0
1 Reviews (1)
5 Stars
1
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
5.0
Value
5.0
Layout
5.0
Pace
4.0
Amenities
3.0
StaffFriendliness
4.0
100.0%
Recommend this course
1 out of 1 reviews
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About

Holes 18
Type Public
Style Links
Par 72
Length 6962 yards
Slope 127
Rating 73.7

Situated along the shores of the Susquehanna River, Royal Manchester Golf Club is tucked away in the rolling hills of northern York County. The course is just a few miles outside Harrisburg but the traditional links design will transport you to the seaside courses of the British Isles. Like the Old Course at St. Andrews and Royal Latham, which served as the inspiration, the golf course has an open, windswept landscape with only two bodies of water. The 15th, the longest par 3 on the course, is the only hole set among the few trees that dot the landscape. The most formidable challenge comes from the prevailing winds as well as the strategically placed bunkers. Royal Manchester Golf Club finishes with a memorable view of its signature waterfall that cascades down into a sparkling pond.

Course Details

Year Built 2010
Golf Season Year round. High Season: April 1st - October 31st
Architect Timothy Freeland (2010)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes
Clubs Yes
GPS No
Pull-carts No

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Bunker Yes
Caddies No
Golf School Academy Yes - "Raspberry Golf Academy"
Golf Simulator No
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes
Practice Hole No

Policies

Walking Allowed Yes, except on weekends & holidays 7-11AM

Food & Beverage

Bar

Available Facilities

Banquet Facilities

Accolades

Reviews

4.9
307 Reviews (307)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Patio Dining 22
Drinks 20
19th Hole Scenic Views 11
Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 38
Thick Rough 38
Undulating Greens 36
This course/club is great for:
Advanced Golfers 41
Locals 28
A Weekend Splurge 22
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 39
In the 'Burbs 24

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Windy weather
Used cart

Great Course

I've played several rounds here. If you are playing for the first time or play here infrequently it will be pretty challenging. It took me a few rounds to figure out aiming points and favorable tee positions. Driver isn't always the best club off the tee unless you have really precise aim.

I would hesitate to recommend this course for beginners. Unlike other courses in the area, this place plays rather tight and errant hooks and slices will probably land out of bounds. The fescue is super thick and OB balls disappear.

Occasionally, I have had to wait on the tee boxes but normally finish under 4 hours, sometimes just 3 hours (playing single).

The course is in 8-9/10 condition. For a moderately priced public course that is really good. There are a fair amount of unrepaired pitch marks on the greens and just a hand full of bare spots/grass areas that need attention. Overall I was really impressed with the quality of the turf and lush color of the fairways and first cut.

Other notes: driving range is really nice, plays off the grass on the weekends (big plus). Carts do not have gps which I really like. For some reason, there is no place to clean your clubs at the end of the round. All the club cleaning boxes are at the range. There is a bar/restaurant but its not obvious if there is actually food available. Snack selection is kind of lame.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
First Time Playing

Not a top public course in PA

To claim being one of the best courses you would expect better. Pace of play was the worst I ever experienced with no Marshall’s to help move people along. They didn’t have the restaurant open bc they claimed to have an event even though it was lunch time and no one for said event was there. So they only had hotdogs being grilled in the pro shop. They sucked too. Beer cart girl drove by once when we were on the 16th hole on a hot day and they had no water coolers on the course probably bc of COVID. I guess on a 90 degree day they don’t care. The course is well kept on most holes, with the exception of most of the par 3 tee boxes being a sandy mess. A challenging course lay out requiring golfers to be on their game and to hit the ball straight. To me the links at Gettysburg is a much better PA public course in every aspect

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Pace of Play

Drove an hour from Baltimore to play Royal Manchester. It's set in pretty scenery and one of the better courses in the area. The chipping area itself is worth going a few minutes early to enjoy. Greens are fast with enough break to really add to the fun.

Our tee time was 12:50 on a Saturday -- a bit late given sundown at 5:15pm but I figured 4.5 hours would be OK. No such luck. We were backed up from the outset with 3 groups sitting on the 2nd hole tee box ! That continued through the front nine with at least 2 groups waiting on every tee through the round. Called the club house 3 times on the front for relief and stopped in at the turn. On each occasion I was told that rangers were out, but we never saw a ranger on the course and the pace never improved. The front nine took over 2.5 hours and we lost the light on 15th hole.

I have no problem with golfers having a bad day -- happens to everyone. But a better course should be able to work it out so that not everyone on the course is having a bad day. Courses are doing better financially during the pandemic. Unfortunately they don't seem to be investing some of that profit into adequate staffing.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 18
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Royal Manchester

Perfect day all around. RM is a gem!!! Love playing here!!!!

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Wet weather
Walked

!!! Great Course - Most Fun in the Local Area !!!!

Second time playing - once again, a wonderful experience. Staff was extremely courteous and very helpful. Course is very fun and even though it started to rain - it was a blast - links style and rain - think Scotland. Best practice facilities in the area. 4 hours even to play on a Sunday and we waited a few times for the foursome in front of us. Only reason it is not 5 stars is the greens have a bunch of old ball marks. Not the staff's fault - c'mon golfers, fix your ball mark plus find 3 more to fix while playing! Will definitely return to this course when in the area.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Fair
Pace Fair
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once every three months
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Tough course, fun to play

This was a difficult course to play, but it was still a lot of fun to take on the challenge. Links course that looks wide open but if you are not in the fairway or fist cut of rough, say goodbye to your ball. If you find the fescue, take a drop and move on.

Lots of interesting layouts and, while expensive, is a good course to play once a year for the challenge.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 22
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Windy weather
Used cart

Great course

Course is a great layout, and well maintained. Many of the tee boxes were in rough shape, as well as a couple patches on a few greens. However, the greens played excellent and they were mostly in great shape. The fairways were very good, but a touch longer than normal on the edges. I spoke with the operations manager in the pro shop and he said there was an irrigation issue recently that is now resolved and they were letting the fairways grow a little longer since some areas weren't getting as much water as they ideally should.
I played solo, and pace was great on the front 9. A threesome and foursome let me play through and I finished in maybe 1hr 55min. The back was slower and took about 2hr 30min, but it was not the end of the world.
Definitely would recommend this course to anyone. It is a great course, not insanely difficult but you definitely need to be able to control your ball with all the fescue that there is.
The staff here are great, very friendly and professional.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Previously Played

Just awful shape. Won't play again.

I've played here before and brought friends to play this time. I was embarrassed. This course has gone to crap. Conditions are on par with a low end muni course. Just look at my photos. The tees are absolutely horrid. Very little actual grass. I know that due to COVID the sand bottles aren't out, but maybe the crew could repaid divots at days end?
Very little definition from fairways to the rough. And LOTS of bare patches. I mean LOTS.
There was no starter. Very few direction signs. And white mushrooms all over the fairways, which look like golf balls. Maybe send a kid out in the morning to drive around and wipe out the mushrooms?
Comes down to terrible management.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 138
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Maryland Advisor
Top 100 Contributor
Previously Played

Just a Great Course

My first round at Royal Manchester in 2020. A couple of observations. The greens are some of the best in the tri-state area! They run true, a tad fast (which is nice), and are manicured beautifully! I absolutely love these greens. The fairways were in good condition, albeit some are starting to burn out and down to dirt. I suspect the heat has caused this issue. They were mowing while we were there, and the rough is thick and in good shape, but it can be punitive so be careful. We played in about 3.5 hours, which was great, because the course was pretty busy. We were able to get out one tee time earlier, played through a threesome, and then home free for the majority of the round. Never saw anyone! The staff are always accommodating and welcoming. The only thing I didn't like was the sign that stated "masks must be worn on the golf course if you are riding with a non-family member." Really? We're being forced to ride two to a cart, but they think the mask will keep the virus from spreading? The best thing for their customers is allow individual carts, not force people to ride together that should be social distancing! There are touch points in the cart when you share a cart, as well as it was too hot to wear a mask on the course. Management needs to reconsider this policy--it's just stupid! However, I'm not going to let this one questionable policy detract from a beautiful course and a great round.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 17
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing

lots of tall weeds

Solid course must hit it straight, was dried out from hot weather, any ball off in the weeds is gone. Bring an extra sleeve.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 55
Handicap 25+
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Pennsylvania Advisor
Verified Purchaser
Top 1000 Contributor
Previously Played

Greens recently punched

I love this course and would rather play here than many country clubs in the area that I have played. This is my favorite course to play in Southcentral PA.
Today, I was a significantly disappointed to pay $40 for this round in the off season and we were given no warning that all the greens had been punched (aerated). I prefer core aeration anyway for best turf results. These greens were punched in very inconsistent patterns too which was interesting. It also made it unusually inconsistent to putt on for this course which it usually is very consistent in quality and speed.
This was the one place in the area among public courses where the greens were repaired by players and not so today. Very poor care shown by those players recently playing there on the greens. For Winter, tees and fairways in good shape. Greens were fuzzy and perhaps due to crowns and the root structure here over fly ash that is best to leave it a little longer. Just inconsistent. Hopefully, it turns around by April.
Also, the exchange with an employee that could not wait the 5 seconds until I tied my last sneaker before I moved my cart out of a parking space beside the vehicle we came in was irksome. This showed his age and sense of self importance over customers. There were plenty of other spaces but he had to have that one. Not impressed with his lack of consideration and patience for a customer. I will say in fairness that he was kind enough to jump start a members car right before that.
Overall, this was the worst experience here by far in the past 4-5 years of coming here. Again, I look forward to a much better environment here in early April.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 30
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 32
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Beautiful course - I can never get enough of

The only issue with this course is it’s location. It’s very difficult to get to this course,

Once you know the course. It’s a real treat to play. Especially when your long game is firing on all cylinders.
I was blessed to have 55 degree weather on December 28th 2019. Little wind and two single digit golfers to play with..

It was a thrill you experience only now and then. The course can be very hard if you keep missing the fairway .
Understandably the greens were aerated and sanded so the greens were unpredictable but the long lag putts were ok.i think this Course ranks in the top 20 for the mid-Atlantic area.

I am sure you will enjoy the experience

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Top class from the ground up

I’ve never felt compelled to write reviews (something I should change), but, that being said, this place deserves it. Clubhouse is great from the exterior, with a lot of parking very close in that it’s a very short walk to your car from the cart return. I play a ton of golf, some private, some public, but in this case it’s kind of useless to use either of those words to describe the pro shop experience, they’re just the best, most professional staff I’ve ever seen really. I’ve been pretty late to hot deal tee times here twice due to traffic and an accident, but both times when I called warning about my time, the person in the shop has been really gracious and flexible. They’re not stuck up or over the top with their gem of a course, and have extremely fair prices.

The course itself is great; architecture-wise, it’s compelling, and the playing surface is really pure. Each hole is pretty unique, besides maybe for 1 and 8, but the green on 8 makes up for it. The course has an engaging flow if that makes sense, it doesn’t just beat you up three holes straight, it kind of gives you a breather. There’s a nice mix of long par 4s with short par 4s, while the par 3s are all fairly pedestrian, even from the tips, you won’t have to hit anything more than 185. The par 5s are pretty epic, they are true par 5s with a mix of penal/strategic/heroic aspects, and the teeshot on #3 alone can expose you.

Unreal course with great people running it.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 19
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

1st class course

Absolutely great course even in off season. Fescue lined fairways that were thankfully mowed for the end of the season. Would be brutal in summer for my errant tee shots. Awesome practice area. Surprisingly full on a Wednesday morning in November. Greens were aerated 2 weeks prior and not grown in but they were quick and still rolled pretty true. Course is 1 1/2 hrs from home or would play more often.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Best course I’ve played in 717

I have played at dauphin played at heritage hills, both of those courses are fantastic. But this course I felt like I was at Scotland plus the down pouring rain helped it. Greens were in great condition everything was in great condition. Luckily for us we were the only ones on the course practically so it was stress free. I would recommend on laying up on this course for a lot of the wholes though it was fun but somewhat challenging. Holes placed decent enough that if your offline by 10-20 yards your still fine but if you are a beginners stay away or just come with a lot of balls because the rough is always hungry and never has a full stomach! But besides that the staff was nice let us do nine holes even though it was down pouring at times! THERE IS A REASON THIS PLACEN IS TOP TEN PUBLIC GOLF COURSES IN PA

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 12
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Good Variety to Challenge

The course layout and condition were very good. There are several tees so you can choose the degree of challenge you'd like to play.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 12
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Hidden Gem

Been there 3 times. Great layout. Very good conditions each time. Just a treat, nice elevation changes, green complexes, and tee box options for all levels.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 138
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Maryland Advisor
Top 100 Contributor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

My Favorite Course in PA

I love this course, but living 1.5 hrs away (and having to drive around the Baltimore Beltway) doesn't provide much opportunity to play. This trip was my first in 2019 and it was a perfect trip! The day was beautiful, and the course was in excellent shape! From tee box to green, it was perfect! With the recent hot weather, I've played a lot of courses in MD that have burned out and losing their fairways; however, Royal Manchester's fairways were lush and the only damage was unrepaired divots. The rough was thick and punitive, and the bunkers had nice sand (luckily, I wasn't in it much to try it out). The greens were also perfect, albeit running a little fast. As with other reviews, stay out of the tall fescue...it will add 2-3 strokes per hole. On the back nine, we slowed down a little, but still finished in 4 hrs 15 mins. And, the starter got us out about 30 mins before our tee time, which was very nice. The staff at Royal Manchester are top notch, and our server at The Grill after the round was awesome--very attentive, and good at special requests! This course is a treat...I just wish I lived closer. It remains my favorite course in PA.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
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