From the publisher’s pen: Fawning over fun

Trekking from the fourth green to the fifth tee at Lehigh Country Club, an enchanting William Flynn design in Allentown, Pennsylvania, between Philadelphia and New York City, requires crossing Country Club Road.

The view from the fifth tee demonstrates the course’s strategic brilliance, as golfers must decide how to navigate a right fairway bunker dotting a semi-blind uphill tee shot. Playing over the bunker reduces the length of the approach shot on the dogleg right par 4. Aiming left of the bunker induces a more spacious landing zone.

Only one other hole, the par-5 sixth, sits on the swath south of Country Club Road. The hole bends left to right. The fifth and sixth delight faders — and Flynn enthusiasts. Everything fits, even atop the course’s most mundane plot.  

Crossing the road a second time leads to a delightful example of Lehigh Country Club’s soothing aesthetic brilliance.

On one of the final pleasant days of the 2025 golf season, superintendent Jim Lanza and assistant superintendent Dan Barone shuttle a pair of visitors from the sixth green to the seventh tee. They park their utility vehicles and lunge toward the upper tee boxes on the downhill par 3. An eight-point buck scurries through scrubby, steep native terrain below as leaves change hues by the second. Eight coworkers can be observed from the tees, which provides unimpeded glimpses of the seventh green and the first 220 yards of the dogleg left par-4 eighth hole. 

Before returning to a scene capable of luring people to the industry and game, consider how four holes at Lehigh Country Club epitomize Flynn’s routing prowess: right, right, downhill, left.

Back to the movement beneath Lanza and Barone …

Mowers are red; utility vehicles are green and yellow. The crew is separated by the Little Lehigh River, yet they are operating as one, blowing leaves to wayward places, changing hole locations ahead of a women’s outing, and following varied contours to mow vibrant green tees, surrounds and rough.

“If you’re not having fun,” says Lanza, scanning the workday choreography from the 211-yard tee on the seventh, “then what are you doing here?” The seventh is one of five holes intersected by the Little Lehigh.

Earlier in the morning, two fawns prance in the water. Thirty seconds after Lanza’s passionate statement about fun a hawk thrusts into view. Who knew turf pros can control wildlife? Above the fourth tee box, another hole with a river view, sits a bald eagle nest. Fox tracks reside in multiple Flynn-placed bunkers.

Hoodie and stocking cap late-October mornings are fun times to be at places like Lehigh Country Club, whether working or trying to hit hazard-avoiding shots. OK, every day should be a fun time to roam Lehigh Country Club, a recreational space doubling as an urban wildlife sanctuary thoughtfully preserved by director of grounds John Chassard for the past four decades.

By mid-fall, in many parts of the country, insufferable heat and humidity becomes more distant. Insufferable golfers — who aren’t as abundant as we’re wired to believe — become more appreciative of their time outdoors. Dwindling daylight changes perspectives. Places like Allentown still receive four distinct seasons. Unfortunately for enthusiasts, and fortunately for determined workers, golf will never be a 365-day hobby in most regions. Fall golf should be savored like pumpkin coffee or a freshly picked Sweet Zinger apple.

Because of its architectural lineage and affluence, the physical appearance and playability of Lehigh Country Club is tough to emulate. But passion travels across roads intersecting golf courses and among professionals who must cross those roads to complete tasks.

Stand on a tee box and observe natural and calculated activity before fall turns into winter.

If it doesn’t evoke fun, it might be a sign to find another place to spend the most precious resource of all: time.   

Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s publisher + editor-in-chief.