Hershey Links

Getting To Know: Hershey Links

An Insightful Interview With Bob Kreider, Head Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Bob Kreider who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Set on 177 acres the Hershey Links meanders over and around many natural ravines. Golden brown fescue grasses frame virtually every hole.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Hershey Links features impeccable playing conditions with bentgrass tees, fairways and greens. A spacious practice area sits between the front 9 and the back 9 and is always included with your golf. The course offers magnificent views from many tees. Keep your eyes open for the deer or fox or wild turkeys.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Pay close attention to your yardage guide as you will want to be careful on yardages both to lay up to or carry one of the many ravines. The course sets high on a bluff and wind is frequently a factor.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Recently named by Golfweek Magazine as the #6 "Courses You Can Play" in Pennsylvania.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
#2 is a medium length par four. You can lay back off the tee or be bold with a longer club. Your decision off the tee will play a factor into how challenging your 2nd shot approach will be. With water on two sides, the green appears to sit almost peninsula like in a lake. A great example on how a shorter hole can be both beautiful and challenging.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
#1 is a beautiful dogleg right par 5 opening hole. From a high point overlooking much of the course, the opening tee shot must find the generously wide fairway. A well struck 2nd shot must carry a 100 yard wide ravine. The 100- 140 yard 3rd shot plays into a green that slopes gently away from the player. Play close attention to the hole location marker as the green is 90 feet deep.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
House cured Reuben sandwich. Don't forget to check out the cobra beer tap.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
The course record is 8 under par 64. One golf professional shot a 64 twice and another golf professional did it the 3rd time. One of the 64"s included 5 consecutive birdies.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7009
Slope: 137
Rating: 73.6

More Information
Hershey Links
101 Hanshue Road
Hummelstown, PA 17036
717-533-0890
www.hersheylinks.com

Revised: 06/11/2013 - Article Viewed 35,591 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.