The Country Club of York is located among the rolling hills of York County. A great view of the county can be seen from different places on the course. Annual traffic is approximately 25,000 rounds. Normally, the combined length of the holes is 6,359 yds; during the tournament, however, this will increase to 6,610 yds. The average green size is 5,000 ft2, and the average tee size is 1,500 ft2.
The greens and tees are a mixture of Poa annua and creeping bentgrass, while perennial ryegrass and creeping bentgrass predominate on the fairways and roughs, where several fescue species also occur. Until recently, the greens were predominantly Poa annua; however, Terry has been increasing the percentage of bentgrass through core cultivation, vertical mowing, the use of growth regulators, and a bentgrass over-seeding program.
The Country Club of York was constructed under the supervision of architect Donald Ross in 1927. The typical Ross-designed course is noted for its tough greens, deep bunkers, and narrow turning fairways, and thus emphasizing a playerıs skill and accuracy. Initially, there were nearly eighty sand bunkers but these have been reduced to sixty-five over the years. Other obstacles include a large number of trees and several major water hazards, including a 10,000-sqft pond along the left side of hole #6 and a small crick that divides an elevated tee from a long fairway on hole #15.
The native soil throughout the golf course is a clay loam with fair to good drainage. The soil does not hold moisture very well in the hot summer months; thus, frequent irrigation is required to sustain turfgrass growth and quality. As the single-row system for fairway irrigation was established nearly fifty years ago, problems occur regularly and coverage is poor, requiring hand watering along the edges of the fairways. Hose-connected sprinklers are sometimes placed along the sides of the fairways to extend coverage into the roughs. Despite the problems with the irrigation system, the greens and tees receive good coverage. The sand:peat (80:20) mix in the otherwise "push-up" greens extends 3 to 4 inches beneath the surface and is the result of topdressing with this mixture.