Great Bear Golf Club

Great Bear is Jack Nicklaus's lone Pocono Mountains signature design, an 18-hole routing opened in 1997 in East Stroudsburg that uses the mountain topography for dramatic elevation changes unusual in Nicklaus's typically flatter resort portfolio. The course threads through three lakes, multiple streams, and wetland corridors, with nearly 50 strategically placed bunkers and bridges between holes. Nicklaus built Great Bear with his trademark multiple-option off-the-tee philosophy: clear visuals from the back tees, risk-reward carries for the lower handicaps, bailout routes for resort guests. Native hardwoods frame the corridors and the water hazards are visible rather than hidden, a style Nicklaus prefers over deceptive bunkering. The course plays firm when the Poconos summer cooperates, which rewards run-out approaches. It's consistently cited by Golfweek and Golf Digest among the best public courses in Pennsylvania. For a Pocono trip, Great Bear is the round where the group plays from the back tees and argues about whether it's the most serious test in the corridor (it usually is).