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Played in the GK Guru outing earlier this week in the first tee time. We decided to play the "hybrid" tees, which was a first for me. The course is playing pretty fast and firm which is generally the way I like to play courses. Grabbed the "Birdie Chain" on the first hole and didn't let go until the 18th... that doesn't mean I was on a roll, just that birdies were few and far between.

Pro shop and first tee control was on top of things and got us out a couple minutes early. After that it was about a 4.5 hour pace even with us having a few holes that didn't go our way.

Tee Boxes: I would love to see them level these out a bit. I don't think we had a level tee box all day. I will not use them as an excuse for my toe hook driver issues, but when you are unable to get comfortable on a tee box as the ball is above/below/uphill/downhill, it doesn't help.

Fairways: As previously stated, these were running pretty hard and fast which is something I prefer to soft and spongy. There were areas marked as ground under repair in a few spots, but it was not a major concern.

Rough: Not much of it on some holes... might need to grow this out a little seeing as the fairways are running a bit hard and fast to keep from losing balls down ravines.

Greens: The greens were really in good to great shape with pretty hard bounces expected. However, there was a noticeable difference in speed between the front 9 and back 9 greens. It seems the backside were a bit slower overall for whatever reason. They didn't look/feel different, they just putted differently.

Bunkers: I was in more than one, and I will say they are better than most courses I have played in the past year or two. I would like to see sand added to the left bunker on #17 (my favorite place to reside no matter what I try). Beyond that, there was enough sand in most bunkers. Sadly, it appears most patrons have no understanding of how the rake works as there were footprints and gouges galore in many bunkers.

Overall: This is a fun layout where you don't need to hit driver all day. I think I hit 2 on the front side and could have easily hit 3-4 on the back and not had an issue with long approaches into greens. HOWEVER, the ability to score will come down to pin positions and your angles into greens. If the pin is behind a bunker or has a slope prior to the hole, you're better off just playing more to the middle than trying to get the ball to drop n stop. This is a fun layout and will test your bag and your mental toughness once you miss a couple of putts where you misread the break completely (I was perplexed more than once).

I hope to be back soon... and hopefully without the toe hook driver madness going on.
8 Likes.
FINALLY got a chance to get out and give the new driver a shot around the course, and I run into 2+ club winds. At least the pace of play was good at about 4 hours. Played blue tees today and the 2-some who joined me... and one of the guys was on fire with his wedge play holing out twice for birdie! I couldn't make a thing from off the green.

I'm not certain if the course at this point is getting better, staying the same, or reverting a bit.
- It looks like most of the greens are shrinking in size due to either choice to change the original layout a bit to make things harder (doesn't need it), or the greenskeeper needs some help from management to get things back under control. In addition, what was once great putting surfaces, if frustrating with all the micro breaks in them, are inconsistent and look to be at least two strains of grass ... if not three. That is disappointing.
- The fairways are somewhat improved in many areas from last year, but other areas look worse for wear. Plenty of bare spots and very thin coverage.
- The bunkers are the same as last time I played when my wedge was damaged. Lots of rocks, not just pebbles, but larger rocks. You have to be careful of your shots and make certain to move rocks. The waste areas are waste areas, but bunkers need SAND in them. I know that is hard to do when you get big winds often, but there are options that should work out there. Sadly, they aren't cheap.
- Tees will require some future work, but the fairways are a greater concern. I don't think any were what I would consider to be flat.

This is a really great layout and if the soil concerns can be worked out, it can return to its former glory. If management is reading this: PLEASE help out your greenskeeper as much as possible to make this course AMAZING again. Part 1 is done with the new sodded areas and removal of turf for a more "natural" look, now to move on to part 2... let's get the rest of the course up to par.
8 Likes.
Played in the final group with Johnny and Vic on Sunday at 12:09pm. Second time out here, and there is something to the layout that seems to like me even when my game is rather erratic. Hit some pretty garbage tee balls and got some pretty good lies, and hit some really nice wedges getting the expected response from the greens.

Driving Range: We were set up WAY deep into the driving range, and the ground at this point was pretty much chewed up and like hitting from sand. Walking up to where we were hitting you could see that the rest of the range was in good shape, we just caught it at the end of what was probably a lot of golfers.

Golf Cars: Really nice to have a ride that is fast enough to get around efficiently with ample power even on steeper limbs.

Tee Boxes: Coverage was good to ok for most tees. However, the tee boxes have that feeling they need to be rebuilt and reinforced a bit around the sides. Most tees were not flat by any means making the attempt to "take one side of the course out of play" or playing angles into a draw/fade situation as opposed to straight line geometry.

Fairways: While the fairways and rough aren't exactly dormant, there is a bit of color loss. No matter as they played very well for this time of year. Personally, I love playing on dormant grass, so if the color of the fairways and rough change at a different rate and lead to definition, I would love it! Fairways had plenty of grass and I don't believe I saw a bare spot anywhere on the course.

Rough: The rough was a bit hit and miss. There were some thinning areas in places which led to a couple interesting lies. Looks like the ground in a couple places will need to be punched to loosen the dirt before the grass will grow in lush again. Other than that, I found the rough to be fair and generally uniform in height.

Sand/Waste areas: If you've read my previous reviews, sand is one of my biggest pet peeves. You have got to have good sand in the bunkers in order for them to play as designed. This is the first course I have played in over 3 years that had GREAT sand! The texture and density of the sand was perfect for playing proper sand shots. I was in 1 green side bunker (long bunker shot) and was able to throw the ball up beyond the pin and pull it back about 6 feet to a kick in putt. Fairway bunkers were fair and tight. I would have liked a little bit of "fluff" on top to help with taking a stance, but it wouldn't have helped with the poor shot I hit from a long bunker.
The waste area on the short par 4 16th was what is expected from such a location: hard turf with minimal in the way of rocks to destroy your wedges. Great surface to play from in the case of a poor tee shot.

Greens: The greens were pretty good for late day tee times. There was some bump to the surface on all the greens, but the speed was good and most putts tried to hold their lines. There were a couple greens where the surface looked to be one or two cuts and rolls from being perfect. However, as those couple greens were there was some "spike" grass growing up that was long and bounced the ball offline and up in the air. The way I was putting it didn't exactly ruin my day, but it was unexpected and cost a stroke. Overall, the greens are in great shape, and after a couple more cuts will be amazing.

Overall course: There is plenty of character on this course to stand out from the normal "boring" almost cookie-cutter layouts that are full of repetition. I don't think there are 2 holes that are similar in look or how they play on the course. I love the look of creeks and natural areas around a course. The creek and the ponds with lilly pads are great features that bring a more natural look to a course in the middle of Irvine. The 9th hole with the creek on the right causing some second thoughts in deciding to go for it in 2 is a favorite hole of mine.

Most holes on this course will give you a visual queue as to where Tom Fazio wants you to hit your tee shot. There will be a large landing area on most holes so shots just offline are not penalized heavily. The par 4s vary in length and complexity, and a couple of the shorter par 4s give you at least 3 options for how to play the hole. You can go "hero" and bomb it up into the narrow neck short of the green, you can hit to the angle for a longer shot home (see: wide landing areas), or you can take on the bunker/waste areas and have a shorter iron home than playing the safe angle. You might have a more challenging approach to a tucked pin, but the option is still there to go for it. The par 3's are very challenging for different reasons. When a hole is shorter like #3 there is a water feature to catch your attention. When the par 3 is long like 11 and 17, there is an escape route to avoid a major round breaking number.

After each "challenging" hole, there is a shorter hole to lessen the stress level a little and give you a chance to recover before the next challenging hole. While #17 has been my nemesis (always somehow miss pin-high and left no matter what) exceeding 200 yards, it is also the perfect set up for the risk-reward par 5 18th hole.

If you've never played this course, this would be a great time to get in a round. Bring your thinking cap and you can score well. Bring your random tee balls and you should still be able to enjoy yourself and score. Make certain to bring your imagination around the greens (I had to hit a recovery shot all the way across from left to the slope beyond the right side of the green to get close to a pin as all other options led to ending up in a deep bunker). Finally, enjoy a day away from it all on a great design in nice shape.
16 Likes.
Played in the "GK Plays" outing on Saturday and did a high quality job stinking it up out there... such is life.

Arrival and check-in: This was an interesting sort of situation when it comes to overall rating for me as this location is about 47 miles from my home and it took about 3 hours to get there on a Saturday. This does play a bit into my desire to make another trek in this direction. I know one thing for certain: It will NOT be a summer Saturday if I can help it. Removing this absurd traffic situation, the golf course is part of a resort and not in the "resort" sense such as many others I have been to. There is no parking right by the clubhouse where golfers can park isolated from the rest of the resort guests. The layout is a bit confusing and self-parking is quite a hike from the course check-in. I drove past the self-parking lot (I wasn't certain that was the self-parking at the time) and used the valet service as this looked to save about 5-10 minutes in walking (and I was already late in getting to the course). After I made it down to the golf shop the staff were great in all ways, and this makes up for the parking headaches somewhat.

Off to the course ...
(Note: I was there too late to actually hit at the range, so I cannot comment on the practice facilities other than a "4 tier" putting green with very little in the way of intermediate slopes. It is either the big drops or relatively flat. The putting green was pretty beaten up and looked to be burned in some areas.)

Tee Boxes: In general the tees are in pretty good shape and are mostly flat. Not much I can say here but that I appreciate a course that does a good job keeping tee boxes useful (flat, mown, and not concrete dirt).

Fairways: I didn't see much of these other than heading into the weeds to find my ball. For the most part, the fairways looked to be in great shape and were not "spongy" or very slow. I would say these were medium speed fairways and would be neutral to most golfers. I would say that if you need to hit a flop shot from the fairway areas near the green you will have a pretty tough time getting under the ball. Tried once and ended up pinching it in an epically bad way... thank goodness for spin bringing it back a bit.

Rough: Spent plenty of time here and I can say there is a bit of a mixed bag situation going on. I understand the course was working on removing "rogue" grass from the course and this caused a bit of damage to areas. Generally speaking, the rough is playable and I had no issues hitting pretty much any club from the rough. HOWEVER, if you get into the "dried/died/sparce dustfield" that is beyond the rough (spent too much time here) your ability to recover will be a crap shoot. I had 3 good lies and one just terrible lie.

Bunkers: Found a fairway and 2 green side bunkers. The fairway bunker was playable, but I would like to see a little bit of softer sand in the bunkers. As for the 2 greenside bunkers, I will have to say I was depressed at the conditions. People who know me understand this is a major pet peeve for me, but green side bunkers, especially those with deep/sharp contours, NEED to have sand in them to be playable. The sand needs to be soft and have the "fluffy" characteristic in order to get up and out. Greenside bunker on 16 was playable enough, but the extremely deep front bunker on #1 while hitting to a front pin position was impossible without sand. Made an attempt at getting out of that bunker once and then ended up picking up and just walking off back to the cart. (Side note: #1 was our last hole of the day and I was done)

Greens: Generally speaking the greens are pretty good and are multi-tiered. There is some ball mark damage present on most greens from people who can't be bothered to repair the greens. Beyond that, the ball rolled pretty consistently at what I would consider a medium-slow speed (around 8-9 on the Stimpmeter would be my guess IF there was a truly flat area to check the value). I found the greens to be confusing and I misread everything I saw. The others in the group did not have the same issue, so I would say that is on me. I am normally a good reader of the green but I was over-reading break and misreading speed all round. If you are comfortable with "muni" green reading (i.e. it will break less than you think 90% of the time) you will do well here on the greens.

Overall: The course layout is NOT what I am used to seeing in a "Resort" course. Most resort courses are set up to be "fun" for the 20+ handicapper, so I tend to go brain dead and just hit balls instead of playing golf. I am a HUGE fan of the RTJ Trail in Alabama, the courses in Pinehurst, and pretty much any TRUE Pete Dye course... courses that make you think. That said, there is challenge out there with deep bunkers, swirling/changing winds, and some interesting pin positions on multi-tiered greens. The yardage on the card is a bit misleading as I would say it plays a bit longer than the card would suggest. Position is key on most holes and you do NOT want to short side yourself all day like I did. Bad-bad misses will end up with you in advanced wedge play purgatory having to work hard for par. Good-bad misses will give you plenty of green to work with and multiple possible options around the green. It can literally be better to really miss a shot and have plenty of green instead of having just missed and have to hit a flop shot over a bunker from a tight lie.

If I get the chance, I wouldn't mind playing this course again when the "rogue" grass and bunker issues are addressed. I would be curious to see the other course too, but this would be fun to give a second shot when my game returns and there is fluffy sand in the greenside bunkers.
13 Likes.
I was able to make the journey to the GK outing on a "last minute" decision thanks to my back and shoulders feeling better than they have in a while. Played in the 1:30pm tee time along with Nick, Michael, and Ken. First look at the course and it reminded me of playing on the RTJ Trail out at Muscle Shoals (Fighting Joe course), but shorter (no joke, that course is 8,092 from the tips and 7,126 on the next tees up). The look is about where the similarities end for me as I had some issues getting around this track.

Tees: The tee boxes were pretty good, but there were some level concerns here and there. I'm not certain if it was just me being picky and the spots where I wanted to tee up being used more, but I found myself stopping a few times and walking over a couple feet either direction to find a more level spot for teeing up.

Fairways: I will say that I did enjoy the fairways a great deal. I had a couple of flat lies, but 90% of the time the ball was either slightly above or below my feet and on an uphill or downhill slope. Tight lies galore which is something I enjoy in a course. The same was found around the greens, but this was almost a negative if you short-sided yourself as many times as I did out there. 58 degree wedge skills are a must for these tight areas when you cannot find a landing spot for a bump and run of some sort.

Rough: You might as well call these hazards as you only find 10-20% of balls that enter. The grass is absurdly long and coils up on itself leaving no hope of finding the ball unless it sits on top of the grass (or you're very lucky). The native grasses are not much better. I was able to find my ball in 3 or 4 situations but not in 3 others and I just gave up on the last. I would call the rough a negative as even a minor spray from the middle of the fairway can run into this grass and be lost forever.

Bunkers: I am very happy to say I was not involved in any of the bunkers. However, I can say from looking at the lack of softer sand in the green side bunkers there is almost no easy way to escape from any of these pits. The deep grass/weed/native grass lips can make for an interesting situation as I believe we lost a ball in the lip on one. Personally, I was caught in the deep grass of one bunker lip (ball well below feet) and had to use a flipped 58 degree wedge and a left handed swing in order to extract myself. I would want to see more sand in the bunkers in order to make them a bit more fair to those who are stuck in them. Once there is sand I think some of the "shag" on the bunker lips could be cut back a bit for a better look and playability. It's just a bit too long.

Greens: The green complexes are really interesting and varied. However, something about the grass of choise kept me perplexed and frustrated all day long. I left wedges way short, watched others hit shots that ran across them like they were covered in glass, and proceeded to pull one wedge back about 20 feet and off a green early in the round. Regarding putts, I was either hitting what felt to be too hard and coming up short or hitting putts what felt to be too soft only to watch them blow past the hole all day. 37 putts through 17 holes for a 3 index confirms that I was not having a great day, but I did enjoy the contours and tough pin placements.

Overall: The course is a great layout and test of skill. However, the course rating is a joke. I don't know who were the 4 raters that were involved in rating this course but they clearly did not do an accurate rating, or the rating is outdated by the course maturation. Based on other courses I have played over the years, and from talking with raters back when I worked at a course, I would rate the blue tees closer to 73.3/130. I think 70.1/116 is nowhere near how the course actually plays.

If I get a chance to come out and play again I would love to see how much things change with different seasons and weather.
14 Likes.
FINALLY!! The first round of golf since November 2017 is in the books, and it was a mixed bag on all levels. Shot 77 after nearing jarring a 240 3w for albatross (only pulled off a birdie thanks to the greens which will be reviewed later), and I have 2 deep nicks in my relatively new wedge (3 rounds) thanks to the bunkers (foreshadow).

GolfNow deal for $16 brought me out of work imposed retirement to play on a clear blue sky day with tons of wildflowers blooming all over the region. Great way to escape the city/suburbs and see if I still had any golfing ability left after over 450,000 air miles in the past 14 months.

Checking in with the shop has always been easy and pleasant. However, this time I noticed a new sign at check in. There is now a $1.50 "GPS fee" you are required to pay regardless of whether you want the GPS or not. IF you choose to decline use on the course when asked on the 3rd hole, you can go back in the pro shop after you finish to get a refund. You cannot tell them to turn it off in the pro shop and not pay the fee. This really rubs me the wrong way, and since it was not disclosed until checkin I feel it is a really cheap way to get an extra $1.50 from people who don't want to bother going back in the pro shop for a refund (like myself).

Off to the course, which the last time I played it (mid 2017 I believe) looked like a dirt outline of a once great course. Well, there are a few holes where the grass is back and looks close to what it used to. However, most of the course is still in a serious need of additional remediation and repair. I would have thought that after the past rains the grass would have returned. I was wrong. Bare ground galore, and since it rained yesterday even the dirt was playing slow. Drives stuck and didn't run like they should on a links course.

Bunkers... where do I begin with this one. My number one pet peeve with bunkers in courses the past few times I have played was the lack of sand and a ton of pebbles. However, here there are rocks... not small rocks but some up to an inch and a half. Some are on the surface and some are under the surface enough to not see them until ... well, let's say my beautiful forged wedge now has 2 pretty deep channels in the bottom (not surface scrapes). That's inexcusable in this day of rakes, sieves, and proper upkeep of the bunkers at some courses.

Greens: Greens used to be the best part of this course, if a bit vexing. I am used to the ball never taking the same exact route here as the greens are not rolled and there are little breaks that give them character. However, it looks like they have 3 different grasses growing in the greens now and the mottled surface kicks the ball wherever it wants. Probably doesn't help they were bumpy and slow from the rain the day before to begin with. However, looking at the tee sheet I am wondering if the bumps are from previous days and very little upkeep is being done daily to keep the surface up?

Overall: In the past this was my course to get away from everyone and just head out and enjoy myself on a fun layout. However, given the new "GPS fee" and the fact the course has not come back I think I am done playing here until there are major changes. Damaging my $150+ wedge with rocks in the bunker, the lack of care for the greens, and the inability to get grass to grow and take hold tells me a lot. I want this course to return to what it once was, but I just don't see it happening. I will miss playing here, but I cannot justify the drive for the conditions when there are over 15 courses within the same drive time with far superior conditions. Additionally, if I drive another 20 minutes you get to Temecula and even more amazing courses with great upkeep.

I don't want to say this course is done, but given what they charge for rack rate and what the course condition is ... they're done. RIP to a great Cal Olsen design that just isn't being treated as it deserves to be.
12 Likes.
Got a chance to finally play this course on Nov 20th, and I really do love the layout. In general, the course was in pretty good shape. The greens were a bit of an issue for our group as it was like putting on a lattice surface. Most putts would travel 99% straight, but the bumps would throw the ball off course a bit or simply bump the speed off the putt. The greens were not recently aerated, so we determined there might be a bit too much water on some greens and a need to roll the surfaces more often. Either that or someone with some very odd shoes decided to perform a dance around the hole on each green.

Sand for the most part was consistent, but there were a couple of situations where large (1 inch) rocks were found around the ball and throughout the bunker. This came into play on the 8th hole where I proceeded to turn a simple up and down from the bunker for par into a 7 (ball unplayable as I refuse to damage a club in a rock field, then still had a smaller rock behind the ball which led to flying into the other bunker, then up and down).

I would love to play this one again with smooth greens and once the overseeding takes hold. I don't mind "thin" fairways, but when some portions are thin and others are growing in at a much better rate it becomes hard to determine how to attack the pin (i.e. will the grass get caught in the face and lead to a flyer). Great track and definitely plays shorter than yardage when you catch it without wind. I'm betting with a howling afternoon gale my 77 would have been closer to 82 or 83.
12 Likes.
Played the Guru outing with Larry and Henry on Thursday (17 Aug). Conditions were much better in regards to weather (low to mid 80's vs upper 90's and humid). As for the course, there are a couple of areas that need some work and it appears these are being dealt with. Beyond that, the fairways were very inviting and the ball sat up well enough to take advantage of pin placements. The only real hiccup I can come up with for the course would be the ground crew left the cuttings in the rough on a few holes. This left me with a couple of interesting shots and a nice coat of grass cuttings down in my socks and shoes.

Overall, this is a really fun layout with the exception of one hole that has my number. The greens were quite hard and playing at a nice speed (maybe 10-11 max). I wouldn't suggest this course try for 12 or 13 on the stimpmeter or some pin placements would be severely unfair. Tees had some wear and tear, but nothing too bad. Most tee boxes could use a little bit of leveling and the bunkers could use some softening of the sand (I prefer soft sand green side, and am not a fan of not being able to splash the ball due to sand depth). Beyond that, the course is in really good shape.

Side note: Hit my 7th pin (still no ace) on #10. One of these days that hole will give up the ace... I can feel it. Love the look of 10 and 17, but 17 keeps suckering me into going after the back left pin.
10 Likes.
Another Guru outing review. This is a very straightforward course that is not as easy as it appears to be. The wash is a place you do NOT want to end up for many reasons. The greens were long and slow due to the summer heat. The fairways and rough are great to hit from and the sand was pretty good.

The course layout itself was a bit repetitive and can be rather punitive in the afternoon wind (see 15-30 mph gusts out of nowhere taking the ball where it was not intended to go). Fairways are not really wide enough for afternoon (read: high) winds unless you are really in control of your ball flight. That said, the course itself is a fun layout and definitely would be worth another shot. I would love to get out earlier in the day with minimal wind and faster greens.
6 Likes.
Lead Guru group with mpisarski01, kviser and sixpez. This is my second trip out here and I must say I really love this course! This is one of those (few) that seem to fit my eye ... even if my ball control was off a bit for the round. Dan, our caddie, was great and the staff was very accommodating.

I'm going to pretty much confirm what has been said before: the conditions are great for the weather they have had this year with the exception of the bunkers. Last year the sand was amazing in the ... *cough* 6 ... bunkers I was in. This year, the 2 I ended up within were filled with rocks galore. The sand was hard and I would guess very close to the liner given how many rocks were possibly interfering with any bunker shot. Beyond that, the greens were in better shape than last year (only saw one spot that looked like patchwork was performed within the past month or so). Fairways and rough were great to hit from and very little damage was seen through the round.

If you are a fan of wildlife, we had the local mountain goats invaded the range while we were warming up and mocked us by staying out of range. Around the course are tons of desert chipmunks and we ran across a huge desert hare (flop-eared).

Once the annual summer shutdown is over, I would suggest taking a trip out to play this amazing course.
7 Likes.
Got a chance to head out to Redhawk on 7/2/17. There is something about this course that I cannot get my brain around. It doesn't matter how bad I have been playing on 6400 yard courses, when I step up to the gold tees (7000 yards) all of a sudden I start scoring. I think this course just fits my eye.

Check-in is quick and efficient. One of these days I am going to grab a shirt or some other trinket, but not on this day. Bypassed the driving range and headed over to the chipping area to work on the short game. This decision would save my bacon all day long (hit 11/14 fairways, but only 5 greens and 25 total putts).

Once out on the course, the general overview is great conditions. HOWEVER, there are a couple of concerns I see with regards to conditions. First, there is some intrusion of an unknown (to me) broad leaf weed-like flowering plant on a few holes on the back 9 (10, 11, 14, 15, and 16 if memory serves me). This isn't a major issue right now, but it does appear there will be some maintenance coming up to remove this before the fairways are infested with whatever it it. Second, the bunkers... I cannot come up with a positive thing to say about bunkers layered with rocks and "concrete" sand. I was in two fairway bunkers and in both cases the ball was in a rut (runoff caused groove) in what would best be considered hard dark sand. I had one "good" bunker shot from a bunker with sand in it, but it was a "secondary" green side bunker. Very nice where there is sand, and the rest needs a lot of work. Perhaps the staff need to get out to the bunkers with a very strong rake or a tiller and get the sand turned over a bit to loosen it up. Sure couldn't hurt at this point.

Greens were very nice with the exception of a couple of nearly bare spots on 2 greens. Everything else was nearly perfect and the ball rolled true (see: 25 putts) and medium-fast (maybe as much as 10-11 in the afternoon on the Stimpmeter?). The rough around the greens mimics that of the rest of the course. If you are in swale or grass bunker, you could be in 3-5 inches of grass, or you could be in 1-3 inches if in a less contoured area.

Of note: There looked to be a couple of sprinkler issues (2 flooded bunkers and 3-5 spots with flooded areas in the rough).

Beyond that, the course is in amazing shape, and once they fix the bunkers and get the rocks out (I'm not about to damage my clubs on rocks, so if I was in those bunkers in a tourney I would end up with a declaration of "unplayable" rather than damage my gear) the course will be one of the best conditioned in SoCal I have played in the past year.
12 Likes.
Guru outing today with David, Lee, and "the boss" on a 72 degree and breezy day. From the second you drive up and see the clubhouse you know you are in for something very interesting. The pro shop is beautiful and well set up for any need. The staff are very friendly and are on top of things on the course via radio.

Stepping outside and down to the cart staging area, the bag is awaiting you on your cart which is powered with lithium-ion batteries and has a USB port if you need a recharge. I didn't make it to the range to hit, but it appeared from what I could see to have all the targets necessary to be ready to go. There are 2 practice pitching greens with a sand bunker between to hit shots from all green side conditions. Finally, the practice putting green is large enough for a good group of players and is close to the speed of the course greens.

The course itself is an interesting beast all to itself. The front side is built around some larger fairway targets and greens with some interesting tiering. When you get to the back side, you best be straight and use your brain to get around. The greens are a bit more severely tiered and being in the wrong place will get you into trouble.

I have been thinking about it since we stepped on the course, and the best way I can explain it is this is the "average guy's Augusta." By this I mean, when the pins are on the toughest tiers (we had a few today), the landing areas for "great" shots are no more than 5-10 yards wide on the greens. You need to use your eyes and brain on this course and think your way around. This is NOT a "grip it and rip it" layout... unless you hit it dead straight every time. Johnny and I hit long irons or 3w many times on the course instead of driver to set up the right angles to the pins. Shots into the greens are not long in general when you set up in the right positions. The longest club I had in all day was a 5 iron at 180 with the exception of a miscalculation off the tee leading to a 3 iron at 200 home on a 430 yd par 4.

Tees, fairways, and the short areas around some greens are in spectacular shape. The rough is just that: something you will want to avoid if you can. The ball can sit up a bit or nestle down and give you very little chance to get close to the hole on your approach or around the green. The bunkers in the fairway are a bit hard due to being watered and settling down. This isn't much of an issue but could use with a little raking to loosen up the top layer.

Around the green, the bunkers appeared to be in great shape. I was in one bunker and found it a bit irregular in sand depth. The spot where I hit the sand splashed and showed a bit of depth, and where I took my stance had some soft sand, but where my ball ended up was lacking enough sand under the ball to splash it out (I hit a miserable chunk that just cleared the lip trying to get a bit cute on a longer shot). From seeing other shots I think my bunker shot was the anomaly.

If you get a chance to play here, do it! Bring your "A" game (or at least know your misses and account for them), enjoy the amazing scenery (birds, bunnies, and tons of environmental areas), bring plenty of balls if you don't have your "A" game, and just have a blast playing this course. I can't wait for another shot at this one, and now that I have been out here I will correct a couple mistakes and shave some strokes.
11 Likes.
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