I played here this morning. Seemed like the best deal I could find on a busy morning with a lot of golfers out on a holiday day off from work. I booked a 7:06 time directly through their site for $49 ... Continue »

I played here this morning. Seemed like the best deal I could find on a busy morning with a lot of golfers out on a holiday day off from work. I booked a 7:06 time directly through their site for $49 with cart (which is great with no credit card required and then you get text/email reminders the day before). I was in the second group off and we never had to wait too much on the group ahead. Never saw the group behind past the 1st hole, so it was a good morning pace of about 3.5 hours.

The course is in pretty good overall shape, a little rough around the edges with water conservation in effect, but it kinds of works with the design. Tee boxes good. Fairways mostly quite good. First cut of rough much more spotty. Greens firm, quick and smooth. Bunkers seemed like a mixed bag. Some looked good and others appeard terrible.

If you like semi-blind uphill approach shots to greens with plenty of undulation, then you will love Shadow Lakes. Most every hole plays uphill, with just a few downhill par-3s and one quirky short par-4 that's a lay-up off the tee to balance out the elevation changes. It is definitely a course you'd need to play multiple times so you can know were to aim on certain greens. The greens are tricky on putts, so it is an adventure all day. That all said, the fairways are generally quite forgiving and there's lots of bail-out room around most greens as long as you avoid the deep bunkers. Birdies don't always come easy, but big numbers can be avoided with smart play. Though the barrage of uphill approaches did grow tiresome, I still enjoyed the course and it's rugged, hilly linksy layout. Plays through a residential area, but the houses never really feel "in play" at all.