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 ... Continue »

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.