Lake Mt. Sterling is an 18-hole course north of town that compliments the other 18 in town by providing more challenge. This course varies between long open shots and wooded fairways, and has a little bit of everything to provide intermediate and advanced players a challenging yet fun round of golf.
LOCATION of Lake Mt. Sterling is north of town via Camden Rd./Highway 99, which becomes 750 E St. as you go north. The park entrance will be on the left after the ball golf course, and it's easy to miss so look out for a shop building by the entrance. The park road follows next to 750 E and then turns right, and the course parking is a strip of gravel next to the first shelter you see on the right. This road is evidently 1175 N Ave. as well. There are some restaurants and gas stations in town for whatever needs you have before or after your round. If you're making a day out of it, Hornet's Nest in town makes for an 18 that's a good warm up to this course, but beyond that, Camp Point is the next closest course.
AMENITIES are a little limited near the course, but are around the campground, which is primarily what Lake Mt. Sterling comprises of. It's $15 a day to camp, and there are also sites with electrical hookups. There's a playground near the course as well as a shelter, but that's really all within a reasonable walking distance. There are bathrooms on site, but they're closer to the far end of the campground.
COURSE EQUIPMENT is in progress, but what is present is very nice. The tee pads are all concrete and given the time between my round and my review I'll assume all 18 are in at this point. The baskets are brand new Chainstar Pros and are easy to spot in the woods and from afar, even for a red-green colorblind person like myself. Outside of that, other touches like 18's elevated basket and some other staircases and bridges show that the local club/parks department are going to make this course fun yet easy to traverse with time, and despite the under construction feel it had during my round, the staircases and other touches that are in place made the hills easy to handle.
COURSE DESIGN at Lake Mt. Sterling is a step up from its older brother at Hornet's Nest in town and is really a tale of two 9-hole tracks. Your front 9 comprises of mostly wooded holes, full of elevation changes and tight gaps and fairway curves to navigate. Your back 9 is much more open and mostly longer as well, requiring you to have some decent distance to challenge for birdies. These two halves make for one course that has a decent amount of variety as well as challenge for intermediate and advanced level players.
ELEVATION plays a big role across the course, especially in the first half. Holes 2 and 6 are steep downhill fairways, while other holes like 12 and 15 play downhill but to lesser degrees. Meanwhile, holes 3, 7, and 9 will require uphill shots that will require more power out of you to get to the pin. Other holes have lesser degrees of difficulty with elevation, such as hole 10 with its green being next to a hill and 15 having a larger drop off/waterfall beyond the pin if you overshoot the green.
SHOT-SHAPING is definitely more present in the front 9 of this course but is also present at times in the back half. Holes 3, 7, 9, 10, and 15 all have left turning bends in the fairway and will favor RHBH shots, while holes 4 and 8 bend right. The rest of the course allows for some flexibility in terms of what type of shot your throw, with much of the back 9 being very open. That being said, holes 2 and 6 will require an exceptionally straight shot downhill, so a shot that has some bend to its flight will likely be punished by trees and cabbage.
DISTANCES vary between 180 and 600 feet, with course length depending on which pin is being used on the 5 holes that currently have multiple positions. The average length of the course is about 350 feet, but the front 9 pars take hole shape into consideration more so than distance. The back 9 is where there's some longer holes, such as 14, 17, and 18, with some of the holes being long enough that rec or intermediate level folks may have trouble giving themselves a decent chance for a birdie.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL at Lake Mt. Sterling is definitely geared towards intermediate to advanced level, as newer players will find both the wooded fairways as well as the distances on site to be a challenge if they don't have accuracy or a strong drive in their arsenal yet. More seasoned players that tend to play open in tournaments will likely find much of the course to be fairly easy, but the pars and distances combined with the wooded holes make for a course that is challenging but fair to the intermediate level player.
RISK/REWARD really comes to mind on a few holes. Hole 2's green is right in front of the lake, making the downhill green very intimidating. Hole 15 also has a dropoff not far from its pin. Hole 16 is one that doesn't seem obvious, but if you come up short and go into the brush that is right in front of the pin, you are in for a world of hurt as the bush and tall grass separating fairways are hiding a steep drop as well as thorns and very tight branches that will make it nearly impossible to find your disc. Just trust me and throw wide or long on that hole. Hole 8 also has some water challenges when the water level is high, playing along a creek.
COURSE HIGHLIGHTS should probably start with hole 18, which is a wide open hole that ends with an elevated green on top of a 3 level pyramid, one of the nicer planter/elevated greens I have seen outside of Eagles Crossing. Hole 15's waterfall is a nice and pretty setting when the water level is high enough as well. Hole 6 was also a personal favorite, with a steep downhill shot that has less risk to it without the lake nearby, and made for a fun midrange touchy shot.