(For my overall thoughts about Paradise Pointe as a whole, and the strengths and weaknesses of all three courses, see my Woodhenge review).

Blackthorn is the most heavily wooded course on the property, with a good practice basket, signage, and chances for a long round if your accuracy isn't on point on both the open and wooded holes.

Other than holes 13 and 14, I quite like the open holes. They do a good job balancing distance, proximity to the water, and shot shapes, to produce some decent holes when scattered trees weren't available as much. I even like hole 1 as a starting hole - a nice, long, downhill shot where you can really open up before diving into the woods on the following holes.

I have to give a shoutout to hole 15, an epic dogleg left par 4 with a few options for how to shape your tee shot, trying to put you in good position to pipe a tunnel. Despite all the other tunnel shots and dogleg on this property, this might be the best single hole. Also, hole 9 is surprisingly good. It might seem like a boring, straight par 3, but there are trees around the tee that might get into your head, there's room on the fairway for a variety of shot shapes, and there's also potential for high numbers due to the woods makes this a really solid hole.

I think the water was used here better than the other two courses. Hole 10 combines a low ceiling with a downhill water shot, something I don't think I've ever seen anywhere else. Holes 16 and 17 are close to the water, and provide a little more riskiness, depending on how much you want to open up, especially with 16 being so long. The water is also nearby on holes 3-5 and can get in your head if it's higher than normal, or if you kick to the right. All of these holes have safe options, though it may be awkward to toss a 100' drive on 10 before throwing over the lake just in case you don't want to lose your driver.

Some of the wooded holes can easily run together, and some don't offer the same challenge they used to. Hole 11 has a left route that's inaccessible now due to the trees, and even the right route doesn't make a whole lot of sense anymore. Holes 4-6 all favor a RHBH that softly turns to the right, and sometimes isn't that great for LHBH. Then, holes 7 and 8 have a couple of lines available but don't seem like there's actually a whole lot of challenge involved to get a good score.

Even some of the other holes don't feel like there was much intention in the design. Holes 2 and 3 stick out here, and while they're not exactly like any of the other holes on the course, it seems like there was no specific line (or lines) in mind, but also not a whole lot of challenge. In other words, I think their gaps are a little too small. Hole 3 might have a high right line, though it would bring the lake into play a little more.

Holes 12-14 were a little sad for me. Hole 12 just plays along a handful of trees beside a road, and while the OB element creates some score separation, it isn't a fun hole. Then, holes 13 and 14 are just bombers in a sea of grass. It also means four out of five consecutive holes on the course are par 4, which I don't think is a good way to arrange the pars. In addition, I don't think hole 18 is a good way to finish the course, with some limbs that force a left-turning shot over a path and a narrow fairway for no good reason. The tee pad there should be shifted to the right.

There's not really much elevation change, and that's a big reason why a lot of this course is rather bland at times. It is there on some holes, especially the baskets that are closer to the water's edge, but it's not enough to be a major factor in this course overall.

If you like short, technical shots, then holes 2-8 will be perfect for you. Otherwise, you may find yourself getting bored here. But with the mix of more open holes, this course has the opportunity to be interesting for everyone.

There's a part of me that wants to give this course a higher rating, but there's not much that sticks out as being fantastic. But there's also very little that's a real knock on this course, so I think 3.0 is about right. That said, an alteration to the design of the front nine, and some way to make the open holes a little spicier, would help out this course tremendously. Overall, it's a decent addition to the Paradise Pointe trifecta.

+ signage is good + navigation
+ good baskets
+ nice property + views
+ holes 10,15,16 are fun
+ good upkeep

- open holes are long and straight = boring
- wooded holes are short and have no fairways
- teepads are roughly half the width as normal and slightly longer, not sure if con, but worth noting

a much better course could be carved out of this property.