Can't believe this thread took a 5-month nap. Well, since April we sort-of finished those last 4 holes we were working on, so that at our October tournament we had two 18-hole layouts.
The "sort-of" part is that one hole needs the tee backed up another 100 feet, and will need a bit of a construction project to build that teepad on the hillside. We had a good day chainsawing a couple of weekends ago, then the plague struck and work stopped.
In the meantime, a friend bought some land and is putting in a course, on a much quicker timescale than we did. We did a little consulting back in November -- that is, we walked around spouting our opinions -- and he has an inaugural tournament coming up later this month.
About a month after this post -- or, a year ago -- a friend helped us build that final teepad, and reach something like a completion point. Except for the maintenance & enhancements (like better tee pads), of course.
Meanwhile, a friend recently bought 50 acres, with a huge pond and lots of hills. I've been there for a workday and a bit of a tour, but need to get back and just walk around offering suggestions, which is the easy part.
The friend I mentioned last year, built his course in a few months and held a tournament. It's a shorter, fun course.