Pros:
-Shockingly fun. I thought that Crooked Creek was a delight to play. The blues offered a pretty challenging but forgiving layout from the pin positions that I played. A lot of the fairways at Crooked Creek are curvy and will require a wide variety of shots to be thrown.
-When I played in the spring, there was a lot of short grass in the woods that made the looks of the course more appealing than I would've expected for a wooded course. Especially #2. This is a gorgeous left to right par three over a creek down a fairway cropped with some soft green grass.
-Most holes have least two sets of pads. I think all except #7, which has three different pin positions. I know that #6 has three pads, since one of them was newly added. Many of the pin positions are well thought too. #7 is incredibly unique being on a platform surrounded by a creek. #17 in the C and D positions are over the creek.
-Different shaped fairways that test accuracy and your ability to throw different shots. None of them are incredibly tight. You won't see any fairways less than 15' wide. There are a few difficult gaps to hit as well, but they aren't too far from the tee pads either. Even if you play the blues. This being said, lots of room for redemption at Crooked Creek.
-True multi shot par fours (primarily #8, #9, & #16) that are real separators. They can help or hurt your score. #8 is a stationing dogleg right par four. I threw a putter up the fairway but landed a few feet away from the middle. The second shot was much tougher because of that. The basket is in the pin tucked to the right side of the fairway. So essentially, if you are a good sidearm thrower, this hole leans in your favor. Throwing two 250' sidearms is the way to play it. #9 is an "S shaped" par four. I threw a low skip hyzer and landed in the fairway. I was left with a short but very tough approach. The fairway severely bends right, like a fish hook almost. I threw a skip shot on a sidearm and landed about 45' from the basket. #16's approach is what makes it so difficult. The green is guarded heavily by trees, making you want to bite off plenty of distance from the tee. The basket is to the right and slightly uphill. Throw short, and you'll probably be fighting for par due to the landing zone being further ahead.
-Great use of hazards. OB is present on several holes and can play as a psychological effect. #7 has the same premise as #14 at Grand Central Station in Central, SC. This is an island hole. The island on #7 at Crooked Creek has a smaller diameter than the island on #14 at Grand Central Station. However, the drop zone is only 35' from the basket at Crooked Creek vs. 45' from the basket at Grand Central. #2's green is over a creek, so if your drive appears to be decent from the start, it could still lead you to danger. If you are 30' short, you are OB. Hole is slightly downhill and about 315' from the blue pad. Many players can throw about 300' tops. Some can throw a midrange 300' tops and others can throw putters up to 300'. I can throw a putter 300 tops on a good day, but didn't want to risk going short, so I throw a mid. And #18. This is just a splendid finisher. The creek is in play the entire way. It breaks to the right side as the fairway does as well. So you can't avoid the risk of going OB in crooked creek, or as I would call it "The Crooked Bath." You just have to win the mind game that this hole will play against you. A true finisher and a great pro par three.
-The tee signs are great. They are detailed with accurate hole diagrams, they give info on each pad and each pin location. Since many of the fairways are not straight, you'll be more reliant on the hole diagrams. They were not misleading. I've seen plenty of hole diagrams at other courses that were not accurate at all.
Cons:
-Baskets are old. Maybe they could be upgraded. They seemed to catch fine when I played so I don't know.
-Par could be adjusted on a couple of holes from the whites, since they seem to be more suited for newer players. I mean, #17's white pad to the C and D pin positions to me are legit stationing par fours. They are about 400' and play as doglegs over the creek. It says that it's a par three from every pin on the white pad. I don't see how it's possible to cross the creek on these holes off of the pad.
-Some holes are very close to a walking path. #5 has you throwing over the walking path. Too add to that #5 is almost a blind hyzer. You can't see the basket or the path as you tee off and try to throw over it. The path is very close to #10 as well. If you kick left, you could cross it. Expect to yield to pedestrians. #3 is parallel to #1 and plays in the opposite direction. Those two holes are very close to each other and since this courses gets a ton of foot traffic, that is a safety hazard. The walking path is also a factor here. Come to think of it, the walking path is in play on many holes. More so than the creek. The safety of the walking path is just as crooked as the creek. I REALLY wish the name of this park was Crooked Path & Bath.
Other Thoughts:
-Before playing here, this course seemed to me to be overhyped. I was wrong. It really is a great course with a lot more than I expected. I thought it was just a plain old fashioned wooded course, and it's more than that. I'm glad that I got to see it for myself. I enjoyed throwing different style tee shots on each hole and getting creative on some of my approaches.
-In regards to hole quality, which is what I mostly focus on in my reviews (at least I think that's what I primarily focus on), the holes from the blues are excellent. They are all different from each other. They have different looks and none of them are similar to any of the other holes here. The walking path is a consistent harbinger and I wouldn't recommend this park for joggers because of that.
-The first hole is probably the easiest hole on the course. It's a nice warmup being around 200' and a little more open than the rest of the holes. There are some other easier holes that can help your score too, but they can also sneak up on you. #4 especially. It's only 198' from the blue, but the fairway is tighter than most and the creek is in play. #15 is a really neat hyzer. Only 235' or so. Great hole to throw a skip shot on. If you are a new player, I'd check out the red or white pads. The blues are still pretty accommodating I would say, but they are longer and more challenging for the most part......
-However, #3 from the blue is a better birdie opportunity than it is from the white since it is only 390' from the blue and plays as a par four. The white pad is a 324' par three. So a 66' difference in length. I think a 390 par four would often be easier than a 324' par three. Same with #9 and #17. They are both over 400' from the longs and have difficult fairways, but they are par fours. They are easier because of that. They are difficult par threes from the white pads, as they are over 300' and have difficult curving fairways. So I think the par needs to be adjusted on the whites.