Pros:
Pretty much what you'd expect for DG on a private golf course. Plays along to the front 9 of the facility's east bolf course, so DG'ers and Bolfers have to be aware of each other and follow etiquette.
• Variety: Decent. Mostly long, open and flat. Makes makes use of some intelligently placed trees to force some degree of line shaping, but most of it's further down the fairway, so you're at liberty to choose from multiple lines off the tee. Nice range of distances; half the holes fall in the 300-400 ft ,several between 500-600, and a few north of 600'. A few baskets are somewhat tucked away, but most are in the open, which means brisk winds can play with your putts. Most holes play straight ahead, but there are few doglegs and # 18 bends from R to L in a wide, U-shape.
• Challenge: Good. Mostly in the form of distance, wind, and OB. Favors those who can get 350 -400 consistently but it's not entirely about the distance. Water in play on a few holes. Some trees can create a low ceiling for 2nd shots depending on your lie. Occasionally, I had think about where my shot would land to set up my next, but this ain't a placement critical course.
• Use of natural elements. Good. Fairly well-designed to make good use of available elevation, trees, and to a lesser extent water.
• Elevation: Decent. Most of the course is pretty freakin' flat, but they did an admirable job using the available mounds, berms, etc. Comes into play on 2-3 holes, including a really nice elevated tee..
• Wildlife: Plan on seeing plenty of iguanas (like reptilian squirrels), unless it's unusually cold for SoFla.
• Aesthetics: Good. No better/worse than your typical park-style course. Certainly not an eye sore, but I'd hoped for better at a facility the with country club in its name.
• Equipment: Decent. Chainstars in good shape. Tee markers are yellow pavers with hole # in black. Some holes tee from the asphalt cart path, some from natural tees along-side the golf fairways. Footing was a non-issue..
• Impeccably manicured fairways (by DG standards).
• Ammenities/facility: Excellent. Far better than anything we're used to. Beer wench on a golf cart.
Cons:
• Navigation: My biggest gripe. MAKE SURE YOU GET A MAP at the pro shop or forget about playing here. Tee markers are yellow pavers set flush with the ground, and finding 'em can be a bear. The problem is they're flat, so you can't see them until you're nearly on top of them, let alone from a 150' away. Badly needs something vertical that can be seen from a distance. Never found the legit tee for #17. Even wire marking flags (like we use for CTP's) would be a huge help (see Other Thoughts).
• Scorecard lists a plethora of OB, which gets obnoxious at times, particularly since the cart path is nearly always OB, and nearly always easily in play. Whether you elect to observe their OB rules is up to you.
• Personally, I didn't mind hoofing it, but you either have to pay $10 for a cart or, expect some long walks. Mentioned more as informational, but I have to call it a con..
• No holes impose a specific line off the tee, and while there's some degree of shot shaping, I found the course lacked any truly technical holes.
• Asphalt cart path throughout = not good for discs.
• A few holes play close to a noisy, buzz killing interstate. In particular (the hole with the elevated tee), an extreme case of flippiness/wind, could potentially turn that into a Buzzz killing interstate.
• Any body of water in SoFla can contain gators.
Other Thoughts:
Enjoyed my round, but when you're walking 8600 ft of course (plus some lengthy stretches between holes), you don't want to tack on another few hunded feet per hole looking for tees.
Told the guy at the pro shop how hard it is to spot the tee markers (even using the map to get you close), and that the inability to spot the tees until you're on top of them adversely affects the pace of play, and as such is a disservice to golfers and dg'ers alike. I mentioned they could even get by with some cheap wire marking flags and he was actually thought it was a good idea... time will tell.
FWIW, the golfers were quite respectful and receptive, even pointed out some of the baskets when I was looking up ahead for them.
For the most part, it's a good round, with plenty of chances to air it out, but nothing special, and not as quite as good as some of the other combo golf/dg courses I've played. Totally worth the $3 fee. Another $10 for a cart is in line with what I've seen at other courses, but IMO not worth it.