If someone were to tell you of a new nine hole course that was built at a church, almost certainly your expectations would be fairly low. I know mine were when I learned of a new course at St. John Lutheran in Cypress especially having previous knowledge of the lack of space on the church property. However, this course is solid, fairly tough and makes great use of the limited space!

All but two holes have obstacles, which are two and four, with two being a decently long hole where getting a two doesn't happen all the time. All of the other holes need some sort of shot shaping whether that be a hyzer on one, four or nine, or a flex shot to avoid landing in the road on three.

The course flow is fairly simple. Each hole has a small tee sign with the distance listed, and all of the holes are straight forward enough that you really don't need a detailed hole map on the sign. The baskets are brand new MVP baskets with a red band, which pop. MVP baskets are very underrated IMO.

Though I do like hole three, it can be potentially be problematic as you have to cross a church driveway and an errant hyzer could put you in the parking lot and at risk of hitting a car if present.

The church also has a gaga ball pit and a small baseball diamond that if in use, could potentially disrupt play on holes one and two. Technically fairways seven and eight cross, however, with the lack of use this course gets, it probably doesn't really matter/

Like I said, I came into this course with fairly low expectations, and they were exceeded. The course doesn't have anything super special, but also doesn't have any glaring weaknesses to sag the rating down.