Underrated 18 hole wooded course
Pros:
- Excellent variety. While most holes are heavily wooded (15/18), there is still a lot of variety present. Lots of doglegs in both directions, and many holes where elevation comes into play. There's a few holes where water is a factor, presenting interesting risk/reward choices.
- Thought provoking tee shots. There are some holes where I know exactly what I'll throw as soon as I step up to the tee the first time. There are some holes I look at and think of 3-5 different discs I could throw for that line. This course almost exclusively features the latter type, and does a good job of keeping you thinking. I enjoy courses like this that make you really think about your tee shots.
- Practice basket with ample room for approach shots.
- Generous tee size. Tees are quite large and all of them were level.
- Well marked. Next tee indicators on baskets, as well as generous signage. Didn't need to refer to the map at all my first round.
- Hole 9 & 18 both finish next to the parking lot.
- There's a lot of well made bridges to help players navigate the swampy holes. Keep your discs out of the rough and mud shouldn't be a factor in your round.
- Gorgeous property. When cars aren't driving by and no one is taking one of the small planes for a flight, it's quite peaceful and secluded feeling. I had the course to myself, though there was a kid putting on the practice basket by the time I finished my round.
Cons:
- While every hole does present a fair birdie opportunity, there are definitely some tight fairways. Maybe a touch too tight at times.
- Some awkward angles. #13 for example is a pretty standard dogleg right, but its basically a 90 degree turn as soon as you get past the tree line. I threw a straight to fade rhfh shot and was left with a long putt. rhbh roller would be riskier but may be the best choice for a birdie.
- Could use two sets of tees. As it stands the course is pretty challenging but it lacks raw length. The current tees aren't quite as difficult as I personally enjoy, but tougher than younger players or beginners probably want to play. Advanced players will likely wish for longer holes, while novices would benefit from some red tees. Doesn't look like the current design has space for longs though.
Other:
I didn't know what to expect when I drove to this course.
DGCR member reviews hover between 1-2.5 stars, indicating a bad course. "Mission team manager," who's review I expected to be biased, gave it 4/5 stars.
Which score was accurate?
I'm happy to report Mission Team Managers review is most accurate.
This is a good course, and every hole presents a chance at a birdie, though some involve more risk than others.
My conclusion is that older reviews are out of date. This wasn't a "jungle course," and the rough wasn't worse than what I'm used to at other courses.
This is definitely a heavily wooded course and some fairways are less than 25' wide, but none of the holes felt unfair or poorly designed. There are some odd angles, but nothing that can't be managed by some creative tee shots. You might have to throw a flex flick rather than hyzering everything, but that's a good thing to me.
This course wasn't nearly as poke and pray as I expected. Fairways are tight but fair.
If there were some long tees I would consider this a destination level course, and I'd give it 4/5 stars. As it stands it's an awkward difficulty level of being too short for a gold level course, but more devious than rec players are looking for.
It's a scenic and secluded heavily wooded 18 hole course that presents a variety of challenges. If you enjoy tightly wooded courses over raw distance, you'll enjoy your time here.
I found this course more interesting than the more highly rated Cane Creek that's nearby.
