Deer Lakes front nine review
discteacher, you should give us a couple of your opinions on Deer Lakes since you were so integral in the design of it
I really do like them all, but here's a quick review of the front nine (with thanks to Dan Sauers who convinced me that what I had thought was the back nine would flow much better as holes 1-9):
I like that you can see the basket from the White tee on the par 4 hole
#1, but have no chance of reaching the pin. Two good shots gets you to an open green. Can't reach it from Red tee either. Just trying to get Blue tee shot to the mouth of the wood line and keep my nerves calm to see through the high ceiling but narrow gapped uphill fairway.
#2 has the coolest set of elevated tees pads as seen from reverse angle at basket. The B pin is the toughest here. More uphill than it looks.
#3 will yield birdie if you throw three accurate and powerful shots. The A pin is at same elevation as the Blue Tee, even though you have to lose then gain back about 50 feet of drop. Hope to solve the drainage problem this summer.
#4 -- I wonder how many have taken my name in vain as they stand on the Blue tee? May be the toughest birdie on the course in the C position.
#5 has developed nicely since Tom Moeller said "Here's the tee and there's the basket. Very tight, but this shot is all about touch. Throw your putter. Again, a nice constellation of tee pads, thanks to Allegheny County Public Works and Parks departments.
Restraint is the byword for #6, at least until you make the corner of the par 4 dogleg. Don't blow through too far into the left side rough or you will be forced to use a pitch out stroke. Some mature hardwoods on this hole and an uphill fast green, especially on B and C pins.
I really like how the wind is part of hole 7, and how you can see the disc its entire flight. I want to tweak the C pin position which is never used now because it cannot be seen from the tees (another of my dumb decisions)
#8 gets the most boos, but when its landscaped bunkers are finished, I think the jeers will turn to cheers.
#9's Secret Garden is my favorite green on the course and in Pittsburgh. We will be relocating a currently too-easy for a par 5 A-pin location (currently in front of the fence) to push the boundary of the green back toward where a picnic table now sits. I shriek with peals of joy whenever someone's approach shot gets knocked down by the fence! Conversely, I would love to make the putt from on top of that cliff.
), although I haven't spent too much time thinking about it as it's not urgent and J. Gary wants to move a few pins (e.g., 2C, 7C, 9A). 
