Chicken Coop Hole - GREAT, GREAT hole that words or pictures cannot do justice. I love crazy holes more than most (Hippodrome is my second favorite course), so I was really looking forward to this one, although I feared it would be a little "out there", even for me. The truth is, in person, the hole is not gimmicky at all. It was 95 degrees of oppressive heat but the Coop was surprisingly cool and pleasant and even had a Coke machine inside with ICE COLD sodas, PowerAdes and waters as an added bonus. With all apologizes to #3 at Flyboy and #1 at Steady Ed, this hole is the new signature hole in Georgia.


Individual Hole Design - Very unique holes. The designer asked a lot of questions that I was not used to answering: Extreme downhill, uphill with low ceiling, drives requiring short exact placement over distance. There really isn't a throw-away hole on the course (maybe #5) but my highlights were:

#1 - Fun, short downhiller with a very straight shot required.

#3 - Tricky hole plays big-time downhill. No room to throw a spike, or even a subtle hyzer.

#6 - Placement is key to get in position to make an approach on this Par 5. If you haven't played it before take a walk up to look at the basket once you hit the mouth of the gap. The green is much more treacherous than it appears on the bottom.

#8 - Just a beautiful short par 3, would be the signature hole on virtually any course without a Chicken Coop.

#11 - Brains over brawn par 4. Scores could range from an easy 3 to a frustrating 6 if the drive is not placed properly in the gap. Twenty feet left, long, or right is no man's land.

#12 - See Chicken Coop above

#13 - Steep downhiller reminded me of a ski-slope hole with the power lines even mimicking the chair lift.


Amenities - Perfect new Innova baskets, level and long tee-pads, nice tee-signs on every hole. You cannot overstate how nice the facility is: Spacious and cool with clean restrooms, friendly staff, and a much needed supply of beverages. In an ideal world would have been great to circle back here after each 9.

The sign on #6 is misleading. The sign depicts the basket to be further than the weather-vane. In actuality, the gap to the basket is in front of the weather-vane. My group overshot the gap because of the sign (and it was too damn hot to do a lot of extra walking and look), and replayed our shots when seeing the basket placement.


Right to left shots - Is the designer of this course a big anhyzer thrower? Not sure if it was an aberration of our particular rounds, but for me and my playing partner, a firebird or any over stable plastic never left the bag. Don't recall a hole where being a forehand or lefty player would have been an advantage; ideal shots were dead straight or RBH anhyzer with a fade finish. Course appears to be missing one (or two) good hyzer "meat hook" hole. Clearing the area to the right of the #10 green and moving the #10 tee-pad to the right and near the Chicken Coop exit would be my answer.


Tough Hike - especially in the summer heat. Could have used a shaded bench or two, particularly after hole #6 to #7 uphill trek.

All the fairways widths seemed... fair, but five feet off the fairway is absolutely brutal in most spots. Not a fault of the designer at all, but wear long socks if you plan on missing a fairway. Everyone in my group was bleeding at the end of this round.

Navigation is not really an issue, and a total non-issue after your first round. Still, the "next hole" signs (present on probably ever hole) were frustratingly small and hard to spot at times. The map provided at the clubhouse was very accurate and helped in the two tough transitions (#4 to #5 and #9 to #10).

The wooden deck style tee-pads on some holes are exceptional and obviously took a great deal of time and care. That being said, I felt nervous on the 14th tee-pad and detected a little give between base boards. I am 250+ lbs., but a couple of more 2x4s for support might be needed.

Flow of course was strange in that the two biggest uphill tee-shots were #16 (another really good hole) and #18. The only other uphill hole (#9) is much more restrained. Felt weird to end round this way.

Overall, this was a great experience and I cannot wait to play the course again in the cooler months of the year. Definitely a future threat to Flyboy and the IDGC courses for Georgia's number one course.

**Keep in mind this course is 7 weeks old today (5/27/2011) and this review is being written AFTER several items in other reviewers posts were addressed in the ongoing course refinement on MAY 15th during the spring growth cleaning of the course where ALL fairways were trimmed of overhanging limbs and foliage and areas around the tees and greens were widened and cleaned.**
Pros:
Dual mostly concrete tees on 16 of the 18 holes [only downhill holes 8 (215 ft) and 14 (318 ft) have 1 tee].
New 11"X17" full graphic tee signs with shorter tee distances next to short tees on Hole map as well as next tee markers were installed on May 14th 2011 for all 18 holes.
Soda/Gatorade/Water vending machine at the halfway point of the Course inside the Chicken Shack (200 ft from Hole 10 Tee)
In keeping with the natural surroundings and Zip line theme, LARGE Burlap trash bags are located in several places on the course attached to the trees with carabineers.
The Command Center now has discs available for sale including custom Zipline logoed discs to have as a nice keepsake momento of your visit.
There are monthly ($20) and Annual ($60) passes available to help save on the $5 daily greens fees if you are planning to play regularly. Random Draw best shot Doubles is being held every 3rd Sunday all year round meeting at the command center deck.
New benches are being installed on several holes before middle of June.

Cons:
Only restroom is at Command center near Hole 1
**Keeping in mind the newness of the course**
Holes 1, 2, 4 and 14 need mulch to help with potential mud issues if wet.
Not a problem for everyone, but poison Ivy is around on a few holes off the fairways.

Signature holes:
Hole 6 (a par 5 from both tees) with newly planted trees lining the right side of the fairway to go with the thick woods on the left side of the entire fairway, which also climbs up 2 levels of elevation changes after the turn make shot placement a priority to have the chance at a birdie 4.
Hole 10 Has a view of the mountains in North Carolina from the pro tee.
Hole 12 - The Chicken Shack - enough said!
Hole 13 Has a view from the pro tee of the Georgia mountains.
Hole 15 A picturesque Par 4 hole that crosses the creek with a hillside basket placement
Hole 17 A winding fairway with a generous landing zone from both tees which allows golfers who execute the proper drive and upshot to have a chance at the birdie 3.
Other Thoughts:
No matter the score you are shooting, the screams of excitement from the people on the Zip line tours will keep up your spirits.
Mulch has been added to Holes 16 & 17 and will be added to the other 4 holes (1,2,7, 14) as it is delivered by the Power company.
Rustic, primitive Camping sites and large Teepees with electricity onsite will be available to rent by the end of June, along with a community bathhouse for those out of town visitors looking to make a weekend out of the visit.