Pros:
- SHARA DGC has 18 holes of deuce-or-die, pseudo-technical discin' that play through scrubby savanna-y sorta semi-woods, jack pines and such. Most of the fairways are broad lanes occasionally punctuated with trees. Distances range from really short (e.g., hole #'s 2, 4, 6 & 9 are all less than 180') to a bit longer (hole #17 is the longest at 394'). Aggressive scoring on the shorties help balance out some of the tougher, longer looks. Anything off the fairways, though, and it's in some scrubby thick nastiness, and some work to get a recovery shot. Beginners should be able to do well here score wise, and advanced players will enjoy making putter ace runs and some of the longer, leaner holes (#'s 5 & 8 were particularly tasty).
- Brand new concrete tees, well done; trash cans, tee signs, benches, maps at the donation kiosk by hole #1. Port-a-john in the gravel lot. Great next hole arrows, impossible to miss. Juust a tad cramped in places but mostly manages to keep from stepping on its own toes flow-wise. The exception is hole #18 leaves you a 400-ish ' walk back the length of the fairway, which is a bit weird. But okay.
- One or two of the longer holes have nice low ceilings off the tee that make getting a good shot off all the more difficult.
- French drains were strategically placed near where I suppose the muddiest spots form after rains. The map shows a retention pond crossing hole #'s 13 & 14, but I saw nothing of the sort: bone dry during my round here. It was more desert than pond throughout. SHARA desert.
Cons:
- Some short almost gimmicky shots (hole #2 I'm looking at you). Wooden railing thingys on each side of the basket apparently provide difficulty? Maybe don't make the hole 177'.
- Not a lot of kicks in the 3rd dimension (i.e., this course is flat).
- The suboptimal routing back to the lot is a minimal irritant. Having to hike out the final length of the hole you just threw is a bit of a kick in the shins, but not a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination.
Other Thoughts:
- I really liked this course! Really short fun holes balance out the longer stuff nicely. The putter driver holes are great practice, and the longer holes provide nice scoring separation.
- Some gnarly fungi: saw a bunch of fresh choice oysters on a stump in the fairway.
- I'd jam out at SHARA, rough or no, any day.