St. Olaf College reviews
5
0
Bubbajoe
Experience:
15.2 years
151 played
7 reviews
Fun if not a little confusing 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Jun 3, 2011
Played the course:once
Pros:
Good mix of wooded & open holes
Good use of elevation
Signs on the back nine
Back nine flows well
Maps available online
Good use of elevation
Signs on the back nine
Back nine flows well
Maps available online
Cons:
Dirt tees are getting rutted
The front nine's layout is a disaster
There's enough separation between the front and back nine it almost makes sense to call them two separate courses
Parking is at a premium
Long walk up hill from #9 on the front back to your car/back nine.
The pin for hole #4 on the back nine was missing while I was there
The front nine's layout is a disaster
There's enough separation between the front and back nine it almost makes sense to call them two separate courses
Parking is at a premium
Long walk up hill from #9 on the front back to your car/back nine.
The pin for hole #4 on the back nine was missing while I was there
Other Thoughts:
It's hard to think of these two nines as one course so I'm going to address each separately
Front nine: There's some great shots here. From hole #1's down hill bomb on to #2's dog leg right into a Plinko approach, each of the front nines holes are a blast to play. While the baskets are getting a little worse for the wear and the tee's a bit rutted the biggest problem the front nine has is layout. It's ridiculous. Even with the map it took a chance meeting with some locals to get squared away. The tees for both 3&4 are right in the middle of #2's fairway. That's annoying, but what set me off is after you finish holing out on #3 (awesome sweeping hyzer) you have to walk back around the evergreens you just played around back down #2's fairway past the tee for #3 and then tee off for #4. I wouldn't be as hung up about this if there was some obvious reason for it, but there wasn't that I could see. Just to add to the head scratching #9 ends several hundred yards away from the first available parking. It seems to me that a lot of the front nines feng shui issues could be resolved by eliminating #4 and adding a new #9 that played up the hill back towards #1. This way you're only teeing off from #2's fairway once(!).
Back Nine: The back nine is fairly new and feels so compared to the front. The fist three holes are short and technical and things open up a bit. The course plays around the embankment of an athletic field that's lined with mature trees and both are used to good effect. The drives here are much more open than the front nine and all in all it's a much easier layout. New signs coupled with a more sensible layout makes the back flow much better than the front, although some of the fairways do cross. The baskets are all new and in good shape with the exception of #4 which was missing at the time of my visit. Parking was much easier here than in the front.
Front nine: There's some great shots here. From hole #1's down hill bomb on to #2's dog leg right into a Plinko approach, each of the front nines holes are a blast to play. While the baskets are getting a little worse for the wear and the tee's a bit rutted the biggest problem the front nine has is layout. It's ridiculous. Even with the map it took a chance meeting with some locals to get squared away. The tees for both 3&4 are right in the middle of #2's fairway. That's annoying, but what set me off is after you finish holing out on #3 (awesome sweeping hyzer) you have to walk back around the evergreens you just played around back down #2's fairway past the tee for #3 and then tee off for #4. I wouldn't be as hung up about this if there was some obvious reason for it, but there wasn't that I could see. Just to add to the head scratching #9 ends several hundred yards away from the first available parking. It seems to me that a lot of the front nines feng shui issues could be resolved by eliminating #4 and adding a new #9 that played up the hill back towards #1. This way you're only teeing off from #2's fairway once(!).
Back Nine: The back nine is fairly new and feels so compared to the front. The fist three holes are short and technical and things open up a bit. The course plays around the embankment of an athletic field that's lined with mature trees and both are used to good effect. The drives here are much more open than the front nine and all in all it's a much easier layout. New signs coupled with a more sensible layout makes the back flow much better than the front, although some of the fairways do cross. The baskets are all new and in good shape with the exception of #4 which was missing at the time of my visit. Parking was much easier here than in the front.
