The turf tee pads are incredible. I've played on these during heavy rainfall and haven't even come close to slipping or losing traction.

The grass is cut regularly and the course is very clean overall. There are some really nice landscaping features such as rock steps, rocks in lieu of mulch on some of the greens and around teepads, and ledges that make for a clean and aesthetically pleasing look.

There is good flow to the course--the walkthrough of it is fluid, especially considering the lay of the land.

I think the back 9 gets pinned as being too open because people are just thinking about it in comparison to the very technical and wooded front 9. And although it is open in some spots, it still makes great use of the land. There's road OB, water OB, tall grass OB/rough - depending on if it's a tournament, and the baskets could not have been placed any better. You'll find them tucked into wooded pockets, on hills, in between boulders, and even on the edge of plateaus (both natural and man-made).

The par 4s on the back 9 are reasonably distanced. Someone with 500 feet of power isn't likely to have an easy look at an eagle 2 on these holes and at the same time someone with around 350 feet of power is still going to have a look at a birdie 3 after 2 good throws.

People who spin putt or putt with some authority will favor these Prodigy baskets as they are very taut and densely chained. Putts that pass through and spit out the back is something you will never see on these baskets.

On the flipside, these Prodigy baskets are again very stiff so people who push putt or don't putt very hard will see some spit-outs on a regular basis.

The fairways. They aren't exactly fair on a lot of the front 9. You can throw what looks and feels like a perfect shot and somewhere on that seemingly perfect line is a number of trees you're likely to hit. Some of the long pins are reachable from the tee, but only with incredible luck.

Some people like that a pro and an am can unsurprisingly shoot the same score on the front 9 as this element of randomness and luck is apparent, but IMO this is more a characteristic of a recreational course, and I don't think that's what the course was intended to be. I think that's why I was initially frustrated when I played here the first time. The Claytons has so many elements of a truly professional course with the course design, baskets, teepads, and incredible landscaping being a testament to this. It just doesn't seem to make sense that some of the holes on the front 9 would have such dense and punishing fairways.

I think the course has the potential to be something great, and it isn't far off, but again in my opinion some fine tuning needs to take place in those woods.