Pros:
-Who would've thought seven acres could fit a full eighteen? I never thought that could work, but I was wrong. Avery's Spring is definitely a squeezed in eighteen, but has many cool short holes.
-Nice family. I never met the actual designer but he gave me the permission to play. I knocked on the door and met his wife and son. Nice people, very informative. The son told me how to follow the course and it's actually easy to navigate. It says in the hole info that there are twelve holes but there are actually eighteen.
-Has flavor. You play beside the river on holes two through six. Hole five has a mando pointing to the left, requiring you to throw over the river since it is to the left side of the tee. Couple of hanging baskets too that hang from ropes on trees.
-Some originality here. The man made basket on #2 is one that I haven't seen anything like.
-Great start and end. #1 has you throwing off a hill down the driveway. Great practice hole for beginners. 284', downhill, and open. Despite being one of the longer holes, this hole is one of the easiest holes on the course. #18 is significantly downhill and plays as a dogleg right. Very challenging finish, as it is tight with a big turn in the woods.
-Many mandos that help prevent overlapping fairways. Makes a good challenge for a short course.
-It's a tale of two nine holers. The front nine is more open. It has some very tricky lines on holes #4, 6, 7, and 9 and there's more OB potential. The back nine has more elevation and is heavily wooded. Many tight lines that are less that 10' wide. This course can enhance your scramble game.
Cons:
-Make sure you take the warning sign in serious consideration. It tells you to play at your own risk. Some holes on the back nine do not have tee pads and the tee area on #11 is very muddy, very slick, and is slightly elevated by bricks since it plays on a hill. Even though I'm 23, very slim (<150 lbs) and I go bike riding regularly, I'm a klutz. I fall, and I fall, and I fall. I slipped and fell and got a few bruises. I should've been more careful but that hole seriously needs a tee pad. Carpet would do. You'll see if you play here.
-I'll say what most reviewers said previously. None of the holes are very long. Some of them are very hard (#7 is the longest and is very hard) but no par fours or 400+ drives. However, I saw a pin that I never played to with a sticker that says "10 L". That could be a long pin for #10, but it's in between two fairways (#12 and #13). I'm not saying this course needs to be changed because it's private property. Some of the shorter holes get a little monotonous though.
-#15 is too short. Maybe 100' long hyzer toss. This course is short but none of the other holes I would consider to be "too short" other than this one.
-There's a trash can, but it was FULL when I played. If you have trash, keep it in your car and find somewhere else to throw it away.
Other Thoughts:
-I just moved to Arden, so the course closest to me is now this one. I haven't played an eighteen hole course with a smaller piece of land. Props to Matt for the ability to design a full 18 on his property! And his dedication for making it happen. He really did a lot to show his signature here. If I had only seven acres, I wouldn't be able to do as good of a job as he did.
-The best way to come up with a tee time is to join the facebook group. You have to get permission to play. And make sure you leave a donation as you are playing on someone else's property.