I'm also not so sure about Red Owens; the course gets absolutely no love from the Parks department, and the first few and last couple holes can be over-run with children on the weekends. Some of the holes are outstanding, but the course was in such eh shape when I played it that I haven't bothered to venture back there since.
Upstate Fbook page showed some of the improvements they've recently made to Red Owens - old #3 by the payground is gone, so old 4 is now 3, etc. And they've re-designed 10 and 11 due to park updates in that back corner. Really nice property for DG, was tough to see it in dis-repair but looking forward to someday checking out the face-lift. :thmbup:
Foothills/Easley/Red Owens/Whatever its actual name is...
I think we all share the same amount of disappointment in the course. It's really a dang good layout on a great piece of land, but it just suffers from neglect. The park will mow when we call them and ask, but beyond that, they really don't do too much. Their focus is on their baseball fields, and who can blame them? Getting ESPN to come in every year is a pretty big deal. All we do is annoy them about mowing...
The course has been without tee signs for a couple of years now (the club's fault) and we finally decided to just go out and purchase some. I've got a designer working on them and we should have them printed and installed real soon now. Of course, everyone hates hole 3, the tee pad constantly gets covered in mud, and good shots get punished with stupid rollaways. Rather than spend any time/money reinforcing/rebuilding the tee pad, combined with spending money on new signs right now, we decided to just bite the bullet and JUST DO IT. 3 is gone, new 10 is its replacement. New 10 isn't really all that exciting, but it's a lot better than 3 was. (Although it does have plenty of room available for an extended tee pad if we want to spend more time clearing privet/briars/barbed wire.
I think hole 11 out there is one of the best holes in the state. A true par 4 where getting a 3 feels like a real accomplishment. 3 (old 4), 6 (old 7), 9 (old 10) are all really good holes. If you're gonna play it, now is a good time. We just did a good bit of maintenance last weekend, so maybe it'll remain in good shape for a couple of months. (or until the next mud run comes through and rips everything up)
Fair or not, there aren't too many 'must play' courses in SC. I do think, for the most part, the highest rated courses on this site are a solid reflection of the best courses in the state. The only one that's clearly overrated is having Tyger River being listed as the second highest rated course. Other than that, the state's Top 10 list is pretty spot on with the exception of Va-Du-Mar not making that list.
Stoney Hill, Central, and Trophy Lakes make up my top 3. Shoally (Va du Mar) and The Pipeline are awfully close to those 3. You could make an argument for Chester. Tyger has no business being anywhere near the top 5. It's a fine course, but nothing special; a solid 3.5* course. I really think that most of the ratings come from Upstate people who are just really excited to have more than 1 open hole on a course. In the Upstate region, the only holes that you can truly unload are Central 6, Central 7, Easley 10, and Shoally 2. Tyger gives you 11, 16, 17, and 18. Old Glory is also overrated; 3* maybe. Shoally is criminally underrated.
DGCR Ratings:
1. Stoney Hill 4.41* (yup)
2. Tyger River 4.30* (nope)
3. Grand Central Station 4.21* (yup)
4. Chester State Park 4.18* (yup)
5. The Pipeline 4.11* (yup)
6. Trophy Lakes 4.07* (yup)
7. Hippodrome Old Glory 4.00* (no way)
8. Hippodrome Hogback 3.92* (not quite)
9. Crooked Creek 3.92*
10. Earlewood 3.72* (just a touch overrated)
11. Sewee Outpost 3.67*
12. Sertoma Field 3.66* (fun but not quite this good)
13. All-Terrain 3.63*
14. Shoally Creek 3.63* (absolutely criminal. This is a 4+ star course)
