I think Red Oak in Burnsville, MN will be a legit 4.0 once they put in the hard surface pads later this year:
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/reviews.php?id=552&mode=rev This was designed to play as 18 holes to 9 baskets (20 to 10 now) with tees numbered accordingly. Its popularity is now off the charts since the redesign. The 9-hole Brockway course not too far away from Red Oak was done the same way and it will get hard surface pads this year also.
That makes for an interesting point to this point to this conversation. There is a course in Charleston that is under similar circumstances. I haven't played
Park Circle in Charleston yet, but it has the same concept. 9 baskets to 18 teepads. I guess what you would have to ask yourself, at least this is how I would approach it, Did I feel like I was playing 18 holes, or did it feel like I was playing the same hole again. This is just my opinion, and how I would approach it. Because THIS is a very grey area, and it would fall back into the opinion of the player. But I go back to my original thought, each course is it's own entity. And should be rated, based on the experience at the course.
Again, IMO, We are just talking about the rating, not the review. The rating should be the sum total of the experience you had at a specific course. Here is my theory on why I use 4 stars instead of 5 on a 9 hole course. You can't have a 5 star experience, unless you have 18+ holes. This is just my theory, or better yet, my formula. I'll reiterate my statement from earlier
A person looks at an 18+ hole course and asks "Give me one reason why I shouldn't play here"
the same person looks at a 9 hole course (or less than 18 holes) and says "Give me one reason why I SHOULD play here?"
Lets face it, anything less than a 18 holes is not going to be a first choice. So with that stigma already attached to it, the majority is not going to take a 5 star rating of a 9 hole course seriously. There may be some, but I'm not writing my review to the few that do. I'm going to write and try to communicate with as big an audience as I can. I'll just accept the fact that there is a few out there that will contest my 3 star rating to a 9 hole course.
That's where the review comes in. I may give it three stars, but if you read my review, you'll see my feelings about the course, my likes and dislikes. So the rating is for the quick glance, the review is for a deeper look.
But... like I said, this just my formula. In general, I think if any sees a 4 star 9 hole course, they will say "Wow, this course might be worth checking out." But, I also think that 30 miles is the limit for driving out to play a 9 hole course. That does not include those stopping off on a trip or going past it already. I'm talking about setting aside the time to go play that one specific course. But, people are more likely to make the drive to play an 18 hole course. I'm trying to find time to drive 80 miles to play castle hayne, but I'm not going to drive 90 miles to play the 9 holer in Florence, SC. If that makes sense.
