Pros:
(2.827 Rating) A mixed bag of course with some well thought out wooded lines, but also some lame gimmick holes.
- THE THIRD BAND - Review Note before the Pros: The course got some tweaks over the summer of 2020 with about 5 or 6 holes greatly altered or completely new. In addition, the hole sequence is different other than (1 thru 3), and (18). My hole references won't match the prior reviews.
- HAPPY TRAILS - The navigation is great, just shy of perfect. First off, brand new updated tee signs for the tweaked layout. Tee signs have next tee direction on them. Updated course map at the community board. There's also a posting at the board indicating what layout the course is in, which is awesome. This however does limit the course configurations to just two. Which is A or B. The only real complaint I could make is to say that a few transitions are not intuitive.
- RUNNIN WITH THE DEVIL - This one feels like an Intermediate challenge. It requires some long throws and some major precision on a few occasions as well. Keep in mind I always ignore the fake difficulty inflation of the unnecessary OB and mandos when factoring my score for this category.
- HOT FOR THE TEACHER - The hole variety is pretty good. There seems to be an even mix of wooded to open holes. There are placement par 4s and even one par 5 on each layout. A few shots need to be bombed and a few need to hit a tight gap. Fairways hook both ways and there's some modest elevation change in the 20 to 25 foot range on a couple holes. Some could argue that the fake island holes and needless mandos add some variety as well, but I don't give credit for design vandalism.
- OH PRETTY WOMEN - Words like nice, or good, or pleasant I think sum this course up in a nutshell. The grounds were decently maintained for my visit, but a few areas could have been better kept up or smoothed over. The wooded holes were some of favorites out here, like holes (1), (2), (15) and (16), but then other holes were a little less appealing due to their open nature. I scored the course about 55 percentile among all courses I've played to date.
- CAN'T STOP LOVIN' YOU - DISCatcher baskets that were mostly in good shape.
Cons:
Could be a good course, but it was ruined by gimmicks.
- WHY CAN'T THIS BE LOVE - I've nominated hole (4), with its new triple mando, for worst hole in the observable Universe. Imagine will you a 375 foot openish par 3 hole with the basket straight ahead. However, there is a 12 foot wide triple mando 50 feet short of the basket and its shifted 30 feet to the right of the straight line. Fortunately, there's an alternate long tee that's 500 feet long... requiring the triple mando as well, smh. I forgot to closely check that back tee sign, but I think players were required to walk on all 4s and play "The Floor is Lava!" when approaching the basket. In addition to that disaster, there are two improvised island holes on this course. The first one, hole (11), I paced off 15 feet from the basket to my out-of-bounds throw. I scored myself a birdie, because the hole design was out-of-bounds before my throw was. The second island hole is (12). This one however is a par 4, which is something I have never seen before, and also hope to never see again. (12) has an OB drive line. Go over the line, go to the drop area with a penalty. From tee, I didn't know how far I could throw-it, because they obviously didn't put that crucial info on the tee sign. I played very tedious and left my drive a good 100 feet shy of the line. With over 250 feet left, would I make the circle on approach? I sure did, but not the OB stakes circle. Dear all inspiring course designers, please don't ever consider doing crap like this. For every one person that gets there rocks off on this stuff, there are a half dozen that'll want to stab you with your ob stakes. Not one respectable course designer does gimmicks like this. It's distasteful and ruins the nature of the game. There are three or four other holes I could mention here, but I feel I've rambled on long enough with my displeasures. There are however four really well-designed holes using the woods. This excludes hole (9s) par 5 placement with its wonky twisting and constricted line.
- JUMP - The tees are carpet and are not in the greatest shape. I don't recall any benches either.
- YOU'RE NO GOOD - I've played all three courses in Tuscaloosa now, and none off them seemed beginner friendly to me. I could see Recs and Novices having a good time out here though.
Other Thoughts:
I went back and forth on some rating attributes for this course and ultimately settled on a low 3.0. I so wanted to give it a 2.5 because of a few holes out here, especially hole (4), but there were no doubt some good holes on the layout. Of the three courses in town, I've personally rated it second. Way behind Bowers and in a near tie with Palmore Park. If in town for a game, the first stop is no doubt Bowers, but if a player is looking to switch it up, Ol' Colony should be an ok to good play. Players that just want to bomb shots in open fields should head over to Palmore Park before here, and possibly over Bowers as well.
- I'll WAIT - It moves somewhat quick. I had to pause a couple times for a guy doing some throwing videos. It took me 65 minutes on a near empty course solo.
- VAN HALEN - Eddie Van Halen passed away while I was on a work trip and just a couple days before this review posting. While driving back between Atlanta and Huntsville, I found an XM channel playing nothing but Van Halen for 3 hours. Like many young kids in the early 80s, I envisioned I was Eddie while rocking in the garage with a broom guitar and playing a borrowed tape from my older brother. He was without question my favorite guitarist growing up. RIP Eddie, f cancer.