Pros:
-The pin placements here are superb! The amount of work put into the hole design here is evident.
-As is typical of the area there is a lot of elevation that comes into play which makes for some tremendous shots! The elevation is also varied between uphill, downhill and dangerous pin placements.
-It probably sounds cliche, but this course does a great job at achieving balance between open and wooded shots. The wooded shots are tight, but fair and accuracy is placed at a premium.
-Brand new DISCatchers catch great and stand out.
-For a brand new course, Sandhill is well broken in and not nearly as rough as I expected. With that being said there are definitely some areas that you don't want to go. Do not go long on hole 17!
-Navigation for the most part is a breeze.
-Sandhill plays as a circle that brings you right back to the parking lot where you started from. In addition there are bathrooms, a water fountain and a playground right by the parking area.
Cons:
-One of the biggest cons with the course is that it is extremely busy. Maybe it will calm down once the newness wears off, but at the moment it is getting a lot of play which means waiting on the tee or playing through several groups during a round.
-While navigation is fairly straightforward, there are a few spots that I would recommend "Next tee" signs namely after 3, 9 and 13.
-With all of the play the tees are wearing down quickly and many of them are already a pile of dirt by the tee sign. This course is in desperate need of concrete tees.
-The sign posts and sign displays themselves are great, but maps of the holes are needed to avoid the need to walk up the fairway to search for the basket.
Other Thoughts:
I came into this course with high expectations and was not disappointed. Overall, Sandhill NTDGC is not a championship course, but is another notch is Asheville's belt. It is definitely worth a trip and pairs nicely with the nearby Richmond Hill. I will definitely be back!