Hardwood, Solid Challenge
Pros:
`Thank you for you kind review---WHIT
*** REVISED AND UPDATED: 2024 ****
Mostly-wooded and hilly layout with single tee and two baskets per hole. Short baskets (Blueberry) old difficult-to-spot DGA's with blue number signs atop. Long baskets are faded difficult-to-spot DisCatchers. Excellent turf tees and new signage (but see "Cons" for more about the signs)
The woods are thick and the rough is punishing. You will pay for anything off the fairway
#14 - #18 are open, park-style holes. The first ones not in deep woods since #1. None of them are particularly memorable, but they're fine, and their contribution is to make the overall course better with the added variety. And stepping up to wide open expanse on #14 is a pretty big relief following 12 tight, wooded holes
A few holes feature old rock walls to clear, or to stay inside of. The back nine starts with a realy nice run of excellent holes. Red basket #9 is atop a large rock. #10 is a straight 375' par 3 that plays over a bluff into a steeply-sloping valley with the basket perched to create potential deathputts and rollaways. #11 is a dramatic uphill with a rock wall crossing the fairway peak of the ridge, and then #12 is a beautiful left dogleg back down into a clearing bordered by another section of that rock wall. #13 is a flatter 332' par 3 to a basket guarded by trees in front and OB behind - and then you come out for the park-style run of holes the remainder of the way.
The course is clean and very well maintained. I was pleased to see hole #15 improved by re-routing it and tearing out a wall of low trees that used to face the tee. It's not a particularly good hole (though the new basket position is on a slightly raised mound), but it used to be a very bad hole.
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Cons:
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- The new tee signs are pretty, they're large, and they clearly show the hole number. Length and par. They are dominated by hole illustrations featuring no indication of significant trees or other landmarks. There's just generic "woods" illustrations on either side of the fairway. New, expensive, not made by players - so, useless.
- Once you get into the woods on the front nine, next hole navigation is spotty, especially from 2 to 3 and 3 to 4. Some of the pathways aren't marked, and can be full of leaves (you're in DEEP woods here). It gets better on the back nine, but expect to spend some time confusedly walking around in the woods. Just a handful of arrows affixed to trees could solve this easily.
- Dog walkers. At all times. Often walking packs of dogs. The park permits off-leash walking, as long as they're within "voice control." Whatever. Just expect to be slowed down to wait for others to clear on many of the closing holes.
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Other:
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~ Hole #6 is a "tweener" - 392' par three with a hard right dogleg at about 175.' Narrow fairway that goes steeply down from the tee to the turn, and then steeply back up for the remainder. Because of the severity of the dogleg and tight fairways, I don't see how you can do better than a C2 or fairway throw-in for birdie. The global uDisc average for the hole is 3.8 - so it would be a soft par 4. But a helluva lot more satisfying (and fairer feeling) than as a par 3
~ This is a long, highly technical wooded course with lots of elevation changes, Do not bring a cart.
~ PLAY WITH A LOCAL. Less time spent wandering around, and more chances you'll see some "local routes." Playing by yourself it will probably take 4 or 5 times through to really enjoy it, because you'll have learned the gaps, the hidden trees, and which trees to use as aiming markers. First or second time through this really beats you up. But it probably grows on you with enough play. Having played the course only twice several years apart, I give it a respectful 4.0, but I understand how regulars would rate it a bit higher. I'm surprised that the DGCR average rating is 3.8 given the number of 4's I see when scrolling, but that might be because of old reviews and a few pretty negative ones. I think it's an excellent course with a few shortcomings.
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