Ranking:
Variety of Design: Very solid. The par 3's have variety as good as can be expected, as to par 4's and 5's. Variety in length among all holes is very good. Directional variety is as good as any, having 6 holes going Right, 5 going left, and 7 going straight. 7 3/4
Flow of the Course: The course does a very good job of taking the player up and down through the course of the round. Difficult holes are typically followed by breather holes and mundane holes followed by good ones. Adding in the fact that the course mixes up playing uphill and downhill, the course does a good job, though not a perfect one, of telling a story through the round. 7
Conditioning: The course was played during the spring season, Master's weekend, in fact, so the course might not have been as "green" as during high season. But the course had very firm fairways with solid turf cover to go along with a solid set of greens. Could have been fractionally better, but still very good. 7 3/4
Ease of Walking: Given the hilly site the course is a difficult walk, but not impossible. Generally the holes are routed somewhat close to each other, allowing for moderate to short walks between green and tee. 5
Atmosphere: Good. The club tries to be nothing more than it is, carries no amount of snobbery or the like. The club lives up to the standards set by the rankings and that adds to the history of the club. It also doesn't hurt that the course is privately owned, not owned by some huge corporation. Good, "throwback" type operation. 4
Total: 67 3/4
Holes to Note
Hole #1: Par 4, 446 yards
This is no bargain for an opening hole. Hole plays significantly downhill and has a pond awaiting the player at the end of the fairway. It is possible to reach the pond off the tee if the player hits the ball more than 300 yards from the tee, which given the downhill nature of the shot is quite possible. It is unknown why the pond is here, it certainly seems manmade. Perhaps is was needed to control run-off from the course. From the fairway, a semi-difficult shot awaits the player, coming over the pond to a slightly elevated green. This hole certainly does not give the golfer a "gentle handshake" to start the round.
From the tee, the golfer is afforded a great view of the hole and the surrounding country side. The best play is towards the right edge of the green with a slight draw if able. The farther left one is in the fairway, without being blocked of course, the better the angle for the approach shot becomes.
From the center of the fairway, the shot is rather simple, though not incredibly easy.
Hole #11: Par 4,413 yards
This hole features a double fairway set-up that allows the player to pick a side depending on how much rish he wishes to take. The left fairway is wider, but leaves a longer play to the green. The right fairway is narrow, and has disaster waiting down the right side, but will leave the player with a shorter shot to the green. The fairways are split by a cluster of trees, though they should not be in play for the golfer. The approach to the green changes little depending on side are far as angle and so forth. The left fairway is slightly more elevated giving a more level approach to the green.
From the tee, the two fairways wait. The better player, of course, can pick the fairway he wishes to play down and play to that point. The lesser player might simply aim for the trees, playing the percentages that he will not hit straight and will then find the fairway no matter which way he misses. Strategic for the best players, easy to play the the lesser ones? Seems to be a winning combination.
From outside the fairway down the left side, the green lies in wait on top of the hill. As seen here, the approach angle or difficulty would not be significantly different from either fairway, only change would be the yardage.
Hole #14: Par 3, 236 yards
The longest par 3 on the course plays over a large ravine and back up to a generous green. The design of the hole seems to prefer an aerial approach to the green since any ball landing short would have to be coming in quite fast to avoid getting stopped on the slope or, worse, coming back down the slope.
Hole #16: Par 5, 494 yards
This hole, while being out of place playing around a man made pond, it a solid hole strategically. The hole plays blind off the tee to a wide fairway. But being that it is blind, the player who has never played here does not know exactly how wide the fairway is, if is has significant slope or if it is heavily bunkered. This is the only blind tee shot on the course (it could be argued that the tee shot on 9 is blind, but that is only the case for the very longest of players) and that feature is used to full effect. Once arriving in the fairway, the player finds a very accomodating fairway with very little slope and no bunkering. From here, he must determine if he wants to go for the green in two or lay-up. Going for the green certainly brings the water right and short of the green into play. Laying up will bring the bunker that lies about 75 yards short of the green into play possibly. This is a solid risk-reward par 5 this late in the round.
The hole doesn't give the player much help from the tee. He simply must pick a line and hope it is the best (not knowing what lies in the fairway, of course)
This image, from the lay-up area, shows the flat nature of the fairway and gives a closer view ot the green site with the bunker and pond in play. This hole is very solid strategically, but the odd nature of the pond takes away from it, sadly.
Overall, this is a solid course. It certainly will not bore anyone from start to finish. The holes are solid and come together to form a very good course. The course is certainly deserving of it's ranking and very fun to play. 6 out of 10
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