Playing Bent Creek Golf Club golfers will experience two very different styles of golf course. The front nine is classic parkland-style, with rolling terrain, elevated greens and tees, tree-lined fairways, and sloping greens with subtle undulations, with an almost total absence of water to negotiate. The back nine is set in a low-lying area of fairly flat ground with a creek meandering through it, ponds seemingly everywhere, relatively light tree cover, and sloped flattish greens with less undulation than on the front. The course runs to 6,579 yards from the back (Black) tees, while the middle (White) and forward (Red) tees are set at 6,110 and 5,405 yards. The scorecard also provides for two additional combo tees. Your round begins with a 500 yard (from the White tees) par 5 that doglegs sharply to the right about 200 yards out. Trying to cut the dogleg is risky because if your tee shot isn’t long enough or too far right you’ll find yourself in trees or on a hillside that runs along the right side of the fairway. Play to the middle and you’ll have a decent chance at par or better. This is the only par 5 on the front nine, resulting in a course par of 71. The subsequent seven holes are fairly straightforward, with no real doglegs or severe elevation changes. We played following several days of rain, so the fairways and greens hadn’t been mowed recently. As a result, the greens weren’t really fast. However, some downhill putts still ran past the hole and we could tell that under normal conditions these greens would be faster than on most courses in the area. Fairways were quite variable in width, and it was necessary on several holes to take sideways slope into account before aiming the tee shot. The ninth hole, a 355 yard par 4 is the mirror image of, and runs parallel to, the first hole. The sharp dogleg to the left is guarded by trees on the inside corner and there are several bunkers starting at about 190 yards on the outside corner. Challenge the trees and you’ll have a short to mid iron into the green and another chance at par or better. Following the ninth hole, you’ll take a tunnel under and across a busy street to the tenth tee. Here you’ll be faced a par 5, 493 yards from the White tee, that curves gently to the left with OB and some marshy areas on the left. Long hitters may reach a marshy area right of the fairway that cannot be seen from the tee box. Care must be taken on the approach shot to favor a right miss in order to avoid going OB on the left. It’s important on subsequent holes to study the edges of the fairway before hitting a tee shot, looking for short stakes marking watery penalty areas that may not be readily apparent from the tee box. Some ponds are marked by taller “barber poles,” but others have only the short red stakes. The fifteenth hole is a 400 yard par 4 that doglegs to the left about 210 yards from the White tees, at which point a creek runs across the fairway. Unless your tee shot can carry about 240 yards, it’s better to lay up short of the creek and take a long iron or fairway wood into the green. Water lurks left and long, so any miss should be right or short. None of our foursome had played Bent Creek before, but all agreed that it was an excellent course and would like to play it again. Unfortunately, as a private club that might be difficult except for member invitations or special events.
