GalCallaway

We were on vacation and played this course because of a recommendation from locals we played golf with at Pacific Grove.

It’s a nice municipal course but not a good value at over $100 (Green fee $80, cart $20, and tax) on a Saturday.

The greens were in good shape but there were a lot of bare spots in others areas from tee to green. The pace of play was ok for a weekend but as you’d expect a bit slow.

The staff was friendly and when I asked for tips they gave us a yardage book and said (1) on front nine, all the trouble is in the right side and (2) on the back nine all the trouble is in the left. This is a good tip because it’s correct! There are some interesting holes, doglegs, blind shots of the tees and tricky slopes based on the position of the flag.
We couldn’t warmup because the two-tier driving range was full will a lot of locals (in jeans and tee shirts just practicing).
Can’t rate the grill because it closes at 3 pm so not open when we finished at 4 pm.

If you’re in the area I’d recommend you play during the week. It’s. not a course I will put on my list to play again when I’m back in the area.

I won’t repeat what everyone else writes.

It is beautiful, hole 1-5 ocean side, holes 6-18 tree lined.

It’s tough but fair from the forward tees - meaning you have a chance to get on greens in regulation on a number of holes. Everyone (male golfers) I spoke with said it’s the hardest course they’ve ever played. I did not experience that.

The course feels very familiar from hole six to 18 because it’s tree-lined and hilly like courses back home. Perhaps it’s harder from the tips for long hitters that miss the fairways. I tend to be a fairly straight hitter.

The only negative was the greens were aerated so they were full of big aeration holes and slow. So if you plan a trip for the fall, ask when the greens will be punched.

Take a caddy if you’ve never played there and take a cart because there are some big hills and when you want to walk the fairway, your caddie will run back and forth to the cart to get your clubs.

Definitely play Spyglass Hill!!!

I was excited to play The Hay based on the hype on Golf Channel and Twitter when it opened but I was disappointed.

I get that Tiger Woods did the design and it’s Pebble Beach but as a resort guest, it’s not a good value for the experience at $65. And one really annoying fact - on Mondays you have to play off mats (which we were not told when we made our tee time for The Hay - $65 and hitting off a mat, not good!

The two interesting holes are 2 (described as like 7th at Pebble Beach but not really but it’s pretty and fun) and 4 (uphill blind shot to the green).

Yes, it’s a good practice for your shot game which I assume is why it’s located at the “practice and learning center” for Pebble Beach golf links.

My advice to Pebble Beach management- as part of the practice facility offer resort guests one free round at The Hay since you promote the practice center as free to resort guests.

One other point on the practice area, the range is the warmup for golfers playing Pebble Beach golf links (they have a shuttle from the course). Because there’s so many players, there is no grass on the driving range. The shuttle driver told me that by 8 am the grass is gone and they know it’s a problem but they can’t do anything about It with so many golfers (especially guys that take big divot and not in a line pattern)

On the bright side - Everything else about Pebble Beach resort, the courses, amenities, staff friendliness was 5 stars.

We enjoyed playing Pacific Grove. We were paired w/two local guys who gave us tips and were just a lot of fun.
The three reasons for the 4 stars (not five):
(1) The fairway grass was hard to delineate from the rough. So you could be in middle of fairway and grass was pretty thick.
(2) Two par 5 holes were over 500 yards from the forward tees - 521 the longest - that’s just too long for shorter hitters to get on the green in regulation.
(3) Pace of Play - they let a foursome out in front of us who were sharing clubs and it really slowed them down. One of the men in our group hit into them on the seventh hole (by accident) and so lucky for us on the next hole they let us play through otherwise it could have been a five hour plus round.

Also, we wanted to eat at the Grill but they stop serving food at 3 pm. You can get drinks and bar snacks after 3 pm.
All that being said, I recommend this course. After 1 pm on weekend the rate was $55 and for a muni course w/the nickname “Poor Man’s Pebble Beach” it is worth the fee. It’s a fun course with lots of wildlife (deer) on the front nine and beautiful ocean views (and wind) on the back nine.

Fox Run is a private course and I had the opportunity to play the course during a Women's South Carolina Golf Association competition.
The staff was very friendly and the event was run well.
The pace of play was a bit slow but that was with 120 players in a shotgun format.
The course is very nice, well maintained considering the amount of rain in SC this month. And the night before the event the course got over an inch rain. So the fairways were wet (no roll) and surprisingly the greens were very fast (I can't imagine how fast they would be on a dry summer day).
The food served at the event was also excellent.
Overall, if you have the chance to play Fox Run - play!

It was a hot June day (in the 90s) -- apparently "maintenance" was done before we teed off so there was no group in front of us and we never had anyone behind us. Therefore pace of play was awesome.

The Walker course is beautiful and it was in excellent condition - no bare spots anywhere on the course. Also, it was well marked so you never were confused as to where the next tee was located. There were rest rooms on the course.

The tips from the pro shop attendant were spot on:
(1) There is less break on the greens than you see
(2) On many holes, missing right is better. This is especially good advice on Hole #1, where the creek runs along the left side (but you can see it from the tees).

My Tip: The greens are very tricky because they are fast (at least the day we played good approach shots rolled past the hole and putts you felt you barely hit, rolled on and on.) And there may be less break as the putt heads to the hole but on the edge of the holes, some seemed to have a break or tilt that no one in our group could read and putts rolled the edge (maybe it was just were some of the holes were cut that day).

The signature hole (17) did not disappoint -- fun to play, birdie chance. And, a pretty view of the lake. But I will say that there are many beautiful holes on the course.

This was the first time playing the course. After playing you really want to come back (with your new course knowledge) to see how low you can go.

Only really one negative about the overall experience: For women, the Pro Shop clothing options were extremely limited. Very disappointing. For example, the men's clothing purchase options included a pair of shorts with tiger paws all over them. Why not have something like that for women in a skort? You are missing the opportunity to sell to women golfers.

Overall, one of the best courses I have played in South Carolina. Definitely play if you get the chance.

Holly Tree is a very nice private course. It has a difficult opening hole but overall I did not find it as hard as folks told me it would be to play. What makes it challenging are the greens.
The one tip I can give you - make sure to leave your ball below the hole on most greens. If you go past the hole (especially on #3 and #18) you will have a very tricky downhill putt).
Played in the winter so conditions were good for the time of year. They were redoing the 5th hole, par 5 so it was played as a par 3. Lots of construction going on around you as you hit your shot onto the green.
I was surprised that the pace of play was a bit slow but I guess the members in front of us were just having a leisurely mid-week round.
It would be nice to play in the spring or summer to see how it plays.
The club house is very nice and the staff in the club house and pro shop were very welcoming.

This review is from a round played during the week from the forward tees. As noted by other golfer's reviews, the carts have a GPS so if you have never played you can "see" the hole layout and get yardages (which is especially useful on a Par 4 or 5 where you can't see green due to the elevation changes).

Based on the scorecard (slope 107) for the red tees, it is relatively easy because it is not too long (which makes it fun and fair) but you do need to think strategically on many holes due to the topography. For example, on hole 14, you can hit a drive over the bunker (or trees) on the left and be in a great spot for your second shot but if you hit your drive to far right, you may need to layup on your second shot (or risk being in the muck at the bottom of the hill).

Also, the greens were rock hard (perhaps because it is fall) and so you had to be careful and know how they slope. I was playing with golfers that knew the course so they could tell me about the slope of greens before I hit my approach shot.

The staff was very welcoming! It was early morning and 40 degrees (and they offered a free cup of coffee).

The practice area is right by the clubhouse (putting green, driving range, seperate practice area --to the right of the putting -- for chipping and bunker practice; which is nice because I hate warming up on a putting green and having to dodge golfers chipping onto the same green.

We did wait (a bit too often) on the group in front of us but we still finished 18 in around 4 hours (on a week day) not sure what pace of play is like on the weekend but I assume a bit longer (as it is with most courses).

Overall, definitely a course I will play again.

First, this is a semi-private course and I was a guest so don't use the "price" I inserted as an estimate.

The course is a mountain course so lots of elevation changes and wonderful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is about an hour and 15 mins from downtown Greenville but worth the drive. They have a driving range at the end of the parking lot and you can buy a token in the Pro Shop or just use your credit card at the machine. $6.00 small bucket.

The greens are small and many are elevated which makes the holes more challenging. I would have given a 5-star rating but the aprons around the greens were being repaired so they were very sandy and uneven so a lot of approach shots took odd bounces or shots you would normally expect to roll on the greens were killed by the sand.

Overall I really enjoyed the course. The staff was very nice. They have a really nice women's bathroom/locker room. The Pro Shop was nice and they provided complimentary yardage books. You really don't need the yardage book because the carts are new - electric (smooth ride) with map screen/GPS for distance.

We ate after the round - on the balcony (great view of the 18th hole) and the food was excellent.

I hope to be invited to play this course again.

Played on a Saturday and the course had cancellations because it had rained (and the forecast wasn't great) but most of the round it was just overcast (only rained while we were on hole 12). So overall the weather was not the reason for slow play.

Slow Play was due to the groups in front of us. Golfers waiting for the group in front of them to be on the green on par 5s before teeing off -- ridiculous. Not one of the players we watched reached the greens in two (i.e. needed to wait to hit their tee shots). And they spent a long time putting. My guess, they were betting. So If the course had a ranger he could have moved them along but we never had a ranger drive by during our round.

The slow play aside it is a beautiful course, in great condition, lots of pretty views, rolling hills. I understand the greens are new and they are very nice. The course is interesting and some holes make you think. For example, from the forward tees, the Par 3, 5th hole is 134 yards and all uphill, forced carry. Shorter players may need to club up to make sure they are on top of the green.

Woodfin Ridge is a 40 minute drive from downtown Greenville and worth the drive on a nice day.

I will play definitely play again but maybe on a weekday to see if pace of play is better!

I played the course a few weeks ago from the forward (Red) tees and found the course very easy to play. I went back and played the Yellow (Gold) tees and I prefer playing from theses tees because it makes it a bit more challenging but still fun.

The yardage difference between Red and Yellow tees is only 800 yards but playing from the yellow tees, water comes into play. For example needing to drive over a pond. And a few holes feel much longer. There is one hole that is a par four and on the card it doesn't seem long but it is all uphill so getting on the green in two is a real challenge if you are not long off the tee.

If you are a really high handicap or just staring the game definitely play the most forward (red) tees with a slope rating of 113 but for all other golfers that normally play "forward" tees, the yellow (or Gold on the scorecard) are a good pick with a slope rating of 123.

The Rock is about an hour drive north of Greenville and it is a beautiful course and was in excellent condition. The course got 2" of rain the previous afternoon so it was a bit wet but given all the rain the course was still in great shape.

As with the other reviews provided, the 8th hole with the waterfall is a "photo op" But there are a lot of beautiful holes on this course. The 8th hole is a par 3, elevated tee box and so you definitely want to club down one on this hole.

It is an interesting course with some doglegs, elevated greens on a few holes, elevated tee boxes on other holes. And there is a creek that you need to carry on a number of holes but the carry distances are fair. In other words, if you know your yardages with your clubs you can easily layup or go for it when you want to on various holes.

The staff was very nice and they did have a ranger on the course. The Ranger was a good guy and asked if we were happy with the pace of play. I appreciate a course with good rangers.

My only criticism is that some of the forward tees (Gold and Red) are not even so you had to "find a spot" that was a flat lie. Also, on the good side - expect on a few holes where the water had clearly damaged the tee box -- most of the forward tees had decent grass.

It is definitely worth the drive to play "The Rock.".

The course is beautiful and was in good condition considering it was much wetter than expected and the greens were aerated.

Per the Pro Shop attendant, the course was reversed because they are building a new club house. What this means is on the first hole all tees (except the forward tee) requires you hit your drive over water. The second hold is another forced carry for all the tees (except the forward tees).

The signature hole is a par 3 with elevated tee boxes and a beautiful view of the mountains. But it is tricky because you really do not want to miss the green.

Playing the forward tees the course is not too difficult. But once again, this is another course that could give some attention to the forward tee boxes.

My main advice is to play the course during the week or watch for a GolfNow Hot Deal because it's not worth the price on the weekend given the slow pace of play. There are plenty of other courses in the area that are just as fun to play and $20 cheaper on the weekend.

I really enjoyed Carolina Springs with it's wide open fairways which is a green light for you to rip it down the fairway. There are a few doglegs and some water but from the forward tees the water really is not in play. The fairways were lush and the greens were in great condition (I only noted 2 greens that had some damage which is amazing given the record rains in the upstate this year).

If you have not read my reviews before, I review courses from the forward tees. The only reason for the 4 stars (and not 5 stars) was the condition of the forward "tee boxes." I put quotes around tee boxes because many of the forward tees were not actual tee boxes but the tees were just placed in the fairway. But the really issue was the uneven lies. For example, the 15th tee (Par 5), in fairway, ball above your feet to the point you had to grip down on your driver. So if they are going to have tees in the fairway at least pick a level spot.

Value can't be beat - in general the price is great but if you are 55 that makes you a senior and the weekday rate was only $28. Range balls (small bucket) $4.00

I did not eat at the course but the folks we were paired with said the food is great.

I will definitely play again but next time I will move back and play from the GOLD tees so that I am playing from actual tee boxes.

I played this course in 2019 before they redid the greens and the new greens are excellent! Overall the course is in great condition in 2020!!!

I do like Willow Creek very much but like many courses the forward tees are not perfect. The positive is that the forward tee boxes were in good condition (e.g. nice grass) but they are uneven. This is the only issue with the course for those that play the forward tee box. I would give the course a 5 star rating if the tee boxes were even.

This is a very pretty course and overall I enjoyed playing it because it was in excellent condition. The tee markers on the tee boxes are all stone so just an FYI that there is no color distinction for the "Medal, Mid, or Forward" tees.
KEY TIP from Pro Shop Staff: Keep your ball below the hole on the greens. This is a great tip because the greens are tricky! Many of them roll back to front and are fast downhill if you are above the hole.
Tee to Green the course is pretty easy. It has some bunkers and elevation changes but no water or unreasonable forced carries.
As the title of the rating states, I would give it 5 stars if the par 3 holes (on the back nine) were reasonable distances. They are too long for an average golfer choosing to play forward. Here are the yardages for the Par 3s on the back nine:
Hole 11: 166
Hole 16: 145
Hole 18: 163
And add to the stated total yardages on some holes due to the fact that they are elevated greens. All this translates to requiring a hybrid, wood, or even driver for shorter hitters to reach the greens in regulation. It's just not good course design for Par 3s.
I do recommend this course and would play it again.
Locals say the grill is good but I could not really rate it because it was closed due to COVID 19.

I played the course last year in August and the course is in better shape right now (June 2020); which is amazing given the record rain in SC this spring. There was only one green that seemed to be a bit damaged by the rain (i.e. clearly wet and trouble with draining).
It really is a fun course. This time I realized the front and back 9 are very different. The front 9 really feels like a course with a creek. The back 9 feels more like a mountain course. Both have some interesting holes. The front 9 is easier (I had more pars on the front) but that being said, I enjoy the back nine a bit more even if it is more difficult for most players. I just like the variety of the holes on the back and my favorite is the 11th hole with the pond. Tip - make sure you know really aim right over the pond even if it looks intimidating (if you drive it straight it will go to far and out-of-bounds).
Overall tip: Play Pebble Creek during the week for a better price and better pace of play. The course green fee on the weekend was $48 so twice what I paid last year for a mid-week round. As much as I like the course, not sure it is a $48 value.

River Falls is about a half-hour drive from downtown Greenville and worth the drive.

The club house is very nice with a nice pro shop, a good size pub and a nice patio if you prefer to sit outside after your round. The range and practice putting area locations are convenient to the first tee.

The staff is very welcoming.and after our round, they asked if we enjoyed the course and thanked us for coming to their course.

The pace of play was a bit slow for the first five holes but they have a ranger and he actually came by and told us a group three holes ahead was the cause of the slow play and he is on them. And by the 8th hole we were moving along at a good pace.We ran into the Ranger again on the 16th hole. He was again very pleasant (even gave me tips on playing to hole), On a Saturday we finished the round in 4 hours.

The courses was in great shape. The forward tee boxes were well maintained (level with lots of grass). Fairways were in good condition too. The greens were a bit slow but I prefer that over super fast greens (especially with changes in elevation).

There are a lot of holes that require you to carry over a creek so you'll need decide when to lay up or go for it. There are some holes where the fairways roll left to right. A few greens with multiple tiers. One very memorable hole was 16. It has a big hill on the left and everything rolls right. You cannot see the green. Tip: aim for the edge of the cart path on the left and it will roll down to the middle of the green. So the first time you play it would be helpful to have someone in your group that knows the course.

You need to take a cart. I really do not see this as a walking course.

Overall a really enjoyable playing experience.

I played this course last August and enjoyed it very much. My opinion remains the same - fun and fair course from the forward tees. At a total of 5079 yards from the red tees, it's FAIR because there isn't any hole where I (or my playing partners) felt we didn't have a chance to make par. And it's FUN because there are a variety of holes.

Also, we have had record rain in SC this May and of the four courses I have played in the last two weeks, Links O' Tryon was in great shape. It was the first course where there was no issue with standing water (and this on a day where we had a few rain showers while playing). So either they were lucky and didn't get a lot of the torrential rain or they have great drainage on the course. Either was it was a pleasant surprise.

It is also a very pretty course and worth the drive from Greenville.

This course is over an hour drive from Greenville SC so in beautiful weather it is worth the drive. However, if they have had a lot of rain or if it is going to rain I would avoid this course on that day and pick a very dry stretch of weather to go and enjoy Greenwood..

I think it is a nice course with a fun and not overly challenging layout. We played on a beautiful sunny warm day but the course had not dried out from the rain the few days before and so it was very wet and muddy. Not the fault of the course, just warning you to check on condition of course before playing. Literally there were no dry areas in the fairways to avoid casual water and some tunnels (on the cart paths) that had enough water that your cart made wakes. I will say the as the day went on the greens started to dry out nicely.

Setting aside the wet aspect of the course aside, it is a very nice course. It has a nice variation of holes (dog legs, a few holes where you need to carry a creek or pond, elevated greens, etc.)

As for playing from the forward tees (Red, not the really forward orange tees), it is a fair course. Distances are fair expect for the one Par three that is about 140 over water. But you can bailout on the fair left side. There were two tee boxes that were in poor condition but at least they were level (which is the most important aspect of the tee box).

I think if you lived locally it might be worth joining this course (it's private).