historypiper

A wonderful place to play. Staff is always very friendly and helpful, course is always in good condition, never had anything but a great day there. Course is challenging from all tees; accuracy is more of a premium than distance. Keep it to yourself though, don't want it to become too difficult to get a time. Ah, what the heck, invite everyone, it's too good not to share.

The Maples is by far the most challenging of the 3 Sea Trail offerings. The player is met with 1 "just a golf hole" and 17 tough, challenging holes. The round opens with a pretty bland par 5 and then you begin to find out why Dan Maples is so highly regarded.
Unfortunately, at the moment the conditions don't measure up to the design. Mostly thin lies and the greens are VERY thick. In one regard this isn't a terrible thing since if they were as slick as some other courses rounds could take much longer as 4 and 5 putts would be common on the quite challenging greens. Worth playing for the design at the right price (my partner and I paid $23 with GolfNow rewards.) Staff was very nice.

Found this course to be in good condition and quite enjoyable. In some ways it was a typical Dan Maples course but not quite as much character as you usually find on his layouts; for instance, I found the East Course to be, to my mind, a better layout but together as pair for anyone looking to play 36 you could do MUCH worse than the Pearl. One word of caution, if you're a 100 + player, bring plenty of balls. The only negative I gave the day was the food selection, we played on a Saturday morning and asked for hot dog at the turn and all they had to offer were pre-made ham, turkey, and tuna sandwiches. If you're looking for a nit to pick, that was it, otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable course and day.

Website calls it Tom Jackson's masterpiece but I can think of at least 3 Jackson courses in western NC, including the one I was a member of, that are as good or better. Having said that it's a very nice layout, challenging but a lot of fun. Be aware we played on Aug. 15 and they had a sign in the pro shop they were going to be punching the greens Aug 17. Throughly enjoyable and plan to go back after the greens heal up. The tee boxes are a bit beat up but no worries, you could find a place on every tee where you could tee your ball without worrying about slipping. Recommended.

Enjoyed the course, nice layout, a typical Maples design with a number of doglegs and yes, at least one hole (on this course, two) with a tree in the fairway making you choose your option for playing the hole. A few greens had some bare spots which you'll find on a number of courses in the area, apparently there was a mold issue last winter, but they tried to put the pins in spots where the bare areas wouldn't come in play. Overall, a nice day on a good and scenic course.