shutterthethought

Deer was closed for aeration. Turtle had been done 3 weeks earlier. I was pleasantly surprised that the greens were quite nice. They were slower because of all the rain, but like with most of golf-make the adjustment if you can. I enjoy all about the Sun-N-Lake offerings. The only suggestion that I feel would really improve the experience would be more information (distances)on holes that have doglegs, creeks/ponds, blind shots etc. Not everyone that plays there, are regulars that know what to expect. There is a Par 5 on the back 9(#14) as an example. You can see water from white tee box on rt. but you can't see water in front of you but the very tiny image on scorecard tells you it is there. OK, how far to water? Fairways slope down to water, my rangefinder can't pick up any distances because there isn't anything to bounce off. If you don't have that feature/info on your Golfcart GPS, or on the scorecard you will be guessing. Golf is hard enough-just sayin.

I played this course 3 weeks ago. It was a pleasant surprise. Conditions, layout were all very good. So, I rebooked to bring another friend up (36 mile drive) and was unpleasantly surprised they had aerated the greens the week before. Putting was pretty much useless, as to be expected. When booking,- under course conditions on Golfnow you should be told. This is the sections where they put-90* rule, cart path only, aerated fairways/greens etc. I would have gone elsewhere. I live on a beautiful private course, I went there because they aerated 2 weeks ago. Not cool.

It didn't start out so great, but ended up being a real pleasant round. Rain can be a bit of a bummer but it eventually ceased. That backed up the Pace of Play, so we joined the twosome in front of us per their offer. Once we began and got a feel for the course layout and conditions-we were very pleased. At times, narrow fairways, doglegs, undulations in fairways and on greens. That added challenges which added to the enjoyment-(most of the time). With some greens having quite a bit more undulations than others, hole placements on or close to ridge lines when the greens are running really fast will require a perfect putt. No margin for error, will effect your average golfer's fun-o-meter(trust me - so hopefully they will not position the hole near ANY ridge lines-ever). The challenges which can make it fun only apply if you are playing well. If you are a higher handicap player, set aside your ego and play forward, bring a couple extras sleeves of balls and start by lowering your expectations. It is NOT an easy course. If you are errant(not the courses fault), you will either find the water or not find it in the woods. I do think a better course layout with distances provided to players (like GPS charting) would make any course more enjoyable (especially first timers to the course)because this course has several blind shots combined with doglegs. You can hit left or right of the center of the fairway, come over a ridge and find out you rolled into unknown trouble(water, ditch"no water yet", rough etc.). The more you play the course, like any other, the more you can make those adjustments.Enjoy

First, the course was in real nice shape. Second the weather was real pleasant. Overall it was a real enjoyable day.

Of course being around since 1922, one might expect a few items to possibly be a little long in the tooth. But you can see they are still keeping the course a viable entertainment value. It isn't really all that incredible or even special but nicely maintained(very important at all times but especially during pandemic-mostly level tee boxes, medium speed greens well maintained, bunkers in excellent shape, nice fairways and very playable "rough") and as moderately challenging as you want-move up or back on the tee boxes introduces distance and doglegs. Overall a pleasant experience.

My wife and I played in really pleasant weather-important to us. It is a bit out there in its location, but it was a pleasant scenic albeit slow winding drive. The Pro shop attendant was very nice, quickly checked us in. They were busy with a couple large groups that tee'd off earlier, so they were a bit short of golf carts But within 15 mins., we were teeing off. The course fairways had a mixture of weeds and grass-mostly weeds. They were mowed which made this less obvious until you addressed your ball. Not a really big deal but that will depend on your expectations and where you are used to playing. There is a lot of good variety to the course, (doglegs, elevation changes, altitude, undulations, blind shots etc.) Those are facts, what is an opinion is the greens were VERY slow (greens had not been mowed/rolled recently and were soft when we played-your milage may vary. Rakes were not included on our cart and I believe I saw 2 rakes but many more bunkers. It is an observation worth mentioning because I feel it is an injustice to anyone that would want to do the right thing and rake the bunker but not have the means to do so. For first timers like us, not having a scorecard that was "readable" or a tee box placard or cart display as to layout was a bit odd because of so many blind shots, hills, and unseen obstacles etc.. For me to hit a beautiful solid tee shot down the middle of the fairway and see it go over a ridge and find out my ball rolled into a creek that I had no idea existed was a bit frustrating. Going from green to the next tee was pretty much a guessing game because of minimal direction or signage. I am not nitpicking, these are items that will simply speed up the game. Small changes by the golf course will bring big benefits to golfers immediately and the course soon after-IMHO. Having said all that, I paid very little money $14 ea. to play, so these are observations more than complaints because I think this course with a few changes could be really special.

Very pleasant drive to course from 6 miles out. Course conditions were very nice. The greens had been punched and top dressed within the previous 2 weeks. So they were slower and a little bit bouncy. But that is a timing issue on my part. For the area- we felt the condition and the Golfnow hot deal made it an excellent deal.

Visually challenging and possibly intimidating because of all the blind shots and fairly narrow fairways. Lots of bunkers thrown in for good measure. If you are slightly off target then the banked sides help feed back into fairway or bunkers. A little more errant than that then you may be hitting over/thru trees, fairway banks and definitely blind. If you are a slicer, hooker of the ball-you will NOT have fun. If you are a fairly straight hitter, you will be challenged and HAVE fun. The condition of the greens were a bit patchy, above average speed for a public course. Hint, know where the Stratosphere is and know it breaks away from it. If you warm up before playing, be aware you are hitting off the mats(I do not care for that at all), also their practice balls are due for replacement. I also feel if you are an above average golfer and play more than once because of all the blind shots, the more fun you will have.

Conditions from tee to green where very nice, exceptionally nice. That is to say-tee boxes level and aimed correctly, fairway and green side bunkers are fair- in that they were raked and moderate sand (not powder or hard packed), fairways were large tree lined and some were pretty narrow, miss the fairway or greens slightly and you better feel comfortable with first being able to find your ball and secondly being able to hit out of grass that gobbles up your ball. Greens run true but are filled with undulations and pretty darn fast. Being able to leave the ball on the correct side of the hole will be a great asset. I also think the course is pretty as well. Just enough water/ flowers/trees and geese to capture your attention. If you are a high handicapper, you WILL struggle-ALOT !

The weather was beautiful as well as the neighborhood the golf course resides in. I based my desire to play there partly on hotel employee recommendation, golfnow offering, and their advertisement. So, my expectations were to be - very good. To start-no bag drop-no biggie. Attendant(cashier) very nice and helpful. Small bucket of range balls (approx. 20 balls) $6-little pricey for 20 balls. Cart was pretty slow, no I mean very slow for gas. I was unaware they had aerated and top dressed the greens recently. Combine that with not having been recently mowed or rolled and several hard mud patches -made for very slow inconsistent greens. I guess my pet peeves for golf courses other than consistent greens are fairly simple-give me level Tee boxes(I struggled a bit on most tee boxes to find a level spot-played from the blues) and manicured bunkers. The numerous bunkers I walked by or landed in (2) had several footprints and divots left there. At first I thought inconsiderate golfers but also noticed very few rakes. If you have a very large bunker (10-30yds)that has 1 or maybe 2 rakes good luck keeping pace of play if you want golfers to go find a rake. Spend the money provide lots more rakes-period. Highly suggest you have a golf measurement device because the distances (scorecards) were off quite a bit 147 vs 127 (pin front), 211 vs 186 (pin front), 151 vs 171 (pin middle) etc. All flags same color, no pin sheet, so if accurate distances are important to you, come prepared. I think with a few adjustments the course could be really nice. This was my experience on the day I was there. Your results may vary !

I rated Average course condition, 3 1/2 was not offered. The greens were very good. The tee boxes could use a little attention. I enjoy playing where there is a possibility of seeing wildlife, here that possibility exists. I enjoyed the round because it was fair. If you are not a pretty long hitter, do yourself a favor and play from the whites-enjoyable.

The course is scenic, well laid out and well maintained. We unfortunately had cart path only because of rain from the day before, which added to our time and lots more walking but it is what it is). I have played this course several times now and think it is a very good course for the money. It is challenging enough but fair, what else can you ask for.

I have played this course over the past 5 years a half dozen times. This is the second worst condition I can remember. It just looks like, they feel they do not want to spend any money maintaining the course. It appears as though the club house/pro shop was torn down so there is a double wide trailer in parking lot for what I assume is just temporary facilities while they build something new. I did not see any construction going on, so that would be an assumption. They may even be selling the place for all I know, that is why they do not want to spend any money. I will say, for the price I paid the greens were in good shape.

We did super saver and that made it a superb deal.

I got super saver for $29. For this course that is excellent. Normal price is $55, that is just a good price for this course. The course is well maintained and with the wind thrown in, can create a nice challange. The greens were quite slow, but that is because we have had rain virtually every day for a month. I will play again!

The front 9 greens were just aerated and sanded. I asked the attendant when I noticed the practice green aerated and we understood him to say, only that green was aerated. I think the greens are going to need additional attention regardless. It is an older course that is in decent condition, especially for a well used public course. For $25 or less it is an OK deal-not bad or really good...