wisejn

I remember when playing The Willows was a real treat. I have not played it in a few years but played yesterday afternoon. The condition of the course was average from tee to green. Some fairways (#3 in particular) was in very poor condition. I realize it has rained a few days lately, but the course is not being properly maintained. The cart paths are in dire need of complete replacement. They are virtually impossible to drive on.

Kenton County should be ashamed of this course. It deserves better, and can be returned to a destination course. You will get local play, beer league play, and seniors, but no one should drive more than 10 minutes for The Willows right now. There are better options elsewhere.

Layout - This is one of the more difficult layouts due to the elevation changes. I find the course to be challenging every time I play with several elevated greens that make you be smart about club selection. It is a demanding course in that you have to play well from the tee and there are several holes where you have to be careful where you miss.

Condition - the course is owned by Kenton county and it is evident from the start they have adoptees a minimal maintenance strategy for this course. The old driving range that was near the first tee has been let go and is not overgrown. It is no longer open. The tee boxes are generally okay with a few exceptions where they have completely lost them. Fairways were mowed but the lack of divot fill on the carts tells you how much they care. The greens were in decent shape though several are now nesting grounds to wasps that burrow into the greens. In fact the 17th green is almost unplayable unless you have nerves of steel and don’t mind standing over a putt while 1.5” long wasps fly around you. Don’t know if they are interested in stinging you or not but I did not stick around to find out. The last hole at Fox Run has always been a carnival. It is almost like they built 17 decent holes and thought they were done before realizing they have to squeeze one more in. For whatever reason they have you tee off from the old tee boxes. A carnival, trust me because the hole is almost unplayable from the old tee boxes. Don’t know what is going on.

The tell tale sign of a course is it’s bunkers. A well maintained bunker is a good sign. Unfortunately at Fox Run all of the bunkers have been let go, even those near the green. They are completely void of sand, full or water, or overgrown with weeds.

I paid $45 to play and do not think it is worth that. Should be $25 play until they can invest sufficiently to bring it back. Quite honestly they should either sell this course or let it go so they can spend what money they do spend on the course on the other two 18’s there which have always gotten the bulk of the play anyhow.

Sad to see a course deteriorate but this particular course has to be demanding to care for given the significant elevation changes and challenging layout.

If you want to have an enjoyable round for less than $50 there are many, many better choices unfortunately.

The greens were punched about 30 days ago but were in good shape. A little inconsistent in terms of speed but overall good condition. The layout of the course was very enjoyable. Could hit a variety of clubs off the tee. We went out at 4 pm on Friday evening and had no one in front or behind us so we got done in a shade over 3 hours. I would highly recommend the course to anyone.

Third course I played during my trip (Salt Creek and Torrey Pines) and found this course to be my favorite. I know it will be blasphemy to put this course higher than Torrey Pines but I did play the North course, and I look for more than a pretty view when I play and critique a course. I enjoyed the layout and found it quite challenging. In fact it was a bit too challenging for me on this particular day. You need to be able to drive the ball straight otherwise it will be quite punitive. But that is not unique to this type of layout. The course was in good shape all the way around, nice elevation change, few water holes, etc. I would recommend it to anyone.

One of the worst courses I have played. The pictures are wholly inaccurate when it comes to current conditions. Aside from the greens which were not mowed, there was barely any green grass on the course. In fact, there was little grass on the course. With the course being so dry it was extremely penal because any loose shot bounded off the course. I could not, and would not, recommend this course to anyone of any level. There have to be better options.