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Panther Lake at Orange County National
Played On 10/07/2017Great Course!
Played this course right after the Crooked Cat course on Saturday. Course was wide open until I hit a threesome around hole 11. Course is in great shape except the greens were still recovering from aeration with sand filled aeration punch marks. Layout was challenging and made you think a bit more than the Crooked Cat. Fairways were in great shape as were the tee boxes. Saw the car girl twice. One thing you want to have out there is your own water. The drinking fountains are pure hose water, just nasty. OCN may want to fix that as most high end courses do not have that problem. The OCN website states that the course is unspoiled by houses but apparently the days of the course not being encroached upon by real-estate development are apparently over as there is plenty of build up going on. That is too bad because it is such a peaceful course to play. I got to 15 and was run off the course by a pretty big storm. At one over par, I can't wait to get back and play the course and finish up. Great staff across the board at OCN, great practice facility (driving range teeing area had little grass on it). Pace of play was much faster than Crooked Cat until I hit the threesome at 11, who would not let me play through until 15, but by then the weather went south. Overall, I look forward to going back to Panther Lake.
Crooked Cat at Orange County National
Played On 10/07/2017Not bad, needs some work to be 5 star rated.
The staff from initial walk up to the Pro Shop, restaurant/bar/cart girls, starters and rangers were professional, courteous and helpful. Just great people! The Pro Shop was stocked with really great OCN logo'd apparel and souvenirs. Practice greens were challenging and mirrored the course greens. Driving range and practice facilities are top notch, but teeing area for driving range was thin and seemed to have more dirt than grass to hit off. The course layout was really great and offered various situational challenges that made the round more enjoyable. The fairways were firm and a bit thin/dried-out. The greens are nearly perfect coming off aeration. The most glaring problem was the pace of play. Five hours to play a round of golf is unacceptable. At one point, I counted three groups on one Par 3 (two waiting and one not even to the on the green having missed the green in regulation). I was glad that I was finally able to play the course, but I would not come back under that pace of play.