Cattails Golf Club

Hadn't been here in 15 years or so. The greens are well-designed but poorly maintained. Like 2 out of 5 stars, bumpy with 20-40 ball marks or larger bare spots per green. No ranger = nearly 3 hours to get through just the front 9. It was brutal. Some people left before their round was finished. Carts are 10-20 years old and show it. I'm guessing it's run by nice people but they have some serious capital needs and it's a course you'd expect to pay at most $40-45 with cart for, it's not comparable to other courses who charge $60+. Will try again in another 15 years : )

This course will push the amateur to the limit. If you aren’t aware of the course layout ahead of time this course absolutely destroys your hopes with beautifully stroked balls hitting a small hill or bump and rolling into a marsh. Unforgiving is an understatement. Greens cut appropriately for length and challenge your putts to be precise on distance.

This is the first time I've reviewed a course a second time, but felt it was fair to do so. I'd last played Cattails almost 2 years ago, and admittedly I went to play this time for selfish reasons. I had a day off, and wanted to familiarize myself with the layout for a scramble outing I'll be playing there in a couple of months. I'll also admit I read recent reviews like I always do to get a feel of what others are seeing. I find there's a lot of bias, and I try to look at things from a perspective of a long time player.

I was first off the tee, playing alone. I float between a 9 and 10 handicap playing once a week on average. I've also been playing for a little over 50 years, starting when I was 8. That brings me to the first thing that caught my attention, and frankly made my whole day. I made the turn at 8:15, having teed off at 7:00. I play fast when I'm alone, and the course is open. Going past the first tee to get to the 10th, I noticed a large group of young girls on the practice green with a teaching instructor. When I was putting my clubs in the trunk at 9:30, they were on the driving range, and there were a lot more of them. I'd guess it to be close to 30. I don't know if boys were in the group. It was mostly girls between twelve to upper teens, but I was so excited about the club influencing so many youngsters. That alone tells me Cattails is doing something right!

Okay, to the course. The tees are still average with lots of divots like the previous time I played. But, knowing the course better, I understand. Cattails is proof that a course does not have to be long to be a strong test. I played the blue tees, which come in at 6009 yards on the card. So, the layout makes up for that by being strategic with lots of different defenses. Yes, there are marshes. And creeks. Bunkers. Mogels. Doglegs. A pond or two. But, there aren't 8 blind shots. I presume that reviewer meant from the tee. 8, 9 and 10 might qualify. Doglegs do not. Most fairways are visible from the tee. Greens are not, necessarily. I don't want a boring experience. A dogleg isn't hard. Find your distance, hit an iron to the corner and make your approach. If you think golf means hitting driver 14 times, you don't understand the game. That said, that leads to tees that are more abused than other courses most might play. The fairways are fair in width in the landing zones, if you hit the right club. It's a risk/reward game. The fairways themselves were in excellent shape.

The greens did have a lot of ball marks in need of repair. Way above average. That speaks more to bad golfers than never were taught proper golf etiquette. The greens are soft, and hold. I'll take that over hard surfaces that don't receive good shots. But that also means you need to repair your ball mark. Plus, two others near yours. That's what good golfers do. We help the maintenance crew keep the course in good shape. But here's the thing I noticed, firsthand. Being early off the tee in the morning, while I can't critique pace of play (although I didn't see noticable backups while I move around the course...and the front and back nine are intermixed), I did get to see the grounds crew at work. On the eighth hole, there were 2 guys working on the green. Not changing a hole. One had a leaf blower cleaning anything. The other was doing nothing but repairing ball marks. That was his job for the morning. A repair tool and a putter to tamp. Clearly the course knows it has a problem with golfers not doing it themselves. I encountered at least eight different crew members, all of them very friendly. That was encouraging to me. The greens were still smooth and putted true. My only issue was going back and forth between ones that had been mowed, and ones they hadn't gotten too yet that were covered with dew. That's the downside of an early morning round (that and dodging sprinklers)

I found the course very good, and fun. I don't fear blind shots, and I love having to think. I had three bad holes on my way to an 84. That risk/reward scenario coming into play, along with a couple of bad swings. My only complaint was I couldn't find anywhere on their website if I would have qualified for a senior discount. The age isn't listed. $52 is a bit high, as far as I'm concerned, but I get increased fuel costs and such. I would say it rates to be in the $45 range. That said, I'll be back. And not just for the scramble.

8 of 18 holes are blind. However designed this place hates golf.

Fantastic course, layout, and greens. Back nine has a lot more elevation changes. Really fun round.

Course is in pretty miserable condition, but a fun track overall.