freedoggy

Love the layout …. But …. The bunkers were a mess. A few holes they were well beyond just being washed out; they had weeds in them. The greens were B+ — some damage from sand hill cranes. Some bare spots in the fairways B- . Tees were more bare spots yet (C+).

I grew up in Elmira. I live in Orlando and play Central Florida 2x a week. I have played everything from PGA Tour stops (Bay Hill, Sawgrass, Doral, etc) to resort courses (Disney, Championsgate, etc) to neighborhood courses in Florida.

The classic layout of Mark Twain is phenomenal. For a city run course, the conditions are impeccable. I can honestly say I would rather play Mark Twain than the courses I listed above. This course was more than just bomb it around course — false front greens, high backside greens, sloping and pitching fairways, and well placed trees. The courses doesn’t rely on trickery to protect itself, the course uses positioning as its defense (go long on greens — no way you can get up and down, hit the wrong spot of the fairway — the slope will give you an unlevel stance, failure to shape your tee shot — trees to give an uncomfortable approach shot).

Positives of the course: great course conditions, well kept receptive and speedy greens, able to play in 2h45m (granted we were an 8am tee), challenging yet fair layout, and scenic views

Negatives of the course: the clubhouse is pretty dated and on the dirty side, minimal driving range, and some confusing locations on where to park the cart (this is designed to be a walking course).

If you want to play a great, hidden Donald Ross gem, this is a must play.

Driving range: great chipping area. The tee boxes on the range are worn out with little grass.

Fairways: very good shape for this time of year. Still all green.

Greens: roll true. This is an old style course so the defense is the high amount of relief on the green. With the winter grass, the greens break less than expected

Tee boxes: this is my biggest complaint, many are tore up, especially on par 3s. They should have been repaired when the course was closed for maintenance.

Overall: great, old fashioned course that is fun to play and in pretty good shape

The course was cart path only due to heavy rains the past few weeks. The rough was approaching US Open rough (as in standing in the rough, it was at my ankles). I lost 3 golf balls just because you could only find your ball in the rough if you happened to stand right over it. The fairways were quite mucky in some places. Putting aside the impacts from the weather, the layout is fairly straight forward and a fair challenge. The greens rolled nice, but desperately needed a mow. The staff was friendly and there was cold water on the course. For the price, I would play it again.