osugoodman

First time playing Royal American this year, but not the first time ever.

royal American is an interesting challenge, and one of the more difficult public courses close to town. The course isn't tight, but neither is it wide open. Well placed creeks and bunkers force you to choose your shots carefully, and on many holes, a driver off the tee is NOT your best choice. If you have trouble keeping it within 30 yards of the centerline, you might want to go somewhere a little more open.

The course was in great shape. Tee boxes, fairways, rough and greens all well manicured, with very little ground under repair. The bunkers were in the best condition of any of the public courses I've played this year. Firm not fluffy, but still very playable compared to some of the relative parking lots many courses are featuring for sand these days. About the only beef with the course conditions is that the paved cart paths could use a little maintenance is spots, with some pretty good potholes here and there that will jar your cart pretty bad if you aren't watching the road close. Given a choice between maintaining the course and maintaining the cart path, the course wins 10 times out of 10, so pay attention to where you drive...

Pace of play was outstanding, our round was done in a crisp 4:15, including a relatively lengthy stop at the turn for a sandwich and a stop at the bar before making the turn. With many publics on a busy day, the pace is drifting north of 5 hours, so a pace close to 4 is refreshing.

Overall a great round of golf and a solid public course. Worth your time a long as you have the skills to keep it within sight of the fairway.

New Albany links is still a course in transition. Coming off a very seasonable spring where there should have been ample opportunity to whip things into shape, the course was in pretty rough shape. Lots of "ground under repair" that it was clearly evident that no repairs were underway. Bunker condition was awful, but they were out on the course actively working on them, and indicated that they were bringing in $50k in materials to freshen up the sand.

The good news is that despite these shortcomings, pace of play was excellent. Round was finished in 3:45, including a hotdog at the turn. There were plenty of folks on the course, but the Rangers did a good job of keeping play on pace.

If they can right the ship and improve the condition of the course, this will be be back among the better public courses in the area.

Safari is a decent, middle of the road public course. It's not a dog track, and it's not longaberger. The price is right for what it is, and the course appears to be getting the attention it needs to stay in good repair.

The course itself was in respectable shape, given that we've been a little light on rain for the last couple weeks. A couple greens had some spots that could use some attention, there was still a fair amount of "trash" in the course from the flowering and "helicopters" from the maple trees and the sand is "firm" to say the least. But other than those minor complaints the course was very playable.

What I absolutely cannot stand was the pace of play. The group in front of us was horribly slow. Screwing around on the greens like every putt was for the PGA championship or $100 a stroke. Not good when half of the group was 3-putting. Play ready golf people! Size up your putt while the person away is taking their stroke, and as soon as they're down or marked take your stroke. It's very simple, and can be the difference between a 4 hour round, and one that runs 5 1/2 or more. The Rangers were out, and I saw them speak to the group more than once, but they need to start taking a harder stance on slow play, directing slower groups to let faster players through, and in my opinion, if they can't maintain at least a 2:30 per 9 pace, they need to be asked to leave.