ncarhess

I have only lived in the St. Joe/South Bend area since August, but Warren is easily one of the best courses I’ve played around here. Tremendous conditions (even for the end of April), quick but smooth greens, easily-walkable layout but with enough variety that made for interesting shot making. I paid $28 but would have easily paid double or maybe even triple that amount. Many of the green complexes are elevated and firm, making it tough to stop the ball on them. And the bunkers are to be avoided at all costs. Also, it will be an even tougher course when the waste area rough grows in (it was mostly cut back when I played). I will definitely be back to play again and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to play a great round while in the South Bend area.

The greens were aerated around 4/14, so they were still very sandy and bumpy on 4/17. More sand was put down in the morning, but not enough to smooth out the bumps. Not unplayable, but certainly affected the line and speed of your putting. They added sand to the bunkers, which made them more consistent. Fairway Hills is a target golf course - not very long and quite narrow. You can score if you keep it in play and in the fairway. Conditions are always so-so, but you go for the price and the chance to chase the little white ball.

No warning about the aerate greens was given on GolfNow when booking. Renditions’ website says they were punched on Monday 3/28 (I think), but the greens were still very bumpy and extremely sandy, like they had been punched yesterday. Many putts veered offline or bounced. The rest of the course was in a shape that’s typical for Renditions - nothing terrible, nothing great. The novelty of the layout - the chance to play Amen Corner and TPC Sawgrass 17 - is the only reason to play this course. The staff were very friendly - the most friendly I’ve experienced in all my years playing this course. Overall it was a fine round with the exception of terrible greens.

Fantastic layout, impressive conditions, challenging but accessible - this course was everything you want in a course. We played in the first tee time as a twosome and finished in less than 3 hours. I will define back!

This is my fist time playing Lake Pres in a couple of years. The conditions are markedly improved over their worst level, but still aren’t back to their peak. The greens were fluffy and slow, littered with unfixed ball marks, but mostly uniform. They were very soft and receptive , which made approach shots easier. The fairways and rough still had many bare or wild patches and were absolutely soaked from the rain the night before. And the tee boxes were quite chewed up and many were difficult to find level spots to tee off from. I played in the early morning slot for about $40, which is the most I’d pay for a course in these conditions. I love the layout - lots of challenging par 4’s, exciting shots over water, and elevation changes. But until the conditions can match the price, I’ll play elsewhere.

The N/E course is in great shape tee to green. The greens were rolling very quick and smooth. There were a few very iffy pin placements today, where the pin was located on a ridge or a crest with almost no flat spot. But overall a very solid experience. Certainly not a fast round for teeing off at 7:15 in the morning (took 4:10 to complete), but well worth the time.

Blue Mash is always in great shape, usually one of the nicest in the DMV area. So I was unpleasantly surprised when I got to the course today and the greens had been recently punched and sanded. There was no warning when I booked on GolfNow that the greens were in this condition. They were not unplayable, but they were extremely bumpy, uneven, and sandy. I completely understand that greens need maintenance - I’d just like warning so that I can choose if it’s worth playing there with the greens in such terrible shape.

Nothing on GolfNow indicated that the greens had been aerated and sanded 5 days previously. The greens still rolled ok, but there was tons of sand on them and they were pretty bumpy. The rest of the course was in decent shape - you don’t come to Fairway Hills for great conditions. The layout is short (I only hit my driver 3 times) and quirky. It helps if you know where you’re going. The other complaint was that 4 of the 6 par 3’s played 125 yards. The other two were 135 and 155. Not much variety, especially when you have 6 to play. Otherwise we got around in just over 4 hours in the third group of the morning.

I keep getting drawn back to Renditions... and it keeps disappointing me. I had swore off going to this course about two years ago, as the course conditions have deteriorated, the management was clueless, and it is WAY overpriced. But I got sucked in with a Hot Deal on GolfNow. I was the third tee time off on a Sunday morning. There was a frost delay of maybe 30 minutes... which wasn’t too bad. When we started play, they sent out the delayed times on a shotgun start... even better. But the course put 3 threesomes behind a molasses-slow foursome! My threesome was graciously allowed to play through the threesome ahead of us (which was very kind of them), but then we ran smack up against the foursome. They had nothing but open course before them... and they STILL took 4:30 to play 15 holes (they started on 3 when we started on 1... and we STILL caught up with them on 4, even after playing through the group ahead of us). Of course there was no Marshall to hurry them along or encourage them to let us play through. They slow-walked their way around the course, never once even looking our way, despite us waiting on every shot after the 4th tee. What could have been a brisk 3 hour round turned into a 4:40 slog.

But even worse than the inconsiderate players was the course conditions. I understand it is January... but this course is in the worst shape I’ve ever seen it. The greens were pot-marked with ball marks and the fairways covered with unfilled divots. Most of the tee boxes were a few patches of grass with mostly sand or unfilled divots. There was a temporary green set up hole 3, which was not mentioned on the website or in the GolfNow booking. It amazes me that they still charge $90 for rounds here! The only reason to ever play this course is for the novelty of playing Amen Corner and TPC Sawgrass #17. I’d recommend doing that once (and only if you get a discounted time) and then go to one of the other much nicer courses in the area. Don’t waste your money on Renditions.

Mission Inn’s El Campeon is one of my favorite courses in the Orlando area. It’s well-worth the drive out to it. Great layout, consistent conditions, a good variety of holes, always get paired up with great people. My only complaint this trip was that the greens were extremely top-dressed with sand and no warning was given. It did not always seriously affect the greens’ smoothness, but there definitely were times that it did. It was also difficult to gauge the speed from green to green. I was disappointed that I paid $70 for greens that were not consistent. A warning next time would be appreciated.

I must admit I was a bit disappointed in Emerald Hills. I had read a number of good things about the course and it has a championship pedigree (hosting USGA qualifiers), so I expected better than what I got. I was in the first tee time in the morning, but was unable to do more than hit a few putts on the practice green because the pro shop was not open until 6:30 (teed off at 6:46). The course put a single in front of my threesome and a twosome behind us… which is a strange way to start the day. We let the twosome behind us play through on the 4th hole and wasn’t pushed again all morning. The course had a nice layout - lots of water and doglegs. But the conditions were pretty terrible. The tee boxes were bare in many places, overgrown with weeds in others, and bunker-like on some. The fairways were almost as long as the rough in many places with tons of water on them. The greens were ok on the front nine (patchy, slow, reasonably smooth), but completely covered in sand on the back nine. No warning was given on their website or GolfNow that the greens were sanded. With a literal hundred other courses in the area, I just don’t see any reason to return to a course that wasn’t anything other than “meh”.

Best conditions and layout for the price anywhere in the Orlando area. The quintessential Florida layout, but with hills. Immaculate greens that were quick and smooth. If you haven’t played here, you should.

I didn’t expect much after reading the reviews of this course. But it’s located right outside my father-in-law’s balcony, so I had to try it out. The layout is a typical Florida condominium course - lots of little water hazards, thick-bladed Bermuda grass everywhere, tiny elevated greens, holes weaving around buildings and homes. I could have overlooked the overall scruffiness of the course, as I wasn't expecting much better for the price. But the greens were terrible! Huge bald patches (covered with green-painted sand) were on every green - sometimes 10 on one green! If you were lucky enough to have a path of grass between your ball and the hole, the greens rolled slow and bumpy. But you needed a 4-wheel drive golf ball to navigate the rest of the greens. It was bad enough that I basically stopped putting - just slapping it towards the hole on the off chance it’ll go in. The greens ruined what would have been an adequate course. So if you play here, either just take 10’ gimmies or enjoy five-putting every green.

I have played LB many times in the past and have always enjoyed my rounds there. The conditions are always excellent and the routing is so secluded - it feels like you are in your own private park. The autumn trees changing colors make it even more spectacular. But I nearly walked off the course today because of the condition of the greens. First of all, they had coated the greens with enough top dressing to build a sand castle with. I completely understand the need to take care of greens (especially on a public course that gets a ton of play), but the large surface granules affected numerous putts throughout the round. And there was no notice on the website that the greens were under repair. But worst of all were the hole locations. On probably 10 different greens, the holes were cut on such a severe slope that it was impossible to stop the ball near the hole. Every putt that didn’t hit the cup ended up off the green. 2, 6, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18... all were terrible locations cut on severe slopes. The green on 13 was the worst of all - it was only lacking a clown nose and a windmill to be complete. There was literally a dinner plate-sized flat spot where the hole was located. Every other part of the green near the hole was a huge slope. Anything below the hole rolled all the way down to the bottom portion of the green, leaving another 40’ putt back up the hill. Anything above the hole was impossible to stop and ended up down the hill. Even putting from the sides was nearly impossible. I can understand having penal pin placements if you’re playing for a green jacket or a big silver trophy. But these locations were so bad, they penalized you for not hitting an absolute perfect shot. Even one that was 99% solid ended up 30’ from the hole. I am a good player (7.5 index) and a solid putter, but it was not enjoyable at all to putt on these greens. I will not return to LB if this is how the course will be set up - there are too many other great options in the area to endure a 5+ hour round costing $80 with unputtable greens.

Oak Creek continues to be a solid golf course - fun layout (love that the back 9 has 3 Par 3’s/3 Par 4’s/3 Par 5’s, though the first two par 5’s always get me!), excellent conditions, and smooth greens. The course was wetter than I expected, as some holes don’t drain very well (especially 10). But the greens were in fantastic shape - soft and receptive, but rolled true. There were bunches of unrepaired ball marks at 8:10 in the morning, but that’s on the players, not the course. Hands down it’s the best course of the ones near it (Lake Presidential, Renditions, Enterprise) and one of the best in the greater Washington area. Can be a bit overpriced, but we’ll worth it if you get a deal, and even on occasion if you pay full price. I’m looking forward to my next round there.

Whiskey Creek has always been, in my opinion, the premier public course in Maryland. The conditions are always immaculate, the layout challenging and varied, and the experience top notch. But my round on Monday 6/29 was overshadowed by the completely unacceptable slow pace of play and lack of COVID-19 precautions. We teed off at 12:00pm... and it took 5+ hours to play. We waited on every single shot. On more than half the holes, there were 4 groups on a single hole (one on green, one in fairway, one on tee box and one waiting). There was a player assistant driving around, but he offered no explanation as to why things were so slow nor did anything to help manage the delays. Whiskey Creek is also the first course that I’ve played in this crisis (10+ different courses) that had zero changes to its regular golf practices because of COVID. There were no changes to the cups to prevent the ball going down in them, no changes in the pro shop or restaurant (besides the state-mandated wearing of masks by employees, but not of all guests), no increased spacing of tee times, no single carts or dividers in the carts.. They did remove the rakes from bunkers, but that was it. I have always looked forward to playing Whiskey Creek - it is a rare treat for me to play as it always costs a pretty penny. But I think I’ll take my business somewhere that actually values my time and my health.

Played in the second tee time of a Sunday morning. Greens in fantastic shape and rolling well - but still tons of ball marks. I must have fixed 5 marks on each green - and there were plenty more. For goodness sake, fix your marks people! Fairways were in good shape but a bit wet. Tee boxes were rougher - patchy grass and not very smooth or flat. Overall a fun course to play with lots of different shots. Worth playing.

Played two rounds this week at DR - one on Sunday 3 days after reopening from the quarantine and one 5 days later. The fairways and rough were immaculate - thick rough and clean fairways. But the greens were surprisingly bad. The first round they were very long and very bumpy - every putt jumped and bounced off the club face and would not hold its line. By the second round they had cut them down a bit, but the greens were still very bumpy. They may have had a reason for why they were the way they were, but I would have expected the greens to be pristine after such a long layoff. Quite disappointing. Overall a good layout with a wide variety of shots. The staff were friendly, other than the starter who was quite grumpy, getting after us for not going immediately to the tee from the adjacent practice green when there was still 8 minutes left until our tee time. How were we supposed to know you wanted us to tee off early? All you had to do was let us know, not jump down our throats. Otherwise an enjoyable round and a great value at $33 walking.