dallworth

We played Pembroke Country Club on a Saturday morning in perfect weather, four days after the course got drenched with several inches of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Florence. Consequently, the course was very soft, which made it play longer, but allowed shots to hold the greens that normally might not have checked up.

We chose to play here after reading reviews that praised the course, and others that lambasted the poor condition of the course. In their own ways, both were accurate. Pembroke is a very nicely designed track, and while tree-lined throughout is very playable for the weekend golfer as underbrush has been cleared. The greens rolled true, but were a little inconsistent speed-wise. The rest of the course -- tees, fairways and everything in between -- is in desperate need of better upkeep. Lots of weeds, bare spots etc. that would repair themselves in short order if ownership chose to take care of the turf. It was a shame to see a course with a great layout so poorly cared for.

We will return to play it again when I read reviews that these issues have been addressed.

We had a great day at Maplegate, albeit cold and breezy. This was our first time at Maplegate and we found it to be a very enjoyable track. Course condition was mixed. Greens were better than expected after a rough winter, rolling true on some, but with bumps on others. Tee to green there is quite a bit of turf repair to be done -- seemed like a fair amount of it likely originated last summer/fall, so makes me question how well conditions will bounce back this summer. Still quite a bit of storm debris in places, but there were clear signs the Maplegate staff is working on this, so will get better in coming weeks.

All in all, we had a great early spring round of golf. Because we liked the track as much as we did, we will definitely be back to play again when the conditions should be better.