husker101

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this course for the amount of money I paid. It is nestled in the very nice Tega Cay community and was a quiet course. I'll start with the two things I did not particularly enjoy: 1) Two of the holes are kind of on an "island" if you will; not in the sense that they are surrounded by water, but in terms of how they are secluded from the rest of the course. I know they did their best to fit in an entire course amongst the houses, but it does feel a bit forced. 2) I did not care for the driving range AT ALL. You are essentially hitting into a valley, and although it was a unique experience, it does not help you get a feel for how you are hitting your clubs that day. It is strictly for getting loose.

That being said, I REALLY enjoyed the course. It had the perfect mix of "target golf" shots and holes where you could really let it fly.

I will definitely be back...can't wait to see what it looks like when the grass greens up.

I will start by saying that I really liked the design and layout of this course. Yes, it's a little strange passing by the clubhouse twice before you even tee off on #10, and yes, the driving range is a good hike from the "clubhouse," but the actually golf course is unique. This is not a course for someone that struggles to break 90 on a basic, flat municipal course. You need to be able to pick your spot on several holes and really know the distance you hit certain clubs. Many of the holes have landing areas that will give you a great second shot, and missing these areas will mean a lost ball. I really enjoyed the challenge this course presented and how inviting the greens seemed; hitting a green in regulation isn't particularly difficult here, but actually finishing the hole is. The greens were painted of course, but they looked terrible...someone never learned how to color inside the lines. It's just sloppy. You could hear the greens 'crunch' underneath your feet, and although they ran true, it wasn't much to putt on.

I will be back, however. It's one of the nicer courses near Charlotte #still about a 30 min drive#, and playing a course tucked in the woods is a much needed getaway after a long work week.

First things first: this course is quite a drive from Charlotte. If you don't have 1.5-2 hours for the roundtrip journey, I can't blame you; it makes the round essentially 6-6.5 hours with time to warm up. That being said, when I do have the extra time to spare, I will be going back to Eagle Chase. It wasn't a particularly daunting course, but it was challenging and the elevation changes that are present on almost every hole make for a unique golfing experience. To balance this out though, there is honestly very little to get you in trouble in terms of traps and water. Sure, water is present on several holes, but I can only remember two holes in which the water really made me adjust my strategy. For example, on the par-4 #13, it's only a little over 300 to the pin if you took the direct route, but 260 of that distance would be over water. I chose to lay up by hitting a 2H about 230 over part of the water, which left me with nice wedge shot into the green. The par 3s on this course absolutely killed me though: on #12, I hit the right side of the green, but the ball rolled off down the side of the hill and I had to take a drop since the bank was too steep to attempt a shot. Then, on #16, I hit a wedge about 135 and it hit just off a bank on the back of the green. I usually get a little spin on full wedge shots, but this one hit the hill, rolled back about 20 yards across the entire green and into a bunker...I couldn't believe it. The firmness of the ground on the greens and the grass immediately around them did not lend themselves to attacking pins; you really had to aim 8-10 yards in front and let them roll out. I'd heard good thing about the new greens, but I can't imagine how firm they'll be in the summer if they were already hard as a rock this early in the year. Even hitting into greens with 6,7, or 8 irons wasn't leaving a mark...that's a sign the greens are too hard.

Note: the cart paths are in AWFUL condition. You honestly can't even ride directly on them 50% of the time. I also can't imagine walking this course on a hot day due to the elevation changes and distance between greens and the next tee boxes on most holes.

Meadow Park's 18 hole course is a great challenge for any skill level and has a great mix of holes in terms of where you need to hit the ball off the tee box in order to have a good look at the green on your approach shot. The rough is cut to a good length, meaning that even if you do find the tall grass, you will typically have a good chance of still advancing the ball up the fairway. There are a lot of trees on this course, but the fairways are not narrow by any means. Just because the fairways are forgiving doesn't mean a driver is needed more than a handful of times though. I have played this course several times and typically only hit driver 4-5 times. Many of the Par 4s require some form of shot shaping and only required 22-240 yards in order to take a shorter iron into the greens. Granted, many players may want to hit a wedge in this situation, but just know that you don't really need to get after it on the tee box. There are several holes where hitting a driver will get you in trouble if you do hit dead straight. One thing I don't like about this course is the first Par 3 on the back 9...I believe it's hole 12 or 13. It only requires me to hit an 8 or 9 iron, but the pin placement is always back left and is completely obstructed by overgrown trees that require some serious trimming. If Meadow Park is not careful, it won't be too long before only the right side of the green will even be visible from the tee box.

Overall, this is a great course to play if I just want to get out with friends and have a good time. It isn't the most challenging course in the Tacoma area, but I have always enjoyed it, and will continue to go back.

Note: STAY AWAY from the Williams 9 hole course. It is not fun, the greens are not maintained at all, and the fairways are essentially just backyard grass. I wouldn't play it again if Meadow Park paid me to.