Buddhitarian

The fairways looked like they were in great shape from what I could see from the rough and the trees. I didn't walk on them much. And the rough, I will say, was decidedly lush -- easily ankle-deep in many, many places. I visited many bunkers, and found them all to be supremely challenging. The greens were in great shape and rolled true -- I can say that confidently as I had many opportunities to putt the full length of a green. I do hope the scorecard was compostable.

There are a couple of holes on this course that people love to hate, but Eagle Ridge is always in great shape, bunkers and fairways are well maintained, and the greens are fast and true. One of my favorites in the area. I've played there many times and will again in the future.

I love this course. I've only been in the region about two years, so I still have a lot of courses left to play, but of those I have, River Ridge is my favorite. Beautiful, challenging course. Greens are always in great shape and somehow, despite the rain and snowmelt we've had around here, the fairways were fine as well. I'm not sure which is their "signature" hole, but I could nominate half a dozen or more, including three of the final four. One change from last year: They used to allow unlimted free range balls -- the only public course I know of that did that. This year, you get a small mesh bag of balls free, but you have to pay if you want to hit more than that. A mid-size bag is $10. That's not a complaint -- the free first bag still puts them ahead of everyone else. Looking forward to my next round (and to playing better).

I love Lochmere. I play there a lot (and live just a couple of minutes away), but the extreme rain and now the snowmelt of the past couple of weeks have made the course unplayable. The greens are fine -- I really don't know how they manage that -- but the mud in the fairways is now so deep that it's a challenge to keep your shoes on. Finding a dry place to take relief is almost impossible. None of this is the fault of the staff, and I'll definitely be back. But right at the moment, the course desperately needs a week without rain.

We've played the Neuse a number of times over the past 18 months, when we first moved to the area, and it's one of our favorites. This round didn't disappoint. Layout is challenging but fun and fair and the course is in stellar condition. The Neuse Dog is the best golf course hot dog around.

I play Lochmere pretty regularly. It hasn’t rained in a while so the course is in good shape. Really crowded and slow today, though.

This was my second round at Wil-Mar. After my first round, I was critical of the greens for being shaggy and slow, and found the pace of play to be horrendous -- six hours that day.
I'm happy to report vast improvements on both of those fronts. The greens were in terrific shape, helped along no doubt by some hot dry weather.
The pace of play was better, but could still use work. We finished in about four and a half hours. But the number of players on the course was half what it was on my previous visit -- perhaps because of the heat (record-setting), perhaps because it was a holiday weekend.
We're definitely going back -- the layout is quirky but interesting and fun (and not too challenging), and the greens now seem to be in great shape. Fair warning: They are hard to read. Be sure to look from more than one angle.

First time at Wil-Mar and I thought it was a friendly, interesting, fairly easy course -- mostly wide fairways with soe short par 4s and par 5s. I'd heard the greens were in good shape and they seemed to be but they were very slow. There are several interesting and beautiful holes on the back nine. I would like to play the course again, but I'm hesitant because it was the slowest round of golf I've played in several years -- five and a half to six hours. It was quite crowded, in part I assume because it was a Saturday and the Sunday forecast was for thunderstorms, so more people were trying to get a weekend round in. I'm hoping that made today's pace unusual, because there's a lot to like about the place.

This is one of my favorite courses in the area (but I am new to the area, so i don't have a lot to compare it to yet). And it's the first time I've played there this year.
The greens and bunkers are in surprisingly good shape given the amount of rain that's fallen in the last few weeks. The fairways are still quite mucky in spots and there are tire tracks everywhere -- from the lawnmowers, I assume. Given the weather, and the need to cut the grass, I'm not sure what they could do about that, but it was more noticeable at Eagle Ridge than at any other course I've played in the last few weeks.
I assume that some dry weather and some maintenance will take care of that problem.
One note on walking: It's a challenge. Lots and lots of hills, a few long walks from green to tee, and very little has been done with walkers in mind. I noticed at least a handful of places where a small foot bridge could have saved yards and time.

I've been wanting to play Scotch Hall for some time. I live in Raleigh, NC, and have friends in the Virginia Beach area and it seemed like a good halfway spot to meet. I wish we'd done it sooner, and we'll definitely be doing it again. Being February, the course is mostly brown but still in truly terrific shape. The greens were, well, green, fast and smooth. Hard to read and hard to putt but always fair. And even being mostly brown, the course is beautiful, with some truly stunning views of the Albemarle Sound. It was a chilly day, so there weren't a lot of people around -- pace of play was pretty much what we made it. There are a variety of ages and skill levels in our foursome and the various tees made the course enjoyable for everyone there. The staff in the clubhouse and grill were helpful and friendly and I really wish we'd built in time for a meal. For the shape the course is in and the layout and the amenities, the price is truly a bargain and the drive well worth it.
The one bit of weirdness is in the layout -- the course and facility is really spread out over a lot of ground. It's a good five minute cart ride from the clubhouse to the driving range. There's no real "turn" after nine holes, but after the 12th hole you can take something of a detour to grab a bite or drink at the clubhouse. And I swear it was a 10 minute ride from the 18th green back to the clubhouse.
We're all really looking forward to our next round -- hopefully when it's a little bit warmer!

This was our first time to the course and for the most part we loved it. Nice layout, great conditions, great practice facility and clubhouse. We were warned that it was soggy in places and it certainly was but it was hard to tell if it was from recent rain or drainage problems. We'll definitely play it again. It's also a little odd to make the turn after 11 holes instead of nine. My one hangup is that it's a bit overpriced. I guess that's to keep the Duke and NC State riffraff out. But next time we have a coupon, and a free weekday, and it hasn't rained in a while, we'll be back.

This was our first time playing and we absolutely loved the course. Great layout, great shape, all around beautiful course and I'd love to go back, except ... When we checked in, we were told there were 200 players on the course, but everything would be fine if everyone kept up with group ahead. That's not possible when you're sending foursomes out at 8-minute intervals. At several holes there were three groups at the tee box - and no one seemed to be playing particularly slowly. Five and half hours later, we were teeing off on 18. It would have been later but at least six people ahead of us gave up and left.

Just moved to Raleigh after 20 years in the Virginia Beach area and I've been hearing people say this is their favorite public course in/around Raleigh. Now I can see why. Great layout, challenges everywhere, and yet most of the time there's room for error. Course was in great shape -- fairways, greens and bunkers. No one in our foursome had played the course before, and there are many holes where a bit of experience will be helpful -- blind or semi-blind shots. My one gripe was with the pace of play. We teed off about 11:30 a.m. on a Sunday, and were told to play the front in 2:10 and the back in 2:20. Our round stretched to over five hours as we waited on virtually every tee box. Didn't see a marshal ... or a beverage cart. But I'll definitely go back. Soon.

I loved this golf course, but I can see how purists would object to a few things on the back nine. First, there are three par 3s and three par 5s, which feels a little weird. And the 10th hole is a peculiar par 5 that, unless you're a consistently long and accurate driver, forces you to play two iron shots and a wedge to get to the green. Personally I like quirks, so I liked those holes. The course was in great shape and is truly beautiful -- some really majestic views, many of them of the hills you have either just climbed or are about to. Lots and lots of hills. Fortunately, for the most part the landing areas have room for error, which this high-handicapper appreciates. Bunkers are nicely sculpted and well maintained. Greens were punched, I would guess, a couple of weeks ago. They hadn't quite recovered but should be fine in days. They rolled well but were somewhat slow. Pace of play was terrific, but that may have been because the heat kept the number of people on course down. All in all, a great experience. I'm looking forward to going back.