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I booked an early morning round at the Hard Rock Golf Club in Playacar on a Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Teeing off at 7am there was only one pair in front of me and they played fast enough that I didn’t see them anymore after the third or fourth hole. After that the only people I saw on the course were maintenance staff or the cart boy. I thoroughly enjoyed playing in peace, at my own pace. The course was in great shape but slightly too narrow for many of my drives... In the end, I’d played one of my worst scores in years but I’d happily play the course again!

We arrived to the Hilton Head National GC on a Sunday morning around 9:30am for a 10am tee time and were surprised to find ourselves on the first tee as a double with a threesome in front of us. Judging from the other courses we’d played during the week we were expecting a 5-hour round but we ended up playing 18 beautiful holes in less than 3 hours. The fairways and greens were in pristine condition - my only complaint was about not hitting those nice fairways nearly as often as I should’ve... (They are narrow at times.)

Silver Lake was otherwise a really nice, quick morning outing but very, very wet after almost a day and night of rain the day before. I teed off at 7:15 a couple of minutes after sunrise and played through (as a single player, riding) in 2,5 hours, which was nice but ended up missing putts by ridiculous distances due to watery greens. It wasn’t just roughs and fairways that were sogged - most of the cups were full of water as well and many greens had outright puddles. I was just happy to get out there and aside from its ability to drain water the course is simple, straightforward and spacious - perfect for my long and wide drives...

Stoneybrook is an immediate favorite for me. The fairways and greens are in good shape, the holes are beautiful, and the carts have good GPS screens and electronic scoring. You can even email the scorecard to yourself after finishing the round.

Overall the Valencia has nice fairways that are suitable for all kinds of players. The greens, however, make the par a challenge for more experienced players as well.