Back9Ben

Proper communication between a course and a player can have a huge impact on the player's perception of the course. I found this to be particularly true when I visited Bretton Woods Golf Course at Mount Washington for the first time recently. Though I am a New Hampshire native, I live in a different part of the country now and so was completely unaware that northern New Hampshire had been dealt a particularly wet and difficult spring for golf course maintenance crews.

So when I showed up and began playing the course, I was taken aback by the various soggy areas in the fairways, the patchy grass on the greens and the general shagginess all around. For a course that charges around $100 on the weekends, I expected a lot better conditions. It wasn't until the 13th hole that a maintenance worker happened to mention that the clear skies and warm temperatures of that day were the first he'd witnessed in months. Suddenly my expectations were corrected and my evaluation of the course altered, just by the knowledge of what this course and many others are having to deal with.

Wet and shaggy conditions aside I found the layout here to be pretty underwhelming. Yes, there are a few holes with a fantastic view of Mt. Washington and of the famous Omni hotel. By the course itself is pretty flat for the mountain setting and the Donald Ross architecture of the course (like many of his others) doesn't stir my soul as it does for others. Classic design, yes. Exhilarating design, no.

Even with better conditions, I would much rather spend my money on Owl's Nest in Thornton for White Mountain golf. It's the same price or less and far more dynamic.

Gamble Sands offers a tantalizing combination no other course can match: true links style, authentic fescue turf, beautiful weather, and above all a chance to play the best golf you ever have. From wide open fairways to honest sloped greens to yardage that plays hundreds less than measured, Gamble Sands is a joy to play for every skill level of golfer.

I was invited to a special golf outing and had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the very world-renowned architect who designed this course, David McLay Kidd. After talking with him and playing the course several times I came away from my first exposure to true Scottish links style blown away with the thought and execution that makes it so accessible and enjoyable for all golfers.

Duff your tee shot on a par 4 on a normal course and you’ll be cursing and slamming your way to a 7 on the scorecard. Do the same thing here and you’ll barely hurt your chances of making par or at least saving bogey. The incredibly tight fescue turf allows the ball to roll and roll. The wispy rough and sparsely populated wastelands beyond the rough make finding and hitting your ball easier than most parkland courses (or links, for that matter). Many of the greens have helpful side and back slopes that will funnel wayward approach shots back in. Fronts of greens are firm and open, often meaning you need to land short (as we hackers so often do anyways) to get the ball to stop near the flag. The sandy areas are made less intimidating by the fact you can ground your club and take all the practice swings you need and the sand isn’t too fluffy.

Contours of the greens are gradual but readily apparent. There’s no trickery to make you look silly with the flat stick. That said, you may often find yourself instigating your own silliness on or around the putting surface as there are often several angles to get your ball closer to the hole. The aforementioned side and back slopes surrounding many of the greens allow your creativity to run wild with how far away from the flag you can aim and still have your ball come to rest within a makeable distance.

This indirect approach and creativity carries over to your shots from the fairway and some of the most fun you can have on a golf course is seeing how far from the flag you can aim your approach and watch as your ball bounces and rolls its way toward its final destination. The downhill par-6th that plays over a gorge can at first be an intimidating 180+ yard shot until you realize that you can use up to 60 yards of the righthand slope to careem your ball down onto the putting surface and can in fact be the closest to a hole-in-one that many higher handicap golfers will ever get.

The greens aren’t the only place on the course to have fun though. Many of the tees are elevated and many fairways have substantial downhill slopes that encourage some Dustin Johnson-esque drives. Though I average just under 240 yards with my driver at home I had multiple drives over 280 yards each round here, including my 4th longest ever at 307 on the long par-4 5th. That hole is the one most likely with which to find yourself in one of the many bunkers/sandy waste areas but a few practice swings in the dirt (don’t forget, they are allowed here!) and you can escape these without much drama.

There are a few holes that bear a close resemblance to each other but generally Gamble Sands offers a dynamic range of holes from drivable par-4s to a par-3 best played with a putter (seriously, just give your putter a good firm wack and watch your ball roll 140 yards to the center of the green). The creativity allows you to use every club in your bag, though I’d imagine your score wouldn’t go up much if you went out with just 4-5 clubs. The traditional links style ground game is highly effective and encouraged here.

The course conditions are exactly what you’d expect at any other premium golf destination like Bandon Dunes (another David McLay Kidd design) or Streamsong. The fescue turf isn’t the easiest to get a tee peg through but offers a unique feel to your shots from the fairways and rough and offer some of the firmest greens you’ll ever putt on. Just how firm are the greens here? Well, I played 90 holes over 3 days and found evidence of just 3 ball marks on any of the greens, how great is that? The grass is mowed and maintained as good as any course out there with the only blemish being some small bare spots on many of the fringes where maintenance have removed invasive grasses.

When it comes to premiere golf destinations, the course itself is a significant factor but not the only factor. Lodging, food, service, and location can all add or subtract from the overall experience and value of a golf trip. In these areas, Gamble Sands excels in some and leaves room for improvement in others. The lodging is first-class, with stylish and roomy accommodations in the the inn. Each rooms has large windows and individual patios facing out to the best view on the property: the Columbia River and valley and the majestic Cascade Mountains deep in the background. Waking up to that view is worth $150/night all by itself. There’s also a giant, 18-hole putting course/green with mounds so extreme, they would make a mini-golf course designer blush.

The food here is very good, though the portions are XL even by American standards. I found appetizer dishes to be more than filling and a popular option for our group was to go in halves on a chicken fingers/tater tots appetizer combo as each one covers an entire plate.

The service was spotty at times. Though the pro shop and cart attendants are very responsive, helpful and friendly, I’d give the wait staff in the restaurant only ‘good’ marks and the time it took food was often excessive. Gamble Sands originally offered a buffet for breakfast but since switched to a made-to-order menu and I think this was a mistake as often you’re pressed for time in the morning to get a quick bite in before your first time off. The starter was great and added a personal touch.

Gamble Sands is located in north central Washington, 2.5 hours from the nearest major airport (Spokane). As such, it’s an all-day travel affair for most people and that may deter many from committing to it for an expensive trip. But think of it this way: the course is never as crowded as other premium courses and none of my rounds exceeded 4.5 hours. Additionally, the remote location offers a fantastic view and the weather here is far better and more reliable than other traditional links destinations like Bandon or Scotland.

Yeah, you can go to Bandon, or Streamsong, or Sand Valley, or even Kohler and have an amazing experience and brag to all your friends back home who probably have heard of their courses. But if you want to truly have the best time you can playing golf, go to Gamble Sands. It may not have the prestige of the others, but it will someday soon and you can say you’ve been there and it was the best golf trip you ever went on. It’s a slam dunk for destination golf.

I’ve played here several times as a single walking, this most recent time I was part of a large group outing, one of two going off at the same time on opposite nines. There was an even larger group that tee’d off in the afternoon but from everything I could see, this course is very receptive to these types of large groups and pace of play didn’t seem to suffer despite the crowds.

Course conditions haven’t improved a whole lot from last year but remain very good. The walkable layout is still interesting enough to make this your home course and the staff remains friendly and professional. I particularly like the fact that all the practice facilities are grouped near each other and near the clubhouse, which again helps with facilitating communication when larger groups are present.

I plan to keep coming back here as long as they keep up the good work!

Magnolia Green was building momentum last year despite horrific weather as there was a lot of noticeable effort being put into the condition of the course. But that’s fallen off again after my most recent visit, a golf outing that included 20 other guys from Harrisonburg. They too weren’t thrilled with the many bare/GUR spots in the fairways and many of the bunkers needing attention.

Perhaps the greater sin, though, was the placement of the holes on the day we played. Yes, the friendly starter warned us before we went out that ‘the super must have been mad at something this morning”. Well that’s funny as a punchline but when you pay the kind of money this course demands to play here (about $80 on the weekends), it gets a lot less amusing.

My playing partners and I had good putts roll off the green on several holes and just getting to the putting surface seemed an undue hardship. One particular bunker shot by a 13 hcp player that he was quite pleased with landed softly in front of the hole and proceeded to roll 25 feet past and into another bunker. He ended up picking up after another bunker shot failed to get the ball on the green. We saw this frustration time and time again from not only our group but the foursome in front of us.

This unnecessary silliness had other negative effects, particularly on pace of play. Magnolia Green is known for its heavily tiered and fast greens, there’s no reason to add to the difficulty by placing the holes right on the ridge on every hole.

The end result is I came away with no motivation to come back and play here despite living just 8 minutes away. I am scheduled to participate in another outing here next month, let’s hope the conditions improve and the superintendent cheers up.

Most recently, I played Lake Chesdin as part of a multi-day golf outing that also included Magnolia Green and The Highlands. This course received the best reception of the three by the 20 gentlemen from Harrisonburg that came down to play and I wholeheartedly agree with them. The conditions, though not perfect, were by far the best with good, dry fairways, smoothish greens (despite the aeration from late April), and raked bunkers.

The course also received high marks from the group for its diverse but score-able layout, with many of the guys having their best round here. I’ve always agreed with this sentiment that Chesdin’s layout has a great balance of being inviting yet interesting.

The staff here is top notch and at $55 twilight through GolfNow, it remain a good value.

I played at The Dominion Club as part of a multi-day golf outing earlier this month. This is my third private course in the Richmond area that I’ve been fortunate enough to have been invited and I enjoyed myself very much.

As with many private clubs, the biggest difference is the quality of the staff and facilities and that pace of play is never really an issue.

To that end I found all of these things true about this course, with excellent practice facilities (be warned there’s no designated place to park your cart by the driving range on the other side of the parking lot) and fancy clubhouse and exceptionally professional staff.

The course itself isn’t as dynamic as Willow Oaks or The Foundry but it nonetheless has a good variety of holes and you’ll use every club in your bag. I didn’t find the course overly difficult and I imagine playing here a lot could boost your confidence in your game.

The conditions were very good though again not quite as pristine as the other private courses I’ve played nearby. I did enjoy the bentgrass fairways and greens and while I didn’t notice any real bare spots or signs of sloppy maintenance, the conditions didn’t quite “pop” either. From what I hear this course has come a long way from in the past few years so perhaps remaining room for improvement will be taken on soon.

It was an honor to play here and if I ever get invited back I will gladly accept.

Mattaponi Springs Golf Club has a couple things going for it. First, it has Zoysia grass fairways, which tee up your ball like the strip of “rough” on driving range mats. Secondly, it’s in the middle of nowhere 20 minutes from Fredericksburg and 45 minutes from Richmond, so pace of play is never an issue.

The other thing I absolutely love about this course is the layout: very hilly and undulating with plenty of diversity and some great risk/reward holes. At least two driveable par-5s, a split-fairway par-4, and a few par-4s that require less than driver from the tee are just a few of my favorites. The 9th and 18th holes are excellent with very challenging approach shots to guarded greens.

The bentgrass greens are receptive but often heavily tiered. Putts roll smoothly and fairly quickly but there’s nothing silly or unfair about the putting surfaces. Overall conditions are very good with the only bare spots generally being out of play.

The one drawback to this course that I’ve mentioned in other reviews is that there is a distinct number of flying bugs that can get in your face and distract you a bit. Not a huge problem but a minor annoyance all the same.

The facilities here are a bit basic but include a grass driving range, putting green and chipping green with bunker. The staff is friendly but a bit sparse as well. There was no water on the course but the pro-shop attendant/bartender/starter/cart assistant informed us ahead of time and gave us some ice waters to go from the bar for each nine.

With a $49 twilight rate, this course is a good value. I plan on coming back a few more times this year despite my busy travel schedule.

I was vacationing in the area and didn’t have a whole lot of time to play and this was the only public course nearby that I could find.

The conditions were ok, I don’t live here so I don’t know how to compare it to others in the area but there were several bare spots on the greens and some soggy fairways but overall the conditions were playable.

I only played the front nine so I can’t speak for the entire layout but from what I saw it was solid despite the lack of any elevation changes that I’m used to in Virginia. There was a good variety of holes with different angles and distances requiring all sorts of clubs and shot shapes.

The staff was very friendly and even recommended I jump ahead of a large group of beginners and come back around to finish up and this saved me considerable time. The course was pretty full when I left around 1pm so pace of play isn’t amazing but seems to move along ok.

Practice facilities were a bit disappointing--I didn’t even bother with the putting green as it was nearly half bare. There were plenty of water points on the course and it appears easy to walk though I rode for convenience’s sake.

Overall not a bad track but without playing others in the area, I doubt my opinion will have much weight with the locals. For those of you like me who are just passing through, manage your expectations and I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself out there.

Meadow Farms Golf Course remains one of the most unique layouts in Virginia, if not the whole East Coast. From the 600+ yard longest hole, to par-3 greens on top of waterfalls, in baseball outfields, and surrounded entirely by sand, there are plenty of memorable holes in this 27-hole layout.

Having played here at least once a year for the past 8 years, I’ve seen the conditions of the course wax and wane but even when the grass is lush and the greens run smoothly, there’s a sense that this course is past it’s glory days. The Longest Hole, for instance, has long since abandoned it’s “841 yard” playability as the furthermost tee box has not been used for quite some time. The tunnel that goes up behind the waterfall on the Waterfall Hole was closed years ago and never repaired. The baseball diamond on the aforementioned baseball par-3 is mostly grass now.

The lack of upkeep on the ambiance aside, the day I played it was 80 degrees and there was NO WATER on the course whatsoever. This was not communicated to me by the starter and I found this combination not only inexplicable but dangerous: 4.5 hours in the hot sun with no water is a recipe for heat exhaustion or worse.

As for the course itself, it continues to play pretty well though it’s if often very crowded and pace of play can suffer a bit. I typically play here when I get a decent GolfNow discount so that may also factor into when it’s most crowded.

The novelty of this course is still worth the 90-minute drive for me once a year but I really wish they would take the next step to refurbish the course and pay more attention to the small-but-important details that help make a round so enjoyable.

P.S. props to the young lady running the grill who stayed late to get me a cup of water from the soda fountain, you were a lifesaver!

I played here several weeks ago just a week after they had aerated the entire course: greens, fairways, tee boxes, rough, everything. Normally, that would make playing a frustration-free round of golf very difficult but somehow the best courses just do things better.

The greens still rolled smoothly if a touch slower than normal and the holes throughout the rest of the course had little impact on my play. Though still early in the season the grass was fully grown in and lush, a nice benefit to bentgrass over the many Bermuda turfed courses I play around Richmond.

Another thing that helped me enjoy my round was knowing that while the aeration my have posed a slight inconvenience to me then, I had full confidence it was going to ensure the playing conditions for my subsequent rounds later this year here would be that much better. When you have trust in the greenskeepers at a course, it’s a lot easier to overlook a temporary degradation in play.

Props to Spring Creek for continuing to offer world-class conditions, a solid design, fantastic facilities, a friendly staff, and despite a slight price hike this year, a very good value.

After being closed, sold off, abandoned, purchased, and remodeled, Royal New Kent Golf Club is finally back to its former glory.

When last I played here in October of 2017, the fairway grass was thin, the greens were bumpy, and the many, MANY bunkers were utterly unplayable. Fast forward to the present and the Wingfield Golf Management Services and company have worked a small miracle. Though the clubhouse and layout of the course remain unchanged, there are major and minor improvements everywhere you look.

Let’s start with the course conditions and the biggest changes; the greens and bunkers. The management rolled the dice and decided to swap out every green from bentgrass to Bermuda hybrid. So far, so good. They look incredible with more slope (but less firmness) than Independence Golf Club, another course that dared to go Bermuda this far north (they subsequently lost their greens to a harsh 2017-2018 winter and had to start over). The greens here always rolled on the fast side but after reportedly rolling them every day for a week leading up to the re-opening, they were probably around 11 on the stipmeter; near the limit for casual golfers. As you would expect from having not been played on they rolled pure and smoothly.

The bunkers have also received a great deal of attention with an all new drainage system that's already been put to the test with incredibly wet weather over the past year. The fresh, beachy sand is piled high in every bunker and thankfully I avoided all but one of them. For the near future, expect a plugged lie as the sand still needs to settle in and firm up a bit. There’s also an aesthetic change to the sand traps, whereas before the single, sprawling and uninterrupted bunkers are now a group of smaller, more circular traps. This apparently is in line with Mike Strantz’ original design.

The only other significant change to the course is new drainage systems to the fairways which will be great in time but for now the new drains are surrounded by sod that hasn’t fully taken yet and the course is encouraging players to treat them as ground under repair. The rest of the fairways and rough remain in good but unchanged condition.

There are a few minor upgrades as well worth mentioning: brand new gas golf carts complete with club and ball washers, a cooler, and USB charge port; new logo and Irish-themed flags on the the pins, and a new menu at the in-house Strantz Pub grill.

Pristine conditions aside, this course is all about the incredibly fun yet challenging Mike Strantz layout with Irish links style fairways and tees, blind approach shots, penalizing bunkers, tiered greens, and very few flat lies. The design has never looked better and will only increase in beauty with the warmer weather greening up the place. Though I didn’t score particularly well, I had a few shots that I’ll remember for a long time.

The staff here is very friendly and professional and I appreciate the car-side service and free range balls (grass range!) to go with my round.

Value is important to me and while the rack rates of $95 are a bit steep for most golfers, there are more value-focused options: There are GolfNow rates available online with discounts, twilight rates during the week drop down to $55 and for those brave enough to walk this long, hilly course the rate drops another $20. Be ye warned however: walking this gem is not for the faint of heart as there are several long gaps between holes. There may be a couple shortcuts but you’ll have to know the course pretty well to find them.

Overall my experience here was superb. Yes, it was opening day so there are some elements that might not last (it was far from crowded when I played and it’s *possible* a golfer or two from here on out will neglect their ball marks on the greens), but even with the higher greens fees than before I can’t wait to come back and play it again!

*This is an updated review. For more thoughts on this course, see my full review from 3/7/18*

Magnolia Green continues to shape its reputation as a premiere golf course and facility with exceptional service and very good conditions even in mid-March.

From the friendly starter who loaded my bag on a cart and made me well-informed for my round to the staff member who thanked me towards the end of my round for coming out to play, it’s clear that they are putting an emphasis on outstanding service and it shows.

Virginia course conditions overall are not great as we are still recovering from a historically wet 2018 and wet start to 2019 and the we’re also months from the Bermuda grass growing in. That said, The conditions were noticeably better here than at other area courses with groomed bunkers and smooth greens. The fairways were still a bit muddy in spots but clearly drying out well.

The softer conditions do make this course a bit more enjoyable to play, especially around the greens which are usually the main defense of this track. The severely-sculpted and tiered greens are not quite as challenging to approach or putt on and that is a welcome reprieve to a lot of golfers.

My only knock against Magnolia continues to be its cost. While a GolfNow deal can save you quite a bit on your greens fee, it’s still not cheap here and a bag of 20 range balls costs $6, you could just about bring your own for that price.

I’ll be back again later in the spring to report on how the course is doing, stay tuned!

*This is an updated review. For more thoughts on this course, see my full review from 7/23/18*

The Green Course at Golden Horseshoe is a course full of contrast. Its sister course, the Gold course is still recovering from a horrific 2018 weather season that didn’t allow the new greens to take hold. As such, you’re much better off spending less to play the Green course, but only in some regards.

The layout of the Green couldn’t be much more different than the Gold if it tried, and as I complained about in my initial review last year, the repetitiveness of the holes is perplexing for having such a big name (Rees Jones) behind the design. The stadium-style layout has its benefits for ease of play but seemingly renders each hole with the same feel and shape as the last. The shortness of the course (relative to the difficulty posted on the scorecard) is also a bit jarring and found the need for driver on MAYBE half the holes and I’m not a particularly long hitter.

The service at Golden Horseshoe is consistently excellent and makes you feel you are at a very premium course no matter which one you play. From the cart assistants and starter to the marshalls and pro shop staff, everyone greets you with a smile and helpful information. The on-course snack shop was even open during my round in mid-March a stunning but welcome surprise.

The conditions at the Green course are better than the Gold but not by much. The greens are still pretty bumpy from the last time they were punched and the dormant Bermuda fairways have a lot of other grass starting to creep in. Perhaps once the season is underway it will all flush out and not be an issue. The bunkers were groomed nicely and the rough is thankfully not as thick as it is in the summer.

Overall, this remains a very good value and great if service and facilities are your priority. For those looking for a killer layout, I’d recommend the Club at Viniterra or Colonial Heritage instead.

I was surprised to find this course was even open in the middle of February but I hot a GolfNow Hot Deal for the middle of the day with perfect weather (for once) and had the whole course to myself for the first 16 holes until I caught up to two foursomes.

Conditions were very impressive, of course the Bermuda fairways are dormant, the ground itself had drained quite a bit from the heavy rains and snow the week before. There was no standing water anywhere and only a couple small soggy spots. To put that in perspective, this was the driest conditions I had played on in several months. The greens were also in excellent shape, with very little signs of winter traffic.

The staff was friendly as usual and I was fortunate enough to get to play the Tuckahoe nine, everyone’s favorite here. The complimentary dry towels provided in my cart came in handy with keeping my clubs clean.

I will continue to sing the praises of this course until you all start playing here, you’re really missing out on a gem!

There is no shortage of great golf courses (public and private) in Williamsburg and Ford’s Colony offers three very good ones. If you are looking to spend a day in one place and get a good mix, this might be the perfect place.

A short drive from Colonial Williamsburg, Ford’s Colony offers three very nice courses: Blue Heron (currently closed for renovations), Marsh Hawk (the member’s course), and Black Heath. I was fortunate enough to be selected by the friendly starter to tee off on Marsh Hawk despite not being a member of the country club. He promised my playing partner and I that it would be drier than Black Heath, though sogginess proved to be a consistent aspect of my playing experience. This is less a fault of the course maintenance crew and more a fact of recent weather patterns that have inundated the area with copious amounts of rain.

Mudballs and squishy stances aside, the course played beautifully with impressively smooth and firm greens, well-maintained bunkers and good overall condition of the fairways and rough for mid-February. Perhaps because it was a members-only course, I was surprised at the lack of ball marks on the greens though the tees had plenty of grass missing, which is to be expected this time of year.

The layout of Marsh Hawk is memorable though not exactly breathtaking. There are some decent elevation changes and a couple of extreme doglegs but nothing too quirky or tricked up. Having never played here before, I was never at a loss of where to aim my tee shot though a couple approach shots required a peak over a hill or around a corner. Bunker design and placement is forgiving but not a layup, the evenness of the sand in them certainly helps.

I paid $30 after the pro shop staff matched the GolfNow Hot Deal my playing partner had tried to book unsuccessfully. That’s a very good value for this course and the staff here really makes you feel at home.

There are a few other courses nearby that I like the design of a little better so I’m not sure how often I would return but I still highly recommend this course, it’s a good value and an honest golfing experience

Heritage Oaks used to be my home course before I moved to the big city (Richmond). But I still come back to visit and I’m always glad when I do.

Despite the wet and wintry weather of late, the course is playing surprisingly well. There are the usual soggy spots here and there but overall the course is very playable with good smooth greens and bunkers, and decent fairways and rough. You may struggle to find turf on some of the tee boxes but that’s understandable this time of year.

I’ve always enjoyed the challenging but inviting layout and relatively easy walkability of the course. Pace of play can vary depending on how busy it is (over 100 golfers played the day before in nicer weather conditions but I nearly had the course to myself this day). $20 to walk 18 isn’t too bad even in the offseason and the staff here makes it worth your while. I definitely recommend you stop in for a visit.

*This is an update to my original review from 10/17/2017*

Having played two famous Pete Dye courses for the first time this year (Stadium at TPC Sawgrass and Wolf at Las Vegas Paiute Resort) I came back to the River Course for comparison and boy does it hold up.

Sure, in terms of conditioning, it’s tough to compete with a $500+ round at a course the pros play on or even Paiute where green fees exceed $150, but The River Course holds its own with lush grass everywhere you look, smooth greens, raked bunkers, and well-kept tee boxes. There were signs of fairway aeration throughout but it never affected my play and was only noticeable up close.

I really love the links-style layout here, with hardly a tree to be found in play and (under drier conditions) plenty of opportunities to play a ground game on approach. Chipping can be a challenge around the tightly-mowed green surrounds and often times a putter or hybrid is the best club to use. Avoiding the many (and in many cases, tiny) bunkers on the course is the main focus here as the deep faces will genuinely penalize you for poor positioning. Like many Dye courses, there’s a short side and a correct side to miss on each approach shot.

The staff is great here too and will take care of your clubs right from the bag drop. The facilities are as good as you’d expect from a course that’s home to one of the better collegiate programs in the country with a grass range and separate putting and chipping greens.

A few things to note if you plan on walking this course: first, they don’t advertise a walking rate online, but it’s $15 cheaper than riding. Secondly, this course is super easy to walk with the only real distances to be covered are getting to the first and tenth tees. Thirdly, the practice areas are way up on top of a hill as you drive in so I recommend parking up there to do your warm ups and then driving back down to the lower parking lot by the clubhouse to drop off your bag. Lastly, don’t worry about the walk up from the 18th to the clubhouse, the staff is nice enough to give you a ride in a cart.

Even with a walking rate, this course is far from cheap, especially given the location but it’s worth it for the unique layout, great conditions, and a fantastic riverfront setting. I highly recommend even for those wary of Pete Dye. This one is a true gem.