mikesochacki

VERY scenic with constant shifts in elevation and dips and moguls you won’t see from the tee.
DON’T GET PIGGY.
A shot into the trees is gone forever.
Morning greens are soft and receptive then turn into marble when they dry out. Watch for mud around the greens.
Par 5 #17 is a double black diamond.
At $34 for a Friday morning holiday weekend tee time, it’s stupid cheap.
My favorite Carolina course in spite of a pre-ordained high score.

It's been raining pretty hard the last couple days. But I'm visiting from NC and was determined to play. Park Ridge is a much nicer, better thought out course than I was expecting. Several expansive vistas and a couple of quirks. (Trees in front of a green?cool.) and the changes in elevation make it a must play course for this area.
Of course the course was soaked, but miles from unplayable. I never had to pick the ball out of standing water. There was only one spot, on a cart path, where ponding forced me to detour. I did lift clean and place every shot, however.
Might be a challenge for Floridians to walk. There are a half dozen or so fairly steep slopes. But I'm 63.5 and did okay.
A word about #8. Even if you are walking, walk up to the 150 yard post and look down the hill towards the green to see if it's playable or if you need to lay up.
About those posts. There are several 250 yard posts but NONE for 100 yards. One hundred yard posts might help pace of play.
Fairways are wide and easy to hit. You'll only lose your ball in the brush if you get greedy. The whole course was aerated a week ago, but greens were okay.

After having played several landfill courses in other states, Park Ridge is my easy favorite.

If you’re tired of playing the munis and other cheaper courses in the greater Charlotte area, then make the 45 minute drive from Charlotte (Billy Graham Pkwy & I-77 area) to Glen Oaks. Lot of walkers (including seniors). I measured it at 7.25 miles. Tiring, but not exhausting.
The imaginative layout offers a lot of twists and turns and mostly wide fairways. Several holes on the front are tree-lined off the tee. The good news is the ground underneath is covered with pine needles. That translates to fewer lost errant shots.
Plenty of well-trimmed bunkers filled with !sand! Lots of water. Especially different is #18. The local rule allows golfers to tee up a second time for the long shot over water.
When I played there were some bare spots in a couple fairways and sod just starting to take around some of the collars. Other than that, for the price, this is the closest thing to a country club available.

The good first: Spectacular layout. Wow factor kicked in on #12. (Started on the back). Steep downhill par-3 past trees over water to the green WAAAAY down below. Trees crowd you on most of the fairways. Which I like. But if you are wild with a driver, you will be miserable. Lots of water. Favorite hole is the par-4 down hill #9: Steep right dogleg with water along the side with a creek in the landing area to punish the greedy.
The bad: The second ingredient for any golf course (after land) is what? Right! It's grass. (Unless you live in Aruba) there is no such thing as a course without grass.
This tract is a shambles, all threadbare and worn out. Huge part of the problem on many holes is the lack of cart-path. Many of the greens made me think of green Dalmatians with brown spots.
Speaking of cart-path they are terrible. When driving on it, be sure your tongue is no where near your teeth, or you will bite it off. Also a problem for those with back or "lower" back problems.
Bring you GPS. I found three yardage markers. Luckily the pro shop gave me the course description book, which is very helpful.

Belmont is coming up on 100 years old. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people have been chopping the daylight out of it since 1916. Not saying it's threadbare. Just kind of worn out. That said, I can't imagine it being maintained any better. They do pretty good with what is left.
And it was re-built by Donald Ross, for crying out loud!
It's cheap to play. It's a muni course. It is not a destination course. I was visiting and chose it because Richmond had just got some rain and I wasn't going to pay $50 to play in the mud. Must drain well, because standing water was never a factor.
Belmont is relatively flat and an easy walk. TONS of well-maintained bunkers, both in the fairways and around the greens.
The consistently wide fairways are okay, as far as grass coverage goes, until you get closer to the greens where in high traffic areas it has been worn away.
Oddly, several of the greens have lush fringes.
The greens' "trueness" are probably not as bad as I would describe them. (I've been spoiled after recently playing two courses with the best greens ever.) But, there's no denying the the usual bumpy roll, odd turn thing Muni players are used to. No bare or sandy spots though.
There is no wow factor at Belmont. There is one sorta cool hole: the first par-3 on the back is elevated from way way up (again on an otherwise flat course) to a bunker protected green.
Be advised, the pictures of the hole layouts on the scorecard are inaccurate. One hole claims a creek in front of the green that isn't there. Another fails to report a creek.

I saw that review that hated the greens. I played both courses and the Players (the cheaper one) had been aerated a week earlier and still rolled okay. The Champions Course - and this is in late March after several icy winter storms, offered the best greens I ever played.
There is no way to describe the TRUE roll of putts on these greens.
But too many bunkers! I get it course designer. Forget about bump and run. Two, three and more greenside bunkers?
I will not play either course again. One time? Absolutely

Can't imagine not using Golfnow especially when playing somewhere away from home.
Nice course in great shape. Starter put me in early with Bob, Bobby and Jim. Bunch of smart alecs. But it helped to play with regulars. If only for suggestions for course management.

If you can't get a tee time, are a beginner, or can't afford to play anywhere else, then this is your course.
Greens are patchy in spots. Many fairways have no distinction between fairway and rough.
Lots of water and opportunities to hit your ball into traffic.
Maybe I just plain missed it, but you get your snacks at the very busy bar in the clubhouse. (Is that a Florida thing? No snack bar?)
Staff were all friendly.

Walked 18. As a senior, paid $11. But, considering it was a 96 mile round trip from Charlotte, I doubt I'll be going back any time soon. Conditions were okay. This is no cow pasture. Been a lot of rain lately. So, there was plenty of grass in the fairways. That's saying something. Because, judging from the creaky clubhouse, McCanless is a very old course.
A lot of the reviews complain of small greens. If you want to see small greens, play Sunset Hills in Charlotte. Some of those are small enough to fit in the back of your pickup.
The McCanless greens were very fast and fairly true. Many are turtleshellish. It was at least 90 by noon and so they were getting crispy. By the time we got to the back they had been wetted, and I managed to even make a couple of divots.
This course is wide open and if you’re not greedy you’ll be fine. If I had a complaint it would be about the collar/fringe area. Terrible. Chewed up. Cut way tight. I hate having to putt six feet off the green.
Whatever. Had fun. Blasted through the front in about 1 ¼ hours before slamming into the crowds on the back. Paired up with Red and Ted. Good guys who brook no fools.

First off, the greens are exceptional. They roll true. It was oppressively hot (mid-90s) and they had a guy out watering them the whole time I was there.
The carts have GPS that refresh on the fly. Certainly beats sloggy systems on other courses as well as the free app on my iPhone.
The fairways are about 65-75% really good. There are massive bare patches that I can’t imagine ever being fixed. What do they do with that Carolina clay and tree roots? I hit three shots into it. Two shots were still playable. One I took a free drop. There are bare spots around a couple of greens and the typical wear along the cart path. The overall conditions are no worse than typical muni courses.
Lots of trees shaping the holes. Water gods got a couple of my balls. But the over-all design of the course is well thought-out and challenging.
Some of the on-line descriptions about the course must have been written when it really was a private country club. It’s funny. There is a little cooler in the pro shop, but no snack bar. The guy in the pro shop has to run upstairs to pick up orders. The bar upstairs is really nice as are the two dining rooms.
I drove 1 ½ hours from Charlotte and I’ll go back again. I had a great time. There are deals on line and when the temp’s above 90.

My pre-buy price online was only $15 with cart.That makes it kind of difficult to complain. It's an old course so the fairways are lumpy with thin or bare spots. That clay under it is a problem. Hitting from the rough is almost better because there is more grass to work with. Most holes, especially on the back, are wide open.
The grass surrounding the greens is good, giving golfers a fair shot on chips. Bunkers are in good shape. Greens were recently aerated yet still managed to roll pretty true.
I will probably play it again for a discount rate even with the 40 minute drive from Charlotte.

Kind of a chewed up course. Granted this was in December. Some really interesting/bizarre holes. A 240 yard par four that had huge moguls hiding bunkers. Never seen anything like that. I would play it again with the golfnow deal except it's not worth the drive from Charlotte. The starter was friendly and helpful.

Only paid $18 through golfnow.com. That was the only thing good about it. They had just aerated and sanded. The sand was in uneven piles all over the greens. Drainage is poor. I should have known better. Just saw a story about Rock Barn losing greens to flooding. Not the case here. Just a lot of fairways that were a mess.

The rough's growing way too well and is cut too high. It's just not fair to hit a drive, know it's in play, and still not be able to find it.

Why did I go there? I must have been thinking about a different course.

Deer Brook looks like it was scraped out of a cow pasture, or maybe cotton fields. It's one of those typical courses included as part of a high-end subdivision. Not much in the way of wooded areas or views. Though, to be fair, this was late January so most everything was brown or bare.
The greens were green, though, and had been rolled that morning. A few patches here and there, but not enough to complain about.
The bunkers were unraked and had dry mud in them after recent rain and many were in need of repair. Fairways had plenty of divots. But that's more due to stupid golfers than lack of maintenance
Other reviews mention the length. I played the black tees (only 5800 yards) and struggled. The 4's play like 5's. But then the 3's are all around 125 yards. Weird. The upside is the course is mostly wide open so there weren't too many lost balls. There are only a couple of spots where control is demanded.
This was MLK day so even if my foursome played faster there was nowhere to go.
I drove an hour from Charlotte to get there. Might try again in warmer weather with another golfnow deal.