Lives
Richmond, Virginia
Handicap
5-9
Age
55-64
Gender
Male
Skill
Advanced
Plays
A few times a week

Review Statistics

Average Rating

4.0
4.0
Total 12 Reviews

Rating Breakdown

12 Reviews
5 Stars
3
4 Stars
6
3 Stars
3
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Recommended Courses
10
Not Recommended Courses
2
Helpful Votes Count
2
Not Helpful Votes Count
2
First Review
01/21/2015
Last Review
09/01/2023

Reviews Map

Reviews

4.0
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Old South Golf Links

Played On 08/23/2023
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

One of my favorites

I really enjoy this course. It has a lot more character than many of the courses around HHI, both on and off the island.

It seems that the rates have really gone up in the last couple of years, but I found that to be true with all the other courses I played or considered. Still, relative to most of the other courses around here, the greens fees are on the lower side for the quality of course you get.

We played an 18 hole round, and my friend who had not been here before thoroughly enjoyed it, and we never had to wait on a hole. A few days later, we played Golden Bear at Indigo Run. After taking 45 minutes to play the first 2 holes, and 2.5 hours to play the front, we (a twosome of single digit handicaps) said screw it, went over to Old South, and played a delightful 9.

Very friendly staff in the pro shop and grill, I might add.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

Joe Average Course

This was the second time I played this course while on vacation here for a couple of weeks. It was in nice condition, but I found it boring. A good course I can remember the holes after I played it. This one, I even had a hard time remembering holes I had played just days earlier, even when I got to the tee. It is just an average course in terms of layout - you can't fault any particular hole, but they all tended to look alike. Secondly, I cannot tell you how many holes I ended up with about 150 yards on my shot to the green - either a tee shot on a par 3 or second shot on a par 4 (I'm not a long hitter). I didn't notice it the first round I played, but this time I did. If you are looking for a relatively easy HHI course, then this will suit your needs. But if you want a course with some variety and character, you can do better, particularly if you are willing to venture to the mainland side of the bridge. And cheaper, btw.

Conditions Good
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Fairly Easy
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Commented on 09/02/2022

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us your comments.

Old South Golf Links

Played On 08/23/2022
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Wet weather
Used cart

one of my favorites at HHI

This course is one of my favorites to play at Hilton Head, because the course is is pretty good, if not very good, condition usually, and the course has a lot of character. So many courses here are in nice condition, but after a while, one hole looks like the last one, and when you think back on your round, it is hard to remember the course. Not the case with Old South - from the first time I played it, I could recall every hole. Some very memorable holes. You can score well if you're striking the ball well, but can definitely get in trouble if not. There is also a huge old live oak between the 15th tee and 16th fairway that is the coolest tree around these parts.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
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Commented on 08/29/2022

Thanks for your thoughtful review and the 5 stars. Old South is proud to be a golf course where guests remember every hole. That huge oak tree is on many calendars and photos of the low-country. Years ago it is where cows and deer gathered to be out of the sun. We hope you get to play Old South again soon.

Royal New Kent Golf Club

Played On 11/04/2019
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Renovation true to Strantz' original

The late Mike Strantz designed this course to emulate an Irish course such as Portrush. I can't speak for how well it compares to the real thing, but I have always loved this course. After closing for an extended period for complete renovation, the course reopened in 2019 and I did not see any significant changes from the Strantz original, although I would have expected some. This is a typical Strantz design, what I call larger than life. Many holes appear to have little to no landing zone off the tee, only to discover there are wide landing areas. Lots of eye candy that can make you feel this is an impossible test. It actually is a course you can score one, IF you hit it reasonably straight off the tee. There is some rough that can eat your ball up, but most (not all) holes give you room to spray the ball a bit. There are tons of bunkers, many that are large and pitched, so you need to avoid those. However, the greens are huge, and the one noticeable change from the original is the conversion to bermuda greens (it looks like Champion bermuda). The putted beautifully when I played earlier this week, despite getting to that time of year in Virginia when the chilly nights are no friend to that kind of grass. This is a course you either love or hate. I love it, because of the visual interest created in every hole, the requirement to hit all of the clubs in your bag and different types of shots, and the fact that you are rewarded for good shots. It is also a course that requires some thought and care on positioning off the tee, on the green and in reading the greens. Other than my feeling that teh 8th hole should be blown up and redesigned, my main criticism of this course is more from a financial perspective. I think they could remove a ton of bunkers, or cut down the size of some, as well as the size of the greens to save in maintenance costs, yet still maintain the spirit of the original design. As example, the left 1/3 of the 11th green is unusable as a pin position, because the slope is too severe for a ball to stay in place. Perhaps they could lower their rates if they downsized some of that stuff.

I recommend this course to any golfer who is experienced, enjoys the challenge of the game, and is a 20 or better. This is not a course for beginners, in my opinion, regardless of what tee you play. I would also recommend playing it twice if this is a buddies trip to the area. Unless you have a good app with detailed course layout, your first tour around this course will include a few well struck shots that find real trouble, those "man, if I had known that was there" type of reactions.

All in all, a great experience and a must play if you are in the area.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
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Commented on 11/08/2019

We appreciate you leaving a review and rating us 5 stars. We're delighted to hear how much you enjoyed the pristine course conditions. We work hard to provide an exceptional experience, and it's very satisfying to hear from golfers like you who appreciate our efforts. We will inform the entire team, so they know their hard work is paying off. We look forward to having you back Royal New Kent Golf Club!

I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart

Very enjoyable

I am a 7 handicap, playing from White tees. I thoroughly enjoyed this round, more than I expected. Excellent variety of holes, perhaps with a bias towards dogleg right driving holes. There were wide open fairways and tight driving holes. There were some very short holes, and some that test your long irons and hybrids. The greens were average in size, usually well guarded, and required accurate iron shots. The greens putted beautifully. It was a hot Friday afternoon, and I had the place to myself. My only complaints are - (1) I felt the bunkers were inconsistent in terms of the sand. Some were very firm, and I found out the hard way you had to play those with a square face. When I opened up the blade, the bounce was too much to penetrate the hard sand and I bladed a couple over the green. Once I experimented with a square face, it was better; (2) on a 91 degree day, there was only one water cooler on the entire course - and there were no cups!! Luckily, I had brought my insulated water bottle, so I was OK. Ironically, the one time all day I saw the snack cart, it was right after that water cooler. So word to the wise - byow. One other thing to mention - if you are an American history buff, you will enjoy the historical markers about the area being site of a large Union fort during the Civil War.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate

Old South Golf Links

Played On 08/19/2019
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

One of my Favorites at HHI

First off, this has always been one of my favorite courses in the area. My litmus test on a layout is how memorable the holes are. Some courses, many holes look alike and after a round you cannot remember most of them. I could remember every hole here after my first round here. There is a good mix of holes in terms of length, difficulty, etc. The time of year I am here is usually aerification time, so rarely are the greens smooth when I am here. However, I will say I have seen a decline in the overall quality of the greens the last couple of years. Not bad, but not like some other courses in the area, particularly HH National next door. Despite that, I love the layout and views so much, it is a must play for me every year when vacationing down here.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
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Commented on 08/26/2019

Thanks for your comments and the 4 star review. Our maintenance department is addressing the greens with new procedures to improve them. It will take some time so we hope to see you again.

Potomac Shores Golf Club

Played On 11/14/2017
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Cold weather
Used cart

Good course, Superior service

As for the course itself, this is a classic Nicklaus course - lots of variety, requires some thinking and shotmaking, and it has undulating greens. The course is carved out of very hilly, wooded terrain near the Potomac River south of DC. I played it in mid-November on a day when it was cloudy and in the 50s, with enough wind that you had to factor it in. The bent grass greens were nice, but the fairways were also bent. They were beautiful, but you have to be on your game with irons because the ball will not sit up like it will on bermuda, so you have to clip it clean. I loved the course, but had but one complaint - my Bushnell GPS NeoWatch did not pick up the course, nor could the GolfNow GPS on my smartphone. I am hoping they will get the course in their systems, because I had a hard time with some yardages. There are a number of carries across ravines, and that can throw off your distance perception, so the watch would have been handy. Bring your Bushnell range finder, I guess.

Now, for the best part - I have never had as good service from the pro (I believe his name was Tim Taylor) as I had there. He asked if I had ever played there, and when I said no, he proceeded to give me a description of a number of the tricky holes. He also explained that the 9th doesn't bring you back to the clubhouse and apologized that the grill wasn't operating so I couldn't grab some food to take out with me. I had brought snacks but made sure there was water on the course. There wasn't, so he ran in and got a bottle of water for me. After my round, I was in the parking lot putting away my clubs, and he was out there helping someone else. He called across the lot to me by name, to see how I liked the course. Besides the already excellent service, the fact that he had committed my name to memory from 4 hours earlier was extremely impressive. I told him I would be back and will bring some buddies with me.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging

Oyster Reef Golf Course

Played On 08/07/2017
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart

Basic HHI course

This is just a typical HHI course - well conditioned, variety of holes through tight tree lined fairways. Hard to get into much trouble because the pines are cleaned out underneath. Not as much water that is troublesome as some other area courses. Not special, but nothing bad. My personal experience wasn't as good as hoped, but only due to the fact that I was playing as a single. They were starting everyone on 10, and when it was my tee time, two other groups had been sent to the tee in front of me that had yet to tee off. The pro in the shop instructed me to go start on #2. That worked for all of 1 hole, then I caught up with an older couple who asked me to play through, then I got bogged down behind two foursomes, so it ended up being a long nine until I got to the back, which those in front of me had already played. I moved along briskly after that. One picturesque hole (#6), but otherwise pretty pedestrian course with homes on each side.of many holes.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate

Hilton Head National Golf Club

Played On 08/06/2017
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

Still one of my favorites at HHI

HHN has always been one of my favorites in the HHI area, mainly due to how great a condition the course is always in. That was still the case, although the greens had not fully recovered from aeration and top dressing recently. I played as a single and was behind a threesome that was dreadfully slow and would not invite me to play through. My disappointment with the staff was the starter mentioned to me before I started that he observed them on hole 1 and didn't like their pace of play and would keep an eye on it. But, I never saw a ranger after I started. I realized as a single I could be waiting, but when I stopped in at the turn to complain this group was overly slow, they said they don't give rain checks if it isn't raining, there were others starting on the front, and according to their high tech GPS controlled golf carts, the threesome was meeting the time guidelines. I finally just skipped a hole on the back to get by these guys. BTW, watch out for the high tech golf carts. If you go where they think you shouldn't, you get a warning buzz and if you go a foot further, the cart will stop.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Response from on 08/14/2017:
Hi u000005677634, thanks for taking the time to leave us a review. We're sorry to hear the pace of play wasn't up to par during your round, but are glad to hear you enjoyed our course layout and conditions. We hope you give us another shot in the future. Thanks for playing!
3.0
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

Nowhere close to the Gold

The Gold course at Golden Horseshoe is closed for renovations, so my wife bought me my annual gift card for the Green course this year. I played it several other times in group outings, and found it to be OK, but not memorable. This time, on my own ball, I paid more attention to why I didn't think highly of this course, despite the fact that the scenery is beautiful, the course condition usually good (today it was a soggy mess, but I assume that is left over from last week's heavy rainfall), and the staff is great. Here's why: (1) this is what I call the generic nice modern course. Practically every hole has huge man-made moguls down each side. Every hole, same old thing. Each hole looks like the other, except for direction of the dogleg. One thing I typically am able to do is to go back in my head after a round and recall the holes. The Green course I just cannot. I only recognized two holes today after playing it about 8 years ago. I am sitting here one day after playing it, and I cannot even get to the third hole in recalling what the holes looked like. That was not true after playing the Gold - I could remember each hole in order with few exceptions after playing it the first time, because it has so many more memorable holes and character (2) Related to the first, the cart paths run behind and below the level of the moguls. So, if you are riding (which you should given how hilly this course is), you cannot see your ball from the cart path on practically any hole. That is a problem if it is cart paths only, like it was for me. I found I was forever having to walk up the hilly moguls just to spy my ball, only to see it maybe 20 yards behind or ahead of where I parked. It wasn't easy to figure yardage. In a couple of cases, I couldn't even tell where the hole was because the maintenance crew left the pin on the ground off the green. (3) The greens are fairly small, even for 400+ yard par 4's.

All in all, I find it hard to believe anyone who enjoys a challenging and beautiful course would think the Green is as good or better than the Gold. The Gold is much more natural, not tricked up with tons of bulldozed artificial hills. The Gold is the way golf should be, and given that the price is the same, once the Gold reopens, I would play that one every time I had the choice.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Good weather
Used cart

Better than expected

My buddy wanted to play here, and I was quite skeptical, having read a number of reviews that panned it. But I am glad we decided to play it anyway. What I expected was something just above a dog track, given so many of the reviews. What I got was a nice layout, with the tees in excellent condition, the bermuda fairways very good, and the greens better than they looked. Some greens were fine, others had large numbers of brown spots - fungus I am guessing. But, despite the brown spots, they rolled smooth and even the brown spots were grass, not dirt. They held pretty well, and all in all, I had a very enjoyable round until a vicious thunderstorm rolled through and we had to skip the last few holes. I would definitely plan there again (I played Jamestown course. I cannot speak for the Yorktown course, but I would bet the story is similar).

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
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Commented on 07/14/2016

We really appreciate you giving the course a try even after having read some poor reviews. And we REALLY appreciate you giving your feedback as to conditions. The conditions get better every day but there's always room for more improvement. Sorry to hear a storm ran you out! We sure hope you'll visit us in the future. Thanks again.

The Club At Viniterra

Played On 01/20/2015
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Good weather
Used cart

Winter golf at Viniterra

Considering this was mid-January, it was a good day to play at 57 and no wind. They have bermuda fairways which were dormant and brown, but in decent shape considering. We had had a lot of rain, so the course was soggy in places. The greens weren't as bumpy as I thought they'd be in January. Good mix of holes - short, long; dogleg right and left; The pace of play was fine the first 9, even though I was a single following a twosome, who were following a threesome. But the threesome really slowed down and it took over 2.5 hours to play that nine. No ranger. Two criticisms - in some cases the cart path is far off and lower than the fairway, so I had a hard time knowing where my ball was. With CPO, it was a pain on about 4-5 holes. Second, the path from 9 to 10 didn't go past the clubhouse, and there were NO facilities anywhere on the course (not a big deal for guys, but female golfers beware). It was only the second time I had played there, and I look forward to playing during the summer when the bermuda is thick and green. There is just a small temporary clubhouse right now, but this is at a winery with a beautiful reception and tasting center across the street.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
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