eoschwartz

Really nice fairways, sand traps well raked. Challenging layout. Greens were sanded and effected putting speed. Enjoyed this course, no woods like most courses in the area.

It's getting better at Silver dollar since last year. Greens have improved as have fairways. Pin placement on greens difficult

This course has some really nice conditions, fairways, tee boxes and greens were in good shape. Towards the end of the day around 5PM as the Florida sun goes down, conditions are superb. The fairways thicken up slightly and you get nice lies. Greens were very fair. Because of the slow pace on the back 9 I played with 2 younger guys that were insanely good golfers. One of the guys, Justin was consistantly hitting his drives 290-300 yards. He was paring and a few birdies. We played off the pro tees and the course was particularly long for me but it was fun playing with such good players. I didn't want to embarrass myself so I actually hit more good shots than normal but couldn't score well because of the length.

After taking 3 months off to rehab an injury I've started to play again once a week.

I like playing here a lot because the course is in good shape, not great but better than many of the value oriented courses here on Golf Now.

Most of the short holes have very narrow fairways or you have to hit over water. No easy par 3's here. The par 4's and par 5's aren't particularly long and the fairways still stay narrow. Straight hitters will find these fairways friendly. This time of year you get a good bounce on your drives.

If you slice or hook there is a price to pay as most of the woods here are thick and the fairways have sandtraps conveniently located to left and right of fairways where most hooks or slices go if there isn't woods.

I was hitting pretty straight yesterday and on many par 4 I found myself between 25-45 yards from the green with a straight shot to the pin. This is where the challenge was for me. There wasn't a single hole that you could hit a 10 foot putt straight for the cup, every single pin placement is up hill, down hill or sloped. The greens are really small too.

I'm normally a 2 putt or 1 putt player on most courses when I hit the green, here I had many 3 putts and the group I was playing with that were better putters than me had the exact same issue. To hit it straight at pin with speed you are gonna roll 7 yards past. If you come up short its gonna roll 4 to 5 yards down the slope.

I would love this course if there were more opportunities to make straight putts but not here.

After not being able to play since Oct. due to a neck injury this was my first time back and played 9 holes to get the rust out.

A few challenges but mostly average. Really nice people that work there. For the money worthwhile.

My third time playing here, first time in afternoon. Other times started in the morning and course was too moist first 90 minutes until sun came out. Not an issue now as its dry and shots carry better.

Pros: Nice layout, par 5's aren't too long, some holes have challenging narrow fairways, some slope on a few holes make it interesting for Florida golfers used to playing flat courses. Straight hitters will have many birdie or par opportunities. Nice shaded areas on the course so you can stay out of sun near tee box or on fairways.

Cons: Fairways were in bad shape, grass wasn't cut short enough and clumps of crabgrass have taken small patches in fairways. Greens are exceptionally fast but not true, the pin placements are tilted on the slopes of the green. Putting downhill and sideways. My partner was very good putter and he struggled with 5-8 foot puts, He had a couple of one putt, mostly 2 putts.

I'm a novice at putting but on most courses about 70% of my putts are 2 putts. Here at least half where 3 putts.

Despite the nuances you can't beat the value and pace of play here but if you are looking for pristine fairways you won't find them here.

I really enjoyed playing here as it is the only course I've played in the Tampa Bay area over the past 6 months that wasn't a course located in marshy-swampy areas as most are.

That being said instead of water hazards, the challenges were trees and well placed sand traps.

I want to go and play there again because my round was affected I believe due to a sore back that flared up right before I played.

Driving straight is critical as nearly every hole has trees that have low branches on each side of fairway. Greens aren't large and most have traps on each side in front.

You get good bounce off these fairways, something you won't get at many other courses in the area as they are much wetter. The greens are in good shape. They get more difficult in later holes as the slopes drop off and putts can roll 6-7 feet past the cups if slightly tapped too hard.

Some of the holes had narrow greens and the sand traps were on each side, had a couple of "outs" from those traps that went from one side and rolled into the other side of the trap. Greens are fast too.

I got a great deal on 18 holes. Was teamed up with a threesome and the starter got us out quickly. No one was in front of us and for 4 people we finished in less than 4 hours.

This course has some narrow fairways and lots of trees lining the fairways. When you play between 8am-9:30am the fairways are so moist that long shots get no bounce. Approach shots that normally can bounce on to the green will die. Putting is impossible until the greens dry out by 10 or 11.

Enjoyed the round tremendously.

First and most importantly, this review is heavily weighted on the fact that the entire course had temporary greens that were not conducive to putting at all.

The average hole played 75-100 yards shorter than the marked distances due to the temporary greens being well in front of where the greens will be. There were no sand traps anywhere around the temporary greens and they were flat.

The signs say the new greens will be open in October of 2016 so unless you want to simply practice driving and approach shots I wouldn't play there again.

The fairways are in good shape and it is an average or better than average layout. Its got a nice mixture of woods and the golf paths on many holes that go through nice natural surroundings.

I saw a golden hawk on one hole. There are 3 or 4 very challenging holes but without greens its hard to figure out scoring.

Under normal conditions my scores are 4-7 strokes per hole. With these temporary greens it was 4-5 so I scored low for me but so what.

I'll definitely be back to play when the greens are finished. Meanwhile if you want to practice and do so at a very fast pace and a low price this is the place to play. My tee time was 8:18 AM and I was done 18 holes by 10:30AM. No one was behind me and there was one golfer in front.

Playing in morning on the wet grass is very difficult, forget it if you are in the rough. Low shots even on the fairway were stopped by the moisture. Difficult to find balls in the wet stuff too.

Great golf course. Very well designed. Need to be very accurate, lots of water, sand traps protecting many greens.

Putting was very difficult, my partner shot an 81 thanks to his off the tee distance and his accurate second shots but neither of us one putted a single hole and he had 3 or 4 puts miss by an inch or less.

I'm in decent shape but the 11AM tee time was a bad idea. This course has virtually no shade and by 12:30 I was gassed. The heat index had to be up at 115 degrees in the sun.

Next time I play here, for sure will be early or late in the day.

Had a great time first 9 holes, back 9 was a struggle as course got harder and harder and sun got stronger and stronger.

Silverthorn is a nice course to play, I found it very easy to hit the fairways but from there on, I found it difficult. There is virtually no water but the sand traps are very abundant and several holes are so protected by them that unless you are very accurate with your irons and wedges, players like myself have to land the shots on the large greens which made my first putts on average 20 yards.

The greens were in good shape but I played with 2 other guys and they both were better putters than I am and virtually none of us could one putt those greens.

Even if you putt with correct speed there are just not many straight line putts, I had several 10-15 yard putts that started out online but I didn't hit them aggressively and as they got 4-5 feet from the hole they broke off to the right or left by another 2-3 feet. Needless to say it was a day of 2 putt and 3 putts even though I was on the green in 2/3 strokes on the par 4's, 1 stroke on the par 3's and 3/4 on the 5's.

Easily left 10 strokes on my score by not being able to figure out these greens.

Took us 4 hours to play. Course conditions were good except the roughs were extremely thick and overgrown. Fairways were great.

This is my second time here and it is a fun course. I like the layout, many doglegs, mostly 350-400 yard par 4's. A few water hazards but mostly trees to contend with.

Fairways and greens are in pretty good shape. Roughs were very thick. Playing there in the morning is difficult as the course is really moist and divots are either wet or mud!

I would love to play there when it drys out as many shots I hit well plopped and cratered in the fairway.

Greens play slow but not to many tricky reads.

This is one of the better "value" courses open to the public in Tampa Bay. Challenging enough to go back. Recommended!

Played here a couple of weeks ago in the afternoon. Pretty overcast day so many must have stayed away as I was able to get in 18 holes in less than 3 hours!

This course is challenging for those like myself that don't have a very solid short game.

Despite many good drives and second shots, pin placement was difficult. Putting surface wasn't as fast as I expected having played there in the winter.

Great place to play, I highly recommend.

What a pleasure playing Northdale yesterday. I tee'd off at 3:06 and got in 18 holes by 5:40. All the golfers in front of me were moving along and the course wasn't that busy.

This course has some good 400 year par 4's that require some skill as many of the greens are not very long. I have difficulty landing on these greens w second shot.

Fairways are in good shape. Off the fairway is another story. Homes are very close to fairways.

For value and for difficulty I recommend this course. I live close by so that doesn't hurt.

My biggest complaint about Northdale is how difficult the greens are. First of all they are faster than every other course in the area and are heavily mixed with sand.

To make it more difficult most of the holes have pin placements on curves, uphill and downhill.

Very few holes where you get a straight putt.

Perhaps the July 4th weekend was a good time to play the Lakes as many were out of the area visiting with families.

The staff was friendly, when I pulled my car up my bag was picked up, cart was ready as I came out of the pro shop. I was impressed by the great service.

I never had anyone playing behind me or in front. It was awesome playing at such a fast pace or when I wanted to slow it down I could. I played 18 holes in 3 hours 15 minutes and never rushed myself!

The course is long, some of the fairways were a little narrow, not too many trees. I played hazard free, was very close to the green in 2 on most of the par 4's. The challenge for me was that the pin placement was very difficult and that putting was difficult. Most of the courses I play in Tampa Bay If I get near or on the greens I usually 2 putt. This course had many greens that were difficult to get close enough to 2 putt. Half of the Par 4's I was 3 putting on after hitting good drives and good second shots.

You have to be very accurate with your irons and land close to the pin with that 3rd shot, I couldn't do it.

Very nice course would like to play again.

Nice short course. Greens in great shape. Some small hills that make it interesting. A little overcrowded as I like to play fast.

Whats the point of pre-booking a tee time at 1:15 if you don't tee off until nearly 2:00. The course was fun but the pace was so slow. The fairways were a little chewed up and the greens were really fast. These courses in Florida are very dry now, maybe during rainy season they will play better.