Smackatowa

An uninspired flat course with raised greens. The greens are hard packed and cut too close to the dirt.
They barely make any marks on approach shots. Putts do not hold their line. The fairways are thin and hard almost like having a tight lie even though you are in the fairway. To the greens keepers - guys, let the grass grow out a little bit.

I absolutely love this course. All 3 sets of 9's are great. I have played here as a guest of one of the members. We have played a different combination of the three 9's and I can say that every time has been a treat. The conditions tee to green are outstanding. I look forward to when we play here. I have not been let down yet.

Decent value, but mediocre course. Golf carts are an extra charge and they do not have many to rent so be prepared to walk. (they only have about a dozen or so carts.) With the golf cart included the price is comparable to other nicer courses which have plenty of carts to rent. Pace was slower than normal. 5-somes are common. Our group was made into a 5-some. Fairways are cut close almost to the point of becoming a tight lie. The rough is dead grass and hard pan dirt. Greens are also cut very close, not sure why. Approach shots would sometimes bounce to the back of the green if they hit any slope at all when landing. Anything coming in low had no chance of staying on. All greens are raised, most of the rest of the course is flat.

The fairways were in good shape. The greens were very hard packed and rolled fast. The problem was that the geese, ducks and coots poop all over the greens and any place near the water. The 11th hole which is a par 3 near the water is just covered in poop. One of the tee boxes on the back 9 was so bad you couldn't find a place to stand to tee off. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to call "foul" on this one.

There was an outing in front of us. We did not know this before booking. The outing was painfully slow. At one point there were three groups waiting at the tee boxes. The course itself was soddenly wet. There was standing water all over the fairways and tee boxes. The greens were pockmarked like the surface of the moon. Not a great experience.

Pace of play was slow. 4 hours and 45 minutes. Greens were fast and firm. The ball would bounce off or run to the back. Ranger could spend his time better keeping pace instead of bugging us about something inconsequential.

Hard to review as it was raining. That is not the courses fault. The course was taking the water fairly well. No major lakes forming so that is good. We started to have our hands slip off the clubs so we decided to call it early so that we did not hurt ourselves trying to grip too tightly.

Finally! Played a round here with a good pace. We played in just under 4 hours. Normally, it is a 4 1/2 to 5 hour round of waiting. Pace of play was excellent this time. I noticed that there were not any groups of 5 going out. The Pro shop called out groups of 4 almost like he was pointing it out. Just shows that if they do not put out groups of 5 that this course plays at a reasonable pace.

A lot of golfers did not come out since it was cart path only. We did not run into anyone until the 6-7 holes. From there on out it was a slow slog of endless waiting. Seems 3 groups ahead of us was a group that did not care how slow they played. The course was wide open in front of them. This is the problem out here. You have people who do not care if they ruin the round for others. The greens were a bit fuzzy, but that is to be expected after over seed. The fairways had new grass coming in.

Pace of play is always slow here. Too many groups of 5 golfers slow down play. Pin placements were on banks or slopes which slows down play even more. Fast greens just make the pin placements even worse. No rangers to keep pace. One group of below average golfers and everybody behind suffers. Rental price of carts is high. I would be willing to pay more per person if this course stopped the 5 some groups and had a ranger keeping pace. (not just driving around and doing nothing.)

The course was in decent shape. The fairways were a bit fuzzy, but not bad. The greens were odd. They were very fast and firm. Pace of play was just a little over 4 hours, so not terrible. The carts need some work. I wasn't sure mine was going to make it. It barely went faster than someone walking.

Very flat course with all raised greens. Cart path only after reseeding. The round was very slow on the front 9. Several groups in front of us gave up as the back 9 was slightly faster. They still send out multiple groups of 5 which slowed things down even more with the cart path rule. I really wish they would end this game killing practice. The greens putted very slow, but were hard packed so an approach shot would bounce off or roll to the back.

Still in great shape. Very busy so pace was a little slower at about 4 hours. So, not bad. We saw the ranger checking on pace several times during the round. Greens were a tad slow. The course is about to begin aeration soon.

The course is in great shape. The greens putt just fine if you read the breaks. Some are more subtle than others, but I was able to score no problem. A few people think this course is too difficult and prefer one of the other 3 courses in the area. That's fine. Go play slow over there and leave this gem to us.

5....hour.....round. Watched groups ahead of us play from the back tees only to hit the ball 30 yards repeatedly. The course is in good shape. The greens were a bit slow, but OK. The 5 hours waiting on every shot in the heat is unacceptable. Golf should be 4 hours max. Rangers/Marshalls should keep pace moving. It is not reasonable to make everyone else suffer for poor golfers who won't keep pace.

We had a decent round. The pace was kind of slow, but not terrible. The guys behind us were impatient since we could not go faster than the group in front of us. I hate slow play too, but we can't go faster than the group in front of us. We kept catching the group in front of us on the tee and had to wait. You idiots never once caught us on the tee. The pace was 4hrs and 15 minutes. Not great, but not terrible.
The course was in good condition, but the greens here never putt true. I don't know why that is.

We played late in the afternoon so there was hardly anyone on the course. Pace was excellent. Only saw one group ahead of us and they kept moving whenever they saw us. Fairways were in pretty good shape. Greens were odd. They were kind of slow, but not always. The rough was a bit long and would grab the club. Not always easy to get out of.

I had to battle the dust, wind and the rain and it still could not ruin my round. The course is in excellent shape. The greens have recovered from the aeration. Fairways are lush and green. Pace of play was outstanding since everyone else fled when the wind and rain blew through.

It rained the night before so the fairways were a bit damp, but not terrible. Otherwise the fairways were in great shape. Everything was nice and green. I did not have to worry about thin lies anywhere. The greens were still a bit bumpy from the aeration previously done. You just had to remember to hit your putts firm. With all the rains we have been having I suspect that the greens will be back to normal shortly.

The course is in great shape. The greens have gotten even better than last week. One of the best courses in the area.