dobesbsoon

While the Pete Dye course is probably considered the "bucket list" course at French Lick, the Donald Ross course is far more economical to play and is a fantastic track.

My BIL and I played mid-week in the heat of the afternoon to catch the twilight rates. The course was not very busy and had mostly two-somes playing. The pro shop and clubhouse staff were very friendly and helpful. After our tee off on #1, we had a very smooth round around the gorgeous, well manicured course.

The par 70 course from the Bronze tees at about 6500 yards is very challenging with plenty to consider off the tee and very challenging greens to hit your approaches into and putt on. The slope, slant, and tiers on a number of the greens make them the biggest challenge on the course. The par 3's are probably one of the toughest set I've ever seen. Their length combined with the green complexes make them a very stern test.

The heather/fescue grass frames just about every hole beautifully while providing very penal results to the very errant shots. We both lost a few balls to the long grass.

Even after a week removed from my round, I still am replaying a number of holes and viewing the scenery in my head. The variety of holes still allows me to remember them distinctly, which is usually a good sign of a well-designed course. There are many recognizable Donald Ross features on the course.

I'm very glad I got to play here and will always remember the round. I'd highly recommend a visit to this course if you're ever in the area.

My wife and I booked a 9AM tee time and arrived about a half hour before the start. Upon check-in, we had to wait quite a while as the lone pro shop employee answered call after call on the shop phone, regardless of those waiting in person.

We were a bit short on time after we checked in, so we only grabbed a small bucket of range balls to warm up. Half-way through our bucket the starter called us to the tee and informed us that we'd be paired up with another couple because it would be slow today on the course.

We teed off on time with that couple and played at a good pace. Part way into the round, the ranger started following us around, constantly telling us that we were two holes behind and that we'd have to speed up. The ranger pestered us for most of the round. We finished the round in 3h 55m, which felt like a frantic pace for a foursome. We only stopped for a bathroom break once, did not stop at the turn and kept that fast pace the whole time.

As first timers to the course, it definitely required some study of the card and the onboard GPS (with advertisements at inopportune times) to know how the play the holes. There are many semi-blind shots and hidden hazards that can't be seen from the tees. With the rushing by the ranger, it was a very frustrating round of golf.

It turns out the other couple was the tee time ahead of us. I'm still not sure why we got paired together. Also, the three groups following us were threesomes. No wonder we were being pushed all the way around. Had we been kept as two twosomes, we probably wouldn't have had any issues.

The course was beautiful and the greens rolled well. There were some thin spots in the fairways, but all in all, the course was in great shape.

Our experience was marred by the staff (the slow pro-shop clerk, the starter who was inaccurate, and the ranger who can't tell time) but the course was beautiful.

My wife and I played this course as the first round of our Florida vacation. Being from Michigan our game was a little rusty but by playing the correct tees, we had a very enjoyable round. The course is in great shape, the greens rolled smoothly with an average pace. We loved the course layout and enjoyed the challenge. For high season in south Florida, the course seemed busy but not crowded. Pace of play was good, we never had any holdups and we kept in front of the group behind us. The staff was very friendly and pleasant. We'd definitely recommend the course to anyone looking for a fun round of Florida golf.