sfink16

I love Liberty Forge to work on my short game, rarely needing driver, with several easily reachable par 4's. It helps the ego to score in the 70's when I have never reached that number playing on a full-sized course. We do see an occasional deer on the course fir wildlife viewing. The greens are the biggest challenged to the course, some with huge slopes where you don't want to be above the hole and not be able to stop the ball on putts.

With the greens not having any grass growing, the greens were inconsistent at best. Some of the pin placements were on harsh side hill lies.

My wife hit a putt that nearly stopped at the hole but eventually nearly rolled 50 feet off the green when it picked up speed on the down hill slope pin placement.

Hole #7 is so challenging that I still know how to play it, even though I've had birdie putts the last two times playing it. The extreme dog uphill approach has several option but requires near perfect execution. I hit a 4 hybrid off the tee over the high trees guarding the green that landed on the green but couldn't hold. Layup shots will either go through the fairway behind trees as it rolls quickly down the hill or leave you with the need of a very high, soft lob wedge to hold the green. I was successful the last two times using that technique.

Some of the tee shots are very tight tree lined, #9 and #15 come to mind.

Other than that, the fairways were in good shape for the most part. Obviously no rough to speak of. Very short part 4's do not require the driver and as little as a 3 or 4 hybrid for me to reach.

Also, I should point out the course is very hilly. My wife fell out of the golf cart today on a steep hill. Fortunately she wasn't hurt. I didn't see what happened.

Sunset used to be one of my favorite course but it has become much less since they removed most of the trees on the front 9, apparently due to the airport's request. It's still a decent course.

The back nine was pretty muddy with lots of uneven grass and/or deep rutted holes. I understand Sunset does get a lot of deer travelling through the course at night and perhaps with the mud, they created the poor conditions. It was nearly impossible to not be hitting out of a hole.

Definitely the course was beat up by the winter and hasn't recovered yet.

Early season conditions make the course barely playable. Normally the course is in good shape but not today. The two back 5 holes have temporary greens. Speaking of the greens, they have spots of lengthy grass mixed with no growth. Getting true roll, especially on short, slow struck putts were not going to happen. Some of the sand traps showed evidence of water running through the bunkers with no attempt to fix them. Worse, the traps didn't even have rakes surrounding them. Understandably there was no drinking water on the course most likely due to freezing temps in the mornings. No port-a-potties (whatever they are called) either.

We got behind a 3-some who literally walk up and down fairway2 a number of times, at a very slow pace. I must have waited a full 15 minutes before I could hit one shot. I had thought that they may have let us pass them (short hole 4 par 3) but that courtesy never was granted. So we passed them a couple of holes later, after tired of waiting on each shot.

Early season golf is for practice for the spring gets in full bloom.

Grandview is a difficult to rate. The greens are top rate, albeit postage stamp size in many cases. The roll was mostly true and speed on the fast side, especially if you were above the hole.

Unfortunately the fairways did not exist, with little to no grass and rock hard. Often this gave 50 yards, or more, of carry/roll then you were expecting. How can you judge distances that way with mid irons or longer? The greens were so small that landing on them with long irons was very difficult to stay on the green for most amateurs.

The tee shots were tight at times but mostly fair. The sand traps were extremely odd being very long and very narrow as well as being deep. I did not have to play out of the traps.

Figuring out distances and were to play your next shot was a challenge, with very limited and/or hard to find yardage markers. On one hole, we had difficult times figuring out where the white tees were as they were split and hidden from the blue tees and around the corner from the red/gold tees. With fairways nonexistent for all practical purposes, where to play shots was not obvious at all.

The back nine have 3 each of par 3's, 4's, and 5's making it strange.

There is no drinking water on the course, so bring, or buy, your own. Pace of play was average.

I play here once in a blue moon so I wasn't that familiar with the course details. My memory was so bad that I forgot that one hole doglegged to the right and I thought it wen the other way. That technical mistake wound up costing me up to 3 strokes.

The course itself has some wide open holes along with some really tight shots. The greens are small for the most part, fairly level accept for one hole that is very difficult to 2 putt from any distance, especially if you're above the hole.

I wish the course had drinking water available but that is not the case. No cart person coming around offering beverages either.

The ranger did come around once due to slow play. It took us over 2 and half hours to play 9 holes. Fortunately it sped up greatly on the back 9. I think they put the tee times too close to one another.

The aesthetics of the course was fantastic with mountains in the background on several holes. I thought some of the homes were a little too close to where errant shots may go. Fortunately I was not a victim of one of those shots that day although one shot got a little close.

I thought the cost of club rental for $45 was very high. Had I known that I may have tried to ship my clubs there. For that cost it would've been nice to have extended clubs available to me since at 6'6" tall, I play with extended clubs now.

I did like the higher elevation allowing me to reach the par 5 534 dogleg right green in 2. The ball flies at higher elevations. Overall I liked the course but to be honest I let too much time pass to remember the fine details.

It was just me and my wife on the course. My wife is a beginner, with some physical limitations, that required lots of attention.

There was no one in front of us, so the pace was at our discretion yet the 4 hour pace would satisfy most players.

The sand traps were the best I've ever played out of, not to soft nor too hard. Even my wife got out of each trap she was in.

The greens were in good shape, rolling true. They were faster then the local greens I generally play on but fair as far as reading them and making the putts.

As with most mountain course, the fairways quickly ventured into the trees if you were off line.

Hole number 7 is a par 5 straight down the hill that offers a great view, of Cheat Lake with the mountains (Cheat Mountains?) above it.

Finishing hole 18 is a long 600+ yard (from white tees) that has a slight dogleg in it but making it even harder is that the last shot is straight up the hill.

Overall, we enjoyed the day on this beautiful golf course.

We played this 9 hole course twice. It was a good course for my wife as a second year player. I found it odd on the very first that two flags were on the green and didn't know which one to go for. I'm still not certain what the second flag was for, since it was about twice the nice as a normal hole. Neither the scorecard nor the Pro shop employee shed any light on the 2nd flag. My guess is that it was for junior players. There is also a footgolf element to this course, although I didn't see anyone playing it.

The green were undulating, neither fast or slow in speed. I had no trouble getting out of the traps with decent sand, neither too hard or too soft. Water is in play on a couple of holes, including a mostly carry par 3 hole of average distance.

We actually came back two days later to play again. This time we had an unexpected sighting of a black bear and her cubs. I think it was the same black bear and cubs we saw a few other days at the nearby mountain cottages we were staying. I hit a bad tee shot to the location the bear were at and chose to drop and hit elsewhere on that hole.

Like the last review we too ran into a group of unfriendly golfers behind us.

One of the group of golfers actually hit a golf shot on a par 3 with my wife still on the green. The shot landed between my wife and I as I was just getting to the golf cart.

My wife continued onto the next hole with the golf cart leaving me the opportunity to confront the golfer who hit the ball. His excuse was that he didn't see my wife on the green.

I asked if he saw me standing in front of him since I stand at 6'6" tall. He didn't answer but did apologize giving me some relief as I walked away.

We finished the last hole without seeing the group behind us after the incident. We finished the round in 3.5 hours, plenty quick enough for most golfers.

I complained to the pro shop.

It's a shame, because we were enjoying the day and
the course itself. We had a 3-some in front of us playing at a fairly slow pace where we had to wait on several shots but it wasn't that bad.

The course is in very good shape for this time of year. It is a thinking person's course forcing decisions to be made on whether to layup or to go over hazards. Some fairways are pretty tight, so keeping it straight is important. Greens were pretty good overall, rolling true most of the time with average speed.

Perhaps having marshals roam the course may keep incidents like what happened to us to a minimum.

We played under 2 hours for 9 holes yet were pushed by unfriendly foursome behind us. We ha 3 some in front of us playing slowly where we were waiting on many shots. Ranger did nothing about slow players in front of us yet complained that we rode in fairway of par 3 hole. The rule is not posted on scorecard or hole itself. Probably the group behind was complaining and the ranger felt pressure to do something.

It was not a pleasant experience for my wife who is anew golfer and feels pressure with rude players behind us.

The course is advertised as being friendly but I question that.

As for the course the greens were very slow, the sand inconsistent but in pretty good shape otherwise.

Royal Manchester is a fantastic golf course!

Be careful of the fast putting greens, yet putt very smooth and fair. The greens can be difficult to hold as they as hard.

The fairways are cut very short and are excellent. If you're not real familiar with the course it may be difficult to know where to hit the ball on dog legs and other blind shots.

Like all links course don't hit offline line or you will find very thick rough. The sand traps are the best I've played.

The two water holes are number 9 (par 5) and 18(par 4). Number 18 is a great finishing holes for aesthetics.

There are many water stops on the course for those who like to stay hydrated.

Did see a wild turkey(by himself for some reason)) on the course (number 17).

I'd come back here at any time.

This is one of my favorite courses in the area because it's relatively wide open. Not much water to be concerned about. Only hole number 12 do trees make the fairway very narrow. I was only in one sand trap and barely got out but that could be a function of how deep it was and my lack of confidence playing out of traps.

The greens are firm and pretty fast. If you don't hit a solid shot into the green the shot may not hold. The greens have pretty good amount of break to them as well.

There are some shots that you need to consider using something other then a driver if you a fairly long hitter. The very first hole the little creek is reachable. Another par 5 is a big dog leg that you can hit through the fairway.

Playing as a single I was able to pass several 2 and 3 somes allowing me to play in less then 3 hours.

Even with a horrible blow up hole I had my best scoring round of the year and one of my best ever. I even almost holed a 125 yard pitching wedge on a par 4. The tap in birdie was still a very good way to finish my round.

Rating the course I can say that it was in fair shape for this time of year. The greens were mostly good as were the fairways. Yardage marking were sub-par as was details as to how far to lay up to water hazards. It's a short course with very small greens making them hard to hit consistently adding that greens didn't hold very well. I'm guessing that the course plays better as the year goes along.

This is my 3rd time playing the course this year. Each time I like a little bit more.

Some tee shots can be a little tight due to housing on both sides of the fairways but they are wide enough where it shouldn't be a major problem.

Most of the greens are tiny. If you approach from the wrong angle it can be nearly impossible to hit and stay on the green unless of course you spin and stop shots, something of which I do not do normally.

On this day the greens were aerated, making putting difficult. I'll blame my best chance for a birdie of about 2 and half feet away on the holes I had to putt through.

PLay was slow, especially early on. I think that they sent too many golfers off at too quick of an interval. After a while it got better. At 4 and a half hours I can except that pace on such a nice day that I was playing fairly well.

The Golf Now hot deal and my use for 20+ rounds of golf made the course well worth it.

With the exception of a couple of fairways, this course was in pristine condition. The greens rolled true but rather small in size for some of them. Nice sand conditions. The course is well marked, even giving distance to reach a creek off the tee. I found the course to play fair even though I struggled a bit due to less then average play.

A large group of players were about to tee off on the front ahead of me. The starter allowed me to tee off the back which allowed me to finish in a quick 2.5 hours even though I needed to pass a few groups.

The 40 minute drive was worth the trip.

I hadn't played this course in years. I'm not sure what happened but it has gone backwards as far as the conditions of the course go. The greens were in horrible condition. The fairways and rough were hard to distinguish where one ended and the other started on some holes. I wasn't aware of storms in the area but can say that the sand traps were either hard as a rock, loaded with water or one trap I found was in good condition. You had to be prepared for anything when it came to traps.

It is a very long course of over 6,400 yards from the whites but wide open for the most part. It has a fair amount of water and lots of sand traps. The green are average in size. They can be hard to read but roll pretty fair when junk (torn up) isn't in the way of your line. They are fairly fast greens.

The pro shop worker was super friendly when I mentioned that I hadn't played there in years enticing me to come back again.

I won't plat the course again this year but may try it again in the future to see if it improved.

I've played this course a number of times and usually score pretty good here. I was playing very well on the front 9 but my neck issues didn't hold up and the pain reduced my back 9 to a sub par finish.

It is a rolling course with usually big greens. The greens are average speed and not overly hard to read. I tend to hurry too much and not study the subtle breaks enough to pick them all up.

Number 10 is a beautiful hold that goes straight down and dog legs at the end to the right. A very strong drive has a chance to clear the trees and reach the green (or near it). Number 13 goes straight up the hill, usually into a breeze making it a long hole to an elevated greens where balls are hard to stop. Number two is very long but doesn't seem to play as long as the card indicates if your drive gets to the top of the hill looking down at the green.

I recommend this course with reservations.

If you want to score well, this is the course for you. I played horrible yet my score was better than how I actually played IMO. The greens are slow and the early greens are bumpy.

There is no water for golfers on the course other than two locations where the golfer has to pay 50 cents per bottle on the honor system. If I knew this ahead of time I would have carried money with me to make the honor purchase. I wouldn't take otherwise.

It's not an especially aesthetic looking course, which is something that keeps my interest up if I'm not playing well.

I try to play Dauphin Highlands at least once a year. It's one of my favorite in my local area. The course was, and usually is in good condition.

It has huge greens that are usually fast. Be careful not to be above the hole on some pin locations or you will pay. I had two 3 foot birdie putts that I missed and finish at least 6 feet away for par, even after barely touching the ball on the putts.

Two of the guys I was with played the black tees. At over 7,100 yards, I plays very long for almost all amateurs from there.

I walked this course once and will never do it again as the greens to the next tee is long and the course is hilly.