princeneil

I play this course a lot but I only play in the afternoons when I know there are open tee times from checking so I hardly ever wait (except weekends). If I do wait I just play slower with a couple balls or skip around. I finish 18 in less than 3 hours average walking leisurely. I usually play from the whites and I am long enough to play from the blues but if it’s windy the blue will feel like the tips in a lot of the holes. Most groups that are slow are usually playing from the blues and really have no business playing from there because they either are in the woods or barely past the golds on their drive.
The tee boxes are good with lots of grass and expected divots. Not bald or patchy.
The fairways are good also like the tee boxes and not bald or patchy. The first cut is not thick so your ball will usually run out to the sides which are usually sandy on both sides and roots closer to the trees. Trees left and right on every hole.
The trees are bare at the moment but there are lots of dried up leaves so if your ball stays up or in a trampled area you’ll easily find it otherwise if it sinks then you won’t.
The greens are nice and clean with not many ball marks and rolls nicely and semi-fast. Many undulations in the greens and some are not too obvious but will break a lot. There are a couple holes that had huge fungus issues but they filled them with sand and grass is starting to grow back in. May or may not be an issue depending on where they put the holes.
The layout is mostly different throughout and definitely favors a righty fader more than a draw-er but both is preferred. There are slight elevation changes but nothing major. I like the course because woods trouble on almost every drive, driver is not necessary on every drive and lots of risk/reward chances. If you don’t put the ball in the right spots, you’ll have to shape the ball most times. I definitely go through my whole bag 3-p, gw, sw, 3-hybrid, 3wood and driver.
Hole 1 - short 4 with slight dogleg right. Bunker left.
2 - long 4 with slight dogleg right. Fairway bunkers left. Approach usually plays farther than is and water on right. Bunkers left and front-right.
3 - short 4 dogleg left. Make sure you get past the 150 marker on your tee shot otherwise you will still be blocked on your approach. Long fairway bunker at end of fairway and impossible to hit a hook long enough to get past it.
4 - short, drivable 4 with bunkers/sand area left and right.
5 - mid-long 3. Bunkers left and right.
6 - straight 4. Long fairway bunker right and green bunkers left and back right.
7 - straight 3. Bunkers left and right.
8 - straight 5 but all balls run out to the right. A slight running draw hugging the left is the preferred shot and will give you a 2nd shot to the green. Bunker right.
9 - short 4 very birdie-able. Bunker left and right.
10 - mid 3. Bunker right.
11 - true 5. Tee shot before the water and 2nd over. Water on the right on 2nd. Green is fast, tough and has lots of breaks and par is a great score here. Bunkers left and right.
12 - straight 4. Bunkers left and right.
13 - long, long 4. Against the wind, this is a 5. Bunkers right and backside.
14 - dogleg right 5. Get tee shot far enough and closer to the middle-left otherwise you’re hitting a blind 2nd and may even be blocked out on the right still.
15 - short 3. Bunker right.
16 - dogleg right 4. Stay away from the right and get it at least to the 150 marker away from the right otherwise you are blocked still. Huge mound on front left-side of the green.
17 - straight 3 over the water. Bunkers left and right.
18 - straight 4 drive over the water. Balls seem to run out to the right. Green looks fast but is a little bit slower due to the shade. Big breaks. Big bunker left.

Usually there’s a warning when they do aeration but none. There are plugs everywhere on the first few fairways but I didn’t notice it after that. The greens look good but are fast even when wet after the rain last night and no sun out. There are a couple puddles on bunkers but none anywhere else.
This course is challenging so you better keep it straight on the fairway otherwise you’ll be on uneven ground or in the water. There are no doglegs and everything is pretty much straight with some elevated greens surrounded by bunkers.
I didn’t hit much GIR but I thought a lot of the pins were in skinny areas of the green so you had to be accurate or put it in a wider part of the green with a guaranteed 2-putt minimum.
For the hot deal that I got, I can’t complain!

This is a great course to practice your short game on. There are challenges everywhere like bunkers, water, small elevated greens and woods. The condition of the tee boxes, greens, bunkers and surrounding rough are good. The pace of play was decent and we were really held due to the 4some in front playing from the tips when they had no business there.
If you’re not consistent, be prepared to bring a lot of balls. You can easily lose at least a ball per hole and more if you want to hit again. The good thing is, there’s a lot of balls to be found in the woods and thick stuff.