tlm17

I actually really liked, and was impressed with, the Legacy golf course. Somewhat challenging the entire round but the length of the course, which was on the short side (6416 from the blacks/tips), made it a little easier. From the blacks, the scorecard says a slope of 140, GolfAdvisor says 134, I would say 134 felt like the closer of those two.

Most holes were pretty straight, only 3 or 4 holes that were much of a dogleg. However, the fairways were all typically a bit jerky, almost a little snaky at times, and somewhat undulating and/or sloping with plenty of humps to push your ball around a bit. A number of holes with well-placed fairway bunkers and/or a few nearby trees you'll want to avoid. Not a lot of trees, though; pretty open (slightly more so on the front 9) as long as you avoid all the hazard stakes and out of bounds stakes (mostly along all the houses).

Our foursome all hit drivers off the tee on every hole except for 2 holes, both on back 9 (#12 & #18). The back 9 was a little narrower at times than the front 9, which was more of a links style, but nothing too crazy and I still thought both 9s felt pretty similar at times.

Greens were nice, a little more curvy than a simple circle or oval, and they all had some break but nothing crazy. I thought the greens were usually harder to hit than to putt on. There was frequently a fair amount of trouble near the greens, especially near the hole placement, with a safer portion farther away from the pin.

Holes were all very well marked: the yardage markers I noticed were at 100, 150, 200, 250, and they even had plates to mark 125 yards. The openness of the course can amplify the effect of the wind some. Pace was a little backed up on the front 9 (pretty busy and I think there was a fivesome ahead of us) but cleared up on the back 9. We had a noon tee time on a Tuesday in early November.

Course was well maintained: fairways, greens, and tee boxes were all in great shape. Rough was cut pretty short, pretty easy to hit out of and find ball in. Lots of trees, plenty of water, sand traps around the greens and sometimes along the fairways. Greens were not dome-shaped (thank God), were honest, and all had some break but nothing too crazy.

Course layout was varied enough to keep things interesting, plenty of holes with their own distinct character. At least half of the holes were some degree of a dogleg. Lots of par 3s and par 5s on the back 9 (3 of each). Actually a bit of a target course at times.

Biggest disappointment: We could almost never find the red, white, and blue 100, 150, and 200 yard markers. We even drove our cart up and down both sides of the fairways looking for them and usually found nothing the whole way to the green. I don't know if they had already started removing these since we were playing late in the year (early November) or if they were really hidden somehow. We only found like two red markers and two blue markers the whole round, didn't see any white markers. Made club selection more of a guessing game, especially since it was our first time playing this course.

But overall, very pleased with the course and would definitely come back to play it again.

I believe they were clearing out the water from their sprinkling system when we played so that their pipes wouldn't freeze over the winter. Obviously, this was a very rare and unlikely event to be taking place for us (so it shouldn't be a problem for you), but it did make the entire course noticeably damp, which definitely affected our play: our drives off the tee would get little-to-no bounce and pretty much ended up wherever they landed without much roll, making divots on the fairway was like cutting through butter, and it was easier to get the ball to regularly stick and hold on the greens. It would have been nice to play the course under more normal conditions because aside from the dampness the conditions of the course looked good.

Pace of play was good: we, a twosome, finished 18 holes w/ a shared cart in 3 - 3.5 hours and almost never had to wait for the group ahead (we had a tee time around 1:15 pm on the first Monday of November).

The course wasn't particularly challenging, although there were some tough holes. Aside from the particularly challenging holes, which mostly required distance control and/or accuracy, most holes were pretty moderate and forgiving.

Every hole had some combination of trees, sand traps, and/or water.

For those who like to be able to hit their driver off the tee, most par 4s and par 5s allow it without much to worry about, although maybe a 3 iron or something might be the smarter play on a couple holes. A couple tight fairways, but most were pretty moderate and forgiving if you missed them; there were times where I thought I might have hit it out of bounds but still found my ball as the rough provided a little more relief than some tighter target courses I've played.

For the longer hitters, I would definitely recommend moving back to their gold tees. Most holes are more open than they are tight and the course is only 6276 from the blues. The gold tees (their tips) are 6600, which would present a bit more of a challenge.

Each tee box typically had one or two distance markers on the hole map showing how far away the hazards are, where the fairway ends on a dogleg, etc. This was particularly helpful for us since this was our first time playing this course.

Be careful about some of the pictures of the holes, though, on the tee boxes and the scorecard. A few times it showed basically a hole that was straight as an arrow but the actual hole itself was a very slight dogleg left or right. A little misleading.

Roughs were fairly forgiving and not cut real long.

No complaints about the greens. They were in good shape, they were not dome-shaped, they were big enough to be able to regularly hit and sometimes require long lag putts but not too big, and each green had some break but nothing too ridiculous.

Also, we didn't see any water on the course so make sure you bring plenty of your own.

We played 18 holes w/ a cart for $13 a person, which was a great deal. However, I don't think this rate is always available.

I would definitely play this course again when I'm willing to make the trip. Only thing is it's a bit of a drive. I would maybe even play here more regularly if it wasn't an hour away from the Twin Cities.

Played this course Oct of last year.

Pretty average layout. Nothing gimmicky but nothing especially memorable either. The cemetery in the middle of the course was a bit strange and confusing for a first-timer (follow the map on the scorecard or you might get lost).

Tree-lined fairways, some sand traps and water but not a ton. Only about 20 bunkers but they were too hard and gravel-like for my tastes.

Also too many small and dome-shaped greens for my tastes. Plus they were hard, making them especially difficult to hit, requiring lots of short chip shots near greens.

Other than hard bunkers and greens, though, conditions were good.

Definitely on the short and easy side, even from the Blues, so probably better for casual golfers and beginners than more advanced/serious golfers.

Will probably not be back - too many courses I'd prefer closer to the Twin Cities - but great rates, very affordable, especially Mon & Wed.

Played Whitebirch Sept of last year.

As guests of the Whitebirch part of the BP resort, the location was very convenient (the 18th hole was right in front of our back patio), but the course was a little disappointing.

Greens were in pretty rough shape. Many of the greens had large areas with brown spots.

I believe it was hole #10 that was being renovated or something and was very confusing.

Pretty basic layout. Hole #16, however, was particularly interesting with a very scenic tee shot.

Felt like more of a course for infrequent golfers who either don't play often, haven't played in a while or are just looking to have a good time with their friends or family than for the serious golfer.

I believe our GolfNow discounted rate was for $35 a person for 18 holes with a cart, which was still not a great deal for this quality of course compared to other GolfNow deals, especially in the Fall. Only reason we played here was because Deacon's Lodge was completely booked. We would have preferred to pay extra for a nicer course.