DaveLeeNC

I live in the area and typically play this course a half dozen or more times per year (usually when a very good rate and my group's schedule come together). Generally the course is in pretty good condition and there are no "ominous signs of problems, etc".

We played today and I noticed that things seemed to (quite suddenly) be going downhill. Several of the bunkers are now as much mud as they are sand (not all of them by any means, but this has been a building problem.

SOME of the greens are showing real signs of summer stress. While this is not unusual for bent grass in this area in the summer, this has not been a tough summer to date. At this point it didn't present a serious playing issue, but a few of the greens were 'close to the edge' in that regard.

But what was really eye opening was the fairways. Some of them (bermuda) were VERY nice. Others were clearly burned out, more brown than green, and darned ugly (although playable at this point). This has not been a super hot/dry summer, so my best guess is that they have a watering system problem that they haven't resolved. It was most odd as some fairways were just super.

Hopefully this is a temporary problem as I like this course and in the past few years the conditioning has been good or better. But I felt like this information should be posted here.

I have played both Foxfire courses a number of times. In a nutshell the courses are not really outstanding. OTOH, they really are quality courses. Conditioning in my experience is always good. The two courses (Grey/Red Fox or East/West) are reasonably challenging but not so much as to be off-putting to the average hacker. I can't imagine anyone being badly disappointed in their experience here.

Greens are relatively large, with some interesting slopes but nothing extreme. Fringes are typically tight and you can put from well off the greens if you chose. Rough is typically relatively short. Greens are bent while fairways/rough are bermuda (winter overseed). Bunkers are mostly well maintained.

What is most noticeable to me is how similar the two courses are. It is hard to tell which course you are on as they both feel much the same. This is not really a bad thing, but noticeable if you play them both.

And while they are both courses that wind through housing developments, the houses rarely (if ever) impinge on the course. Pretty much everywhere there is ample room between the course and the beginning of private property, so this is not really a negative.

The 19th hole is a full service kind of place, but not fancy or extensive. But it gets the job done.

Worth playing, IMHO.

I have a soft spot for this course, given my 'muni-redneck golf heritage' from back in the 1960's in Missouri. In a nutshell the fairways have always been a bit lacking in conditioning. And outside the fairways has always been unpredictable (wash out areas, etc - but these are places where you aren't supposed to hit your ball anyway).

However, the greens have typically been at least OK. But as of mid Sept. 2013, even the greens were a mess (inadequate sanding from the last aeration and LOTS of crabgrass and bare areas).

On the plus side is that this course is always inexpensive and has a number of very interesting holes (particularly on the back side). And several years ago I recall the greens 'really going downhill' and somehow they managed to pull them back quickly. So maybe they will do this again.

But until you have information that the greens have improved, I would avoid this course regardless of the price. However, if the greens recover again then (IMHO) this course is worth the prices that they typically charge.