iplawyertx

Friendly staff is the only plus. Hadn’t played the course in years and remembered it was a quirky layout, very short, and with severely sloping greens and fairways. Course conditioning is non-existent, except for the greens haacing been aerated about a week ago, so they were bumpy and slow- probably for the best, as several holes would have been unplayable with faster green speeds because of the slopes. More weeds than grass in the fairways and tees, which were rock hard where they weren’t dead. At $60 for a weekend round, I would at least expect a course with moderate conditioning.

New owners have done quite a bit of work to make the course more playable- removing hidden bunkers that were visually impressive from aerial views but resulted in very slow pace of play. The course is still plenty challenging with all the uneven lies and difficulty in club selection due to the elevation changes. Also like the plans for widening the fairways, even though it detracted from the current condition with GUR lining every fairway. One other suggestion to improve pace of play (yesterday was still quite pedestrian at 4:40) is to remove some of the more severe undulations in the greens and perhaps make the greens smaller. Club selection due to extreme elevation changes is difficult enough on several holes without having to battle multiple green contours- don't get me wrong, I love the challenges the course presents, but for less-skilled players the constant danger of three and four putting due to the contours is not only frustrating but lengthens pace of play.

Very friendly staff and good amenities, nice pace of play despite the crammed together tee times (2 every 15 minutes). Course itself is nicely laid out. Conditioning lacking, though- tees were spotty and uneven, fairways and greens were a bit shaggy- understandable to some extent as we're in a heat wave. Bunkers were a disgrace though- placed nicely to catch even slightly off line shots around the greens- trouble is there is almost no sand in them, maybe a half inch of fluffed up clay over a hard packed bottom akin to concrete with embedded rocks- your first bunker shot will be a shocker guaranteed.

4 hours, 50 minutes for 18 holes is ridiculous. A shame considering it's a wonderful layout and superbly conditioned for a municipal course- and relatively soft conditions (warm weather, no wind, short rough, soft greens and firm fairways, and it seems even the high fescue is further offline than before, which should result in fewer ball searches) didn't improve the pace, nor do the course rangers seem to care about moving people along once they've paid up and teed off on the first hole.

Played Green Knoll shortly after green aeration, so the condition may pick up some as the greens heal- $50 with cart is no bargain this time of year, considering the course has yet to settle in for the season. Pace of play was slow, but not maddeningly so, but much here can also be attributed to the time of year as the fescue grass has not started to fill in, so stray shots were easy to find. As for the layout, there a few interesting holes (5, 6 and 8 on the front, 11, 14 and 18 coming home provide both challenge and options). The four par 3s are monotonous- all about the same length, same bunkering, similar green shapes and slopes- only the wind made for different clubs to be hit into each...and 3 par 4s on the front (2, 4 and 9) also gave a distinct feeling of deja vu.