Some New Courses Played....

[Richie3Jack]

Falcon's Fire - Rees Jones design. Officially located in Kissimmee, but it's really right next door to Celebration and the Irlo Bronson Parkway. Typically I find Rees Jones designs to be okay, but I really liked this one. Round took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to play. Course was in great condition. Dug the back 9 quite a bit. Definitely worth playing, but I like to play for under $35 and they usually price above that.


Legends- This is in the Clermont/Leesburg area. It has a decent sized membership to it. The course was in fair condition. However, we really enjoyed playing there. The design is very solid and the price was low. So a solid design, low price and fair condition means we are going to be satisfied. This area is quite hilly, not just for Florida, but for your average place in this country. I enjoyed the back 9 quite a bit. Some real scenic views.


Stonegate (Oaks Course) - This is much like Legends. Solid design, fair condition and low price. Finding the place is incredibly hard, even if you have GPS. It's basically in a retirement community. Kinda like a miniature version of The Villages. It has its own little downtown area. Another course that sparked up on the back 9.


Palisades- Mediocre design. It had a few cool holes, but some other ones were pretty shitty. It was in really bad condition. Greens may have been reading a 5 on the stimp.


Brooksville CC - Colossal disappointment. Although I thought 8 of the 9 holes on the back nine were well designed. The course was in awful shape. The front nine is way too tight. And it's one of those courses on the front nine where it is tight from 150 yards to 350 yards out. So laying-up is rather pointless because you'll likely to get into trouble anyway. The back 9 features 2 crazy holes, #12 and #13 that are their signature holes. I thought #12 was at best...goofy. Here's a picture:



The picture doesn't really show how large the drop-off is off to the right. And the idea is that the 'best play' is over to the left where the landing area is only about 20 yards wide. I could live with the hole if they cut the brush in the middle of the hill so drives that hit the hill could roll down to the bottom.

#13 I liked much better:



However, this was from the white tees. From the back tees they put you in the middle of nowhere with no idea where to aim. I actually hit my best drive of the day and put it down the middle. From the white tees I feel this is a really good hole.

The other issue is the course was in horrendous condition.


Palm Harbor CC - Played there in March and the grass was completely dormant and from tee to green it was white. Ground was really hard as well. Short course and it was super windy. I actually think this would have been a great course in the 80's or if I was playing with my persimmons. But the condition was too poor for me to want to come back there. Maybe in the summer time when the Bermuda is active and the rains come in and soften the course a bit. It's located in Palm Coast which is a pretty neat little area.


Sugar Mill CC - 27-hole member owned private course. I played here for the FSGA Mid-Am. Everybody I talked to liked the course. It was in great condition, super-friendly members. The area is a bit frozen in time between the house designs and the design of the club house, restaurant and pro shop. Fine with me.

I generally thought the course was easy, I just played like crap and still managed somewhat respectable scores. Lots of O.B there and if you're not accustomed to seeing O.B. on both sides of a hole, it can freak you out a bit. If I lived up near there I would probably join as a member if they had a younger membership. The course and facilities are fantastic.



Future Courses:

I would like to play Streamsong. I refuse to walk in the Florida summer, so that will cost me about $200 to play 18 holes. A bit steep. Not sure what I will do with that.

I plan on playing the Disney courses, Palm and Magnolia. That's where the Tour played the Children's Hospital event at.

I will also try to get on some of the Reunion courses.









3JACK

[Golf Nerd]

I've played Falcon's Fire a number of times. It's honestly not in my top 5 around Orlando, but it's always in great shape. Agree the back 9 gets better, maybe that's why I kid of have a "meh" feeling about it - the rounds start off kind of boring to me. They usually want too much to play too but you can find deals from time to time, and it's a go-to for when friends are in town.

I've played the Disney Palm and Magnolia a few times, Magnolia is light years better than Palm. Palm is fun for the history of it if you've seen the PGA events there, and they have great signs on every hole for memorable shots that have happened, but it wasn't in great shape. Magnolia was pristine, and a nice challenging track.

If you haven't played Grand Cypress New Course, it's fun for something different.

I've been wanting to play Streamsong! Hope to get out there one day.

Side note, I may be playing Torrey Pines South in a couple weeks while in California for work. Can't wait!

[Richie3Jack]

I've played Grand Cypress new course a few times. I think it's a lot of fun. The only thing that is a bit rough about it is my typical gripe against links courses...they rely on the wind too much and it's tough to predict wind. So it can make for some un-fun golf holes.







3JACK

[Richie3Jack]

I got to play the Waldorf Astoria course this Sunday. I want to play all of the 'good' public courses in the area, but I'm not willing to spend too much to do so. They had tee times available on Sunday for $45 and I took the plunge.

The course is part of the Waldorf Astoria property. There is also a Hilton Hotel and Wyndham properties nearby. This is located in the Disney area which is always a confusing drive to get to, even if you have GPS as there are a lot of exits right next to each other.

The property is a bit like Hawk's Landing where you bring your car into the driveway for the hotel. Unlike Hawk's Landing, you can distinguish the golf shop from the rest of the buildings here.

The staff will give you the 5-star treatment. The range balls are included as well as bottles of water and the valet service. In fact, when I had my bag in my car to leave the place, the valet grabbed a couple of bottles of water for me to take on the ride home and I didn't even ask. And after the round they give complimentary towels soaked in ice water.

The course is a Rees Jones design. I had friends that played here and the general consensus is that it's a good course, but nothing too exotic. They played a US Amateur qualifier here a couple of years ago and had to have a cut after 18 holes due to the pace of play being so slow. When I asked what happened, my friends said that the course has all of these trees and hazards that play as a lost ball instead of a lateral.

So, I was assuming the course would be super difficult. But, when we got there the ranger told us the course was all lateral drops. I didn't have a problem anyway as I didn't lose a ball the entire round and shot a 75 (+3) from the tips.

The course had more of a PGA Tour type of feel to it. Nothing that awed you, but a good layout nonetheless. Would I pay $200 to play there even if I won the lottery?

No.

But mainly because I would want to pay that on a great course in incredible condition and with quick pace of play. I assume that happens in the winter time and the pace of play is probably slow at that time.

Still, it was tough but fair. I think a good driver of the ball, particularly if they were long, like a Keegan Bradley, could really tear up this course and not break a sweat. For somebody like myself that relies more on accuracy than distance, it makes some holes more difficult as Jones made the shorter holes tighter and the longer holes a bit more wide open. It plays to 7,100+ yards. Have to remember that this is in Orlando which is only about 50-feet above sea level.

Still, for me it wasn't overly long. The only holes that stood out to me as being very long were #11 (239 yards par-3 into a narrow green), #12 (623 yards par-5 into a tough green) and #17 (483 yards par-4 into a tough green). And I still had a 3-hybrid into #11 and #17 with a 7-iron from the fairway bunker (otherwise it would have been a 9-iron) into #12.

The course conditioning was a bit disappointing because I had heard how great the conditions are there. It was still pretty good and in some parts superb. But, the winter was very harsh on golf courses and Waldorf Astoria didn't seem to escape its wrath either.

I generally enjoyed my time there. My issue is that I'm too spoiled and too picky with my money when it comes to golf courses. But, if you have that money to spend and want the royal treatment with great conditions in the winter time and don't mind spending the money, this is your place to go.






3JACK

[Richie3Jack]

I played Metrowest on Sunday. I had played Metrowest last November and December. The greens rolled fantastic, but they were rock hard and impossible to get shots to hold the green. They told me that they figured that was going to happen until the soil started to settle and it would take about 1-year for that to happen.

I played there again in early May. I would say that half of the greens were rock hard, but the other half were softer, but still fairly firm. Played there last week and it appears the rain has really helped. The greens were entirely softer the entire course. The harder greens were more or less firm, but could still hold the green. And the other greens were just fine. They are rolling wonderfully and I think given some time they will be recognized as the best greens in the area.


I played Southern Dunes. It was still in decent shape, but the winter took a toll on it as it was in the worst condition I've seen it in. The greens still roll smoothly, but there were a lot of problem areas due to the horrible winter weather.


Shingle Creek topdressed and aerified from tee to green. They are replacing the fringes as well. I think by August it will likely be in fantastic condition.



LPGA International is still in good shape, but not at the level it was last year. Again, the harsh winter didn't do it any good.



La Cita CC's greens were in good-to-great condition. The course is badly lacking in other areas. So many tee areas need to be completely re-sodded. They also need to trim down some of the trees as they make it impossible from the back tees. I shot 81 there and felt like I couldn't break 75 there anytime soon. It's tough when you have oak tree limbs right in your line of flight about 100 yards off the tee and if aim to avoid them, you're going to end up in those woods. The next day I shot 71 at Metrowest and didn't break a sweat. Unfortunately, I don't see La Cita lasting too much longer. Not enough money rolling in.



I will be on vacation next week with the holidays. I plan on playing:

Golf Club at Eaglebrooke - This is located in Lakeland. I've heard a lot of great things about it. Plan on playing there on Friday.


Mission Inn Resort - El Campeon - One of my favorites that was originally designed in 1912. Heard it is in fantastic condition. We are playing there for only $25!


World Woods - Pine Barrens - I usually play here 1-2 times a year. I would play there more if it wasn't in the middle of nowhere. Each year I've been there it gets in worse condition. I would still label it as a nicely conditioned course, but you can see the toll that the lack of resources has on the course. I think where the screwed up badly in the design was not having a real clubhouse/restaurant to get golfers that finish their round, golfers that are staying in the Brooksville area and locals to eat at it to help drive some of the cash flow.


Disney (Magnolia) - They used to play here for the Childrens Hospital Network PGA Tour event.


That leaves me with 2 more courses to select. I was considering Streamsong, but that is going to run me about $200 because I will want to take a cart and they require a forecaddie with that. That and the long drive to Bowling Green is not as appeasing to me.











3JACK