Ran's updated Sand Hills Course Review

[NAF]

I stumbled upon it today with updated pix, commentary

Well done maestro.. Truly is one and only place to get away from the world..

[grandwazo]

What is the membership situation at Sand Hills? Only locals? Any national memberships?

[James Bennett]

a great write up, and some fantastic photos.  Really showing the change in elevation and visibility of the next target, depending on how succesful the preceding shot was.

Amazing that such a course is open for 4 months a year.  Such a short open-season is difficult to fathom for an Australian that plays year-round.

The bunker on the left of the 4th exhibits a number of the characteristics for a bunker called Jaws - only the upper dorsal fin is visible (a big dorsal fin though) and you are not initially aware of the severe danger that lurks.  The bunker has the ability to consume you, whilst those nearby won't even know you were there.  If you did escape in one shot, you would remember it for the rest of your life but not wish to return.  And, in the event that your playing partners saw you wrestling with that bunker, they too would never wish to revisit that part of the course.

Greens less than 3000 feet on some holes!  How delightful.  I'm reconsidering my opinion on whether some of my local greens are undersized after all.

[James Edwards]

Just a great addition to my Sand Hills collection - and the course highest on my most want to play list...  Thank you Ran.

I will get there next year if any other fellow Brits want to come with me and play a few rounds ??

James

[Gene Greco]

Actually, Ran has not completed the update, has more pictures to add (he just returned from his second visit to Sand Hills in nearly as many weeks) and will make a slight script change.

[PThomas]

just looked at Ran's review and pictures.....what a special place!

playing there at twilight must be an unbelievable experience..

[CHrisB]

I just returned from my first trip to Sand Hills, and that writeup was took some of the sting off of having to leave! What a great writeup--it really captures the aura of the place, and those pictures make me want to jump through the computer screen...

Paul,
The last nine I played on my trip was the front nine, alone at the end of the day. Once I got to about the 4th or 5th hole, I realized that I was the only one left on the entire course--all the other groups had finished on the back nine, and all the staff had left for the night. What an eerie but wonderful feeling those last few holes were!

Sand Hills is what I would have envisioned "Golf Heaven" to be like--endless rolling hills, beautiful skies, and a golf course that felt like it had waited thousands of years for you to play it.

[Mark_F]

What I would like to see is "Sand Hills - A Work of Art," Words by Ran Morrissett, Photography by David Scaletti...

[TEPaul]

"playing there at twilight must be an unbelievable experience.. "

Paul:

It's something to see when the sun is low on the horizon either at sunrise or sunset. I guess you can't play at sunrise but I like to get out there with the crew. That's when you can learn stuff you wouldn't ordinarily find out about the place.

[Craig Van Egmond]

Another excellent review by Ran.  The course reviews he does are outstanding.

Sand Hills does look amazing. It is #1 on my top 10 I want to see thats for sure.

Is it more spectacular in person than in pictures?  

[Tony_Chapman]

Is it more spectacular in person than in pictures?  

To answer your question simply: yes.

To get into more detail is difficult because you just have to experience the whole thing and place at least once. I don't know what else to say.

[Craig Van Egmond]

Tony,

     That's amazing, because the pictures are awe inspiring.  The scale looks huge!

[PThomas]

Tom Paul-- I agree,dawn must also be a surreal experience there......playing that time of day at any course is somewhat magical,esp if one is first out...the quiet, the sounds of the birds, the colors of the sky, the feeling and the sound of the wind.....I'm sure those experience must be magnified to the nth degree at SH

[Jason Hines]

Paul and All,

Have you ever gone to a hyped up movie or restaurant only to walk away disappointed or "yeah, it was good, but not that good"?  I promise you, you won't get any let down from Sand Hills.

[TEPaul]

"Is it more spectacular in person than in pictures?"

That's a good question.

It's funny how I seemed to build up these preconceived visions of what the place would look like. I kept trying to imagine what this thing called "Ben's Porch" looked like, where it was etc. I'd seen a lot of hole photographs of Sand Hills  but I couldn't visualize what it really is like looking out at the whole thing.

It was more impressive than I'd imagined. It was different than I guess I'd imagined. One thing that did not impress me as much as I'd been told it would was driving to it, but once there and the expanse of the place and the uniqueness of the golf course because of all that and many other things I didn't expect sure did leave me probably more impressed than the considerable hype on the place I'd heard about for so long. That place is certainly not just the ultra dramatic and different look of the place. It has some of the most impressive and interesting golf holes to play there are anywhere, in my opinion.