Not a lot of commentary. On to the course (yardages are approximate).
First hole is a brute. 430 yards, slightly uphill and generally soft as is the rest of the course. I have played here 3-4 times over the last 3 years and it is always soft.
Helpful to carry the traps, but it is silly-long to do so. Safer play left leaves a longer, blinder approach. One of the tougher starting holes I have played (and the shot is into the early AM sun to add insult to injury)
Second hole eases up slightly. 420, to a wide fairway, and a more exacting approach:
Third, back to the grinder! 450 yards to a
very wide fairway (some fairway-sharing with number 2--hidden on the left by undulations). But the best approach comes from the far right, near a lonely fairway trap.
Looking back from behind the 3rd green down to the fairway. Nice undulations on this green.
All in all, maybe the best hole here.
Number 7, 320 yards, though it varies quite a bit where the tees get placed. Doglegs left at the end. Safe play is to hit an iron or hybrid out there and wedge in. Safer play out right leaves a tough angle into a shallow green that is raised. From the right rough (the easy bailout), it can be almost impossible to hit and hold the green because of the rough and the uneven stance. Reward for being bold and getting around the corner is either hitting the green, or leaving a vastly simpler pitch up the length of the green.
Number 8, another 280-300 yard par 4. (Guy in white shirt middle-left side of pic is on the green). Very tempting to pull the big stick. Generally makes more sense to lay something out to the right and go with the wedge as it easy to leave yourself in an awkward place being overbold. Good hole--lets you choose
your poison and rewards well-played shots.
Number 10, 380 yards. Attractive hole, with wispy long rough for visual emphasis but not really in play, and a pond straight-away to give pause to the very long hitter who does not bend his drive to the left.
Number 14, 370 yards. I hate this hole. It has the silliest fairway I have ever seen. It is perhaps ten yards wide or so until it reaches a fairway trap at the 230 mark, and then widens. Silly looking and silly to play unless you can carry past the silliness. The green sits nicely however for the approach, with some slopes to help work a ball to a back right pin, and a fallaway right to punish an over-bold shot that
just leaks too much.
Some artistic sculpturing they used to divide the front and back nines:
Number 15, 410 yards. Doglegs right over/around a cluster of ugly over-round traps. Not attractive, but it plays nicely as you can carry the traps and shorten the approach, or stay left and tack your way from here to there. Pic from over the two-tier green. Surrounds are shaved down to increase the options. It's a nice feature, though not common here.
Number 16, 450 yards. One of my other favorites. Bends gently left around the fairway trap. Safe play is obviously to stay
right of the trap, but that leaves a long approach shot that must carry the right greenside trap. And a solid drive that stays right of the trap runs the risk of ending up long in the woods if hit more than, of, say 260-270 yards. The reward for challenging the bunker is a much shorter approach and a better angle that goes more up the green rather than across it and that does not need to carry the bunker.
My general feeling is that there are several very good holes here that reward good plays and penalize bad ones. There are also some run-of-the-mill holes that fail to register. The par 5s are generally below average, with number 12, a reachable but dangerous hole, being the exception. The others are unattractive to my eye, and not terribly interesting.
I have not said much about the green contouring, but it is better than most around here--a number of greens have good interest to them and preferred places to hit to or away from.