I recently visited Moab in Southern Utah, so I decided to take the 45 minute drive south to Monticello to play The Hideout by Forrest Richardson. I did find a previous review on this site, but the pictures provided seemed to be taken in the late fall/early winter time frame. So I thought I would provide the treehouse with a recent summertime peek. While the course has been reviewed before, I won't re-hash everything again, but I do have a few comments.
First off, I really liked the way the holes were routed accross the terrain to provide a variety of shots/lies/and stances. The nearby mountain(s) was framed nicely and provided a nice backdrop on several of the holes. The green complexes were done well and several had big swales surrondings the greens to make for tough recovery shots. With the course at high elevation, it did play shortish but the tightness and exacting nature of the landing areas more than made up for it. I really enjoyed the quirky nature of some of the holes, including #8, (even though I made a giant mess out of it). Hole #13, a slight double dogleg was my personal favorite as it follows a huge wash down the side of a valley. IMO the course's best assest is its variety of holes which constantly held my attention in anticipation of what was coming next.
While the course really is out of the way, it is one of Utah's finest and worth a look if you happen to find yourself in Southeast utah or Southwest Colorado.
Enjoy the pics!!
Hole 1 - Par 4
A gentle start to the round with a wide fairway:
The green is tucked in front of a hazard so appraches need to err on the short side.
Hole 2 - Par 5
This hole has a blind creek which is in play with the driver. The ideal tee shot stays left but the LZ is very tight...
..because these trees get in the way otherwise.
Hole 3 - Par 3
A skyline green of sorts with a nice view.
Hole 4 - Par 4
A tricky tee shot, because your not exactly sure how far till the fairway drops off.
The hole doglegs right to a green on the other side of a huge swale/ravine
Hole 5 - Par 4
This is a short hole, but requires an exact tee shot with a fairly long carry depending on which tee you play from.
The approach in to the small green. Once again long is wrong with a hazard behind the green.
Hole 6 - Par 4
This is one of the nicest looking tee shots on the course as you hit over a big wetland area and bite off as much as you can chew.
A look at the green, tucked into close to the hazard that runs the length of the hole
Hole 7 - Par 3
A beaut of a hole with a nice view. This plays uphill and into the wind on the day I was there.
Miss this green right is very bad. The recovery is a lot worse than it looks here.
Hole 8 - Par 4
A fun quirky hole that can bite at any time. The tee shot to a small landing area:
The shot into the green:
Missing short can be devestating on the score card:
A look back up the hill to get a sense of the downhill nature of the approach:
Hole 9 - Par 5
Tee shot to an amply wide fairway:
A nice view looking back toward the tee from the fairway:
The layup must negotiate a bunker, here is the short approach in to a 3 tier green.
Back 9 to follow....