After playing Double Eagle, we drove over to New Albany and played The Golf Club. Our car was (I think) the sixth one in the parking lot. The locker room is simply the nicest one I have ever seen; my buddy, who has played Seminole, said it is pretty much a carbon copy. After rolling some putts on the putting green, which is attached to the back of the 18th green, we teed it up.
This is the 1st, from the tee. It is a pretty benign starting hole, which is apparently indicative of Pete Dye courses:
The first, looking from behind the green:
This is the approach to the second...while The Golf Club didn't look like Double Eagle in terms of conditioning, it was nonetheless pristine in its own right. I have never putted greens where the ball rolls out as much as they did at The Golf Club. In this picture, you can see my ball behind the flagstick and to the left...I rolled it eight feet by, and three-putted:
The par 3 3rd; unfortunately I did not get a good picture of the bunker complex behind and to the left of the green. There is no easy up-and-down, as the green slopes hard from right to left:
The 4th is a par 5, and your tee shot ends up about here. The end result is a very neat green complex tucked into a small hill:
The 4th green, taken from the 5th tee:
The 5th is a straight par 4; your tee shot should be a field goal between the two trees. Once past them, there is alot of fairway before you cross Blacklick Creek to the green:
This is even with the trees on the 5th:
The 6th is a long, dogleg left par 4. Blacklick Creek crosses the tee, hugs the entire left side, and then crosses in front of the green. The fairway is very generous, but the second must be accurate. Here's the tee shot:
Here's the approach shot after a long drive:
The 7th is a dogleg right par 5. The second is quite an inviting shot, as you can see below. However, the green slopes very sharply from right to left. This was where I hit my tee shot. My second came to rest pin-high, between the two bunkers to the right of the green. I was unable to keep my chip shot on the green:
The 8th is a short par 3 over a small pond. Going long or left gets you in trouble:
A close-up of the 8th:
The 10th is a slight dogleg left of about 380 yards or so. This is the approach:
Only after getting close to the green do you see what's in front of the green...no run-up shots accepted here:
The par 3 11th:
The 12th is a long par 4:
A closer look at the approach to the 12th:
This is the par 4 13th. It's a short par 4 where you must be in control of your golf ball at all times. This hole rewards brains as well as brawn. As you can see, left is no good:
A closer look at the transition from the fairway to the "junk" on the left:
The 14th is a long, dogleg left par 5. After hitting to a very wide fairway, you must deal with a pond to the left of the fairway from about thee 220 yard marker to about 50 yards short of the green. Here is the approach:
This is the tee shot on 15. Along with Double Eagle and Camargo, it is the only course I've played where I literally feel like I'm the only person (or group) on the entire golf course. No homes, streets, or cars can be seen when you're on the golf course:
The approach to 15:
The par 3 16th. As our host said when I was over the ball, "Don't go left." Sounds like something Seve would do in the Ryder Cup:
Thankfully, the noose is out of reach:
Number 17 is a par 5, with cross bunkers and a pond that must be negotiated on the second shot:
The 18th is a long, slightly downhill par 4. Here is my approach after my longest drive of the day:
The 18th, looking back from the green:
Both courses are spectacular in their own right, and a treat to play. If I had to choose one, I would choose The Golf Club. In my opinion, it is a little bit more of a test, I like the land it sits on a little more, and I like the variety of holes and shots you encounter. If Double Eagle is a "10" (and it is), The Golf Club is a "10.5!"