Longshadow Golf Club

[Adam Russell]

After starting the spring off right with a trip to Palmetto, I decided I needed a more modern affair for my next 18. There was a missing piece in the local courses I've played, so I went 40 minutes south from Athens to Madison, GA in an attempt to rectify the situation. Longshadow G.C. has been discussed quite a bit here, and from some of the pictures posted I thought I had a good grasp of what the course would look and play like. Wrong. It is 180 degrees from anything in the state and I loved it. It was the second Mike Young design I've played, and I've always championed Lane Creek in Athens as one of the better good design/affordable courses in the state. I had the first tee time at 8:50, and was treated to a wonderful winter brown set-up. Wonderful green strategy, to the point that each was firm enough that on the tee shot I was trying to position my ball to use a contour on the green to feed towards the hole. There really was no other was to get it close. I have never stepped all the way back on a long course (7200+), so I gave it a shot and mixed red tees (tips) with blacks. From my guess, about 7500 yds. I played out of my mind to end up with an 85. Please excuse the flat sun, it was my bad camera...



#1/Par-4/411 yds. I don't know if you can really fly the two bunkers on the right, but standing on the first tee the course asks you right away what kind of day it is. Mine was safe to the barber pole.



Great work shaping the lines from the three bunkers into the hollowed bowl giving a full visual look to a scary green. Just aim for the tree.



Just one of a number of tough pins behind a bisecting slope. The greens were hard on contact, but held every line and are great greens for speed putters.



#2/Par-4/460 yds. Here again is part of the test, and obviously spelled out - can you fly it over all the bunkers to get the best angle to the green? I went left again.



After a poor mis-judge on distance, a chip up to the flag shows off the 2nd green, which looks like a three foot wave cresting towards the houses on the right.



#3/Par-5/577 yds. Standing on the tee looking down, the cant towards the water is obvious, but the illusion is that it is much closer than truth would have it. This was a hard hole for me to get comfortable, as you'll see on the next shot...



With a lay-up, the green disappears, and the bunker center looms over the shot. But long forces a tricky chip to a green that runs back down hard towards the fairway.



The place to be seemed back left, not right. I could not believe how much my chip rolled out once it hit the slope on the right side of the green.



#4/Par-3/239 yds. In between clubs for me, but I was looking at the ridge in the green, which is clearly an issue for someone trying to roll a shot down to the hole. The mind says there is no way the shot hold the green. While I don't have a clear shot of the green, it was relatively benign near the flag, nothing like I saw standing on the tee.



#5/Par-5/579 yds. At this point, I started to feel like I needed to challenge the course. It was time to score, but I wouldn't have felt so brave had I seen how far the hazards come in on the right side. I used the tree as my aiming point and striped it.



This green looks like a pin-head, and with a nasty drop to a creek hard in front, it's lay-up time for everyone. But the question is to the right of the pit in the fairway or left?



This is the left side view. Another challenging shot from about 115 yds. The feel of the hole seems that the front portion of the green will roll back into the creek.



My only birdie of the day came from making this putt, which also was my best putt of the day. Three feet of break and quick. With the view of creek and the contour of the green, I can safely say I will never try to reach this green in two.



#6/Par-4/429 yds. A subtle tee shot, but you can feel the creek snaking in on the right, and the trees loom to block a shot from the left to the green set down in a sidehill hollow.



This looks like a bad shot, but I sat here trying to get a good one, and the hole doesn't offer any clues as to direction or line. It also doesn't show how tricky the downhill drop at the green is, or how close the creek comes in behind. This hole is sneaky hard once you've looked back at it.



With the conditions, the back right third of the green probably puts you in the creek, so the putting surface is shrunk dramatically, and with the trees on the left, this is a much dicier approach shot than I imagined standing in the fairway with a wedge.



#7/Par-4/474 yds. After the last hole, there is a sense of tightness alleviated by the broad plain of the 7th. It really felt good to rip a driver knowing it was going in the short grass.



Again, the tightness of the bunkers and the giant green hazard spread out to the right leaves no room for error.



The pimple on the front right coupled with the slope coming from the ridge off the green made this pin tough and the green one of the fastest on the course.



#8/Par-3/175 yds. This day, it seemed the best play was to go long right over the flag. Left is surely death, but I bet a ball to right will stay up from the green grass.



The slight hump, combined with the small table the flag is on, make getting close difficult. Longshadow will surely test your 20-foot putting game.



#9/Par-4/355 yds. I wish more courses would end a side with a short par-4 - its fun to make the turn after having a real shot at birdie. Too many courses go the other way and put 480 yd. tests. This is a pure placement tee shot. Find your best spot and distance and hit it. You can't reach the green for the angle of the trees to the right and creek below the fairway.



Almost like playing a short par-3, this approach is harrowing for the left side of the green will likely not hold a ball, and further left is death. The bunkers look hard, too, although I wisely over clubbed and went long into the right hollow. I love these hollows at Longshadow - they are extensions of the greens themselves, and easy to putt from.



Side view of greenside left bunker and slope easing into the green contours. A draw seems like it would be swept clear off the surface from the middle of the green.



Back view of squarish green. Also notice the weird hidden bunkers in hillside. Not the best place to land either.

So ends the front nine, back nine later...

[Adam Russell]

#10/Par-4/440 yds. The first of a number of wide fairways coming up, the principal nose feature can't be flown, but a drive to the right side that flirts with the bunker peeking up from the hills and leaves perfect position.



There are so many options from here, but the severity of the pin location leads one to wonder what to the right of the green.



Shot further left and a little closer shows the front portion of the green slopes away, and the back banks up hard to the left. Probably the toughest green to hold given the wind, smallish size, club, and the exposed sun beating down. The view is the best on the course, an expansive take on what rural Middle Georgia should look like with pot bunkers



#11/Par-4/490 yds. More like 510 with the uphill, this was into the wind, but at least you can lash a driver. Left gives a better view, as you'll see the right side of the fairway obstructs the approach.



Beautiful flowing hill that obscures the bottom of the flag from the right. After so many pots before, one wonders what kind of unseen traps are over the ridge. After so many unseen hazards scattered, coming over the hill expecting pots and mounds and getting nothing made me instantly appreciate the chess game that LGC plays with the golfer.



Great shot showing one of the widest surfaces I've encountered. The contrast between the perched nature of 10 and the flowing undulations of 11 are what make LGC so cool. Literally three #10 greens could fit inside #11's contours.



Good shot showing the front table pin location. Hard to get to, especially since I didn't know it was there. I'll probably shoot 100 next time just out of fear of what I know now.



#12/Par-5/600 yds. There is just alot going on in the fairway of this hole. It looks like any shot to any place on the fairway will go bounding off into trouble, but its surprisingly flat once you get to your next shot.



This collection humps and the other trouble near it all are on the right side, so the ideal drive would finish left and leave a harder approach. I was okay with this angle, but the downhill nature of this hole fooled me - its much sharper than it looks.



Simple, relatively flat surface with some wicked stuff surrounding it. Bunkers, depressions, and dug out chipping zones. Anything behind  the green has a good chance to roll into a lake.



#13/Par-3/175 yds. This is taken off the back of #10. It seemed like a no-bailout version of #8, if #8 had a huge ridge smack in the middle. My tee shot hit the ridge and kicked dead left ten feet, leaving a dicey putt off a back knob. This shows that "forward" tee, which is no easy shot.



Proper view from back tees



This shows the hump well, but the back right portion banks up more than is seen from the tee. On a second play I would probably go long to see if this would hold the shot on the hill.



#14/Par-4/373 yds. Great hole that swings left with the creek, I thought this hole would beg for a draw, but I'm not so sure the best spot is not nestled close to the right bunkers after looking at the green, which has some crazy stuff in it and a Raynor-style bunker behind.



This looks like go time with a wedge in hand, right? Wrong...



My ball hit five feet right of the pin, which sits on the back of an area the size of a small desk, and made a sound like it hit. Just one of the coolest green I've witnessed.



Another view behind the green showing the multiple fall-offs and the ridge that protects the flag. Nice edge on the flat bottomed bunker.



#15/Par-4/440 yds. This is one I wish I wouldn't have played from the red tees, because it not feasible to try to drive over the left bunker, which would give a great chance to cut off some serious distance. Just past are some roller-coaster humps that must be ten feet high.



Angled green with a pin sitting close to a depression that looks to gather a ball off the green. Another fine example of looking generous, but playing small with the contours. Unusual shaping to the right and on the left sides, but very fun an quite different from gentle hills of the region.



Side view of the green showing a unique front table and the depression. After air-mailing #6 and #12, I made sure to under-club this downhill shot by two. I'd rather take my chances with the chipping areas, as there is little room anywhere behind the green.



#16/Par-4/425 yds.Another tough looking tee shot with more room than is evident. The second bunker that you can see sand in was my aiming point.



This shallow green is banking from a flat grade up the hill towards the back bunker, while the right side, slope hard down towards the water. The right side looks like an infinity pool from the approach, where the back edge just disappears. The lie is flat.



Good shot showing how seamless the surround transition into sections of putting green. I received the break of the day when a blocked iron landed far to left - otherwise I would never venture in that front part of the green.



Side view showing the hard bank of the green. The putt from down right has to be drilled, and after a day of easing putts over contours, its hard to pull off to this pin.



#17/Par-3/218 yds. With no wind and no idea the scale of the back of the green, this looked deceptive. An over-club would either give a unmakeable downhill putt or would come rolling down the slope. This green reminded of some Engh stuff I'd seen, only bigger. I would not want to be short.



I couldn't get this huge green all in one shot, but it goes about three more feet up to the right.



A good hole with some cool earthwork ribbons on the right side and fronting, this tee shot left something to be desired. Just a fade over the middle of the green wall.



This approach area fit my eye perfectly the way it blended into the bunkers and sweeps into the bowls and hollows.



Once again a smallish green on a long par-5 with plenty of fall-off. I liken this to #2 wave crest, only smaller contours and wider. Seems like the whole green wants to fall off the hill to the left.

Another great day on the course, and a course architecturally I'm glad I got a chance to experience. Even without the money factor ($25) its the best in the area, but its so unlike anything in the Southeast I can think off outside of Engh at Reynolds Plantation or Dye. A must-see, and has knocked Mr. Young's Lane Creek of the top as the king of GA affordable golf.

[Anthony Gray]

  Adam,

  Thanks for the thread. We have been trying to flush Mike Young ouy for a few weeks. Great pics.

  Anthony

[Mike_Cirba]

One of my favorite courses and the unassuming par four 6th is one of the most unusually great holes anywhere.

Thanks for taking the time to post, Adam.

[Kyle Harris]

This one is a favorite of mine as well. Quite a few Raynor influences to be seen.

The pictures of the 2nd don't do the bunkers justice. There is at least 50 yards between the last bunker and the first few.

[John Mayhugh]

Adam,
You're only 40 minutes away from LS?  How long til you go back?  I would love having that course close to me.

Thanks for bringing back some great memories. 

[Bill_McBride]

"Great memories"

My great memory from the Dixie Cup is blowing a 1 up lead in my singles match by losing the 18th to Dick Daley's double bogey.  After his tee shot was unplayable.  It was a collapse that would still be celebrated in song if Beowulf had done it.

 

[Ian Andrew]

The hole that really impressed me was the 17th.

I really thought that wonderful bowl shaped green and nightmare deep front right bunker combined to create one of the more interesting par threes I have seen in a while. What got me smiling the most was I could see quite a few ways to try and play the hole but each one kind of scared me to death too.

Just a great hole.

[JNC Lyon]

I also played Long Shadow very recently.  I enjoyed it immensely.  There is a lot of room off nearly every tee shot, but things get tougher as you move closer to the green.  I loved the elusive, links-style greens on many of the par fours. 

I too loved 6, although my seemingly-perfect 7-iron second shot bounded over the green into the creek.  The hole has a deceptive line of charm off the tee, with the ideal tee ball being as close to the edge of the bluff on the right as possible.  The second shot also possesses great, mysterious links qualities.

10 is a fantastic par four.  The green site is impressively simple, yet it is completely diabolical.  Anyone know how to best play this hole?  I think it would take many tries to find a good strategy for the hole, and that is the mark of a great hole.  Indeed, I think 10 is the best and most original hole on the course.

All of the par fives have tremendous amounts of strategy, particularly 3 and 12.

I guess I'll take a bit of a dissenting view on 17.  I thought it was a very fun hole with an undeniably bold greensite.  The M/R/B influences are obvious.  I'm just not sure how many options there are other than to rip a long iron or fairway wood and hope the backstop green holds it.  This is necessarily a bad thing (13 is another par three that I like at Long Shadow that also has one, uncompromising option), but I don't see the hole as being as innovative as everyone gives it credit for.  Additionally, I noticed some turf problems with the top of the bowl.  It would be supremely frustrating to expect a ball to roll back 75 feet, only to see hang up on some unwelcome sand at the top of the green.  I guess this is part of the risk of building such a bold green.  However, this problem seems a little out of place on a course that emphasizes minimalism and subtlety.

Overall, I like 17, but I thought 2, 3, 6, 10, and 12 were all better and more original holes.

Long Shadow has unbeatable value, and every hole is full of interest and charm.  I loved every minute of it.

[RJ_Daley]

Wild Bill, I would have preferred to hear the fat lady sing at the end of that one, rather than a hyena howl.  It was me landing in 17 open pit mine while you hit a nice one on the green where my dreams of glory really unravelled.  I don't even have a sister to kiss...   

But, it is a really fun course with some very interesting holes for match play, it seems to me.  Just the kind of design where a double bogey can somehow bite you in the ego yet win a hole, or opportunities for an heroic shot to build you back up again. 

[Scott Warren]

Some of the holes (1, 5, 7, 9 for example) look like they have recently been under water, the way the clippings are grouped. Is that so, or is there another reason for that.

What's the fairway grass?

[Anthony_Nysse]

Some of the holes (1, 5, 7, 9 for example) look like they have recently been under water, the way the clippings are grouped. Is that so, or is there another reason for that.

What's the fairway grass?

Scott,
  I doubt that they've been underwater, but they did receive ALOT of rain about 10 days ago. The fairway grass is bermuda, as like alot of courses int he south, I doubt that they collect their clippings when mowing the fairways. When a courses gets alot or rain, the clippings are still in the canopy of the grass, but will wash with the excess rain, resutling in a "washboard" look.

Tony Nysse
Asst. Supt.
Colonial CC
Ft. Worth, TX

[Scott Warren]

Thanks Anthony.

[Adam Russell]

Guys,
 It cool to see everyone's favorite holes. I think the quality is evident, because no one's are the same. I'm really fond of 1 as an opener. I also liked #'s 5,6,10, and 14 as personal fav's.

John,
 Its almost negligence on my part that I've just now played the course. As to when I'm headed back there, well, I've got the first tee time today! My dad's weighing a membership even though he's northeast about an hour - shows how starved this region is for quality architecture.

Scott,
 The grass is there, but its transition time in middle GA/Athens area, so some places are greening up, others are staying brown. An interesting study in maintenance/money ideas. I think the look LGC has right now suits it perfect. It gives the course this almost alien look, which is great to suit the starkness of the course. I hope they keep it like that for as long as they can. The grass is perfect on the fairways, its got this sheen and its close cropped and feels like a normal putting surface would in this area. I think the greens are in way better shape than certain higher priced courses - they really putt well and hold uphill and down. What part of the world are you from? I guess I'm so used to the grass buildups after rain (3-5 inches over last ten days) that I didn't even notice it.

[Scott Warren]

What part of the world are you from? I guess I'm so used to the grass buildups after rain (3-5 inches over last ten days) that I didn't even notice it.

I'm from Australia, but just arrived in the UK late last year.

Australia is so routinely in drought that clipping patterns like that are something I have only really seen after exceptionally heavy rain, when the course has been unplayable (casual water everywhere).

While the couch fairways at my old home club in Sydney (Penrith GC) used to brown off in winter while remaining perfect to play from, it was never anything near the colour of those brown fairways!

The seasons are much less different in Australia than what I saw in the UK this winter and I am led to believe they are in much of the USA, so the variation in course presentation and appearance is much less severe also.

BTW, 8 and 13 look like great par threes to play.

[TEPaul]

I was really impressed with that course---really impressed. And it was so much more beneficial going around it with Mike Young to hear his thinking that went into it all. As I recall the only hole I thought should probably be adjusted was #15. It seemed to me it would play much better if it was a bit shorter (many more golfers would get to better stuff in the tee shot LZ). I think I also felt the course might play a bit better for all at some shorter total card yardage.

And I got to eat some good Georgia grits for breakfast! Hmmm---yuck!

[Mark Pritchett]

I will chime in and agree that this is a course not to be missed.  I too love #6 and #17.
I played the week after the second nine opened and really need to get back soon as
the course is only a little over an our from Augusta.

Road trip anyone?

[Tim Bert]

I lived in Atlanta fot two years and played a fair number of public options in the metro area. Had Longshadow existed at the time I can't imagine playing any of the others more than once or twice. This course is significantly better than the rest of the sample I saw.

[BCrosby]

Having been witness to the planning, design, construction and opening, let me second the comments above. Mike's "Rossnor" style works beautifully. A really remarkable, bold design. Not to be missed.

Bob

TEP - Unfair to grits.

 

[Mike_Young]

Well I just saw this post.....for the most I am pleased with LS.....I guess some length has been added where I dd not necessarily agree...for instance...#6 is meant to be played as a 310 yard hole to the small green but other elements decided it needed to go to about 440 yds....but if you get a chance play it from the two small tees on the right slope..better view and angle.....
I hope that soon the maintenance level improves and the course can play as intended....

[Bill_McBride]

Having been witness to the planning, design, construction and opening, let me second the comments above. Mike's "Rossnor" style works beautifully. A really remarkable, bold design. Not to be missed.

Bob

TEP - Unfair to grits.

 

Bob, do you think Mike was channeling those Old Dead Guys?  I have to agree, there is so much MacDonald / Raynor there, it is really fun to see. 

Tom Paul probably put syrup on his grits, it's not so good when you do that.  Too bad there wasn't some red eye gravy. 

[TEPaul]

I confess, I didn't really eat the grits that morning. What I did is just carefully watch Mike Young prepare his grits and eat them.

I was sort of like My Cousin Vinnie when the hash/slinging diner proprietor asked him if he'd even seen grits before, and Cousin Vinnie said: "Yeah, sure, I saw a grit one time" and then he proceeded to put a single grit on the end of his tongue and experience it.



"Tom Paul probably put syrup on his grits, it's not so good when you do that."


Bill McBride:

Well, at least I'm not like Gov. George Wallace who once said: "I'll eat anything as long as I can put catsup on it."

[Mike_Cirba]

Well I just saw this post.....for the most I am pleased with LS.....I guess some length has been added where I dd not necessarily agree...for instance...#6 is meant to be played as a 310 yard hole to the small green but other elements decided it needed to go to about 440 yds....but if you get a chance play it from the two small tees on the right slope..better view and angle.....
I hope that soon the maintenance level improves and the course can play as intended....

Mike,

In the immortal words of Matt Ward, beg to disagree with you, Pahdner!   

As a short par four, it would be good, but just another reachable gambling par four to a small green, albeit with some subtleties and changeups (hazard just behind) not found on most.

However, as a long par four, it reaches the utterly sublime and rare as a totally out of the box hole comparable to something like 15 at Kingsley, where utter confusion overcomes the golfer standing in the fairway with a mid iron.    Where to miss...where to miss... 

[Eric Smith]

Well I just saw this post.....for the most I am pleased with LS.....I guess some length has been added where I dd not necessarily agree...for instance...#6 is meant to be played as a 310 yard hole to the small green but other elements decided it needed to go to about 440 yds....but if you get a chance play it from the two small tees on the right slope..better view and angle.....
I hope that soon the maintenance level improves and the course can play as intended....

Mike,

In the immortal words of Matt Ward, beg to disagree with you, Pahdner!   

As a short par four, it would be good, but just another reachable gambling par four to a small green, albeit with some subtleties and changeups (hazard just behind) not found on most.

However, as a long par four, it reaches the utterly sublime and rare as a totally out of the box hole comparable to something like 15 at Kingsley, where utter confusion overcomes the golfer standing in the fairway with a mid iron.    Where to miss...where to miss... 

Mike & Mike:

All I know is both days I played it I hit generally the same tee shot, had the same yardage in, +/- 90 yds, hit a low knock down 9 (tried PW day 2) landing well short of the green, running up over that pimple front left and both times the ball kept on rolling past the pin, over the green, stopping in the rough just short of the ditch.  What a bitch.  That pin position more near the left side makes it all the more difficult.

Guess I should've putted it from 90 out.

LOVE the hole.

[ed_getka]

Adam,
   Thanks for the photo tour. I am looking forward to being down there in a couple of weeks.