I played Sapelo Hammock in Shellman Bluff, GA last Monday. This course has been on my radar for awhile and I finally had the chance to play it. Overall, I thought the course was excellent with some of the toughest par 2 holes I have ever played. Two of those par 3's lave absolutely NO ROOM for error. You either hit the green or you are immediately looking at double bogey. On #8, I actually made par without hitting the green and I felt as if I had won the lottery. By over-utilizing the marshes as fronting and siding hazards, I am not sure if they could have added collection areas nearby these greens. I am not sure that is fair, BUT, not much in the game of golf is. The course appeared to be in good shape, that is until you look in the bunkers. Completely unmaintained, bermuda grass sprouting up in the sand...If this course was overplayed it would be in terrible shape. It is probably underplayed. One of the workers told me that the owner tries to spend as little as possible on it, that they were late fertilizing it and probably would not even fertilize it again as they really should. Sapelo Hammock is the centerpiece of a housing community that just didn't take off as expected. The surrounding area is quite depressed as i observed on my drive in. The lack of homes actually adds to the course as there are a lot less houses around than there was intended to be. The course is fairly open, with a few semi-tight holes for good measure. The greens were pretty slow bermuda, and many looked like they were having a tough time recovering from the last aeration. Some of the greens had some great contours, others were quite bland, and even pretty small in size. I liked the sand cart paths, very unobtrusive and actually blended into the landscape quite nicely. This course was certainly priced right, $27.50 for 18 with a cart. Worth playing at least once if in the Savannah vicinity...here are a few pics....
If you stare long enough, you can see the flag on #8. This was from the second set of tees, about 175 yards, and it was a very tough par 3 shot!
Not as tough as #8 (quite a bit shorter in length), but still tough as it is.
