The highest point in De. is 400+ feet and all of the hills are in the very northwest of the tiny state. The rest of the state is FLAT. This creates a challenge for course designers to not build boring or predictable courses. Odessa National makes the best use of other natural things found in Delaware---ponds and their grasses, trees, and some gentle elevation changes. Many of the tee shots reminded me of The Old Courses's blindness over gorse bushes. The wild marsh grasses were used to great benefit. The use of a pond on # 2 created a wonderful diagonal for a par five.
The routing was the modern housing concept but it seemed that the designer had the best golfing ground available to him. This may have been because the marshland , ponds, and streams are great for golf but not housing. I would love to find out more about Gil Hanse's invovlement here. My feeling was that it was TOTALLY Hanse. The fun short fours, the expert tie ins of green complexes, the occasional bunker connecting the green to the next tee, the creativity in the layup areas of par fives, the bunkering,and much more. I saw parts of Inniscrone, French Creek, and Applebrook which are the Hanse courses I have played.
We should certainly do a gca.com outing there in the fall. I'm sure they would enjoy the play.