[Patrick_Mucci]

Mountain Ridge so much fun, yet so challenging.

It has wide fairways, big greens, yet, it's not an easy golf course.

But, the fun of the challenge is significant.

Is it the internal elements that make it challenging ?

In other words, there aren't heroic carriers, lots of in play OB, abundant water hazards.

The challenge seems increase as you get closer and closer to the hole, yet, the demand on the drive, despite wide fairways, is significant.

So what is it that makes it so challenging, yet so much fun to play ?

[JNC Lyon]

The wild, varied, and consistently interesting putting surfaces, and their surroundings.

In short, THE GREENS.

[David_Madison]

Pat -

The course is a big, sexy tease. Everything is out in front of you, every fairway seemingly easy to hit, every green wide open and welcoming. And then the subtle slopes of the fairways move the ball into a slightly awkward lie. And the greens move the ball away from the cups unless your approach shot or recovery is dead on. And the putting surfaces are pure, fast, true, and deceptive. You stand on every tee thinking you can make birdie and you walk off having experienced death by paper cut. Manage your game and your misses well and you can score. Hit the ball well but without perfect thought and you won't. And that's how you get a fun yet challenging course that energizes you and drives you from the 18th green right back to the 1st tee.

[Chip Gaskins]

its the greens, plain and simple are "what makes". 

a top 20 set of greens that are maintained (including the run ups and surrounds) in the proper manner to make the approach shot and thus the tee shot be really important.  the green complexes have so many tongues, bold internal contours, chipping areas, and bunkering that how you approach them so important and strategic.

mt ridge, its renovation, and its maintenance are a treasure.

[Matt_Davenport]

I have to sing with the chorus. What makes Mountain Ridge what it is are the greens. Fairways are quite generous. Fairway bunkers are present but it would seem that you have to hit a bad shot to find one given the width of the fairway. The presence of the putting surface which I can only imagine are more inviting now that you can see more of the surface due to the re-capturing efforts that are reflected in beautiful wings and edges that are draped over the perimeter mounds some of which are drawn into the putting surface as spines. As John had mentioned in a previous thread, the bunkers would seem to be merely ornamental, although should you find one you might suggest otherwise. A round at Mountain Ridge hinges on your performance to place approach shots in the appropriate position to challenge the hole location. If you are out of position on these greens, one's patience will surely be tested and it doesn't take too much of this mental challenge to short circuit the best of players. I can't say enough about how amazed I was by the test that these greens provided.

[George_Bahto]

I think it is the phase, "green-complexes," as we were discussing the other day - greens and their surrounds and even the approach areas

a wonderful golf course indeed

[TEPaul]

Green complexes?

GREEN COMPLEXES?

Where in the world do you come up with terms like that??

You're gonna have to answer to Ron Prichard for using a description like that for a green!

And anything off the green is either a hazard or Through the Green!

So what do you call those things you ultimately aim at? Is it a cup, a hole or a pin position?

[Dan Herrmann]

It's a putting surface!

[David_Madison]

I don't agree that it's just the greens. They deliver the punchline, but it starts at every tee. It's the subtle stuff right from the tee shot through the green that makes the greens shine as brightly as they do. If everything from the tees to just before the greens was filled with Dye-like land mines - - tight twisting fairways, hazards all over, deep rough, and the like, and then you came to these fabulous greens, you'd probably think that the greens were over the top and the course would not be anywhere near as much fun.

What makes it so much fun is that every hole is a tease, with so much potential for what you think is a great score as you stand on the tee. Most of the time you fail as the hole rejects you at the last minute, at the green. Yet you can still trace that rejection back to something you did earlier in the hole. But every so often it works out. We all know or knew women like that - - chasing them was the most fun too. And then after you get rejected but ever so gently you come to the next tee and once again the hole looks so inviting. You never feel whipped, never really defeated as you might at so many courses we think of as harder, yet your score at the end is probably not all that much different. It's the way you end up getting to that score that's so much fun.

[Patrick_Mucci]

David Madison,

I agree with you, it's not the greens alone.

Plenty of courses have interesting greens.

While the fairways are wide, there are prefered locations within the DZ from which to approach the green, and, almost always, there's risk/reward associated with trying to get to those locations in the DZ.

What hasn't been discussed, which is rarely discussed on GCA.com is recovery shots.
We tend to context most things from the perspective of a PGA Tour player rather than a local or regular golfer, and most golfers don't hit many greens in regulation, therefore, recovery is a critical factor in the play of most golfer's games.

Opportunities at recovery to those greens are unique and varied and that might contribute to the fun and the challenge of the golf course.

[Adam Clayman]

How about the search for both a mountain and a ridge?

I echo the sentiments that have said the greens and wonderful ground contours.

[David_Madison]

Pat - A first!!!! I finally said something you agree with. All it took was a 500 mile journey to study at the rain-soaked feet of the master.

Mountain Ridge is a ball striker's course. You just get graded at the greens.

You could spend hours around any one of those greens just hitting little pitches and chips to different cup locations. The interesting thing is how you might get to those spots around the greens after hitting what you thought were pretty okay drives and approaches.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Pat - A first!!!! I finally said something you agree with. All it took was a 500 mile journey to study at the rain-soaked feet of the master.

Mountain Ridge is a ball striker's course. You just get graded at the greens.

We agree, AGAIN

You could spend hours around any one of those greens just hitting little pitches and chips to different cup locations. The interesting thing is how you might get to those spots around the greens after hitting what you thought were pretty okay drives and approaches.

[Kris Shreiner]

I believe the term "green complex" is an excellent term when referring to a green and its surrounds. They surely don't function independently. The challenges presented, when trying to gain a position on the putting suface, encompass the entire entity of each, don't you think?

Mountain Ridge to me was a superb all-around test, though the damp weather blunted much of the movement that drier conditions would present. Really, in totality, just a super track and club from my view!

[Rick Sides]

I too think the greens were awesome and made the course challenging and fun. I also believe the rough played a big role.  The fairways were very fair and the size of the greens were fair too, however, the rough was very thick and tough to play from.  I think it was definitely one of the best places I have played golf.  The course is a fair challenge and is playable, if your hitting fairways and greens, but venture into the thick stuff and you're  S.O.L.   Thanks again Pat for hosting the great event!    I hope we can do it again next year.

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