What an experience I had there. I played four rounds on the course, one practice round and three tournament rounds. The course is 7,358, 76.4/146. We played it like the do for Tour events with most of the tees all the way back, but 3 - 5 per round one tee up. I'd venture to say that we played it at 7,100 to 7,250 each day of the tournament.
Before I touch on the golf course, I want to give a "thank you very much" to the membership at the club. To open up your club for an amateur tournament says many positive things about you as members, but the main thing it says, to me, is: We love golf.
The membership went out of its way to participate in the tournament. They marshaled and scored. They were at the first tee clapping as we were introduced. They mingled and congratulated us on good shots and good rounds, and they shared their world-class facilities with us. Just wonderful.
One last thing: The food. Oh. My. Goodness. They have milkshakes at the comfort station. Milk shakes! I think I lost 15 lbs. in sweat during the tournament (it is, after all, Houston), but I gained it back in fat!!! Wow was the food good! And the drink!! (I think I drank $200 worth of Maker's Mark all by myself!).
Now on to the golf course:
I absolutely loved it. Amazing course (we only played the Fazio). It was right in front of you off the tee for the most part, but the greens were very difficult for me to read, and I loved the fall-off collection areas. Particular favorites were:
3) Loved that a mildly pushed tee shot was funneled down and to the right, which introduced "tree trouble" on the second shot.
5) Just a tough, solid golf hole with a daunting, but fair approach and a tough green.
7) I love short par 4's, and this one just BEGS you to go for it because there's plenty of room to miss right, but the up and down from over there is no gimme. I would like it even better if they area between the two greenside bunkers was widened slightly and mowed to fairway height, which would, IMHO, increase the "fun factor" of the hole.
9) Just a great, long par 3. I pitched in from short right when the pin was middle right. Best shot of the tournament. :-)
11) All of the par 5's are solid on the Fazio, as each of them requires a thoughtful layup, but this is one of my favorites.
12) TOUGH HOLE off the tee!!! This hole sets up for a cut, but really favors a draw! I'm a fader of the ball, but I had such a tough time on the tee shot on this hole because of the tree that hangs over into the left portion of the fairway (I hate trees left when I hit my fade!). Great hole with a tough second shot also. Plays longer than the 366 yardage.
13) AWESOME hole. Love the elevated green. Plays long. Without the strip of fairway to the right of the fairway bunker, this hole would be devilishly difficult....
16) Love the incorporation of the natural waste areas on this hole. Tough green to get it close on.
17) Best par 5 on the course. The second shot for the average length player is TOUGH! Laying up is no gimme here.
I thoroughly enjoyed this course. One of my favorite tournament experiences ever. You'll notice that I don't talk about the green complexes a lot, other than the fact that I loved the collection areas (they are mown tight and allow for any number of shots to be played from a putter, all the way to a lob wedge and everything in between). The reason is that I am experiencing some putting "issues."
I hit 12, 12, and 13 greens, and shot 74, 74, 77. I just could not get the ball in the hole. I think I was 3 for 30 on putts between 7 and 20 feet. Just horrible. NOTHING would go in for me, but that's probably due to the fact that I was putting a bit scared. I had one 4-putt and only one other 3-putt, but I just could not get the ball to drop. I over-read them, under-read them, and just plain whiffed some of them. As a result, I spent most of my time agonizing over line and speed, and not much time analyzing the greens' architectural merits. LOL!
I'd love to hear the comments of anyone else who has played The Fazio at The Club at Carlton Woods.
David