[David Federman]

Great pictures - looks like a ton of fun to play - but not everyday. Pictures remind me  of True Blue which I played years ago when it first opened. Thought it was  over the top, as well.  Would like to hear comparisons between the two courses from folks who have played them both.

[Kevin Lynch]

Bruce,

In my one play, I went for #5 and reached.  The play is about 30-ish yards short of the green with a runner.  It will feed down onto the green. 

JC- sure you're not confusing #4 vs #5? I don't believe there's anything going "down" anywhere near 5 green.

The shot you described is exactly what I advised Brian Finn to do on #4 in his first play (I'm great at planning shots - execution is another issue).  Luckily, Brian pulled it off w an eagle, and cemented "trundle" as our word of the week (as is, "just run it over the fringe and let it trundle down to the hole.")

[Kevin Lynch]

13 is fairly controversial because of the green depth, but I think it is fair considering it is a 3 shot hole that is not overly long. A decent player can hit 3 wood, 5 iron and leave himself a wedge into the green. Big hitters can even drive over the trees and leave about a 160-170 yard second shot. It would be a really cool punchbowl-like green if they shaved the whole inside of the bowl to fairway height or at least got rid of the gunch so you had a shot if you missed the green short or long. The green depth isn't really the issue, just that slightly missing the green can lead to a lost ball.

David - my thoughts exactly on that green. Love the concept, but the lost ball gunch just a few yards off is a bit OTT.  Discussion of this hole led to the most heated discussions among our group in April.

I'm a huge fan of Stranz, but I acknowledge a few of his big chances sometimes miss.. However, I have more fun playing his "misses" than most of your "conventional misses."

The Road is so polarizing that it will never reach an "average" rating to land in the top 100.  But the conversation it inspires absolutely makes it a Top 50 "must see" course. 

[PThomas]

Great pictures - looks like a ton of fun to play - but not everyday. Pictures remind me  of True Blue which I played years ago when it first opened. Thought it was  over the top, as well.  Would like to hear comparisons between the two courses from folks who have played them both.

David, I've played em both and TR is MUCH more over the top than True Blue

[Doug Ralston]

One of my favorite incidents while golfing. I am playing a par-3, about 150yds from my tee, at TR. My friend hits it on about 30ft. I top mine into the waste, leaving me 75yds or so. We move forward and notice a group of four waiting for us to play through. Well, I miraculously hit it stiff from the waste. I arrive at the green and one of the other groups says "Wow! Great shot from that waste. I can never hit out of that stuff well. You must be a very low handicap." I could not stop laughing long enough to ask him how he thought I came to be hitting a 75yd waste shot to a 150yd hole. Still makes me smile. 

TR is just too much fun.

Doug

[David_Madison]

This could very well be the world's best match play course. Unless you are a low handicap player with good distance control (and also likely to coming at most of the greens with wedges) it's just not the type of course that you'd ever want to grind out a medal score. Mid and higher handicap players can have a blast just playing attacking golf if you keep it to match play. The course really is incredibly generous off the tee - just look backwards from the greens towards the tees. Every par-5, including #13 is reachable, and if you try the second shots are so much fun. And #6 is genius - - either a tiny flip shot to a green that's just a few yards deep, or swing around to a side tee and hit a much longer shot to a super narrow green.

[Bill_McBride]

Bruce,

In my one play, I went for #5 and reached.  The play is about 30-ish yards short of the green with a runner.  It will feed down onto the green. 

JC- sure you're not confusing #4 vs #5? I don't believe there's anything going "down" anywhere near 5 green.

The shot you described is exactly what I advised Brian Finn to do on #4 in his first play (I'm great at planning shots - execution is another issue).  Luckily, Brian pulled it off w an eagle, and cemented "trundle" as our word of the week (as is, "just run it over the fringe and let it trundle down to the hole.")

Ed Galbavy hit it to the front fringe on #5 in our Dixie Cup game a few years ago.  What fun!

[Carl Rogers]

my 1 round last year at TR was played 1 set of tees up from my usual ... about 6000 yards.  it was a good idea for me as a shortish hitter mid single digit golfer.  Tom, you are right, these holes are way beyond a golfer that cannot manage their game.  the only hole i did not care for golfing wise was the approach to number 9, way too up hill ... no landing area or no bail out.

all holes need to be played w/ great caution

they allowed carts to be driven up and through the waste bunkers and a local rule allowed for drops within the waste bunkers and the tree lines were played as lateral hazards ... not real kosher with the rules but it does speed things up.

it is a more coherently designed course than royal new kent.

it is a must experience as well as a must play.

[Greg Taylor]

Just a great course.

I love the OC Muirfield, but TR is the Vegas/Palmela Anderson of golf. You simply have to play it.

Looks like it's in great condition. The club house/shack is fun too.

Golf at it's best...!

[Jon Wiggett]

Brian,

I hope you have a blast playing this course. I have not played it but from the several photo tours I have seen it really looks like a one off type of course. I doubt we have anything quite like it here in the UK.

Jon

[Tyler Kearns]

Brian,

Unfortunately, be prepared for poor greens at Tobacco Road.  We played there in the second week of October for the Dixie Cup and the greens were is very bad condition and wet, so you may not fully appreciate the contours when it comes to chipping and putting.  Visually, the golf course is stunning and the width incorporated into the design is extremely user-friendly.

Where else are you playing while in the area?  I suggest taking the time to play Mid Pines, which has recently undergone a restoration a la Pinehurst No. 2 by Kyle Franz, it is well worth the effort.

TK  

[Greg Taylor]

Bumping this superb tour as I'm playing here on Sunday. This tour made my mind up 100% that I had to play it...

Enjoy Brian!

I look forward to hearing your opinions...

Is it me or does the narrow bunker on #2 remind me of the Devil's Asshole @ PV? Is that a co-incidence?!

[Joe Sponcia]

Great pictures - looks like a ton of fun to play - but not everyday. Pictures remind me  of True Blue which I played years ago when it first opened. Thought it was  over the top, as well.  Would like to hear comparisons between the two courses from folks who have played them both.

Mr. Federman,

From what I have been told by a local on Pawleys Island, True Blue was "too tough" for the average person and a couple of years after it was built, they called Mr. Strantz back in to soften the course.  What you play today is nowhere near as tough.  With that said, I believe, due to some of the approaches, Tobacco Road is a much tougher golf course.  Both have very, very generous fairways.  True Blue has more bailout areas than Tobacco Road...but my wife loved Tobacco Road and she just started playing 4 years ago...and if anyone would have said "unfair" it probably would have been her.

[Tyler Kearns]

Hole 2

I find this photo to be particularly apt as the line from the tee suggested in the photo is not where you want to hit it, unless you enjoy blind approaches across an angled hazard!! In fact the ideal line is left of the bunker complex set into the hill in the distance.  There is this sense of confusion in a number of places at Tobacco Road, which is part of the sinister appeal of the golf course.

TK

[Tyler Kearns]

Hole 16

You would be hard pressed to believe there is actually a generous fairway somewhere out there (the ridge crossing the fairway is only about 140 yards from the middle of the tee).  Thankfully the marker on the tee offers some help in terms of yardage required from the tee to avoid being too long or too short, and our group just figured that the irrigation control box was located where it was in the distance as an ideal line from the tee - and we all hit the fairway so perhaps we were right.

TK

[Chris Mavros]

Great photos; I had never seen the entire course before.  I am likely heading down to the Carolinas at some point this Winter to maintain sanity, so I might have to get a round in here. 

[Jason Topp]

For whatever reason 16 is my favorite hole on the course.  

My group of 16 (which included several 20+ handicaps) had a much easier time navigating Tobacco Road than they did handling Dormie Club.  It is pretty amazing to see a course look so intimidating but be so playable.  

For me the par 3's are the weakest part of the course and the par 5's the strongest.  The par threes are too similar.

[Ben Carey]

Wow - great photo tour.

I love this course. As was mentioned before - it's a great match play course. Certainly one of the most interesting courses that I've seen and always a blast to play.

[Tyler Kearns]

For me the par 3's are the weakest part of the course and the par 5's the strongest.  The par threes are too similar.

Jason,

You didn't find the fact that 3 of 4 par 5's were near 90 degree doglegs repetitive! No. 4 & 11 have a similar strategy, but dogleg sharply in different directions.  No. 13 is certainly unique with a sharp double-dogleg before reaching the dell green.

TK

[Jason Topp]

For me the par 3's are the weakest part of the course and the par 5's the strongest.  The par threes are too similar.

Jason,

You didn't find the fact that 3 of 4 par 5's were near 90 degree doglegs repetitive! No. 4 & 11 have a similar strategy, but dogleg sharply in different directions.  No. 13 is certainly unique with a sharp double-dogleg before reaching the dell green.

TK

Being a relatively short hitter I love the idea of par fives I can reach by accurately placing a ball on the short side of the wide fairway.  Because they go in the opposite direction, I do not believe 4 and 8 are repetitive in the least because the bad miss is a completely different swing.  

As for the other par 5's, the first is terrific because of the stark choice of distance imposed on both the tee shot and the second. If you lay up short of the gunk on your second you need to get it close to the end of the fairway or face a very difficult approach. The 13th is the most questionable for me.  I enjoy the approach to the green but question whether there is enough incentive to be aggressive with the layup or tee shot.    

[Keith Grande]

Thanks for posting - certainly on my bucket list.  Certainly a visually intimidating layout. I like these designs, it really gets "in your head" to produce the type of shot you need, with such "uncomfortable" visuals.  The struggle within...

Is the green on #9 as severely sloped as the pics suggest? 

#13 seems to be an "all risk - no reward" approach.

Where is the golf hole on #18?

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