How would you compare Wolf Point to Ellerstina? Wolf Point is the only truly private course I've played. It's pretty terrific.
Bill:
I am a big fan of Wolf Point, too. They are both very good, but very different. Wolf Point is a real 18-hole course, with adaptations for the fact that it only has one member.
Ellerstina is more like The Sheep Ranch ... a very compact design with nine greens and a lot of fairway in between, so that you can play from different starting points to the same green. The greens are generally on the perimeter, so there are only a couple where you would be approaching from 180 degrees opposite directions; but the bunkering and the sight lines are extremely well done so that the various holes to a green site have their own strategy.
The advantage of Ellerstina is that there is less area to maintain because it's so compact ... which is a big consideration when one man is paying for the maintenance. Note that I didn't say it was a better golf course than Wolf Point, but it seems a better solution to the problem of a private course.