This course was the surprise of my Dixie Cup trip. That's due to the fact that 1) I wasn't planning on playing it until 10 minutes before I jumped in the car with Tyler, and 2) I knew next to nothing about the course.
Tyler was able to navigate the car down Lookout Mountain and up to Sewanee quickly, enabling us to play 2 loops before dark.
The first 6 holes are exceptionally good. Any of the 6 might be considered the best, or one of the best holes on a very good 18 hole parkland course.
The last 3 holes were good; just not as strong as the first 6.
This was my first Hanse course and I was impressed with his work. The fairways are generally very wide, the bunkers are striking, and the greens have interesting contours. The movement of the land is near ideal - gentle rolling terrain.
One of my dings when I played it appears to have been addressed. When we played in September, there was very little difference in yardage between the back tees and the middle tees. This was problematic on the 210+ par 3 5th hole which required a long uphill carry over water and native grass. I just called the pro shop and they now list the back and middle yardage as 6,764 and 6,339 for 18 holes. For the 5th hole, it's now 218 and 185 yards. This is definitely a big playability enhancement.
Bogey - I'm not sure about the #3 rank, but I am sure that a Sewanee/Sweeten's Cove combo is pretty special. I think it's a Doak 6.5 - 7.0.
Tyler - Great job with the photos and hole descriptions. Fun playing with you!