I didn’t want to comment because there are plenty of folks here who are way more qualified than my single plays of TPN & S. Staying in the lodge was as big a part of our experience as the golf, and probably received more architectural focus. I don’t see a lot of golf resorts and for my mates this may have been a maiden journey. My impression is that this is a world class golf resort, especially so because I love the SoCal Craftman style of the Greene Brothers. We lived in Pasadena where most of the best stuff is preserved. The posh lodge significantly ups the ambiance. It is a work of art.
I think we played the N & S courses on the last days before they were closed for the Farmers. They ‘d had some rain or weather and were trying some weird 90 degree rule for using carts that made riding stupid, so carts were quickly dumped and set us walking on the N course. We had a guy that had some fairly serious health issues and the walking wore him out on the N. We were able to get him some rides on the S. However with the wicked rough and some comforts compromised, the TPS course was a big, burly, brutally-set-up and clearly more than we could handle. How did Gib put it: the course had more vagina than we had Johnson to enjoy it. These were old guys, geezers, with caps soaring as the collection of maladies expanded with our years. TPS was a hard, difficult course; It kicked our asses and scores , although a couple of us figured we could had done much better in another phase of our golfing life. That used to be sorta fun taking down the neighborhood bully. In this context I’m with those that think the two courses are pretty good examples of challenging golf, stiff tests, etc. and not really poster children for fun golf. The pros play here and find it tough. Won’t be easy for you.