Reporting in...
I had a FANTASTIC time at Wine Valley on Saturday. It is a wild and thrilling ride from the beginning to the end with some of the prettiest bunkers you will ever see. If you are a bunker whore, this is a course for you.
To think that this is only the second design by Dan Hixon, it is quite an accomplishment.
This is a HUGE course. The scales are just out of control. The fairways are 50 to 80 yards wide, the bunkers are 2 or 3 times the size of a typical course. The greens probably average over 10,000 sqft with wild undulations that, in combination with its fast greens, really tests your putting skills. Many times, what we thought was a bunker about 200 or 220 yards from the tee was actually 250 to 300 yards away. The scale of the place really plays tricks with your mind.
Only negative for me was that the while the fairways (and greens) are firm, they are very slow, especially in comparison with the green speed, so you can't really putt 50 yards from the green and bump and roll is iffy. I am not sure if they will ever get there with the type of grass that they have used.
The best way for me to describe this course is that this is Rustic Canyon with much more fairway elevation changes. If you like Rustic Canyon, you will LOVE Wine Valley.
I am working on a more detailed write up about Wine Valley in comparison to Rustic Canyon, Chambers Bay, and Ballyneal. But I will say that Chambers Bay is a better course. This sentiment was shared by my playing partner, Victor who was also at Ballyneal recently and has played CB as much as I have.
But it still does not diminish the fantastic course we have in Walla Walla. It is a must play course if you are anywhere nearby.