Ran asked me to post this, I appologize for the length. It might make sense to start a second topic for comments on Cuscowilla so that we don't have to re-load this every time. First person to feel the need to comment can create it.The Golf Club at CuscowillaI was recently on a trip to the East Coast and I was fortunate enough to get to play Cuscowilla which is the new Bill Coore / Ben Crenshaw course about 1 hour east of Atlanta. The course is on Lake Oconee which is also where the Reynold's Plantation courses are located. There are only a couple of holes that are actually on the lake as opposed to the the Nicklaus course at Reynolds which has something like 12 or 14 holes on it.The first thing you notice about Cuscowilla is the bunkering. The bunkers are awesome, probably the best I've seen from any modern architect. They are deep and filled with the red soil that is prevalent all over Georgia. They are topped with overhanging "fringes" of grass that give them a wild look, almost like open knife wounds at times. They are reminiscent of Mackenzie bunkers. There are not a lot of bunkers around the greens, but quite a few fairway bunkers. There is only one par 4 or 5 that has more than one bunker next to the green, although a couple of others have them 10-20 yards short. Three of the par 3s have 2 or more bunkers at the green. Even the bunkers by the greens are frequently 5-10 yards away which makes the greens seem to stand apart.The second thing you notice are the greens. These are almost all Ross style crowned greens with drop offs on almost all sides. There is a lot of room around the greens for chipping. The greens are almost all oval or rectangular in shape with no really oddball greens. The green all have a lot of slope in them and, despite what my descriptions below might make it appear, are all different and interesting.So, you have a course with MacKenzie bunkers and Ross greens. It should appeal to all of us in this group and it certainly did appeal to me. If there was one course on my trip that I would love to be a member of, Cuscowilla was it.The course is a par 70 of 6847 yards from the back tees. The terrain is hilly without being overly so. I walked it and found it to be quite an easy walk. There is a lot of room around the holes and I guess they will eventually build houses around it. Hopefully not too many though. The land is nicely wooded, although not heavily, with some shots being fairly tight due to trees and others quite open. There are quite a few areas of knee deep rough that must be avoided.The first hole is a 378 yard par 4 doglegging left. The tee shot goes over a valley and the landing area is slightly lower than the tee. There are a group of bunkers on the corner of the dogleg that are about a 220 yard carry. Another bunker further up the fairway on the left woudl require a 270 yard carry, but would give a straight pitch up the green for the real aggressive player. The fairway is quite wide out to about that bunker. Left of the bunkers and off the far right of the fairway is some of the long grass. The shorter hitter probably can't reach it on the right as it is over 275 yards straight out, although it does get a little closer for shorter slices. The green is a 32 yard long oval that goes away from front left to back right. There is one deep bunker that guards the right side of the green. The green has two main tiers and a very small one in front. The green slopes off the back an front quite steeply and is situated about 10-15 feet above the normal landing area.The second is a 533 yard par 5. The tee shot goes down hill and long hitters must hit a draw or layup to avoid going through the right side of the fairway into a little creek. There are a large number of large pines down the left side that force the draw rather than allowing a player to cut the corner. The tee shot plays very short as I was able to hit one about 290 yards into the creek without much effort. From the bottom of the hill the hole goes back up hill and to the right. There is one 50 yard long bunker that starts about 130 yards from the green on the right side that must be carried in order to get near the green in two. Otherwise, you can play out to the right and leave a pretty open shot. Again there is one green side bunker set on the right front of a deep two-tiered green. There is a little mound that is right at the back right of the green that effectively splits the top tier into two sections. Again, things slope off of most sides of this green. The trees come in from the left to stymie the 3rd shot for someone who was over cautious on the 2nd and went too far left. Long grass and marshy land borders the right side from the initial landing zone up to about 30 yards from the green. The hole is reachable as a good drive would only leave about 200-220 yards to the green due to the down slope off the tee.Number 3 is a par 3 or 197 yards. There is a lake that must be carried and runs along the left of the green. The green actually sits on a cliff about 20 feet above the lake. There is one bunker at the back left to catch long hooks. A hill side to the right of the green contains two more bunkers about 10 yards from the green. The carry from the back tee is about 160 yards to a small fairway. The green is almost rectangular, 35 yards deep and about 20 wide with a higher tier in the back. It slopes off the front and right into chipping areas. The green was quite severe between the tiers with about a 2-3 foot change in elevation.The 413 yard 4th hole is a pure cape hole. The tee shot is over a large lake to a fairway that goes from left to right. There are two fairway bunkers set down the right side of the fairway that are good targets for the tee shot. The first is 229 to 250 yards out and the second is 270 to carry the left edge and about 290 the right. The fairway is about 50 yards wide short of these and narrows to about 30 yards at them. The entire left side of the fairway is long grass so you don't want to go through it on the drive. The green sits on a peninsula and drops off on both sides and behind. It is a pretty round green and has one small section on the front and right with a larger one behind it. There is one small bunker to the back left of the green that protects the long shot from going into a lake behind it. If you miss way right or long, there is more long grass. This is really a pure cape hole with the shortest carry from the back tee being 180 yards or so. The only knock I would put on this hole is that the forward tees make it into a dead straight hole with water on the right and no carry. Therefore, women and shorter hitters might not get the same excitement as others on this hole.Five is a short uphill par 4 of only 305 yards. As you stand on the tee, you look up at a huge bunker. To the right of it is a fairway, but the bunker is what catches your eye. It is about 150 yards away from you, at the lower end it is probably 40 yards wide and 6 feet deep. It narrows to a point about about 250 yards away and is probably 8-10 feet deep at the top. With the frayed edges, it looks as if you are looking at an open zipper going away. The perspective is great. And there at the top of the zipper is the flagstick, which is all you can see of the green from the tee. There is also a fairway to the left of the bunker starting about 200 yards from the tee. There is long grass all around the left and right of the hole up to just short of the green. While it looks from the tee as if the bunker goes up to the green, it actually ends about 45 yards short of it. The green is a true Ross green with drop-offs all around it and no bunkers. It is shaped like an upside down key hole with the back being very narrow. One of the guys in my group drove the green with ease. I miss hit my tee shot and was in the middle of the bunker. This along with #15 were my two favorite holes on the course (but not by much.)The sixth is a long par 4 at 465 yards. The hole is basically straight, but the fairway makes it look like a dogleg left. There is one bunker on the right off the tee that is about 240 yards from the tee. There are two primary ones on the left, with the first being a carry of 230 yards. The fairway runs up to the right of this bunker and then goes behind it and to the left of the other bunker. A third bunker on the left starts about 250 yards out, but doesn't encroach on the fairway as the first one does. The drive must be fit in between these three bunkers. Once it has, there are two more bunkers on the right about 45 yards from the green and one to the left front of a circular green that slopes off on all sides. Right in the middle of the green is a little round knob that might be able to hold one hole location. Putting over the knob is no fun so you need to get the ball on the correct side.Seven is a par 4 of 388 yards. It is a slight dogleg left with a tree at the corner about 235 yards out. For longer hitters it is probably a 3-wood off the tee as the fairway runs out at around 275 yards. The tee shot is over a valley of long grass and then the hole turns up hill. There are no fairway bunkers and one bunker to the left of the green. The green is a little smaller tham some of the others, has two tiers and a little knob in the back and slopes off to all sides. It is basically oval, although a little flattened on the right front and left sides. There are a number of trees on both sides of the fairway, but they are not oppressive.The par 3 8th hole is a downhill 233 yarder (217 from the regular tees). The entire ground slopes from left to right and there are two bunkers on the right of the green. You can run the ball in from the left or try to fly it all the way. The green has a back left raised area, and the right side slopes to the bunkers, but otherwise is quite flat. Lake Oconee is about 200 yards behind the green and this is the first view of it you get on the course.Number 9 is the longest par 4 on the front side. It is 480 yards and there is enough room behind it that they could build another tee and make it a short par 5 if they wanted. The tee shot is slightly down hill until you get out about 275 yards and then it drops off dramatically for about 20 yards so that a long hitter could get a lot of extra roll. Starting about 160 yards from the green, the hole heads back up hill to the green. The hole doglegs right slightly around with a large stand of trees down that side which end around 175 yards from the green. The first bunker on the hole is about 95 yards from the green on the right side and it cuts into the fairway right there narrowing it severely. It angles away from the fairway for about 40 yards. Any second shot from the right side has the appearance of having to barely clear that bunker to get on the green, but it is actually about 60 yards beyond the end of it. There is one more bunker behind and right of it that is also well short of the green. To the left of the green is another bunker. The green is purched on the edge of a hill with severe dropoffs to the right. The green is one of the largest on the course and fairly flat with one back left tier.10 is very similar to 4. It is also a cape hole with the fairway running from left to right. The tee shot is over a small inlet of Lake Oconee. The only bunker on the hole runs along the entire right side of the green between it and the lake. The green is deep and fairly narrow and slopes to the right front quite severely. There is a hollow to the left side of the green that didn't look like a lot of fun.The 11th is a short par 3 of 133 yards with the lake right along side and behind the green. There are bunkers on the front right and on the left. The green has a small front section and a larger rear section. Right at the top of the ridge between them in the middle of the green is another little knob that could even contain a hole location, although it would be a real beast to putt to (or over if you got on the wrong side of it.)Number 12 is another short par 4 of 298 yards. It is slightly uphill and some trees on the left that jut out into the fairway mean you have to hit a draw to drive the green. There are two bunkers short of the green, the one on the right is about 35 yards short while the one on the left is up against the shallow green that is basically round with a lower front level and larger back one. It slopes off to all sides to reject any shots that aren't right in the middle.13 is the only bunkerless hole on the course. It is a par 4 of 466 yards that doglegs to the left. The fairway on the right runs out into some trees about 275 yards out so long hitters must hit a hook around the trees on the right. The long narrow green slopes severely from the right down to the left where there is a larger chipping area. It is a very pretty hole for as simple as it is and requires two good shots for a par.At 623 yards, 14 is the longest hole on the course and the only par 5 on the back. The tee shot is over a small lake. The fairway starts on the right and slopes severely down to the left so that a drive that has a hook on the end of it will kick out and run forever. I borrowed a driver from one of my playing companions for this tee shot and hit it perfectly. The drive went 350 yards after kicking off the hill to the flat bottom of the hill. From there, I was left with an uphill shot of 270 yards. Just after where my tee shot ended, the fairway narrows as some swampy ground comes in from the left. At about 200 yards from the green the hole starts back up hill with a steep little rise over the next 30 yards. At the top of this rise are 3 bunkers that cut across the fairway from the right. The green sits on top of the hill and is diagonal from right front to left rear with a large deep bunker guarding the front/left side. The green has a number so small sections in it and you need to get into the right one to have an easy putt. This is one of the nicest long par 5's I've encountered as it challanges you on every shot without being excessively hard on any of them.The 15th is a 444 yard par 4 that requires a carry of almost 200 yards over a large lake from the back tees. There are two sets of trees that are on either side of the driving area right at the lakes edge. The gap is probably at least 40 yards, but it looks very narrow from the tee. From the lake, the hole runs uphill to the green. There is one fairway bunker on the left to challange the long hitters and there are two more that must be carried on the second. The first on the left is about 120 yards from the green and runs for 35 yards. The second is about 65 yards from the green and covers the right side of the fairway. It is only about 15 yards deep. Beyond that there are no bunkers around the green which probably has the most different levels and undulations of any green on the course. There is a large U-shaped swale in the front and knobs on both the back right and left. Of course, it slopes off on the edges also. This and 5 were my favorite holes on the course as I loved the look from the tee over the water up the hill to the green and the green is great.16 is a par 3 of 172 yards. The green is elongated and wraps slightly around a deep bunker on the left. There is a little collection area on the right side of the green to catch those who hit away from the bunker and again there are two distinct sections to the green, with the back left holes being the most difficult.The 408 yard 17th doglegs left around a large bunker. The bunker begins around 220 yards from the tee and continues for 60 yards down the left side. Another bunker sits on the right side of the fairway and it is 265 yards to it. You can hit a drive between these bunkers or carry the left hand one for a shorter shot. Two other bunkers sit on the right start 310 yards from the tee to catch the super aggressive player. The green is round with one small bunker right in front (the only hole on the course with a bunker right in front of the green) and one larger one to the left. Again, we have two tiers with the back tier having a couple of smaller sections and the green slopes off on all sides.The 18th is the longest par 4 on the course at 485 yards. The tee shot is between some trees and over a valley to an uphill fairway. The hole turns slightly left and is probably the most tree lined hole on the course. The first bunker on the hole is 45 yards short of the green on the right and another behind it sits alongside the large green that must have 6 or 7 different small sections in it. There are slopes all over the place on this green and it drops off on all sides. It is a very difficult finishing hole and requires two precise shots for a birdie.