As promised, here is a review of Redlands Mesa.Just a quick note before diving in... I appreciate all of the feedback on the LC course profile. These reviews are my opinions only, even though of course I'm usually right. I enjoy putting these together and hope that they can be both useful and entertaining.

Now on to the important stuff. Redlands Mesa Golf Community can be found in Grand Junction, CO near the Utah border.  It sits eleganty near a high mesa and is integrated well into the beautiful desert back drop to the south. The facility includes a fully-stocked modern clubhouse with fine dining and sweeping views off the back deck area.  The complex features a crystal clear pool, superb practice facility, and expansive practice green. I've just always wanted to do one of those flowery, faux introductory reviews.....NOT!!!  There really is a pool though...on with the show!!!  

Course Routing - Thumbs up - A thoughtful job was done in routing the course over several ridges and valleys on the desert property. It spans across several rock outcroppings and thru a large wash on the back 9. While there are houses on the front 9, they do have a strict building code to integrate them into the landscape.  OK OK, they still stand out, but at least the back 9 for the most part is devoid of the nasty beasts.  
 
Tee Shots - Thumbs up - Elevated tee shots are the name of the game at this course and Jim Engh has provided some spectacular views of the entire area. They are worked in well with the surronding rock outcroppings and there are no steep hikes to the back tee locations.

Fairways - Thumbs down - The fairways for the most part are fairly flat without much contouring. While there are only a small handful of "drop-ins", there isn't much action to them.  The tee shots are not overly demanding and there is not much of an advantage to being on one side or the other with a couple of notable exceptions.

Bunkering - Nuetral - Enghs unique style of bunkering was prevelant with a mixed use of his "muscular" and pot bunkers. There did seem to be a lack of deep sand in them which as a result called for precise ball striking to avoide hitting recovery shots thin.  They were penal for the most part which as stated previously is a good thing as most American style bunkers are too tame.

Green Complexes - Thumbs up - The green complexes were solid through out the entire course.  Most of them gave the golfer at least a few different approach options and a few allowed running the ball on to the green. In my view numbers 3,5,8,14,and 17 were exceptional with extra emphasis on #17.

Greens - Nuetral - As mentioned in my review of LC, my views of the greens are split.  While I do like thier undulating nature and their ability to demand precise putting, thier repeated template nature detracted a bit from them. #11 seemed to break the mold and was a very cool putting surface.

Conditioning - Nuetral - The fairways and rough were in good condition as a whole. However they were a bit soggy in places due to either over-watering or poor drainage. The greens were cut to a nice quick speed and really brought the contouring of the greens very much into play. I put myself out of position on one green where I was just playing to ensure I didn't 4 putt. (I did manage to make a 8 footer to save the 2 putt )

Playability - Nuetral - This course is reasonably do-able for all skill levels. While there were forced carries, most of them were very minimal.  There is OB and Hazards on every hole but they were easily avoidable for the most part. While there was not a lot of strategic decisions to be made on the course, the par 5s did employ this on the 2nd shots if going for the green.

Enjoyment/Fun Factor/Aesthetics- Thumbs up - The pace of play was as expected for a weekend AM time. I really really enjoyed the use of the massive rocks and other outcroppings throughtout the course that both came into play and served as back drops. The views were very nice and expansive, and I was way past giddy as the 17th hole unfolded before us. I think Andy and Dan were about ready to strap me into a straight jacket, muzzle me, and chain me up to the rock. Many might think it over the top, but its the current front runner for my favorite par 3 of all time.

I've been trying to avoid comparisons to LC, because I really wanted this just to be a Redlands only review. But in my opinion with the exception of a couple of holes, there wasn't as much of the sheer fun or wow factor as there was at LC.  Don't get me wrong it was still a terrific course, and I would play it again in a New York second, but it just wasn't as intense as some of the holes found at LC. And with that, I give it the following.

Doak Scale Rating - 7

P.S. Andy and I decided the front 9 at LC combined with the back 9 at RM would make for a very very nice 1-2 punch 18 hole course.  

Enough talk, onto the pics.  If you will please be patient while I post the Front and Back pics I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Kalen:

Redlands Mesa would be even more noted if NOT for the creation of LCR and Devil's Thumb -- just south of Grand Junction in Delta.

I like Redlands Mesa but the real deal comes with Engh's effort at LCR. Think of it this way -- what Engh did started at Redlands Mesa has leapfrogged a good bit more with the layout in New Castle.

I also see the back nine being a good bit better than what you get with the same side at Redlands Mesa.

One final note: I do like Redlands Mesa but when I see it listed among the top four courses in all of Colorado (re: Digest) I just shake my head because LCR and Greg Norman's 18 at Red Sky Ranch are clearly beyond it. Golfweek also has Redlands Mesa among the best three public courses in the state and that too is in error -- although LCR is listed one spot above it so at least they have that correct IMHO.

Again nicely done with the photos Kalen, even if you have to include the one of me wandering around the rocks  I gave you enough opportunities at Redlands that its an appropriate sighting!

I agree with Matt that the back nine at Redlands is the better of the two sides. #11-14 is a very inspired stretch, and there are other fine holes here as well (#1, 4, 8, 16).

I do not think Redlands photographs as well as Lakota, the site is a little less dramatic (not much!) but IMO the golf is just as good (sorry Matt). The front at Lakota and the back at Redlands would make quite a golf course.

Why so many elevated tees?

Is it a cart course or can you walk?

If you can find it in the rocks, can you play it?

The greens look fun.

I walked it the first time I played it, but not the second.  At the pro shop they (perhaps unscientifically) said that 2-3% of the people walk.  It is $16 cheaper to walk.

If you find it in the rocks, yes, if you are able to play it, you are allowed to play it.  There are no environmentally sensitive rocks on the course.  

Andy,

To me anything in that environment looks unnatural, so I agree that Engh's style looks fine there.  

I don't know if that's a backhanded compliment or not.  

I would be interested to see what he ends up doing on something that isn't in the middle of a desert.  I'm thinking strictly from a scale perspective, how his course will look if it doesn't have all of the eye-candy as a distraction from the work he puts on the ground.

Andy:

Let me know where you stack Redlands Mesa among other public courses you have played in the USA.

I don't see the course being among the elite five public in all of Colorado -- for the reason that a number of other courses fly considerably below the radar.

One of the virtues of Redlands Mesa is that Engh's style clearly is unique and there are quite a few fun holes there. However, his subsequent work at LCR is a good bit more detailed and varied in terms of overall hole quality.

Let thumbs up = 1, neutral = 0, thumbs down = -1. The score comes to .333...
Don't know how you can get much more than a Doak 4 out of that!

I don't quite understand the concept of thumbs up compared to a perfect course. Does it mean better than perfect, or equal to perfect?

If I remember my Doak scale, I think 3 is an average course. I read your rating to be above average, with lots of averages (neutral).

I think 100 miles is relative. In the sparsely populated intermountain west, I would suggest 100 miles is really 500 miles. Apply 100 miles to the east coast, populated areas of California, and the British Isles. Don't apply it to remote areas of the west or in some places all courses become Doak 7s.

So what are the great holes here? You really liked 2 and loved one. Are they the great holes? Are all three great holes, or just one?

Thanks for the post!  The golf looks enjoyable, but there's already signs of a fair amount of "necessary evil" (i.e. housing) cropping up.  I'll bet that the natural landscape will be hard to see in five years.

Brad,

The containment surrounding the greens does become a bit repetitive, however I do prefer his style with puchbowls to the Von Hagge vision of tees, fairways, and elevated greens with containment.

Sean,

Thanks for the comments.  I don't think many would try to argue that Engh is a minimalist.  Alot of what he does seems to go for the "shock and awe" type effect combined with plenty of eye candy.  That being said his greens really are alot of fun to putt and play on, especially when they were running fast as at Redlands.

It is interesting that you picked the least protected green site at Redlands Mesa as the one you liked the most.

I always enjoy the learned thoughts from people on golf courses they have never played. The insights are truly penetrating and quite riveting.

The bunkers in the first two instances protect the player from going off into various unplayable lie situations. Nothing out of the norm and since I've played the holes in question a few times and can attest to the fact that they are quite good at preventing what I have just mentioned.

The so-called "visual nightmare" on the 2nd par-5 on the return side is also quite appropriate -- those going for the green in two need to be aware of what can happen if you come up short.

Engh is not going to be the "cup of tea" for the "I can only stomach classic designed golf course crowd" which has its certain few designers they prefer. Those who appreciate Engh likely enjoy a variety of hot' spicy foods and need to absorb more for their stomach than a steady grind of meat and potatos.