I played Hills' Walking Stick course in Pueblo this weekend, and enjoyed it. It was most certainly NOT built on prime land for golf. While the hillside it is on certainly has some rolling qualities, it can be considered a desert course built on baked clay. The only real outstanding feature of the land itself is a large arroyo that bisects the course and is a pleasure to look at, like a miniature canyon with jutting columns of earth. Hills used it to great effect on the par-five 4th, where the canyon looms along the entire left side of the hole, and on the par-three twelfth where it lies in wait on three sided of the green.
On the "con" side, I found that the holes were not often too interesting off the tee. Most tee boxes aligned directly with the fairway, and there weren't a lot of angles to deal with. There was only one par four where I had do decide whether or not to hit driver (that said, I'm not a long hitter, and was playing from the whites). I didn't find the fairways to be especially wide, though, and the rough was truly nasty after almost a solid week of rain. If you managed to hit it past the rough, you're in for serious trouble. Finding the ball would be difficult, much less hitting it, and if you're anywhere near the "walking stick" cactus which gives the course its name, just give up. The recent rains must also have prevented the staff from mowing the fairways, as they were pretty scruffy. Also, bunker drainage was being sorely tested by the rains, as there were bunkers that had up to 10 inches of standing water in them. On one hand, it's hard to fault them TOO much, as it's been monsoon season in the desert for the past week, and the course was soaked, but still, the course could at least have provided small boats or something so that folks could retrieve their balls. I did not hit into any of these temporary water hazards, but the one bunker I did hit into was hard, like hitting off of hard-pan. Also, the course is not necessarily built for walking. There are some LONG hikes between holes, although that did not deter the 59-year-old gentleman who joined my uncle and I as a single. I rode in deference to my 72-year-old uncle (no, really).
On the "pro" side, I really enjoyed the "bounce of the ball" on the course. There's a lot of movement in the fairways (particularly on the aforementioned par-five 4th), and the hills and dales often had strategic effect. For instance, the 13th is a long par 4 (464 from the whites). I knew my second had no shot of reaching the green (a situation I think many lesser lights like myself might find themselves in on this hole), but the placement and angles of ridges near the hole kept me from just winging away at my longest club - and I liked it. I thought about whether or not I could fly the ridges, and went for it, unsuccessfully. I had to think, I had to make a decision, and I had to execute. The fact that I thought incorrectly, made the wrong decision, and failed to execute the shot didn't mitigate the enjoyment of the moment !
I really liked the greens. Not only did they roll true, not only were they a challenge to read, but from the fairway they gave me options on how to play my shot. A sucker pin tucked behind a brutal bunker on the 15th could be reached by a heroic target shot, or by a draw off the bank to the right. I was told that the greens are grassed with a mix of bluegrass and rye, and they were not overly soft (which makes me wonder how they play when the course HASN'T been soaked with rain.
Anyway, I'm not gushing, but for a municipal course in the city of Pueblo, Colorado that costs $40 on a weekend to play, I think it's a good deal, and a fun course. Maybe this is the niche where Arthur Hills can apparently make a positive mark. I'd play the place again.
As Frankenstein might say, "Art Hills.....good."