What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the course?
Strengths are definitely the precision nature of the approaches. There's also a sneaky bit of strategy involved in some of those holes, it's certainly not "bomb and gouge" on every hole. I also think they've done a real nice job of offering the player some options around the greens, shaving down some of the banks, creating some roll-off areas, etc. Adding on to that, and sort of moving in to my first weakness, I really like some of the little gumdrop mounding around a couple of the greens. This goes along well with the exacting nature of the approach shots, but also contributes a little to the over bunkering. Still, it's an extra thing for the player to think about when he's trying to blast something up near the green. Find yourself in those mounds and it is certainly not a guaranteed up and down.
Weaknesses, I think there's a bit of "over bunkering" going on. Take my picture of the 5th hole - is all that really necessary? And related to the bunkering, the usage of "waste areas" to border some hazards is a little repetitive. I really like it on #11, but Dye did basically the exact same thing on #1, #2, #4, #5, #7, #10, and #15. Finally, and I suppose I'm nitpicking here, it really doesn't look THAT much like your typical Florida course. That much is good, but there are quite a few areas where it doesn't have that natural feel - i.e. they moved a ton of dirt. I happen to really like how it turned out, but it also has the feel of "the architect is forcing me to do this" rather than "hey, it's the lay of the land, deal with it."
What distance did you play from?
Blue tees, which I guess is 6600+. Though there was definitely an added dimension of difficulty as they had the pins set in the PLAYERS locations since they were also hosting the AJGA PLAYERS Invitational this weekend.
How playable do you think the course is for the 18 handicapper?
Eh, I'd say maybe 50/50. Depends on the type of 18 handicapper. Generalizing, there's going to be some hazards left and right that'll catch a lot of balls, but there aren't a lot of forced carries that'll mess anybody up. It's a tough course, no doubt, but there's a lot of visual distractions that will make it less playable for the 18 handicapper I think.
Was the course more difficult or more easy than you expected? How did you score compared to how you would score on your normal course with the same game?
Actually, the course was easier than I expected, but I was disappointed with my scores both days. I wasn't completely on my game, but I'd say that over the course of the round, despite my perception of being easier than I expected, it was at least 2-3 shots harder than what I'm used to with that same game. And most of those added shots came from the 5-8 stretch that just completely screwed me both days.
How tough was the rough at this time of year?
Not. A little wirey, but nothing that a 10 rounds per year player couldn't handle. Not on the topic of rough, but the course in general was in excellent shape despite Faye dumping about 20 inches of rain on the area over the past 2 weeks. The whole underground air system that they installed during the renovation works wonders. Greens were firm, but receptive, and on the few chances I had to run the ball up to a green, I got more than enough rollout.
Did you ask about that tree on 6 (I believe) tee?
Yup, still there too.
No one really seems to have an answer though, so it might remain one of the great mysteries. I honestly can't think of a good, non-environmental reason why it's still there. It would definitely qualify as one of those visual hazards that would mess with an 18 handicapper, but it's so far back that really only the pros are playing from those tees. I guess it could be considered a method of forcing the players to hit something low off that tee, but that seems a bit contrived and doesn't really even mesh with how the rest of the hole plays. I'm grasping at straws, but maybe a lower shot off that tee brings those left bunkers more into play rather than just bombing straight over them? But even then, the green doesn't really reward anyone trying to carry those. So I guess we'll still have to be at a loss for words on that one.