What I like about Roddy:
1. It's a big course with room to play golf.
2. It's very non-linear. No bowling lanes here.
3. The greens, as I've experienced, are generally hard and fast, and reasonably interesting.
4. The majority of teeshots, and all of the par-5 second shots, offer a variety of choices for line and distance.
5. It's attractive - good looking golf holes, long views, rolling hills, and almost no trees.
6. The green fees are usually a bargain. Two-for-one Mondays make it $30. Another day is $100 foursomes.
Favorite holes are 4 (huge fairway with a line of charm kind of thing), 9 and 12 (who doesn't like a good downhill teeshot?), and 14 (rollicking is a good word), but I like a lot of the others too. The 16th is really hard because the teeshot is into the wind to a straight-ahead, narrow fairway, from a very elevated tee. It's just hard to keep it online.
I think the par-3's probably could be slightly better. Number 3 is fine, 7 is OK but pretty much the same shot every time, 13 is almost too hard from the back tees (230 carry in the wind with a drop-off right), and 17 is fine.
I agree that 18 is a little frustrating because it's almost impossible for a long drive not to end up in the left rough. Then you're playing downwind to a shallow green over a bunker from 225. One could lay up right, but who really wants to lay up on the last hole of the day when you can reach the green with a hybrid?
As far as Shadow Lakes, apparently the new owners are really - I should say, this is second hand info from a person who would know - cheap in regards to the golf course. Money is taken out of the course and not put back into it. They've advertised super-low green fees, so the course has been very crowded but the maintenance has not increased so the conditions get rougher and rougher.
I really used to enjoy Shadow Lakes. It was pleasant, always in great condition, and offered a chance to make some birdies and have fun without using as much mental energy as one would at Roddy. But at this point, with Shadow Lakes in iffy condition and Roddy across the street, it's hard to imagine playing Shadow again until something changes, even though I've enjoyed my previous experiences there.
As far as Deer Ridge, it's about as good as Shadow layout wise, but apparently in much better condition these days. I think it's one Doak point lower than Roddy. It has some interesting holes, but also some pretty plain ones.
At this point I'd probably split 10 rounds 8 Roddy, 1 Shadow, 1 Deer. In the past I would have said 6 Roddy, 4 Shadow.