First, to brag. I shot 78. I left a few shots out there but overall I was very happy with it.
We played from about 6900 yards which obviously changed things. The pros can stretch it out to 7800 but never have played it past 7500. Considering I am 30 yards shorter than an average pro off the tee I think all is fair from 6900.
Wonderful overall experience. The course is just fantastic. I have never really played an ocean course outside of Hawaii and it was everything I was hoping for. The dunes create good targets but create some real deceptions. I had some trouble getting lined up from the fairway for whatever reason, The rough is thick and the ball sat on top of the rough. Twice i had nine irons that were like hitting off a tee teed up as high as you could. Neither resulted in good shots.
Early on I figured out how sticky the fairway grass could be as I stubbed a short chip and turned an easy up and down into a bogey. From that point on I putted from off the green. The greens were perfect bermuda and were the medium fast speed you would expect in August. Zero grain. I made a four putts outside ten feet, two for birdie and two for par, saving my round. I also knocked down two pins for tap in birdies.
We walked. There are carts but no cart paths and you have to stay in these waist areas far from the fairways. We took caddies and had a great pace.
The sand traps are actually waist areas. You can ground your club and take practice swings. But they vary in thickness from a normal sand trap to hard pan. they are essentially the natural ground with all, or most, of the rooted plants and grasses removed. And they are freaking everywhere. Neither my playing partner nor myself had much luck out of them or the dunes. I had one up and down from a dune and he got up and down once from the waist area. But that was it. As I said earlier the waist areas act kind of like cart paths as well as they run along the sides of the holes either inside or outside the dunes. I had to hit a four iron off of one on the third hole because the are in play. It was just hard pan and i hit it thin just off the left side for an up and down par.
The weather was fantastic. Mid nineties with a 10mph breeze off the ocean. Scenery is beautiful. There could be more sitting or shade areas around the tee boxes on the back nine, but other than that it was perfect. Plenty of water was available. We paid $400 total after caddie tip. For those of you who love this type of challenge and experience I highly recommend it.
[This message has been edited by agsalaska (edited 9/1/2014 1:07p).]
We played from about 6900 yards which obviously changed things. The pros can stretch it out to 7800 but never have played it past 7500. Considering I am 30 yards shorter than an average pro off the tee I think all is fair from 6900.
Wonderful overall experience. The course is just fantastic. I have never really played an ocean course outside of Hawaii and it was everything I was hoping for. The dunes create good targets but create some real deceptions. I had some trouble getting lined up from the fairway for whatever reason, The rough is thick and the ball sat on top of the rough. Twice i had nine irons that were like hitting off a tee teed up as high as you could. Neither resulted in good shots.
Early on I figured out how sticky the fairway grass could be as I stubbed a short chip and turned an easy up and down into a bogey. From that point on I putted from off the green. The greens were perfect bermuda and were the medium fast speed you would expect in August. Zero grain. I made a four putts outside ten feet, two for birdie and two for par, saving my round. I also knocked down two pins for tap in birdies.
We walked. There are carts but no cart paths and you have to stay in these waist areas far from the fairways. We took caddies and had a great pace.
The sand traps are actually waist areas. You can ground your club and take practice swings. But they vary in thickness from a normal sand trap to hard pan. they are essentially the natural ground with all, or most, of the rooted plants and grasses removed. And they are freaking everywhere. Neither my playing partner nor myself had much luck out of them or the dunes. I had one up and down from a dune and he got up and down once from the waist area. But that was it. As I said earlier the waist areas act kind of like cart paths as well as they run along the sides of the holes either inside or outside the dunes. I had to hit a four iron off of one on the third hole because the are in play. It was just hard pan and i hit it thin just off the left side for an up and down par.
The weather was fantastic. Mid nineties with a 10mph breeze off the ocean. Scenery is beautiful. There could be more sitting or shade areas around the tee boxes on the back nine, but other than that it was perfect. Plenty of water was available. We paid $400 total after caddie tip. For those of you who love this type of challenge and experience I highly recommend it.
[This message has been edited by agsalaska (edited 9/1/2014 1:07p).]