Because space is limited, the course does not have a driving range. This did not bother me because I played earlier in the day, but that would be a consideration for those who want to warm up. I opted to play the Gold Tees at 72.2/133/6784 which is a comfortable distance for me and did not take advantage of the easier opening holes. Two for the first three holes are par 5’s under 500 yards including the 1st hole which is 468 yards. The 4th is a 149 yard par 3 where I had a short iron. After that stretch the course gets a bit tougher before some long ones to close out the front. The 8th is a 238 yard par 3 and the 9th is a 565 yard par 5. The front 9 is a parkland style layout with some doglegs. It allowed for some wayward shots and had a resort feel to it as far as the challenge from tee to green. The aesthetics had a resort feel too with some strategically planted flowers and nicely bunkered holes. However, the greens were a different story. The greens had many severe slopes and some pins were placed on ridges which made for a challenging afternoon with the putter. The front would be have been a nice walk. The back was more spread out and worked its way through some town homes. The 10th is a sharp dogleg left par 5 around a lake and was just one of those odd holes to play for me. The challenges on the back were two long par 3’s, a couple sharp doglegs, and the out of bounds on most holes off the rough line. The 18th, a 412 yard par 4, is a strong closing hole as it played up a hill to a green with a bowl on the left side that collected shots missing the flag on the right.
The course was very nicely conditioned and the fast greens rolled pure. The course has five par 5’s which is something I enjoy but I thought it was strange that all of the par 5’s came in the first 12 holes. One drawback is that the course is close to I-75 so there is quite a bit of road noise on some on the front nine. The course is one that I would recommend, but anyone playing should know that the location is not spectacular and there is no scenery. The fine conditioning is the draw for Griffin Gate in my opinion.
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