The course starts out with a par 5 that has a semi blind landing area depending on the aggressiveness of the line. From there the fairway is flanked by rock out croppings on each side as it drops downhill to the green. The views of the surrounding mountainous area from the green were spectacular. The 2nd is downhill par 3 before a reachable par 5 and then another par 3. The start is a bit unusual with alternating par 5’s and par 3’s, but because the course has five par 5’s you do not have to wait a long time before another par 5. As my round went along I noticed that the generally narrow fairways were made even tighter with all the slope from one side to the other. Because of this, many fairways were very difficult to hit as the ball had to land on one side of the fairway to stay on the side. The 7th, a long downhill par 4, was a great test. It required a drive down the right side challenging the fairways bunkers to get the kick to the center of the fairway. The 8th, a downhill par 3 with a creek on the right, was one of my favorite holes. The hole was 193 yards, but dropped a couple clubs to the green from the tee. The green was large so it did allow for some forgiveness. The back nine plays quite a bit longer and featured more demanding holes, especially from the 13th to the 18th. The 13th is a long par 5 that had an awkward layup that sloped into trouble on both sides of the fairway. The wind was up a bit when I played the 15th and it was a tough driving holes with trouble right and trees left. The 16th, 17th, and 18th all were demanding tee shots and the 16th, which moved right, required picking the appropriate line to avoid the fairway bunkers. I thought the 18th was a bit of an odd finishing hole as the tee shot needed to be hit to a rise in the fairway and then it dropped a couple clubs to a blind green. In most cases the designer gave a side of the hole to miss and still be playable which was nice.

Besides the tight driving holes there were other features that tested my game. The course had plenty of mounding both in the fairways and around the greens and some false fronts. This resulted in uneven lies and unreliable bounces. The greens were large with many sharp ridges so many chips had to be flown onto the proper level. Finally the elevation change added or subtracted a club to most shots. Considering how much elevation change there was the designer did not incorporate many blind shots. The fairways, tees, and rough were all in good shape. I had called to find out when the course aerated the greens and they said it was done about 6 weeks ago so I was a little surprised to see some of the holes and sand on the greens. However, as my round progressed, this did not really affect the rolls on the greens and they were still quite speedy. I am not too big into ranking the courses that I play, but this would probably fall into the top 15 to 25 courses that I have played. The course was difficult to get to, but worth it, especially for the reduced rate.

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