I spent the morning at Rainbow Springs State Park kayaking and hiking. I am trying to mix in more non-golf activities when I can and wanted to take advantage of the nice weather on Sunday. My focus for this site is golf course reviews so I won’t bore you with the details of the state park, but I’ll just say that Rainbow Springs is a great spot.

I finished my exploring and still had plenty of daylight left. Rainbow’s End Golf Club is right across the street from the state park, so I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to add another course to my list. I made the short drive to the course and was surprised to find that the small parking lot was pretty full.

I got there at 2pm and the cost was $20 to ride as many holes as you can play. The course is nine holes so that seemed like a fair deal for quite a few golf swings. As things turned out, the course wasn’t in great shape so I just played nine holes and called it a day. Since it was busy the proshop let me start on the 7th hole and finish up after playing the 6th hole, to avoid the groups that teed off just before I got to the course. That was nice, but I’m not sure how much it helped with the overall pace on a busy day.

As I mentioned, Rainbow’s End is a nine-hole course and honestly, I’m not sure there is much to say about it. The course is a decent layout and the rolling terrain and tree-lined holes were the highlight of my round here. The course is a short par-36 (2,914 yards) and most of the tee shots have a blind landing area. Never knowing when the group ahead was clear didn’t help the pace.

There are two par-5’s, both reachable, and a driveable par-4. The 2nd is 266 yards from the blue tees and has a wide fairway. There is zero trouble so I hit driver, got lucky and ended up with an eagle putt. I missed my eagle on the low side (doh), but some carefree holes like this one are found throughout the course. The 4th, a 199 yard par-3, was my favorite hole. It is long, tough and plays a bit downhill.

Unfortunately, the conditions at Rainbow’s End weren’t good overall. Most tee boxes were overseeded and appear promising for the winter. The greens also looked overseeded and rolled well. The fairways were terrible with many sandy and bare areas. The rough was a mix of grasses.

Rainbow’s End has a mom and pop feel to it and seems to be popular with the locals. The course won’t beat you up too bad, which is nice. However, even with its positive characteristics and budget price, it is a course that can be skipped in its current condition.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):