I found the fairway and went for the green with a long iron. The 2nd is a 468 yard par 5 with another blind tee shot. My thought is that since I found the blind fairway, I should not have another tough shot. I am a 4 or 5 handicap and can work the ball on occasion, but I don’t see how many amateurs would enjoy having to hook an 8 iron approach 15 yards from the fairway. I found the fairway, but apparently needed a few more yards off the tee and had to hit a hook into the green. The course starts out with a blind tee shot on the 1st (a 368 yard par 4). Much of the risk on the front was due to the six or seven blind shots and I think I scored a lot better on the back because it only had a couple. On many of the holes on the front nine I thought that they had the “risk” but without the “reward”. As the round progressed I felt that I had more options on each hole to play any way that I wanted. So the only option was for me to try for a high cut. Any miss right will kick off the green leaving a tough chip but there is not a place left to miss it as there is a bunker and another fall off left of the green. The 6th is a 174 yard par 3 with a skinny green that slopes from left to right. By that I mean I felt that there was only one way to play each shot, the way P.B. Through the first six holes it felt like the course was forced on me. There were pins tucked on a sliver of green or just over ridges too. I am neither good enough to hit the low shot that skips up the hill or the full shot to the exact yardage with the correct spin to keep it on the knob. For example, there was a pin or two located on a knob and I had no idea how to get an approach close in that case. Because of this the course forces someone to play shots that they wouldn’t normally play in order for a good score. The course has many of the features that I expected including mounding, blind shots, severe slopes in the greens, false fronts, and chipping areas. PB seemed to have a calming influence on that course so I was curious to see what he did here. I looked through a list of PB Dye designs and I don’t see any that I have played, but I did played Kearney Hills in Kentucky earlier this year which was co-designed by him and Pete. Pete Dye’s designs are controversial as people either seem to love or hate his work. For those that don’t know, PB Dye is the son of the famous golf course architect Pete Dye. The course is a PB Dye design so it has some crazy features that most Dye designs have and I figured that going into my round. So as far as the service goes, it was outstanding. Finally, he came out on the 3rd hole to see if I was being held up which I’ve had happen before. He also threw in a free yardage book which was a bit help as I am in between GPS units and let me out a bit early. The guy in the proshop explained that the course is pretty involved for the first timer with some blind shots and multi-tiered greens. I got to the course at 8am which was 2o minutes before my tee time and had a pleasant experience with the proshop. The rays of sun from the sunrise hit a couple of the properties in a way that I think would make anyone content. For the last part of the drive I split off of the highway onto some back roads which went by some farms. During peak season the same time would be ~$60 and because it is an hour and 20 minutes away it has been a bit too far for me to go for just one round. I have seen the Gauntlet on Golfnow for $45 in the morning during the off-season which I think is a decent deal. Because of this I couldn’t pass up the chance to play two new courses. Yesterday was an unusually warm day with temperatures in the low 70’s and some sun.
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