Obviously in South Carolina “fall golf” or “sweater weather golf” comes a bit later than up north. I absolutely love fall golf and my unscientific poll of my fellow league players were unanimously excited for the fall season. Perhaps this is because we suffer through 90+ degree heat with ridiculous humidity in the south all summer and fall is such an amazing reprieve; but for me it’s not just about the temperatures, it’s about the vibe.
I think part of the reason is that by the fall many of the women I play golf with have found their groove so they just “play happy” (as Nancy Lopez would say). Looking back at my scoring history, I also see my scores trending lower in the fall. But that is not the only thing that makes me love fall golf.
These are the things that make the vibe of fall golf so awesome:
(1) The beauty of fall golf: I don’t care if I loose a ball in the leaves! The beauty of golf courses in the fall can be breathtaking. I have so many memories of just looking down a fairway and saying to myself, “How luck am I to be health, happy and able to play a game I love.”
(2) The crisp air and perfect temperatures: Yes, I have to mention it again. Even as a person that moved to the south for warmer weather, I just love sweater weather. You take a deep breath and breath in crisp air that just feels cleaner and healthier. The chill in the air wakes you up and if there is a breeze you might see colorful leaves falling from the trees.
(3) A great time for golf trips: Many of my golf trips have been in the fall. There is nothing better than the anticipation of a golf trip! Three terrific trips I have had in the fall with my best golf buddy, Donna, were Primland Golf Resort (in Virginia’s blue ridge mountains). And, of course, the bucket list trips to Pebble Beach where I got to celebrate my birthday (2021) and Pinehurst (2023)!
(4) The golf courses are in great shape: Most of the courses have completed green aeration (late July/early August seem to be the time for aerating here in the Upstate of SC). The fairways are lush (the summer heat that can burnout the grass is gone). The courses just seem to be saying “I’m in peak condition so come play me!”
(5) Less busy courses: I’m not sure if it is tied to school being back in session or people just get busy with other activities but the courses are not as crowded and pace of play always seems much better. For example, our league finished our round in just under 4 hours and we really did not wait on any hole…that was amazing!
So I’ve listed my reasons for why fall golf have such a great vibe. Did I miss any reasons that make fall golf your favorite time of year? Or is another season your favorite?
My first “bucket list” trip was to Pebble Beach Resort in 2021. This year’s bucket list is Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina to play Pinehurst #2, Pinehurst #4, Pinehurst #8 and Tobacco Road. You must stay at the Pinehurst Resort to play the “bucket list” courses #2 and #4. We stayed in the Golf Terrace 208 Condo on Pinehurst #5 – in the distance, we could see the main Pinehurst Clubhouse from the balcony; as well as watch golfers playing the 18th hole in front of the condo. It was a great vibe staying in the condos. I wrote a blog with “non-golf” tips for visiting Pinehurst if you are planning a trip.
Pinehurst is a lovely resort and easy to get around because they have a free shuttle service that will take you to all the courses, hotels, and dinning options around the resort and in the village of Pinehurst. It’s fun to just hang out at “The Deuce” at the main club house and watch golfers play the 18th green, Pinehurst #2. We also loved playing the 18 hole “Thistle Dhu” putting course. “Thistle Dhu” is Scottish and translates to “this will do.” We had two matches (I won one match and my friend won the other – on the line was a transfusion drink). We did not play the “Cradle” (the short course). Past experience shaped our decision to not play. We had played the short course (The Hay) at Pebble Beach – hitting off mats for the lovely price of $65 – which was nothing special and felt like playing our local short courses. The Cradle is $50 (and yes, you hit off a mat). It was very busy so I’m sure folks enjoyed it but it was not something we felt we needed to experience.
We played Pinehurst #4 on day one, Tobacco Road on day two, non-golf day on day three, played Pinehurst #8 on day four and ended the trip playing Pinehurst #2 on day five. It was a great mix of golf and relaxing (walking around Pinehurst Village and near by Southern Pines) but this is a golf trip so let’s talk golf.
Overall Impressions of Courses
Yardage Books
By the Numbers – All the courses were beautiful, in excellent condition, and challenging to play. To get a sense of the challenge of the courses I looked up the ratings for each on the USGA National Course Rating Database (see the chart below). For my non-golf friends, the first number is an indication of the course difficulty for a scratch golfer (e.g., if par is 72 they play to that number) and the second number is “slope” and indication of the relative difficulty of a golf course for players who are not scratch players compared to players who are scratch players. And the USGA also provides a potential score for bogey golfers. The USGA course rating system lists a male bogey golfer as a 20 handicap and a female bogey golfer as a 24 handicap. For my golfing friends that are wondering about the handicaps — the USGA course rating uses driving distance in determining bogey handicaps (and states the average drive for females is 150 yards). So if you are a female with a 24 handicap index you can set an expectation of a score of 103 (or about three strokes over your “target score” calculated as the course par plus your course handicap: 72+28=100). I personally like to use the GHIN app and look up my course handicap (which is the strokes you get for that course and is not the same as your handicap index) to calculate my target score.
The Chart below shows that Pinehurst #2 is the hardest course. As a non-scratch golfer, I care about the slope of 133 (which is fairly significant against an average course rating slope of 113). Also, the bogey rating is 103.3 for Pinehurst #2. It is interesting that the front 9 slope is easier than the back 9 slope because the caddie said the first six holes of Pinehurst #2 are the hardest.
My opinion on each course…
In many reviews and articles I read before my trip the overall opinion was that Pinehurst #4 was becoming the new favorite (even more so than #2). I disagree (and so did my golf buddy, Donna). We thought both were pretty and challenging but we preferred #2 over #4. In short, the two main differences between #2 and #4 is that #4 had more elevation change than #2 and the sand and grass in the waste areas was different – the waste area for #2 was easier for us to advance the ball farther down the fairways.
Anyway, the easiest way to distinguish the courses are a paragraph on each…
Pinehurst #2 – Everyone said “get ready to get beat up by Pinehurst #2” but that was not my experience. Yes, it was the most difficult course and for women I believe it’s not just the fast greens but also the length. The tee to green yardage for many holes meant I often could not get to the green in regulation or I was hitting a wood into the green which made “holding the fast greens difficult.” For example, Par 3, 17th hole played 167 yards (all carry per Chris our caddie) taking into consideration the elevated green protected on the right by a large bunker. That is basically a driver for most women. On most of the Par 4 holes, it was driver and three wood into the greens and, as I mentioned earlier, that makes holding a green very difficult. With respect to the waste areas, the sand was hard packed so once you realize you could hit a wood or hybrid in the area, it really wasn’t too penalizing unless your ball landed in a “love bush.” Even with the challenges Pinehurst #2 was enjoyable to play. One of the things that surprised me was how peaceful and relax I felt walking Pinehurst #2.
Pinehurst #4– I expected to really like this course given the reviews but it was my least favorite of the four I played. It was very pretty, hillier than Pinehurst #2 (but nothing like the elevation changes at my local course in the foothills of South Carolina). We did not walk the course because it was noon and a bit warmer; but in the crisp fall mornings, I think it would be an easy walk.
The defense of the course in my opinion was the length (especially on the Par 4 holes) and the sand and grass in the waste areas. After playing #2 and #4, we decided it was much harder to advance your ball out of the waste areas on Pinehurst #4 because the sand was sort of soft and fluffy and the grass was more spread out. Comparatively, the sand in the waste areas at Pinehurst #2 was hard packed. But it really was the distance on some very long par 4 holes on #4 that seemed almost unfair; even my caddie would say to me you can’t get on this par 4 in two (and I was hitting my drives great that day for me at 170-180 yards and my 3 wood 130-140 yards but not reaching a par 4 at 340 or 356 yards). On the bright side, the Par 3s distances were reasonable ranging 90 to 135; but again for any short hitter they would be looking at a hybrid or wood to get on in regulation on the longer par 3s.
Pinehurst #8 – This is a great course for women (and men). It is rated the same as Pinehurst #4 with a slope of 124 but the individual holes have yardages tee to green that are much more manageable because there is a chance you can reach many holes in regulation. It feels a bit more like a course many golfers are use to playing with traditional fairway and green-side bunkers. Yes, there are waste areas but not on every hole or as exceedingly large as the waste areas on #4 and #2. The real challenges at #8 are the really fast greens. The greens were significantly faster than #2 or #4. The reason is that the greens are “new” – all the turf was replaced 18 months ago. I mentioned the fast greens at Pinehurst #8 to our caddie at Pinehurst #2 and he agreed with my assessment. The caddie even told me Pinehurst caddies have a hard time reading the “immature greens at #8.” So my guess is when the greens are “mature,” Pinehurst #8 will be a really fun scoring course.
Tobacco Road Golf Course – This course is in Sanford, NC and is about a half hour drive from the Pinehurst Resort. This course should be on your golf itinerary when you go to the sand hills of North Carolina. It is the most visually stunning of all the courses we played with pristine fairways and huge mounts shaping the terrain; as well as exceedingly large waste areas and every hole was protected by bunkers (some very deep). There were many blind shots and you had to ring a bell on five of the holes so the players behind you knew when it was clear to hit. Our playing partners (men hitting from “Disc” tees at 6,317 yards) described it as “playing on the moon” given they were often hitting over the vast waste areas or playing from them. Often times you would ride your golf cart into the waste area/bunker areas to walk up to the greens.
If your game is not in good shape (e.g., you cannot control your direction or you are not a good sand player) you will probably have a hard time at Tobacco Road. Some call the course quirky, I just call it “a blast” to play.
My Game Overall – So you may be wondering how I did based on the opinions above. I will share with you that I really prepared (practicing every part of my game, taking lessons, etc.) the weeks before this trip. My lowest score was at Tobacco Road with a 86 (with eight pars, six one-putts) which was one stroke better than my target score; but I played well all week and basically played within four strokes of my target scores for each Pinehurst course which means (according to USGA guidelines of four strokes within your target score) I played to my ability – see the chart below – courses are in order of play.
If I look at my pars, bogies, etc. by course (which is a stat in GHIN if you post hole-by-hole with stats), I’m really happy with the results for the four rounds (72 holes) resulting in 65% Bogies or Better (Pars 22% and Bogies 43%).
So, I was really hitting it well and I’m very happy with my scores. Perhaps my biggest take away about my play was that I could say I gave too much respect to the greens because I left so many putts on the edge of the cup. As an optimist I would say that it was great lag putting! LOL
At Pinehurst #4, the first day I had four par putts and one birdie putt that rolled to the edge of the hole. At Tobacco Road I did a much better job with speed with six one-putts but still left some putts on the edge of the cup. This continued with every round. At #8, I had a chance at birdie putts on every Par 3 and the first ones were short and the final one I got to the hole and lipped out. Even on Pinehurst #2 I had a chance to par Hole 1 and I left the putt short. I just think all the folks telling me that the greens were fast and get ready to three and four putt (or get “Donald Rossed” which means you are on the green putting and your putt roles off the green) got in my head and I just never putted with freedom. I did have some three putts but not as many as I anticipated; so perhaps leaving putts short at Pinehurst was not such a bad “miss.”
Thanks for reading my blog and if you want to see more pictures (photo gallery at the end of each post) and more details on playing each course click on the links for each course: Pinehurst #2, Pinehurst #4, Pinehurst #8 and Tobacco Road. If you do go to the detail course blogs please know that I wrote them to document my play (for myself) — so you have been warned that it might bore you to death reading those posts but at least you can quickly scroll and enjoy the photos.
If you are looking for tips on planning a trip to Pinehurst Resort, see my blog post titled “Pinehurst Non-golf Tips.”
A few photos of some Pinehurst SWAG
The image of “bucket list sign” and yardage books earlier in this blog post were purchased and I also bought a zip sweater, ball markers, a cap. The ball marker from Tobacco Road is cool. Believe it or not, I actually controlled my spending (purchased much less than I did at Pebble Beach – ha,ha).
Also, each course at Pinehurst had tees (# on top of tee, different stripes on sides) and plastic ball markers for golfers to take at the 1st hole. Unfortunately at #2 there were no plastic ball markers.
The reason most golfers go to Pinehurst Resort is to play the famous course, Pinehurst #2 – home to so many USGA championships including the back-to-back US Open and US Women’s Open in 2014. Pinehurst #2 will also host the 2024 US Open.
I was excited to play but had mixed feelings because of the comments golfers made to me prior to my trip – “Get ready to get beat up,” “You will three and four putt many greens (because a good putt will roll off the green),” and my favorite comment when I said I was going to Pinehurst – “Great, just don’t play #2.” Of course, all these comments paid off because it made me really work on my game all summer to be ready for the challenge. And I am really glad I worked incredibly hard because I really enjoyed myself all week.
I only had one par on Pinehurst #2 at Hole 13, (Par 4, 278 yard) and almost parred Hole 1 (Par 4, 340 yards). I really should have parred it but I left an eight foot putt on the lip of the cup (the theme of my game at Pinehurst). I was also thrilled I had a string of one-putts on consecutive holes (10, 11, and 13) and I’m proud to report only two three-putts.
Below are the yardage book images for Hole 13 and Hole 1.
We teed off at 8:10 am and it was cold but we were walking so we warmed up quickly. We had a caddie, Chris and he was excellent. A good caddie makes such a difference (the caddie we had on #4 did not enhance the experience while Chris really added to the round on #2).
I will say one of my favorite things was walking the course. It was very pretty, an easy walk (because it is fairly flat, with only a few elevations at the greens). I just felt very relaxed (which probably help my game). The biggest challenge was the length – I basically felt like I was hitting my drive and three wood on every hole (unlike #8 where I used a variety of clubs in my bag). It kind of became a joke with Chris on Par 4s – what club? let me guess, a 3-wood.
The funniest thing on the course was the squirrel (very aggressive little guy) – he went right for our golf bags while we were waiting to tee off on the 15th hole. Chris said he has actually seen squirrels rip open a golf bag. I gave Chris a cracker and the squirrel actually “begged” so Chris gave the squirrel a piece of his cracker. Click on an image in the gallery to enlarge the photos.
As the second group off we were playing fast (which was refreshing since our other rounds were all more than five hours long). But Chris told us at the turn it would slow down because they were sending groups off the 10th hole. So sure enough we waited on many holes on the back nine. I took a video at “the turn” you can watch which begins with a view of the 11th hole then I pan to the “halfway house” then to hole 9, then you see Chris and Donna, and then hole 10.
The only time I got frustrated was on the 18th hole. I hit a beautiful drive and a perfect 3-wood. On my approach shot Chris told me to carry it 120 yards. I said “are you sure? It doesn’t look that far?” He replied “yes” I hit my 120 club perfectly OVER the green, onto the cart path between the hole and the veranda of “The Deuce” bar and grill. So I went from a possible par to a bogey on my last hole at Pinehurst. I was very disappointed in the moment but as we all say, “That’s golf!”
Final thoughts on my game at Pinehurst #2 – I walked away thrilled that I enjoyed my experience playing Pinehurst #2. Total Score was a 99 with 53 on the front nine and 46 on the back nine (a respectable score considering a slope of 133). I was happy to make at least one par and very proud to have only had two three-putts. I had a string of double bogies (holes 2-5) but Chris our caddie said the first six holes at Pinehurst #2 play the hardest so that neutralized any feelings of “I should have played those holes better.” Overall, I loved playing the challenge of Pinehurst #2 and relieved I avoided the prediction of getting “beat up.”
More Photos from our lovely walk playing Pinehurst #2
Pinehurst #8 is considered “off property” at the resort but it is only a short 12 minute drive to the course. If I were to go back to Pinehurst this would be a course I would definitely add to my golf itinerary. It’s a very enjoyable track because although the total yardage is 5153 (only 107 yards shorter than #4) the yardages for the individual holes provide more opportunities to get on greens in regulation.
We were the third group off at 8:20 in the morning and it was 43 degrees! We were paired with a father and daughter from the New York/Pennsylvania area. Now we started on Hole 10 and my starting holes were giving me fits because I was not feeling my game which was frustrating because I was striking the ball so well the first two days at Pinehurst #4 and Tobacco Road. It also didn’t help that we were already waiting on every hole and the gentleman in our group was complaining about the wait incessantly. Plus, when play is slow, I have a tendency to rush when I do finally get over my ball (something I am aware of and trying to correct). I was worried this was just going to be one of those days that I didn’t have my game.
My first hole,10th hole (Par 4), I tripled even though I had a putt at par (UGH). Hit my drive right, my approach shot went right into the green-side bunker, got out of the bunker and stood over a putt for par; and what did I do? I three putted. That was when I realized the greens were way faster than Pinehurst #4 or tobacco Road. Hole 11 (Par 5) I got on in regulation but 30 feet from the hole and again had three putts. The Hole 12, three putts again. When discussing #8 with the caddie at #2 (the next day) he said with the new turf the greens at #8 are really hard to read and lightening fast.
Finally I just told myself to slow everything down and on the par 3 13th hole (my fourth hole), I settled down a bit and made a regulation par. However, it really wasn’t until we made the turn that I finally felt like my body was loose and moving better. I’ll use the excuse it was 43 degrees when we teed off and I just wasn’t ready to play in cold weather. Thankfully on the back nine I began to play well.
The course reminded me of many of the courses I play in the foothills of South Carolina. You had to pay attention to the direction of the slope on the fairways, the greens had some interesting undulations but only one green (on hole 9) stood out as “crazy” because of the huge hump at the front of the green kicking the balls in different directions. There were not as many waste areas (only seven holes had waste areas compared to every hole on #4 and #2 with waste areas). If you missed the fairways you were more likely to be in the pine trees w/pine straw to hit off. I hit 11 of 13 fairways. I had one shot out of the trees that went well but I remember telling myself I don’t want to be in the trees again.
The most memorable holes for me on Pinehurst #8 were the par threes. I had a chance to birdie three of the four par 3s. Now, I will say that on the first two attempts the gentleman we were paired with would say to me (right before putting), “this is for a birdie” or “lets see that birdie.” This is my biggest pet peeve with other players — I hate it because I’m trying to focus on my putting process not what the putt means to my score. I missed both birdie putts short on those first two attempts. After the second miss, I nicely ask the gentleman not to tell me if I’m putting for a birdie. The third birdie putt attempt, he kept his mouth shut but it was a 15 foot putt so the percentage of making it was not high; however, I gave it my best try and it made it to the hole and lipped out. I really wanted that last birdie but at least I had another par.
Hole 2 was the other memorable hole because it was a par 5 and I made a one putt for the par. Below are images from the yardage book of two (out of four) of the holes I parred – Hole 2 (Par 5) and Hole 13 (longest Par 3).
We thought the pace of play would be great given we were out in the third group but we waited on every hole. The ranger came by and told us the first group out at 8 am was holding up the whole course. We wondered why the ranger could not get the first group moving? My guess is that the first group was either struggling or they “paid” their money and they were going to take as much time as then wanted to on the course.
The other thing that was surprising was that the golf carts did not have GPS and so I was very glad I had my range finder. I was giving everyone yardages in our group. And, I love yardage books as souvenirs so I just happened to have purchased books for #2, #4, and #8 the day before at the main Pro Shop. Fortunately, I decided to put the Pinehurst #8 book in my golf bag that morning.
Final thoughts on my gameat Pinehurst #8 – Overall I recovered from the poor start in the morning. Shooting a 51 on the back nine (our first holes) to rebounding with a 44 on the front nine (our second nine holes) for a total score of 95 made me happy. A score of 95 was four over my target score of 91 (or Par 72 plus my course handicap of 19). I was also happy to have four pars for the round.
Photo Gallery of Images from the Course – I posted photos on other social media sites but want to share them here too. Click on an image in the gallery to enlarge images.
Entrance to Pinehurst #8Pinehurst #8 Driving RangeLooking back on Hole 9 from the greenHole 18 – beautiful finishing hole over the water up hill
Tobacco Road was not on our original itinerary but a good friend of Donna’s recommended we play and I am so thankful she did because I had so much fun at Tobacco Road. When you pull into the course it is not fancy, the club house feels like a cabin with all the natural wood and it houses the pro shop and grill. It’s not “upscale” like Pinehurst so the price to play may surprise some golfers but it is worth it once you are on the course. It is just visually stunning in every direction on every hole. I had a blast playing it because at 4269 yards (from the forward tees, “Cultivator”) it is a fair test of golf. In other words with good play you can get on greens in regulation. And the fairways are much bigger than they appear from the tee boxes. I believe it has been stated that the course has over seven acres of sand.
Tobacco Road Scorecard
We played with two very nice guys. They were long hitters but even they did not play from the “tips” at over 6500 yards. They played the “Disc” Tees at 6317 yards. The “Cultivator” tees were just under 4300. The first tee shot from the Cultivator tees was intimidating because the next narrowing of the fairway had to be considered. I hit a perfect drive right at the throat of the narrowing and had a straight shot into the opening to the next section of fairway (see images below). I was on in regulation (Par 5 so three shots). The birdie putt was over 20 feet and the odds of making a one-putt were fairly low but I tried and then had about 7 feet for par and left it on the edge of the cup (a theme I repeat all week). So I had one of my four three-putts that day to miss my par on the opening hole. I will chalk it up to first hole excitement.
First Hole (Tips)First Hole (Forward Tees)First Hole (Approach Shot)
I love to collect yardage books as souvenirs and when I asked for one, the Pro Shop attendant said flippantly, “We only have player books” (it was too early in the morning to make a comment and put the young man on notice that women are “players” LOL). I purchased the “player book” and it came in very handy; especially with many blind shots off tees and into the greens — the book had a full page of the hole and a full page of just the greens with tons of data.
Hole 1 Yardage Player Book (Red circle lading area of my drive before the narrow to the next part of the fairway)Player Yardage Book (Hole 1 Green)
If you read my other posts about my Pinehurst trip you know I played well and had my best score at Tobacco Road; but I also had some crazy bounces and shots on the course. First was the long drive I hit on hole 10 that almost ran off the fairway into a massive and deep waste area. Standing over the ball to hit my approach shot was a bit unnerving because over the ball all I saw was the edge of the waste area (which dropped off at least 10 feet). My friend called it my “Jordan Speith hole (search Speith and Pebble Beach if you don’t get the reference). Below are the photos of the ball on the edge and a diagram from the yardage book showing where it came to rest. I am happy to report I did par this hole.
Hole 10 – On Edge Close-upHole 10 Yardage Book (red circle ball landing area)Hole 10 (non-zoom view of approach shot)
Hole 13 is elevated and almost a bowl since you have to hit over large bunkers and hills (unless you have a good angle into the narrow opening to the green (image below). It was memorable because I, unfortunately landed in the left green-side “bunker” guarding the front. Photos below are of the approach to hole 13 and me walking onto the green.
Hole 13 Ball in Fairway (shot into bunker on left)Walking on to the 13th Green
Hole 9 was long and the green was elevated. I wish I had taken a photo of the stairs but the photo below gives a good sense of the elevation. Of course, I thought Hole 9 was very cool (e.g., the flag pole was the longest I’ve seen, the steep stairs in the waste area to reach the green) and it didn’t hurt my opinion that I parred it to finish up the front nine with a score of 44.
9th Hole from Tee Boxes9th Hole View from Approach Shot
My other crazy moments – I hit two sprinkler heads. The first one was off a great drive and the ball bounced at least 60 feet straight up in the air which was lucky because it stayed in the fairway. The second sprinkler head was on the Par 3 17th. The flag was at the front of the green (maybe 4 feet on) and so I know I had to land it in the fringe, between the sand and the flag. My ball was heading right at the pin and one of the guys said “this looks great” and it hit the fringe and bounced backwards in the sand. When we went up to the hole, his ball was sitting on the fringe a foot right of the sprinkler head and my ball was directly inline with the sprinkler (and flag, by the way) flag in the sand. And about only 6 inches from the edge of the rough so now I was short-sided for my sand shot. The weird bounce was, of course, funny after I parred the hole.
The other weird bounce was on the 14th Par 3 over the lake. I hit a short iron great (again, I heard one of the guys say “it’s heading right at the flag”) but when it landed on the green just a foot right of the flag it bounced sideways into the right fringe. Again, I felt “robbed” but made my par, laughed about it and moved on. Maybe the guys saying my hits were good (while in flight) was a curse on those holes. LOL Below are two sets of images (1) 14th hole yardage book and photo and (2) 17th hole yardage book image and photo.
Hole 14: * Flag Location, Red line where ball came to rest14th Hole Lake and Cabin Hole 17 Par 3 (Standing on Cart Path)Hole 17: * flag location and red line ball where ball came to rest
As I mentioned earlier there were a lot of blind shots and on holes 1, 7, 13, 15, and 18 you were to ring a bell to let the group behind know it was clear to hit. The group in front of us seemed to not grasp this concept. Anyway, when we came to 18, it was the scariest ending hole I’ve seen – a huge waste area up to an elevated fairway. At first we could not see the Cultivator tees any where so we drove through the waste area and up the hill to find the tees on on the left beyond the trees (what a relief). Of course we could see the group in front and were able to waive our playing partners up (since the group did not ring the bell). They both hit great drives (280+ yards) clearing the waste area onto the fairway. As the guys said, “It is visually intimidating (again, a blind tee shot) but actually its only a 197 yard carry to clear the waste area from the Disc tee box onto a fairly wide fairway.”
So I think the key to the course is to know that many shots are visually intimidating but actually if you hit where the course designer is “guiding you” then it really isn’t as hard as it appears.
View of 18th Hole (Website Photo from the Tips). Actually there was a lot more sand (no real grass) in the waste area than this photo depicts.
It is worth mentioning the golf course designer was Mike Strantz, who was viewed as a maverick in his time because he was an artist “who looked at courses as a picture.” He was in his prime when other course designers were creating courses where distance was the only defense of the course. Unfortunately, he died of cancer at the age of 50 in 2005. He only designed seven courses but they include Caledonia and True Blue (two courses on Pawley’s Island, SC that are considered “must play” by most golfers). Many course designers believe he was a visionary when you consider course design work today, like Bandon Dunes, by Coore & Crenshaw.
Final thoughts on my game at Tobacco Road – I came to Tobacco Road with confidence in my game after playing well at Pinehurst #4 and could not be more pleased with a score of 86, with eight pars, and six one-putt. Even the four three-putts didn’t destroy my mood because the putts were from distances (over 30 feet) that statistically, if you two-putt that’s a win; and most of the three putts were tap-ins within inches of the hole.
Photo Gallery of Tobacco Road – There were so many memorable views and I didn’t take enough photos. Click on an image in the gallery to enlarge photos.
SandMore SandAnd More Sand4th Hole Sign4th Hole Tee Box View4th Hole Fairway 5th Hole SignCart Path – 5th hole5th Hole Fairway8th Hole view from Tee Marker8th Hole – Stairs9th HoleOn the 17th Tee Box (to the right) you can see the Tee Marker – Cultivator (tool that churns the soil)
There is nothing better than meeting friends for a long weekend of golf. As I drove up Route 23 west, to meet my friends in the Catskills, it was raining and I wondered what the weather would hold for us over the next three days. Later that night a beautiful rainbow illuminated the mountain.
I saw the rainbow as a good sign because the first course we were playing was the Rainbow Golf Club in Greenville, New York. The other courses we played were Colonial Country Club in Tannerville, New York and Windham Country Club in Windham New York. One thing is for sure, the golf courses in the Catskills provide beautiful views of the spectacular mountain landscape.
My friends, who are great planners, emailed me a list of golf courses before our trip. I was the one that suggested we play the Rainbow Golf Club because the website had a photo of a beautiful island green. Well, it did have an island green but it certainly was not like the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. The Rainbow Club island green looked beautiful on the website but in reality the water surrounding the hole was cloudy and full of algae (or some green vegetation). Even though the hole was visually disappointing it was still an island green. I am happy to report we all made it over the water. Overall, the Rainbow course was fun and very reasonable in price ($35 w/cart). However, if I rank the courses we played, for me, I would put Rainbow in third place.
Colonial was a 9-hole course. As my friend described it, the course had “lots of moguls” (which seems fitting given the Catskills is famous for ski resorts.) My favorite hole was the 6th, par 3, 134 yards. It was just a fun hole because it was an elevated tee (and I love elevated tees). We played the hole around six p.m. so it was very beautiful in the gloaming. I would rank Colonial second because of the beautiful views. I really didn’t mind the uneven lies in the fairway (probably because I wasn’t playing that well anyway so I wasn’t concerned about my score.)
6th Hole, Par 3, Colonial
The Windham Golf Club was the final course of the weekend. The course was a short drive from the Albergo Allegria Bed and Breakfast were we stayed for the weekend. If you go to the Catskills, I highly recommend you stay in Windham.
It was a beautiful day for golf and it was very exciting when we were told the owner of the course recently spend 2 million on improvements. It was a great course for women because if you were striking the ball well you could reach the greens in regulation. That is not always true with a lot of modern courses which can be very long for women. There was only one hole that was strangely long. The 8th hole was a 163 yard par 3 and given that the average women hits her driver in the air 150 yards, it seemed unfair to most women.
The big negative for the Windham was that the course had no signs. Yes, no signs. A well marked course is important to the enjoyment of the game from many reasons, including keeping players moving along because they know where to go and what yardage to play. And with a course, like Windham, that is in a tourist town it seemed very odd for the course not to have signs. The young man in the Pro shop said the signs were coming but a groundsmen on a tractor told us the “owner doesn’t like the look of signs so he doubts there will ever be signs installed.” We managed to get around fairly well. Also, I guess we were just lucky that various grounds crew were working near by when we had a question on a hole location. The course was in great condition but they really do need to add signs to the holes.
My biggest pet peeve is slow play. My friends and I may be women but we play fast. At the Windham course we were to tee off before a foursome of men but the scorecards they gave us did not have ladies yardage so one of my friends had to go back to the pro shop (it was the first time I have ever seen a separate scorecard for women).
To make a long story short the men went off the first tee while my friend got scorecards. We did not mind because they said they played the course all the time. We thought “great, we can follow them since the course has no signs.” By the third hole were we so frustrated because the group in front was painfully slow. We were hitting to within 100 yards of the green and just watching them. By the fourth hole they asked if we want to play through because “we were only three players.” We gratefully accepted. I am so glad we played through. By the 12th hole, they were two holes behind us. We were enjoying our lunch in the pub room when we saw the group behind us on the 18th green (40 minutes after we finished our round.) The folks behind them must have been going crazy. If we were behind them the whole time, I might have actually stopped playing and asked for my money back at the pro shop. Here are my questions. Where was the ranger? Why were they allowed to fall so far behind our group? Yes, we played fast but still the group should have not fallen so far behind us. They were certainly playing much longer than what is acceptable for each hole. Anyway, I am thankful we played fast and enjoyed the final round of our golf weekend.
The courses we played would not be considered high-end. All were priced reasonably. The only time I felt the price of something was too high was Mulligan’s Pub at the Windham country club. A burger was $12 (other burgers were $14 and some entrees went as high as $23.99) and they did not provide free refills on soda or ice tea. My guess, the owner has to recoup the $2 million in improvements somewhere. The food was good but skip the pub and go in town for lunch.
Even with “no signs” and an expensive food, I would rank the Windham course as the top course we played. It gets the top spot because of the fairness of the course for women, the great condition of the course, and the beautiful mountain views. However, if I had been behind the slow group for 18 holes, it might have been the down fall of the course. I hope they add signs and rangers to make sure pace of play does not impact the experience of golfers visiting Windham Country Club.
Perhaps there were other courses in the area that might be more high-end but high-end does not equate to fun. Playing with your best friends on a beautiful day on a course that is challenging but fair is what makes golf fun!
Next stop, North Carolina. Come back to my blog at the end of June to find out where I played!
Golf Expectations 