Okay let’s do this! Just finished my round in some fairly brutal wind - back tees, pin 4 for reference. I shot level par, after a pretty horrific start to the day (+4 after 4 holes) but finished strong. I will admit my notes went to pot a little as I battled to get back to par, a very engrossing battle it was too.
Firstly, I loved the sight lines you created off the tees. The kind of “chutes” hitting between and over trees was a very picturesque look, and I think you nailed exactly what you were going for with that part of the course. Also something that hit me right from the start of the round was the green fringe all the way around the fairway - very interesting take on things but it kind of worked for me. I particularly liked where you used it to make runoff areas around the greens, but luckily I didn’t find any of them to see how they played. However, I didn’t like how the green grid highlights the fringe all the way around the fairway - not exactly your fault but not something I loved about the course. Maybe it would have been better if you stuck to just using the fringe for the runoff areas around the green?
In terms of routing, a pretty standard par 72 layout with 4 par threes and 4 par fives, but long from the tips. 7500 yards, with a nearly 4K back nine! And that too with a 72 yard hole! I actually felt that the 6th was too short as a golf hole. Hitting a pitch with lob wedge off the tee felt gimmicky to me - maybe it would have worked in real life but it felt at odds with the rest of the course, especially considering the length of most of the other holes.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a duo of 650 yard par 5s felt a little too much. Stupidly I bogeyed 11 by laying up into the water, which should never have happened but that’s entirely my fault for playing poorly. 17 would probably be better as a chance to go for eagle lat in the round, but bring in the possibility of racking up a big number - also notable lacking a real drivable par 4, so I didn’t really feel like there was a great deal of risk/reward going on. With that in mind, I really liked the view off the tee on 17 - probably my favourite tee shot on the course. The waste bunker was very well done, winding down the side of the hole before cutting across - could really have been a heroic hazard if the hole was 80 yards shorter.
I’d have liked to see more of the waste bunker areas. I’m pretty sure that was the only one on the course, and you introduced it very late in the round. This puts it slightly at odds with the rest of the layout, making it feel slightly out of place. I will say, however, that you did a very good job of integrating it nicely into the style you were going for, very picturesque. And again, my favourite tee shot on the course, so I’d have liked to see more for consistency’s sake but also visual appeal.
In terms of visuals, I think you did an outstanding job with some of the little touches. I noticed a little grass archway - sort of wedding lawn style - in front of the 3rd tee. That was a lovely touch, again very picturesque landscape sort of vibes. Maybe you could have shown this off a little more; I only noticed it out of the corner of my eye as I was zooming to my landing zone, and stopped to check it out. I’m not sure how visible it is from the other tees, but it’s basically hidden from the tips. In other places, you could have done with a little more variety in your landing. Rotate and scale, even slightly, the bushes and grasses, to get a more natural look. Even manicured hedges have some variety to them. One good trick is to scale the bush up and sink it a little more than the one next to it, just to add visual variety to things while maintaining the same height along the hedge, and also add in some rotation to break up the repetitive look.
I LOVED the view back across the course when I was putting out on the 3rd green. It’s unfortunate that not everyone will see that, depending on what side of the green they’re putting from. It’s definitely something to consider when routing your course - try to show off all of your best views on shots you KNOW people will have to play - tee shots and approaches!
I also question whether five tees were necessary. At least half of the holes only have four or even three tee boxes, and playing from the red tees makes 8 a 350 yard par 5!
All in all, a very nice course. I really liked the visual style you used, and with just a touch more polish it would really pop. The course itself was a fun little challenge, I know I could go much lower than level par, but I didn’t, and you didn’t rely on any tricky gimmicks to make that challenge, which is a very good sign. Nice job, and thanks for the recommendation to play, I really enjoyed it!