Just played a round here,
coursedesignHQ - Pin 3, blue tees, default conditions.
Right off the bat, having 127 speed greens is a bit on the slow end. And on Hole 1, I already saw some yellow within the 9-box grid surrounding the cup. This means that green speeds probably wouldn't be able to be turned up at all for use on tour play, so only the default and below would be possible. That's OK, but when the default is 127, there are not many speeds below that (only "Slow" or "Very Slow" could be used). This would really limit the flexibility for altering course conditions across a 4-round event.
Hole 3 is a 556-yard par-4...wow! Even though it's downhill 100 feet tee to green, this is still a monster hole. I hit a good drive, but the fairway slopes and serpentine shape moved the ball into the rough. So now I am 205 yards away from the green, even after a 356 yard drive, and have a 62-71% lie in heavy rough. This hole is brutally tough if you can't find the short grass off the tee. The pin location on this hole is also a bit cruel...6 feet away in basically any direction are red slopes, and there's no way to roll a long approach up to the cup. This one feels a bit too penal, and probably should be a par-5.
Hole 4 has another pin location sandwiched between yellow slopes above and red slopes below it. More doable, since this hole is just over 400 yards.
Hole 5 pin has more yellow in the 9-box at 127 speeds. That said, I really like the look of this hole.
Hole 6 is another par-4 that's over 500 yards long. Another narrow landing zone and even with a good drive, I'm in the rough again, 185 yards away, 26 feet below the pin, and with a lie of 76-84%. A 5-iron came up 26 yards short of the hole.
Hole 9 is a 3-shot par-5, but it's kind of straight forward with not a lot of considerations or options for the player. Just hit driver, hit 3-wood, pitch, and putt for birdie.
Hole 10 is the 3rd 500-plus-yard par-4 on the property to this point. I think I like this one better than the previous two, but having these many long par-4s might be a bit much.
Hole 13 is a huge par-5 at 591 yards in length. It honestly feels like a repeat of Hole 9...the look and layout feels almost identical, from what I could recall. This one was reachable in two, however, since it was downhill.
Really nice drivable par-4 Hole 15. This is my favorite hole on the course.
Hole 16 has super blinding light off the tee. I can't see anything beyond the fairway bunker. Extremely narrow landing zone. It's a par-5, but is actually shorter (547) than the par-4 Hole 3 (556)...
Hole 18 is another 500-yard par-4, this one coming in at 517 yards long. I still had 190 into the green on my second, which was an all-or-nothing approach over water. I feel like this could have been a cool risk/reward "heroic" par-5 to finish if some length were added, instead of a demanding "penal" long par-4 as it is.
Environment: you've really nailed the look you're going for. I like the clean textures, white sand bunkers, and planting. I do think the lighting is too harsh in spots, with some areas where the sun is blinding, where others are in total shadow and totally dark.
Technical: again, you did well here. Sculpting seems pretty solid, and transitions are nicely done. Green slopes are OK, but there are some that are leaning slightly to the "protect par" side of things, where even a small miss is sent miles away - if not completely off the green. This is also an issue since the greens are set to such slow default green speeds. If you go anywhere above the 127 default speed, these aggressive undulations will become even more bold and make the greens essentially unplayable.
Strategy/hole design: I think some work may be needed here, in terms of varying up your strategy and design. Many holes felt very similar. The par-5s were all basically the same, and having 4 par-4s over 500 yards long seemed a way just to make the course "harder". You also kind of leaned on the "pinched landing zone/serpentine" fairway layout a bit too much in my opinion. I like to see players given options to try to use the proper angle. Here, you were forced to play target golf a lot.
Overall: this is a very nice course with lots to like about it. It did feel a bit like the 'same old same' the further along the round went. Some variation in hole designs would go a long way to make the course more interesting. Green slopes could also use a bit more attention as the speed the greens are set at - in combination with the red slopes there at default - mean these greens will not be able to be adjusted very much.
Great work, and I look forward to your next one!