Just played a round here
hilgersmj - Pin 2, black tees, default conditions except for high N winds.
Just a bit of housekeeping...since this is still a beta, you should probably have posted this in the Under Construction forum:
tgctours.proboards.com/board/10/constructionHole 1: nice look here down the fairway. Planting of the trees/bushes along the hole seems maybe a bit too large...the buried trees seem a bit out of scale. But otherwise, a nice opening hole.
Hole 2: another nice look off the tee. The hole itself is OK, but there's minimal strategy here. It's a par-5 where you just hit driver, hit 3-wood, and make a birdie or better.
Hole 3: back to back par-5s...not an issue, but interesting none the less. I'd chop down that tree that straight in the line of play. Also, I'd move your waypoint, as I was defaulted to a 3-wood here on a 664-yard hole. And again, there's not a lot of strategy here.
Hole 4: personally, I think the fairway here is too tight, especially since you're asking the player to hit a shaped shot off the tee. And there's no real option to hit a safer 3-wood or less off the tee here, either.
Hole 5: this green feels way too large for a 158-yar par-3. Also, the greens are kind of repeating a bit...they have two tiers with a bold ridge separating them, and then are pretty flat otherwise - except for a stark false front.
Hole 6: same deal with the greens...this one's also two-tiered with a massive false front and very little in the way of internal sloping. It's also a drivable-4 with no real danger and a very large green, so there's no reason to not go for it.
Hole 7: totally blind second shot on the par-5 here...and there's a tree straight in the line I have to play as there's no real layup area at all either. Even so, the par-5s to this point have been basically auto-birdies, since there's no danger or strategy other than get the ball up near the hole.
Hole 8: another two-tiered green...I'd maybe like to see more of the ocean/coastline here when standing on the tee. Unless you use scout cam, you don't know you're near the beach.
Hole 9: this green has a bit more interest to it. The rest of the hole feels too narrow again, as there's no real risk/reward play off the tee. Even 3-wood is dangerous to play, as the fairway is so tight. Thankfully, it's just light rough around the fairway, so it's not as punishing.
Hole 10: this hole's view and setting is really wonderful! However...the green reminds me of the one used on Hole 5 - it's too big for a short par-3 and has the same two-tier design again.
Hole 11: another drivable-4, and again it has no danger off the tee, and also has a green that's the same as most of the others.
Hole 12: a large lake comes into play here off the tee, but there's no view of it at all from the tee box. Also, I think the "correct" play off the tee here is down toward the Hole 6 fairway on the left. It takes water totally out of play, gives you a better angle at the green, and the rough over there is all light stuff, so even if you're not on the fairway, you have a good lie. I was easily on in two going this way - just a thing to remember/think of when routing your course...look for shortcuts that people can take. Even raising trees up a bit higher there would prevent people from doing what I did.
Hole 13: a solid short-ish par-4. The area around this pin is flat as a table, though.
Hole 14: this par-3 is also a really good looking one! I would maybe say, to make it look even better, remove just a bit of the plating on the right and open up the view more to the ocean again. But otherwise, this is my favorite hole on the course so far.
Hole 15: fairway is pretty narrow here again, but I do like that 3-wood is a safer play than hitting driver - gives the player options. I would personally remove that tree at the corner of the dogleg, though. I know why it's there, but I don't care for putting people in the position of hitting a fairway, and then having to rope a massive hook or slice around a tree. And this green is again back to the two-tier format we've seen a lot of.
Hole 16: the par-3s have been very solid, and this is another decent one. Lots of interesting contours on this green. Very nice hole.
Hole 17: unfortunately, this one's kind of a miss for me. A 90-degree dogleg left, where the green is actually drivable, so the fairway is kind of pointless. Also, taking a crack at driving the green in one puts the ball in the flight path of the 13th tee box? A bit of strange routing here. I was easily on in one, and don't think I'd ever not go for it. Not to mention this may be the 3rd or 4th driveable-4 on the course? That's perhaps too many. This hole doesn't really work, sadly.
Hole 18: the par-5s need some strategic work to them. This one's a basically guaranteed 3-shot hole, but again it's hit driver, hit iron, hit wedge, putt for birdie. The green is again two-tiered and the pin location is flat as can be.
Overall - I know some of the above comments might sound negative, but truth be told...this course is quite solid. Lots of stuff to like. Environment is good, technical work and surfacing is fine. I am not a reviewer, but I'd be willing to say this one's solidly in the top-half of "Approved" courses...closer to Tour Worthy than not.
What holds this one back in my eyes would be the green complexes and internal green sloping. They're mostly all the same. A couple green with tiers are OK, but this course has like 75% of the greens with the same exact design.
Another area to work on would be hole strategy, especially on the par-5s. They are just straight-forward holes with little to think about as you play them. Some of the par-4s also were too narrow and gave players no options other than try to hit the sliver of fairway.
All in all, this is a very solid track that was fun to play and looks really nice. I don't think you're far off from that TW status, to be totally honest with you. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to more courses from you!