Tl;dr: Beautiful course, lovely people (mostly), and all the chaos + drama of an office potluck…read morewith less food poisoning. Get out early. Bring nuts for the squirrels.
**The Good, The Bad, and the OBs.**
The scenery here is genuinely beautiful - lush trees, lots of wildlife, and a peaceful nature soundtrack which is only interrupted by the percussive sound of my balls introducing themselves to the tree population. Not the course's fault. Sorry, trees.
The squirrels are so comfortable around humans they'll walk right up to you and demand payment for being on their turf. Bring snacks. Make a friend.
**Wild Wild West (Population: No Marshall)**
Here's where we get into it. There is no marshall, which means pace of play is entirely self-regulated - and some people are VERY generous with their own regulations. Unsanctioned tournaments materialize, sending groups of 5 and 6 out like they're boarding a cruise ship. Expect a 6-hour round if you tee off after 8am... that's just enough time to have an existential crisis about whether you even like golf.
Pro tip: get out before 8am and you'll have a perfectly lovely round. Sleep in, and you're in it for the long haul - pack a breakfast and lunch, call your family, write your will, say goodbye.
**Zen and the Art of the Three-Putt**
A special note to members who spend two full minutes on the green performing what I can only describe as a spiritually-guided wind-reading ceremony: next time, bring a weathervane. It'll save time. Also - spoiler - you still three-putted. The yoga pose didn't help. Neither did the seven practice swings. I watched. I had time.
**Cart Chronicles**
Most members own personal carts (storage on-site). Some members, though, believe "cart path only" is more of a creative suggestion than an actual rule, and you'll spot carts cruising through OB territory on the regular. What is even more infuriating: members who physically cannot walk the two feet from the cart path to the tee box and instead just... perch their carts on the tee box itself. The club needs somebody to remind these guys that they own legs.
**The Amenities Situation**
There is no cart girl, but the club compensates with free coolers stocked with ice for your cart - genuinely a nice touch. Food options are limited, but I maintain that no one goes to a golf course to eat a proper meal, so this is a non-issue.
The driving range is just an open expanse of field next to the parking lot. Do NOT park near it unless you enjoy filing creative insurance claims. Range balls frequently end up on the adjacent fairways because of the, uh, "inspired" placement of both the driving and chipping ranges.
Guest fees run about $80. A bit steep but golf ain't cheap. (I'm a literary poet, thank you.)
I cannot speak for the men's locker room, but the ladies' is outdated. There are plans to update it, so I'm not knocking any points off for that. Locker rooms at a golf course are a means to an end anyway: you go, you do your business, you leave. It's clean enough, there are sinks to wash your hands, and toilet paper is reliably stocked. The shower stall appears to be moonlighting as a storage closet - but until I want to wash off the stain of my handicap, I'll withhold further judgment.
**On Membership: A Cautionary Tale**
I wish they offered a trial membership. I really do enjoy my rounds here, but I might have thought twice about the buy-in if I'd known about the few (but very present) bad apples. To leave, I'd have to sell my membership to a willing buyer, so I am unfortunately a shareholder in the chaos.
That said: it's unlimited golf after monthly dues, so any gripes are just First World Problems. It's a golf-themed timeshare - but nobody's making you sit through a 90-minute presentation, and the squirrels are friendlier.
Most members I've actually interacted with are genuinely nice people. I'm not a very social person; I'm kind of shy, but one of the ladies invited me to join a standing tee time for the ladies golf group - which was a really sweet gesture and probably the most wholesome thing that's ever happened to me on a golf course.
Would I recommend it? Probably. Would I warn you first? Absolutely.
See you on the course.
