I played this course twice in the last three days. Both times disappointing from a pace-of-play and staff friendliness standpoint.
I played with my brother on Thursday, August 8, 2019. We had a 2:33 tee time. We showed up at about 1:35 hoping to get some range time in. They told us to tee off immediately or we would be blocked on the turn by leagues who "held the box" at 4:00 p.m. No one had told us this when booking the tee time. After that, we were treated with a 5 hour round.
Today I played with my wife and son. 3:00 p.m. tee time. When we showed up the folks in the Pro Shop seemed surprised and irritated that people might be expecting to play golf. There was no one present initially, and when finally the lady came over from the bar it was a joke. She had no idea what was going on. Another guy came over, and I politely asked "Are there any pencils?" (since none were present) and at one point also politely asked "Can we get our cart keys?" Again, he was quite irritated that someone who had booked a tee time and been waiting in the Pro Shop for at least 10 minutes might be asking these questions. He said something like "OK, OK, settle down. Everybody wants pencils, cart keys, etc." Geez.
Then we had another 5 hour round (or I should say we skipped the final hole to avoid a 5 hour round).
I use the word "hack" in the title, and as an 18 handicap, I'm pretty much also a hack. But my wife, son and I will EASILY play under 4 hours if no one is in front of us. Brooks Koepka is right: Slow pace is killing the game.
If you're looking to get drunk, and play in a league or an outing, Marengo Ridge is for you. If you just want to play golf, go somewhere else.
And it's too bad.. the course is is really nice shape, and it's an interesting layout. read more