Streamsong Black

[jerebear21]

My take:

 

1. Red

2. Blue

3. Black

 

Fun course but nothing stands out to me. Every hole began to feel the same. Unlike the red which gets better and better. Blue has a very good front 9.

 

Black felt the same. The punch bowl green was over done. Too many 2-3-4 tiers green. Fun to play but not something that makes want to come back. Sorry Gil Hanse. This didn’t do it for me.

 

 

 

 

 

[jerebear21]

hole 17^ playing 178; smacked a 6i. As you can see there's undulations everywhere and this doesn't even show the full volume.

 

Imagine playing 18 holes of SUPER undulated lumps and bumps and bumps on tiers. That's how I felt about the black course. I've played a lot of golden architect golf courses but this is just stupid. The punch bowl green on 9 is supposed to funnel all the ball to the center. Instead there's 2-3 tiers of greens and then random bumps and lumps to it.

 

I mean there's a level of fun and I can imagine a best ball or scramble on this course but as far as it being a championship caliber course, I would think there's so many better examples. It wasn't hard to get to the green. Grinding on every green is absurd.

 

 

 

 

The finishing holes 17/18 were world class but I honestly didn't remember much before then. It felt like you can just hit your driver every hole and it won't go out of bounds. Then hit in the green and pray you get a lucky bounce because the sloping on the green is stupidly quirky. And every hole felt the same. Good par3 holes. Just not enough to make me want to go out of my way to play again. Honestly it's so wide open. Just hit middle of the fairway.

 

Red is still the king at this resort.

[Togatown22]

Thanks for the review! Anyone else play SS Black yet?

[golden543]

played the red course a while back, enjoyed it, seems to be better than the blue.

[oldpalchamp]

Thanks for the pictures. It photographs really well.

[mwmgolfx]

Can't agree with Op enough. Played it about three weeks ago and hated it. Red and Blue are fantastic courses well worth their rating. Bit overpriced but still exceptional. Black is just goofy. I would go back and play Red or Blue but NOT Black.

 

Many potential pin positions are just outright ridiculous. Almost impossible to get ball near hole in a few cases, especially on Back nine. I'm a very good chipper and putter and had at least one 4 putt and several 3 putts. And in a couple of cases couldn't chip ball close at all. even scratch players couldn't. Pin was on sloped top where only maybe two feet was level, it that.

 

Most of the greens are huge - as big if not bigger than Old MacDonald at Bandon Dunes. But the slopes on the greens and humps and bumps as mentioned before are beyond ridiculous.

 

And in some cases, course was unplayable if you were in a cart. Miles to walk from cart path area to actual fairway.

 

And like he said, huge fairways. One good thing (or not) is that the fairways were super super hard when i played them. i got fantastic roll beyond belief. several cases I got 70-90 yards of roll. On one 350 yard hole I had 75 yards left. Another about 90 yards. And i'm old and rarely drive it over 190 so these huge amounts of roll were sometimes pleasant surprises. Way more roll than other times that played the Red and Blue. But really couldn't miss fairway. just bomb it out there and watch it run. Then hit small iron to huge green and hope the ball hits the right slopes on the green to get close to the hole.

 

Probably will be rated by golf Digest and Golf week as exceptional course but really it's not.

[drmalaney]

I played the Black last Friday. I agree with your assessment. Red > Blue > Black. I played with good friends, so I enjoyed the overall experience. I understand that the only defense for the course is the greens, but man some of them seemed unfair. We didn’t have a caddy, i think having one might have helped a bit. I will play it again, but. It until the summer when the rates go down.

[jerebear21]

I honestly don't think having a caddy would matter for the black; unless you're a plus player, it's hard to even get on some of the tiers

 

the best score on the black so far is -3 under. And I think it included dustin Johnson playing it over this past weekend

[jerebear21]

we plan to do our annual streamsong boys get together again and the black would be the pick for our scramble. It's a fun course if you don't care about "scoring"

[short game]

we are headed down this weekend. Doing the 3 course tour. Red and Blue were great fun and very enjoyable (from my previous visit). Cant wait to try Black.

[Togatown22]

we are headed down this weekend. Doing the 3 course tour. Red and Blue were great fun and very enjoyable (from my previous visit). Cant wait to try Black.

 

Have fun! Very much looking forward to your review!

[short game]

Just got back and it was great. we had great weather and low wind. Ideal for golf.

 

Started out playing Blue on the first day. I love this course. Its under-rated imo. Generous driving areas. Fun holes. Then the course ends with some really tough holes that test your shot making ability.

 

Played Black the second day. I don't really know what to say except that everyone needs to go play it. Generous driving areas. Large greens that are very undulating and hard to hold shots. Interesting that the cut of the green extends well beyond the actual green. hard to explain. This baby played fast and firm. Thought the back 9 was very special.

 

Its worth spending one hole day at least playing black. Great warm up area plus the mini course and then the 18 hole putting course to settle any extra bets. a lot of fun.

 

 

Final day was Red. It just keeps getting better every time i play it. With 4 bruising par 4's this baby tests your golfing toughness. Number 16 had the pin at 225 against the wind - I hit driver. Missed a 6 footer for par!

 

Course conditions were fair good imo. The fairways on Blue/Red were a little fuzzy. I am assuming this was frost protection mode for upcoming cold weather. The greens were best on black and red. Blue had some greens with some uneven growth issues. But overall still ok.

 

Cant wait to go again!

[Togatown22]

^

Thanks for your review! So if you were travelling to Streamsong and could only play one course; which would you pick?

[short game]

thats like choosing between 3 beautiful girls for a date at the prom. but why go out with only one when all 3 want to get to know you?

[Togatown22]

Hahahaha; ok that's a fair analogy. But my group is going to be driving up for the day during an Orlando trip so we'll only have time to play one!

[JMO TO]

Hahahaha; ok that's a fair analogy. But my group is going to be driving up for the day during an Orlando trip so we'll only have time to play one!

I'd play the Red if it's your first time down there. That being said, after 4 trips down there, I prefer the Blue to the Red. Playing the Black on 12/21 for the 1st time.

[short game]

Cant go wrong with any of the courses.

 

Black is kind of a cool deal with the short course and the 18 hole putting course. Thats a nice day trip.

 

I too have gained more respect for Blue and like it more and more but Red is my overall fav right now. It tests you more off of the Tee.

[jerebear21]

The blue front 9 is one of the best front 9 in golf.

 

But over all, the balance of the red front 9 and AMAZING back 9 puts it over the edge; I think you always remember the last few holes the most and 16, 17, 18 on the red is just amazing.

 

The black hole 17 and 18 is WORLD CLASS.

 

There's still land left for a 4th and 5th course and it'll be interesting where streamsong is heading with the next architectures.

[TheWalkingGolfer]

Will be at Streamsong mid April and rethinking my apporach. Was planning Black and Red but maybe Red and Blue now.

 

I have heard if you go into black accepting the greens are ginormous and will have a lot of different chips and putts you will have fun but not sure after reading some early reviews.

[jerebear21]

i'd play all 3

 

this is our game plan since we do our annual boys trip at streamsong(I live 1 hour away so it's easier for me than flying to bandon or cabot)

 

Black would be the most fun best ball of the 3 courses available.

 

Did I dislike it? scoring wise, YES. Hated it. Pin locations made it impossible even with a caddy but it's not like a crappy course by all means. It was fast; it was bumpy; lots of blind approach shots; and lots of optical illusions INTO the green on your approach shot. Get a caddy to hold your bag since it's walking only but they can't help you on the green.

[CMCSGolf]

Interesting thoughts. I can't wait to see the Black, I've played the Red and Blue. I've heard the greens are pretty wild and downright impossible from some spots. It seems to be that the massive width of the course is a bit of an illusion. Since the greens are so challenging, it requires and approach from a specific angle in order to have any hope at getting to the correct part of the green. In effect, the course is much less wide than it appears. I've played Hanse's course in Rio and I got this feeling because even if you were in the fairway, it doesn't mean it's a good spot.

 

I've also heard rumblings that Streamsong is in the market for tour events, so maybe they just made it crazy tough to challenge those guys? That was definitely true of Erin Hills in the beginning and if softened over time. Maybe the Black will be the same way.

[short game]

Lots of rumors when I went down, but the planning for course number 4 and the architect is apparently underway. Word is they will have room for up to 9 courses ? Wow!

[jerebear21]

resident rates walking $99 till January 10th

 

go to the website; this is as a good a deal you will ever get for walking the black at the best time of the year in florida

 

AND most expensive time of the year

[VinRR]

Do you still need to take a caddy with that walking rate?

 

[raynorfan1]

Do you still need to take a caddy with that walking rate?

 

Caddies are not required.

[jerebear21]

None of the course require caddies when walking. Black is mandatory walking year round. So this is a pretty good deal especially during this time of the year. I believe I paid almost 300 a couple months ago.

[befowler]

My take:

 

1) Black

2) Blue

3) Red

 

Black reminded me of the greens at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. I did not find them to be unplayable at all, but local knowledge and a good caddie would definitely help.

 

The shot values on the Black are of the charts as I remember every hole after the round. Considering the land on Black was probably the least interesting before Hanse started work, for it to rank first in my book is a testament to the work of his design team.

 

Although the fairways are wide, being on the correct side of the fairway is important. Also the fairways are very firm and putting or using a hybrid club from around the greens is probably your best bet at almost all times. Conditioning of the course was excellent.

 

Don’t miss right of one green or left of two green. If you get the ball out of position on these first two it get fun fast.

[1Dumbscreenname]

I played Black about a month ago and really enjoyed it. We've played Red and Blue many times before so this had been on the list as will the next 5-6 courses whenever they get built. I played the front in even and the back in +9, the difference? Being in the sandy waste areas bordering the fairway, they lead to big numbers and I couldn't figure it out.

 

As for the greens, yes, a little local knowledge helps but we didn't have a caddy and we scored just fine on them. If you're the type of golfer that misses their target yardage by 40 yards + - < > you'll have issues here but realistically being anywhere within 30' you're fine. Just don't go left on 2 green, one of the guys in the group did and never recovered from that mental beating so his day was challenging.

 

But if I had to rank them; Red, Blue, Black. Nothing wrong with black imho but it's just not quite up there for me.

[jerebear21]

i thought it was easier to miss the greens by 40 yards and pitch in to the proper tier than missing the tier and having to putt

 

the pin locations had 10-15 ft of landing area; the lowest score posted on the black was 3 under and that includes Dustin Johnson playing there a couple weeks ago

 

i'll be back next week to play the black; and that punchbowl green does not play like a punchbowl; having played some of Seth Raynor's most exclusive courses, it was far from a punch bowl.

[jtmagic]

Thanks for review. Heading there with a group of buddies in mid-Feb. Will play all 3 courses while there so this is helpful.