Spirit Hollow course review

[adamjstl]

September 2010

Played Spirit Hollow at the end of September 2010. Greeted by cart boy upon arrival. From the parking lot you have a great view of the 10th and 13th holes. $56 on a weekday, and as we found out that was a very fair price. Played the back tees, and all but 3 or 4 holes were playing on the rear tee box. Perfect tee boxes, nice fairways, and lightning fast greens.

#1...par 4. elevated tee, golfer can see most of the landing zone on this dogleg left. pretty hole. easy start.
#2...par 5. very elevated tee, dogleg left off the tee. great risk-reward as it's easily reachable in 2, but nowhere to miss near the green. another photogenic hole.
#3.. par 3. short hole with a wide, shallow green with a spine that splits it into two sides.
#4.. par 5. long, long hole that plays uphill off the tee. only reachable with 2 bombs. kinda plain to look at.
#5.. par 4. player can shorten the hole by carrying a left fairway bunker. slightly elevated green.
#6.. par 4. dogleg left with water left and short of the green. huge advantage gained by hitting down the left side of the fairway to shorten the approach.
#7.. par 3. short, non-descript hole with a few bunkers.
#8.. par 4. medium length, uphill hole that played much longer against the wind. scenic tee shot.
#9.. par 4. a very, very bold player could just bomb one over the trees onto the green. lay-up is the correct play. beautiful hole.

#10 par 5. gorgeous golf hole. very elevated tee. dogleg left. reachable in 2 for some. water down the left side the whole way.
#11 par 4. 3 wood for long hitters off the tee. tricky green. the only dead straightaway hole on the course.
#12 par 3. 215 yards but played about 235, 240 due to the wind! not much to aim at here when your hitting a 5-wood :)
#13 par 4. elevated tee shot to a narrow fairway guarded by woods left and high rough to the right. beautiful, demanding hole.
#14 par 4. another pretty hole with an elevated tee shot. really long against the wind.
#15 par 3. scenic hole with water short and bunkers left and right.
#16 par 4. shortish hole with OB left and bunkers right. scenic.
#17 par 4. 496 yards against the wind with an elevated green. against the wind, 90% of pros can't reach with an iron here.
#18 par 5. another go-for-broke par 5. very elevated tee, dogleg right. green guarded by water left if you go for it!

Overall, a wonderful course. It's the kind of place you could play all the time and enjoy. The back 9 is incredible. Pace of play was decent, 4 hours and 15 minutes. Replayed in about under 3. I highly recommend this facility to anyone. Worth a day's drive for sure.

Overall rating- 8.5