Centennial, Carmel, NY - Which 9s?

[jimboski93]

I've been meaning to make the trip up to Centennial and might go tomorrow.

 

Which set of 9s should I play? Lakes/Meadows/Fairways? Are they all comparable, or is it "if you go to Centennial, make sure you play x and y"?

[sabram]

I've only played Fairways and Meadows. I don't think we were given a choice of which 9's we played. Here are photos of those 2 nines

[url="http://sports.webshots.com/album/574705612YcFUzF"]Centennial Meadows & Fairways 9's[/url]

[jimboski93]

Thanks sabram for the pics.

I did end up playing Centennial yesterday. Played Meadows 9 and Fairways 9. The pro shop said that Lakes was the #1 most requested, but it was booked for an outing.

My review:
Tuesday AM rate was $65 and the course was generally open, except for this outing that was starting later. I played with three other guys I got paired with and we got done in a little under 5 hours. Our group was a bit slow, but we were also waiting on many holes.

I really enjoyed the Meadows. Centennial has a bunch of elevation changes, but interestingly, you hardly ever hit up hill. You often tee off downhill, finish the hole, then take the cart back up hill and tee off downhill again. This of course helps your ego with long drives most of the day.

The rough was pretty thick and wide - you really needed to hit a wild shot off the tee to end up in the trees / need to take a penalty.

The Fairways was very similar, but was a bit underwhelming. It is quite similar to the Meadows, so maybe I'm penalizing it knowing that the Lakes is apparently different / more interesting.

One of the common threads is the greens. The pin card shows three positions for each hole and most of the greens had at least one large ridge. This meant if you hit the green but were on the wrong side of the ridge, you'd have some very difficult putts ahead. Given that the weather was 90 degrees and sunny in the morning, the greens were running fast and it was very difficult to lag the ball to the hole when you have to hit over a roll and let it slide down to the hole.

Last thing to mention - I drove up from White Plains taking 684 North. Speed limit was 65 but no one was going less than 80. It was a 45 minute trip according to Google Maps but I covered it in 30 mins, so the course is a bit "closer" than I would have thought.

[Sean97]

Hey there, I happen to work at Centennial so I can answer just about any questions you have.

Lakes/Fairways or Fairways/Lakes for that matter has the highest rating from the black(75.3/143).

Like was said above there is a lot of elevation change on the Lakes and Meadows nines because they are built on a mountainside, a small mountain nonetheless. Fairways is relatively flat and some of the holes run next to each other so it is also more open than the Lakes and Meadows. Also, they are all around the same length. 3500-3600 from black, 3300 from the blue and 2900-3000 from the whites. The course is in great condition and ) and the bunkers were redone at the end of last year. The greens are pretty quick (not as quick as they will be in a few weeks but still fast) and some of them have undulations that will make 2 putting from the wrong side/level of the green nearly impossible.

All in all it doesnt really matter which nines you play, they are all solid tests.

Edit: I just realized that you already played the course. If anyone else has questions about the place and reads this thread feel free to ask me any questions

[boji23]

[quote name='Sean97' timestamp='1307595440' post='3294500']
Hey there, I happen to work at Centennial so I can answer just about any questions you have.

Lakes/Fairways or Fairways/Lakes for that matter has the highest rating from the black(75.3/143).

Like was said above there is a lot of elevation change on the Lakes and Meadows nines because they are built on a mountainside, a small mountain nonetheless. Fairways is relatively flat and some of the holes run next to each other so it is also more open than the Lakes and Meadows. Also, they are all around the same length. 3500-3600 from black, 3300 from the blue and 2900-3000 from the whites. The course is in great condition and ) and the bunkers were redone at the end of last year. The greens are pretty quick (not as quick as they will be in a few weeks but still fast) and some of them have undulations that will make 2 putting from the wrong side/level of the green nearly impossible.

All in all it doesnt really matter which nines you play, they are all solid tests.

Edit: I just realized that you already played the course. If anyone else has questions about the place and reads this thread feel free to ask me any questions
[/quote]
Sean, you may or may not know the answer to this one- why does centenntial charge so much to play this course? yes, it is a nice place but over-priced dont ya think? Is the course booked for the most part day in or day out?

I've played it before and liked it- got discount rate online, but the prices usually make me pass on it being an option.
Thanks.

[Marrrk]

[quote name='boji23' timestamp='1307742549' post='3298966']
[quote name='Sean97' timestamp='1307595440' post='3294500']
Hey there, I happen to work at Centennial so I can answer just about any questions you have.

Lakes/Fairways or Fairways/Lakes for that matter has the highest rating from the black(75.3/143).

Like was said above there is a lot of elevation change on the Lakes and Meadows nines because they are built on a mountainside, a small mountain nonetheless. Fairways is relatively flat and some of the holes run next to each other so it is also more open than the Lakes and Meadows. Also, they are all around the same length. 3500-3600 from black, 3300 from the blue and 2900-3000 from the whites. The course is in great condition and ) and the bunkers were redone at the end of last year. The greens are pretty quick (not as quick as they will be in a few weeks but still fast) and some of them have undulations that will make 2 putting from the wrong side/level of the green nearly impossible.

All in all it doesnt really matter which nines you play, they are all solid tests.

Edit: I just realized that you already played the course. If anyone else has questions about the place and reads this thread feel free to ask me any questions
[/quote]
Sean, you may or may not know the answer to this one- why does centenntial charge so much to play this course? yes, it is a nice place but over-priced dont ya think? Is the course booked for the most part day in or day out?

I've played it before and liked it- got discount rate online, but the prices usually make me pass on it being an option.
Thanks.
[/quote]

that was the exact first question that popped into my mind. i was worried i would sound like a jerk if i asked. but you pulled it off well : )

the price is the one thing that's kept me from heading up to Centennial. i've tried to play everything within 2 hours of NYC and that's one i've had a hard time justifying. the actual price of $130 doesnt scare me, fyi, i just havent heard enough great things about the course to justify it. i would love to be convinced as it definitely grinds at me when there's a nice area course i haven't played yet.

we all know how, in golf, the price of a round is used, and assumed, to indicate quite a few things. so i hope this doesn't sound snarky; just really would love to know more about the course so i can make an informed decision.

thanks, Sean.

[Sean97]

Trust me that doesn't bother me at all, I'm well aware of the prices and how a lot of people feel about them.

Yea I realize that it is rather pricey, if I didn't work there I wouldn't be paying that kind of money to play. Before I had a job I would go after school sometimes and walk 9 for $20( this has since been bumped up to $40) I wouldn't be spending that kind of money to play anywhere honestly(broke college kid). If you're reading this I'm sure your aware of what its like in this area of the world and for some people that $100-$135 is just a drop in the bucket. I know on the website they have a place to sign up for emails about discounts and special rates. I also know that they added a new intermediate rate for fridays. Personally, I think that the $65 weekday morning or $70 twilight(after 2pm) rate on weekdays are pretty good deals. As far as how crowded it gets; friday, saturday and sunday mornings and early afternoons fill out the tee-sheet pretty well but weekdays are not very busy. There is also a solid group of passholders that account for a good amount of play.

I'm in no position to speak about the business/ownership aspect of the operation... mainly because I don't know much about it. From what I noticed through the years is that the number of players has decreased. Last year seemed very low but this year it seems to be picking up again.

[Marrrk]

[quote name='Sean97' timestamp='1307753098' post='3299208']
Trust me that doesn't bother me at all, I'm well aware of the prices and how a lot of people feel about them.

Yea I realize that it is rather pricey, if I didn't work there I wouldn't be paying that kind of money to play. Before I had a job I would go after school sometimes and walk 9 for $20( this has since been bumped up to $40) I wouldn't be spending that kind of money to play anywhere honestly(broke college kid). If you're reading this I'm sure your aware of what its like in this area of the world and for some people that $100-$135 is just a drop in the bucket. I know on the website they have a place to sign up for emails about discounts and special rates. I also know that they added a new intermediate rate for fridays. Personally, I think that the $65 weekday morning or $70 twilight(after 2pm) rate on weekdays are pretty good deals. As far as how crowded it gets; friday, saturday and sunday mornings and early afternoons fill out the tee-sheet pretty well but weekdays are not very busy. There is also a solid group of passholders that account for a good amount of play.

I'm in no position to speak about the business/ownership aspect of the operation... mainly because I don't know much about it. From what I noticed through the years is that the number of players has decreased. Last year seemed very low but this year it seems to be picking up again.
[/quote]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I think one thing that always confused me was how they could charge $130 while having so many times available on golfnow on the weekends. But anyway, I definitely plan on a round there in the next month or so. A few of us have been very curious. What do you do there?

[Sean97]

Not a problem guys. I work outside, mainly on the range

[aabcuue]

[/quote]
Sean, you may or may not know the answer to this one- why does centenntial charge so much to play this course? yes, it is a nice place but over-priced dont ya think? Is the course booked for the most part day in or day out?

I've played it before and liked it- got discount rate online, but the prices usually make me pass on it being an option.
Thanks.
[/quote]

Notice the graduated rates through the day and weekday vs weekend.
Highest weekend morning, lower afternoon and lowest at twlight weekday.


Fyi, its much cheaper via the golf pass books.