Regents Glen Country Club

$26 (cart included), played on Tuesday, June 2015 at 10:00 AM

Our band of travelling seniors played here 6-9-15, as arranged by one of our group who lives nearby. Only paid $30 for this outstanding experience, a very good deal.

The course is relatively short, but more than compensates with a very clever design that employs every architectural trick in the designer's book (thankfully, no railroad ties). IMHO, course is not walkable for anyone, as there are some very significant distances between holes, especially on the back nine. No two holes look alike, and there is significant elevation change on the back nine, which is MUCH tougher than the front. The front nine is relatively open, with generous landing areas, but lots of fairway bunkers adjacent to the desired target line. Most greens allow for a pitch-and-run, with only a few having front bunkers. The greens themselves are medium large, all undulate, some have serious gradients. Good use of terrain throughout the course, with meandering streams, and a couple of good-sized ponds. The back nine looks much different than the front, as the course wends through the surrounding development (upscale, over-50 community), generating some very interesting holes. The stretch of 11-12-13 is particularly memorable: it's Regent's Glen version of the Amen Corner. 11 is a par 4 with a large pond down the entire left side, houses on the right that are in sight, and could be in play of wayward drives, the green is fronted by a stream that feeds the pond: to lay up or not, that is the question. 12 is a shortish par 3, with a ravine to the front right of the green, and a steep hillside and bunker on the left. Number 13 is the most demanding of all: a downhill dogleg right, fairway sloping sharply to the right, with that same stream along the right side, and towering trees inside the corner of the dogleg. First challenge is to get one's drive far enough down and to the left/middle to be able to even see the green. Then one must hit a shot that will clear the stream, avoid the trees and not overfly the green into the rough behind. Daunting!

Conditions yesterday were excellent, although the bunkers were too firm as a result of the previous night's rain. The bunker guy was making his rounds as we played. Fairways and tees were lush, rough was juicy, and greens were firm and MUCH faster than those on the public courses our usually plays. In fact, the practice greens may have been a bit slower than those on the course, which is unusual. Staff we encountered were uniformly professional and friendly, both on course and in the pro shop and bar. Overall, a very positive golf experience, and one we'd all like to repeat. We very highly recommend.