Whispering Pines

$41 (cart included), played on Monday, September 2022 at 7:08 AM

It's Labor Day with cloudy conditions and at 70 degrees we're getting the first tee time so we can be done in 3hrs and not a normal 5hrs on this narrow track. Was told how challenging this rolling, narrow wooded layout was.........and they weren't kidding. Every hole was framed by trees, many blind tee shots and approach shots that sometimes you couldn't even see the flag sticks. It's a hard call to say this layout was really tough or someone just trying to make it very........gimmicky. With four (4) tees you can choose from Blue's at 6,372yd / 71.6 / 137 down to Red's at 4,583yd / 62.8 / 118 on this Par 36/35 demanding layout. We decided to play from the Whites at 3,087 / 2,964yds / 60.9 / 134 and for my 190-205yd carries my landing areas were fair but didn't carry to the tops of a lot of those rolling hills. The starter told us that the course is under new management since March 2022 and the fairways are "Rough" that will be worked on next year to improve.....I hope so. The grass was very "Blotchy" in height and color, that it looked like a fancy quilt with the rough grass long but looked better. (Better in 2024?) The sand traps had heavy sand but very consistence and were groomed nicely. The slick fast greens saved the day as they putted very true and were tough to read from approach shots to putting, but that's a real plus. For first time players here, there were no yardage books, layout on the cards other than what you saw from the tee, which most of the time was a hill. They say new GPS carts are coming for next year, but I would put my money in the fairways and you could charge more than the $46 18/cart which is fair for challenge but not for the fairway conditions. The Front 9 #4 a RH dogleg Par 4 at 300yds with you hitting downhill to a flat at 165yds and then uphill 60'-70' to a blind green where you can barely see the flagstick. The #6 Par 5 at 470yds is short on yardage but the narrow rolling fairway with two blind shots to the green is a must on playing from the short grass. The #9 is a 191yd Hcp 2 Par 3 and is one ugly up hill green to hit and worse if you miss left or long. The Back 9 dogleg hard right Par 4 at 277yds has you hitting downhill 185-200yds to the corner that has tall trees on the rightside taking down those cutting the corner. The #12 is their Hcp 1 Par 4 at 425yds with the narrowest rolling and treelined fairway we've seen....so far that had two of us carding OB's. The #16 Par 4 is another 425yd with a very long and narrow green stuck on the face of hill with missing short a very bad choice. This is a real great challenging layout that could demand $60+, but with the current fairway conditions the $46.00 would be the top end I would pay. I ended up shooting 84 w/34putts, Mark P 83 w/31putts and Jeremy 90 w/34putts (6th time out this year) and would all love to come back when the fairways are MUCH better.