Correction on Red Bridge: they are aerating Monday, July 7th.

Red Bridge also aerated this week 7/8-7/9 and is offering discounted rates through 7/21.

Two updates from Red Bridge... 1) They are in the process of renovating the bunkers. They expect to be done in a couple weeks. Current bunkers under construction should be played as Ground Under Repair. 2) They are having a Fall Best Ball tournament that is open to the public. Details:

• Date: Saturday, Nov 11
• Format: 2-Person Best Ball
• Start Time: 9:00 am shotgun start
• Cost: $100 per player ($65 for members) and includes lunch, golf, range and prizes
• Prizes: Gross and Net (both players have an official handicap index for Net)
• Charity: A portion of the proceeds will benefit Folds of Honor

Call the pro shop to register.

Red Bridge Golf Club did a deep verticut on the greens last week and it will take about a week to heal.

Red Bridge is aerating their Bermuda greens Tues 7/11 - Wed 7/12.

Red Bridge in Locust is aerating greens on July 5th.

Anyone been out to Red Bridge lately? Heard they about lost their greens a while back?

Just punched and sanded.

pretty good for this time of year. greens were slower then normal, but still rolled true. bunkers were in good shape as well as tee boxes. green grass should be starting anytime now since the warm weather is finally back. i do like the new configuration of not starting on a par 3, but man does the par 4 1st (old sixth hole)a bear playing into the wind up hill. was a nice change of pace but will head back to eagle chase for the year. their greens heal pretty quick if they use small tines.

My golfing buddy and I have been traveling to Myrtle Beach from Canada for over 20 years. Now that we are both retired (Air Traffic controllers) we drive and play 4 times enroute. We usually play our 2 favourite courses (Blue Ridge Trail and Cheraw State Park)and try several new ones. Based upon a review on this site, we tried Red Bridge and Cacapon (other recommendation). At least one course has to take us in the vicinity of a JRs for cigars...check Cdn prices and you will know why...
Played on October 27 with a tornado watch. The weather was 80+ degrees and the course was fantastic. You have to play it several times because you could be hitting 'blind' over a mound or a corner. Played with 2 members who pointed out preferrable landing areas which helped. Payed $29 and it will ! be on next years' list of 'play-agains'. Our Handicap:9 and 11.

yeah,hole 18 green may be the toughest green in charlotte area except for maybe the 9th at emerald lake.600 yards plus a severe slope to the front of the green makes pin placements tough.

I agree that some of the pin placements are tough. However, if you practice putting on either of the two practice greens, you should be prepared as there are plenty of slopes and extremely difficult placements on the practice greens. It is difficult when you don't know the course really well, since where you place your ball relative to the pin(s) can make a huge difference in putting difficulty. For the most part, myself included, Red Bridge is a course that you have to play a lot before you really begin to appreciate it, even like it.

Course is usually in good shape but they have a habit of making some pin placements almost unplayable such as the one at 16 you mentioned and also on the front of number 10 that is on a sever left to right slope.Another one is on the short par three over the lake.The green has a shelf and I've had the pins on the edge of the shelf.If you miss from the side or rear it rolls down the slope 20 feet away and if you are below the shelf and miss short,it will roll back to where you started.

Bit of a hike from North Charlotte but well worth the drive. Overall the course plays firm and fast from tee to green. Bunkers and rough are well maintained. Greens? The greens? Well lemme tell you about those. They were excellent condition. Not as receptive bent which is acceptable and faster than the bernudas i have played on in the past.

My only copmplaints are a couple of holes (3 and 10) do not fit the eye as far as how or where to hit your drive.

The Green on 16. Well maybe not the green, The pin placement on the front is borderline nuts. I saw 2 putts from above and from the side of this pin roll off the fron of the green.

All in all it was a great course and should only get better. BTW we teed off early and were easily done in 4 hours.!

Personally checked or played (except where noted):

Verdict Ridge: punched "about 2 weeks ago" - still quite bumpy, along with some bare spots that haven't responded to the punching

Olde Sycamore: punched about a month ago, unfortunately divots from poorly repaired ballmarks mar the surfaces significantly - in other words, they look ok, and in general are in good rolling condition, but there are just too many ballmarks so almost any putt is likely to hit a ballmark (or 2)

Emerald Lake: punched about 10 days ago, still top dressed with a lot of sand, along with other issues certainly not rolling true

Skybrook: some really nice smooth areas on many greens, but also bare spots and many plugs of (presumably) poa anna, overall not bad

Highland Creek: very spotty, bare areas galore, one green (#15) gone by report

Red Bridge: mostly in very good condition, only a few greens with some isolated issues (Red Bridge greens are mini verde per clubhouse); definitely the best greens of all these (except Cleghorn, see below)

Cleghorn (this from a month ago) - in Rutherfordton, a hike, but perfect Bermuda greens (and fairways), best overall conditions I've played in all year (and maybe ever)

Hope that helps somebody...

Played the course Sunday the 23rd July. I'm a 2 handicap. I have to say the greens are in the best shape of any that I've played this year. The mini verde greens and the heat that we have had have made them great

randy,not to hurt you feelings, but red bridge is not a pete dye design. it is a david postalwait (sp?) design. now david did work with dye for over 20 years and you can see his influence, however, much tamer than courses i have have experienced that are pure dye.

I finally played Red Bridge Saturday 11/14. I had heard a lot about the course, so my buddies and I gave it a shot. A lot of comments posted on this board about the course are very accurate. We played from the tips - not advisable unless you are a low handicapper. I'm a 2, and I still shot 83. My brother and others friends are low to mid 80's golfers, and they both shot 92. Local knowledge is critical on this course, and if you have not played it before, you are at a big disadvantage. There are a lot of tight shots to fast, difficult greens, not to mention long forced carries, mainly because we were playing from the blues. There are also several blind shots that can catch you off guard. After 4 inches of rain, the course was very wet, and it likely played over 7000 yards in reality.

Overall a good layout, with an unusual variety of holes. I liked the uniqueness, but admittedly it is very difficult for the reasons I mentioned. There are several par 4's that would play like par 5's in these conditions for shorter hitters. There are also several areas staked as OB that make no sense, making some long par 4's that much more difficult. When I know the course better and it's dry, it will not be too bad, but I will have to bring my A game to shoot my handicap.

Played Red Bridge on Saturday (10/3). I'm into my second year of occasional golfing, so take my comments with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, I thought this course was far more difficult than it needed to be.

The fairways are narrow, most holes are surrounded by woods on either sides, plenty of elevation make for difficult shots (they don't have hole maps yet either), and there's thick stuff everywhere. The rough right off the fairway is always thick. Greens moved fast and there's no such thing as a straight putt on this course. The course caps off with a par 5 614 yards on the white tees.

I don't mind a challenge, but for an occasional golfer looking to have fun and score well...look elsewhere...or be prepared to lose plenty of balls. I suspect they'll eventually make s!
ome changes, but it's a monster right now.

Loved it. The course was extremely fun, very challenging and in fantastic conditions. In time, they'll need some yardage markers and some white/red/yellow stakes, but this is a great course.

One gripe -- there are far too many golfers at this course that have no business playing here...especially not from the more difficult tees. I witnessed at least 4 groups of golfers that could not come close to breaking 100 from the red tees...and they insisted on playing from the black and white. They slowed up play for everybody. Morons.

Rick Scherer, from PickUp18.com, is organizing a 2-Man Best Ball Tournament on Sunday, September 27th at 11am. The site is Red Bridge Golf & Country Club. Rick says "For anyone that hasn't played the course yet, it is awesome! I think everyone will enjoy the layout of this championship course. The course is new, but in fantastic shape."

The cost is $79 per person which includes lunch. The prizes are:

1st place Gross - $300 (team)
1st place Net - $250 (team)
Long Drive - $100
Closest to pin - $100

With Gross and Net Prizes, every handicap will have a chance to win! You can sign up for the tournament as a single player (You'll be teamed with another single of similar handicap) or as a team. Also, all prizes will be paid on Visa/American Express gift cards that can be used ANYWHERE! The gross winners will not be eligible for the net prize. There are only 10 team spots (20 players) for this first tournament. You can sign up for the tournament and pay the entry fee online here:

http://pickup18.com/#/tournament/4535378188

This is first come, first serve and you will not be registered until payment for at least one player on the team has been received.

Let me know if you plan to play. I will be competing and I'd like to meet some of you who enjoy the site and provide regular updates.

played 2 weeks ago for the first time..loved it.Shot 77 with a lost ball on #2 and was sort of pleased with the round.Most definitely will be back.....

I just played Red Bridge last week and I found that it was a hard course maybe unbearable by the lack of markers and even markers that I think were just way off in terms of yardage. I love a challenge and not being a scratch golfer means most courses offer me that, but to not have a reasonable marker set up or when you do to have the incorrect measurement is ridiculous. I would love someone to GPS map this course just to see how off their yardages are so until they get GPS I will not be back

I would have to say that this is one of the best new courses. I played the back tees and the carry on some of the par 4's play much farther than the yardage (I think they need someone to re-measure the course). I'm looking for some more people to play golf with. Any good sites out there? I saw a new site today and thinking about joining...pickup18.com...anyone join it yet?

I read some reviews on Redbridge and I have to agree. I am a scratch player and enjoyed certain aspects of the course. I play with a buddy who is a 4 handicap and 53 years old. There were multiple par 4's where the carry over trouble off the tee was 215 to 230 yards and he only barely made it a few times, others not so lucky. I like the 5 par 5's and 5 par 3's but the last hole is downright silly. I hit Driver, 6 iron, 8 iron, but my buddy hit driver, 3 wood, 2 hybrid (into the gulch) and wedge on. The greens are beautiful and it's nice to play a different surface than the traditional bent grass that's everywhere here.

So good luck and the 6700 yards from the black tees is misleading. It plays more like 7000 yards.

For a bogey golfer, there is a fine line between a challenging course and a ridiculously frustrating course. Redbridge is a ridiculously frustrating course.
We played on the first day that the back 9 was open.
Two of us normally shoot in the mid 90's and two usually shoot high 80's to low 90's. Our scores were 101, 102, 109, 112 (playing from the Whites).

My biggest problem with this course is that it doesn't give you any options. If you miss the fairway, you are in big big trouble. Most courses with tight fairways and lots of trouble seem to give you choices. There are plenty of times when I've played a par 4 or 5 hole and hit a 5 iron off the tee to be safe. But at Redbridge, many of the holes have water or other hazards that extend far enough out from the!
tee box, that you don't have the option of hitting a "safe" shot. And a 620 yard par 5 from the whites? Come on, that's just silly.

This is an incredibly gorgeous course and for very low handicappers, I think it would be a great challenge. But as an 18 HCP, I will NOT play this course again. Not unless I'm really in the mood for some self punishment.

Got this email a few days ago from Steven and thought I would share another opinion about this new course (see my review here):

"Played 7/12/09. Course is in great shape; the rough will need some taming. Needs significant tweaking unless it becomes truly private. My main word for the layout is: GOOFY. #10 has a long carry to a narrow and very sloped fairway. #18 is a 625 yard par 5 to a small green perched on a hill with a gorge in front of it (that is from the WHITE tees?!?). Lots of blind shots: if you were a member and knew the course well these might even be fun, but not for the casual occasional player. The gold tees play 5700, the white tees play 6400 - they need something in between. Overall not impressed and unlikely to go back."

red bridge is a new course thats opened up in locust. its a pete dye design. ive played it several times now and its breath taking. the course opened up july 4th.