aimtobreak80’s Review of Birkdale Golf Club on 2/21/13

Birkdale Golf Club

Date: 2/21/13 Thu Morning
Overall Rating:

"Worth playing"
Conditions: Average - isolated issues
Pace: 4 1/2 Hours
Cost: $34
Username: aimtobreak80
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The fairways were in pretty good shape considering the season and the fact that we had 3 inches of snow the preceding Saturday. 90 degree cart rule was in effect, and was no problem (However, some of the tees are more than a few steps from the cart path, and what may have been saved by driving to your ball in the fairway was offset by walking to the tee.)

The round did not get off to a good start. The practice green was closed, and the chipping green was a poor substitute. I had a decent drive on No. 1 only to wait for about five minutes for a groundskeeper to finish mowing the green. He eventually stopped, and yelled back to me that I was supposed to have started on the back nine. It surely would have been nice if the attendant in the pro shop had informed me of such when I checked in.

Play was somewhat slow (I had been warned that they were running about 15-20 minutes behind), and I was soon joined by another single using a pull-cart. We made up time on the second nine where we almost had the course to ourselves.

My primary complaint about the course conditions is that the greens were very bumpy. My playing partner, who claimed to be a 5-year contract Carolina Trail member, and regular patron of the course, indicated that this was standard and attributed it to lack of maintenance and caretaking due to the financial problems of the Carolina Trail enterprise. However, he did indicate that the latter situation was reportedly improving, and he was hopeful that course conditions might also improve before the end of the year.

Bottom line assessment: A challenging course with fair value greens fee for seniors. I will likely try it again in the spring and/or summer months.