B-Man’s Review of Emerald Lake Golf Club on 4/14/20

Emerald Lake Golf Club

Date: 4/14/20 Tue Morning
Overall Rating:

"Worth playing"
Conditions: Average - isolated issues
Pace: 3 1/2 Hours
Cost: $62
Username: B-Man
Profile: Avid Golfer (about once a week)
Handicap: 8
Today's Score: 75
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Emerald Lake used to be my home course and so I played it a ton over the years. Wasn’t particularly happy with my experience this time back for 3 reasons — they have raised the hole cups, they’ve added a $7 surcharge for single cart usage and their rate for a Tuesday morning round 3 weeks after aeration was $55 (!). The fairways were in good shape and the greens rolled well considering you could still see the aeration holes and some of the sand. But come on, the raised cups do not feel like golf. Put a foam filler in, turn them upside down, but don’t raise the cups. Every thing within about 8-10 feet was a virtual gimme. No fear at all. At least my two birdies on #6 and #10 were gimmes under normal conditions (less than 3 feet), but I had a few pars that were no sweat at all from within 10 feet. And I made a dubious “bogey” on 7 with a chip that hit the raised cup. So it was a great round (75) but was probably a 78 with normal cups. This is the first course I’ve played that’s using raised cups and I’ll wait to come back until they go back to normal and wipe out that ridiculous $7 surcharge. $62 for a weekday morning round!