B-Man’s Review of The Golf Club at Ballantyne on 9/4/20

The Golf Club at Ballantyne

Date: 9/4/20 Fri Afternoon
Overall Rating:

"Great course"
Conditions: Good - normal wear/tear
Pace: 4 Hours
Cost: Not entered
Username: B-Man
Profile: Avid Golfer (about once a week)
Handicap: 11
Today's Score: Not entered
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Got in 15 holes before dusk at Ballantyne resort. The course is in good shape overall, but not pristine. Fairways have lots of divots – and they have not put sand bottles back in the carts. The bunkers are hit or miss – with no rakes and players lifting and placing, they seem kinda neglected as far as daily maintenance. And, wow, the rough. The bermuda rough is so thick that my group nearly lost balls just off the fairway on about 6 holes. If you don’t see exactly where your ball entered the rough, good luck. I found one ball literally by stepping on it. For a public course, the rough is ridiculously thick and penalizing — and maddening. Searching for balls just off the fairway is extremely frustrating and slows play tremendously. The greens were typically slick. Combined with the slopes on most greens, the speed really increases the difficulty of the course. Adding to that, the greens did not putt very smoothly today. Overall, my opinion on the conditions for this being a resort course was very mixed. Due to COVID policies, their hole cups are still upside down (causing some good putts to bounce out and you have to decide to count it) and there are no attendants to bring your bag up or down the stairs. Yet, they are still charging their normal resort course rates. I keep hearing different predictions on when the course will close for the re-development. So I guess I will still play it while I can. Just hope to have more of a “resort” experience for my next round.