B-Man’s Review of Tillery Tradition Country Club on 7/19/15

Tillery Tradition Country Club

Date: 7/19/15 Sun Afternoon
Overall Rating:

"Worth playing"
Conditions: Average - isolated issues
Pace: 4 1/2 Hours
Cost: $40
Username: B-Man
Profile: Avid Golfer (about once a week)
Handicap: 8
Today's Score: 91
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I used my free Sunday afternoon to make the hour’s drive out to Tillery Tradition and play it for the first time. I got there early and enjoyed a nice $15 Sunday brunch at Eagle’s Nest. The driving range had multiple tiers and even tees off to the left side where you could practice shorter distances to the short target pins for wedge practice. The staff in the pro shop was friendly and helpful. There are plenty of water stations and restrooms conveniently located around the course, but I was disappointed there was no beverage cart on a brutal 95 degree Sunday afternoon. So how about the course. Well… it’s a challenging layout with most holes including some kind of dogleg (unfortunately for my game most of them were dogleg rights) and significant slopes and hills to navigate. You will get many sidehill, downhill and uphill lies, even in the fairway. Tees were fine. Bunkers seemed fine. Alas, the greens. They are bentgrass and I’m sure they keep them a bit longer and slower during the summer to save them. So slow speeds were one issue. The bigger issue was that most greens (almost every one on the back side) had many bare spots with no grass at all. A handful of holes had several areas on the green where they would not be able to put a pin because of the damage. At least one of the pins today was near the problem area, but in most cases the staff did a good job of keeping the bad spots out of play. One green (#3) had significant weeds growing on it, which you had to putt through. Given the sporadic nature of the green issues, I wouldn’t call it a huge problem, but I was disappointed to be sure. It was a long drive to get there, I paid $40 and was excited to finally play the course. I won’t go back until I hear that the greens are in better shape.