Played Olde Sycamore today 09.22.05. It was great. Conditions were excellent. You can find a coupon in the paper here for $35 per person or at http://www.golfholes.com.

Played Springfield last week 09.15.05 and the greens were in very poor condition. I’ve always enjoyed Springfield but would not play there again until the greens have returned.

For those visiting Charlotte this fall, please know that this summer’s conditions were very hard on local area greens – very wet and humid early and very, very dry for an extended period only now starting to come back. My opinion on those asked about in earlier posts:

Springfield – tough tough, forced carries and truly unique place – just now developing real estate on/around course. Play it now as it is one of the best premium courses in the area. I played last week and greens were so so – having just been punched and suffering a bit from the bad summer – great value durring the week and unique.

Eagle Chase – kind of a long drive, I call this a bubba course. I mean it in a nice way – more like a muni look and feel it is low end but really good layout, not in great shape – almost like a mtn course with elevation change.

Olde Sycamore – Probably best greens around right now – very playable and tough layout. typical Charlotte style course in a housing development.

Regent Park – great layout and usually great shape – i have heard greens were lost earlier this year and have stayed away but will defer to earlier posters and go back on their rec.

Waterford – in Rock Hill SC – 30 min from Charlotte. A gem, and a Hale Irwin Course very fun and some unique holes (#3 has you drive thru a “chute”) Good shape

Charlotte Golf Links – scottish style layout with lots of Gorse, bunkers and elevated greens – good shape and right off 485

Stonebridge – good shape for the most part and forgiving layout

Larkhaven is a muni that is not in the same tier as above but fun/fair and cheap

Verdict Ridge is TIGHT and LOTS of houses but very nice and good shape last time I played

My top 4:

Waterford
Olde Sycamore
Springfield
Charlotte Golf Links

I’m bringing a group of 8 golfers down to the Charlotte area from Canada in mid-April to kick off our golf season. handicaps in the group range anywhere from about 7-20+. At this point we’re planning on playing Westport, The Warrior, Fox Den, Verdict Ridge, Skybrook, Olde Sycamore, Meadowlands (near Winston Salem) and Tanglewood’s Championship course. Any feed back on what the conditions on those are like (and likely to be in mid-April) would be apreciated? We’ve played several of the courses last year (Westport, O-S, Meadowlands and Tanglewood will be new to us so I’m especially intersted in comments on those). Thanks

What is unfortunate is while most of the people who post comments to this forum may be very skilled in the game of golf they are mostly clueless when it comes to issues related to maintaining a golf course. It is unfair to ask clubs that are struggling in the economy to have 50-70 bunkers in playable condition following a 3 inch rain. You don’t expect Augusta National but you expect public clubs to have staff on hand to fix bunkers in a 3-4 hour window. There are some very notable HIGH end private clubs in the Charlotte area (one of them that hosts a lucrative PGA event) that have had issues with greens during the summer of 2010 and trust me they have way more means and money to PLAN to prevent summer decline of bentgrass greens than any of the courses featured on the Bman’s site. What everybody wants to ignore is that in the recession clubs are forced to cut payroll and maintenance budgets. It is unfortunate that businessmen who post to this message board and probably have had to tighten their own belts think it should be status quo for course operators. While you may be avid golfers there are not enough of you playing now days. Rounds are down everywhere and the casual players are not returning to the game. I am biased because I am a superintendent in the area and I figure this probably won’t get posted anyway but I have to come to the defense of my colleagues who look at this site frequently and use it to gauge how the public feels about their courses. Even the USGA is pushing brown as the new green…Why do you think this is? It’s because golf is heading towards a precipice in which water and environmental legislation will force golfers to have to deal with browner conditions. I applaud the Bman for posting links this year. Fellas when an article about poor greens makes The Wall Street Journal it is a real issue and not lazy superintendents or poor planning for summer heat.

I understand why people are upset that courses are not lowering rates while their clubs are not in perfect shape. The problem is they are not allowed to raise the rates when the courses are in perfect shape. If a course here in charlotte usually costs $59 to play, but one morning you showed up to play and the guy behind the counter told you it was $72 today because the course was in perfect shape, this message board would be full of people crying. A club’s rate is its rate, good or bad people. Have any of you thanked a superintendent over the last few years at your local club when the course was in great shape? Nope.