Thoughts from someone who is not that into golf architecture:
Starting with a 3 was a little weird. I was not a fan until I actually played it. I made an easy par and as a not-great player (9ish handicap) starting with a 3 kind of felt like I had momentum going after only one full swing, which was nice. I’m in on this now.
I used the same golf ball the entire round and never had to spend any time searching for it. That is HIGHLY unusual and much appreciated.
I hope they are able to keep it firm and fast like this even after a few years of growing in. Being able to play 10+ run-up shots in a round was so, so fun.
The staff was awesome.
I agree with 9 being impacted a good deal by the service road, but I’m not sure how that can be resolved unless you wrapped it around the back of the green, which could cause other issues. I may be biased by the fact that my approach shot got held up in washout in the service road.
My favorite holes were 6, 12, 13, 16, and 18. The approach shots into those greens were the most fun I had all day. I wanted to drop balls and try different shit for hours there.
If was going to join one or the other, I’d join Old Barnwell. If I only had 10 rounds to split, though, I’m going 6-4 Tree Farm.
@hwb and crew, thank you again for putting this together. It was a fantastic day.
I was not in the event yesterday but had the pleasure of playing both courses back in March. This is exactly how my feelings shook out. I preferred TF the course but feel OB would be my preferred place to be a member. Glad everyone had a lot of fun
Was a truly awesome day out there yesterday. Only thing they need is a practice green. Jumping on the course with firm greens running 11ish led to a real rocky start
I don’t think it’s supposed to be there long term. They’re still working on drainage between 3, 4, 5, 10 and that’s really the only way to get machinery in there. Once they get the retention ponds finished I’m sure they’ll sod that road over (I think)
I think my thoughts about good holes/bad holes are based on what tees we start on and where we catch them in the round. I thought 2 & 3 were bad last time when I started on 4, and I was unenthused by 10 but it was the last hole and I was dehydrated and tired
9 green is a TOUGH approach and you can’t be left or right, so the road in front makes it difficult to stay short of the green. But I would love to see it sodded over.
Same. And as a 15 handicap, that is EXTREMELY unusual.
Might just be me but I didn’t even notice the service road. The main thing I noticed and said to @jan42dk was that if you were going to run a ball up to the green then you better be precise because anything left of center was running away and anything right of center was running away.
Is this because you hit your bunker shot to 2 inches off the back slope?
Interesting is one way to put it. Though it seems like that hole isn’t meant to be reachable in 2 so I guess it’s not that big of a deal that it would be impossible to get the ball anywhere close to that hole location from outside 200 yards.
I had a very rough first loop (full-bore shanks, got off the tee pretty okay but literally could not hit a iron/wedge one inch in the air, was bump-and-running hybrid from everywhere), but went out for some more afterwards and had a much better time/actually hit some golf shots. Initially I thought the course was pretty good but not necessarily unique/wasn’t sure what ZB was going for, and getting back out for some more golf reinforced parts of that feeling and discarded others.
My general feeling is that The Tree Farm in its current state is like seeing a very technically-sound and interesting painting from a young painter who hasn’t figured out his own style yet, but who knows exactly what he wants to draw inspiration from. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though as my playing partners can attest I was in the wilderness for a few holes. It makes me very interested in seeing ZB’s second/third/fourth courses as he learns more about exactly what he wants to leave or take from those influences and begins to develop his own distinctive voice.
Favorite Hole: 18 is really special and that’s with the clubhouse under construction/no pre-installed gallery. I remarked to the folks I caught some extra holes with that it reminded me of a refined/lengthened version of the 9th hole at Sweetens. It’s demanding and forgiving in equal measure, which is fairly remarkable, and it’s a great finishing hole where no matter where your tee shot ends up you have a chance to do something special on the approach. I loved it both times.
Favorite Stretch: 9-10-11-12 is killer, especially with the pins in the back right on 10 and the middle of the valley on 12 (more on that in a second). I still don’t know exactly how I feel about waiting for the 9th hole for a par 5—and a short one at that—but once you get into it that’s just an excellent stretch. 9 and 10 greens are great complements to each other, and playing back down to 11 before making the ascent on 12 is a wonderful use of that land movement.
Favorite Shot: Playing with folks after the competition round, we did a loop of 4-12 and then 17-18. On 12, I hit a pure hybrid from the edge of the junk long left just barely through the trees (with some slight contact) and it landed short left of the green in the bottom of that swale. As I mentioned above, the pin was deep in the valley, and I hadn’t hit a good wedge since the day before, so out came the putter. I hit a putt with a lot of pace that aggressively climbed up over the swale and onto the green with more than enough steam to make it over to the valley. I sprinted up the hill and followed it the whole way in as it dove into the valley and raced past the hole about 6 feet to the right of the pin and back up the other slope. I was worried it would carry straight through the ditch and over to the other flat section, but it reversed course about a foot from the top and started slowly dripping back down the slope, feeding towards the bottom of the valley, and starting to track more and more towards the hole. At this point I’m standing right there, pointing wildly to my left, and shouting at the ball, “GO THAT WAY! KEEP GOING!” About 12 inches from the hole the line drifts those last couple of centimeters and the ball hits the bottom of the cup. Tough to beat that when it comes to a favorite shot.
Not sure about favorite hole/stretch but best shot/moment is easy. It’s not even my lone bird, either.
Our team was one of 4 or so that made it to 18 for the horse race thanks to my partner hitting a great shot every time it was his turn in the alt. I, meanwhile, was hanging on for dear life with each of my turns, but not taking us out of any holes yet.
So I have the tee, and the last thing I want to do is cost us the hole, especially cause he would be winning this on his own stick. On our first loop on 18, I sliced one so far right it’s probably being laid with the foundation to the housing they’re building over there.
So I ask him in all earnestness, if I should lay up. Without skipping a beat, he turns and says “No, full send,” to my surprise, as if I’m high for suggesting otherwise.
I pull driver, and in front of the remaining teams and audience, catch one low on the face that never gets higher than 30 ft, but nevertheless heading toward the green, starting in line with the center bunker. It starts fading toward the safe entrance to the green, but I lost track of it against the ground due to golden hour sunlight. Sure enough it must’ve stayed on that track and rolled through the back of the green, giving us a really good look to chip from.
I made up for it by hitting a terrible 3w on the final sudden death hole, but that drive felt great.
