RT 28A &
Price: $6
Difficulty: 8
Creativity: 5
Atmosphere: 4
This is a mediocre course that could be made much better with just a few tiny changes. It's a nice course in general, except that there is a lot of debris all over most of the holes and some of the decor shouldn't really be there. For instance, there are several thorn bushes and rusted farm equipment that, while it fits with the mine theme, poses a hazard to small children and others who walk near them. Some of the thorn bushes you practically have to stand in to make certain putts on the course. The debris is the most annoying facet though, in that it makes it hard to plan a putt when you know it might go in ten different directions by hitting the tiny pebbles on the course. The first half of one of the later holes had mulch covering most of it, requiring you to beat the ball hard to get it though the mess. As far as the creativity of the holes, some of the earlier ones show promise, like the one shaped like a Colt 45 with a half barrel in the center. But, the course lets you down later, as the holes become much less fancy and only have large rocks or pieces of wood added to them.
The difficulty of the course is the best thing about it, however some of it was thanks to faulty upkeep or bad choice of materials. Besides the debris, the other factor that made this course difficult beyond the real design of the holes is the use of a certain wood for the walls. Most courses we've play have walls that give a lot of bounce. Even the ones with wood walls were made of strong, hard wood to make ricocheting the ball easier. This course chose a soft wood to build the walls with. This means it absorbs much of the power of your shots, making bank shots near impossible. Also, there are some places in which the wall is so low, it's nearly even with the mat, making it very easy for the ball to roll out of bounds. To give the course credit, there are some very hard holes, but for the most part, its difficulty doesn't lay there.
Finally, we have to give credit where credit is due on this course. They do have fish in their little pond, which is a plus, and they do have a real piece of whalebone. (Upon inspection, and to the best of our knowledge, it was real.) However, these attributes hardly make up for its other small faults. Like many of the courses we've played, this course is probably worth playing once, although it is a bit overpriced. If they happen to clean it up a bit and give it a bit of a face lift, it will be a very nice course worth playing over and over again. On that thought, there is a final note to this course. If you choose to play a second round right after the first one, all you have to do is skip the 18th hole and start at the beginning- free of charge.
Reviewed by: Pat, Mandy and Putt
Reviewed in 2002