Crooked Tree Golf Course, Tucson, AZ

We were paired up on this course with a single guy from Oregon named Seth. Neither of us were familiar with this course and there were no pictures on the scorecard of the hole. The first hole had water and was a dogleg right, which we figured out by watching the people in front of us. The rest of the course was fairly flat and wide open which we enjoyed. The fairways were nice, you just had to stay on them because desert was everywhere else. The greens were very fast which was hard to get used to. There were bathrooms available, no cart girl but there was a turn which was fine for us. The women's tee boxes were a nice advantage for me but they were a little "lumpy" so it was hard to find a flat spot. We enjoyed the course and would golf there again. We didn't eat there because we left right away to drive to our house in San Tan Valley. 

https://www.crookedtreegc.com/index.htm

Quarry Pines Golf Course, Tucson, AZ

What an interesting course - so glad we did it! https://www.playthepines.com/golf

The starter told us "the first nine are kind of flat, but the back 9, well, I'll let you find out for yourselves". And boy did we ever...the front nine was familiar as all golf courses, fairly flat with not too many hazards, a little sand and a little water. We saw roadrunners and desert quail. Then we made the turn...holy moly what a difference, elevations, mountains, desert to hit over and a lot of walking. We were able to golf us a couple and pace of play was good. We did let some "hitters" go through on the back 9 because it was really tough. There is a turn so I never used the bathrooms which were available on both 9's. There was no cart person and we didn't stay at the grill which only had sandwiches. There was a small outdoor area. We decided to eat at Mountain View Golf Course which is more of a country club so we were able to get a meal in a nice outdoor area. We would golf there again BUT the back 9 was very tiring for us.

The Royal at Canadian Lakes

We had expired groupgolfer certificates for Canadian Lakes (https://canadianlakes.org/) so decided to golf there on our way home from Traverse City. I think this is a semi-private course - part of an association. There is also the Pines and the Highlands, both 9 holes. It's quite near Tullymore and St. Ives. The groupgolfer was worth $27 and we paid $21 so it would have been $48 to golf there. On the first nine I though we overpaid...though the course was in good condition, I felt it was "field" like. Pretty wide open, straight forward, no hazard kind of course. The back nine however changed my opinion. I still felt it was a little too much but enjoyed the back much more. They had black, blue, white, white/gold, gold and red tees. Women got a pretty good advantage on most of the holes. There were some challenging par 3's and the par 5's were manageable. We followed a large group but they moved pretty well and there was no one behind us. There was no cart girl but the clubhouse was quite nice and fairly well stocked for the end of the season. There was a bathroom on the first 9 but only a port-a-potty on the back. Would I golf there again? Not for $48...



Finishing hole Par 5

Par 3 "Island" green

Par 4 on back 9

Lynx GC, Otsego, MI

Bought this as a groupgolfer not realizing Otsego was near Kalamazoo, 2 1/2 hours away! But it was a lucky mistake.  This is an older course that was "remodeled" in 2014.  There's a lot of trees but it seems easy to find your ball. There's a lot of sand bunkers in front of greens but they're easy to avoid. There are six holes along the Kalamazoo river but it's easy to avoid the water. The course is not an easy course but it's very enjoyable, especially from the women's tees. The first hole has a large drop off to the green as does the tenth. The par 3s are challenging as are the par 5s, but par is certainly doable. There are some really nice elevations. The greens and tee boxes were in nice shape but they were in the process of aerating the fairways so that was kind of hard. It was mid October and had rained nonstop the day before but we still enjoyed the course. The clubhouse is located next to the 18th green with a really nice balcony. There was no cart girl or bathrooms (other than port-a-potties). We ate at the clubhouse later and had a great hamburger and a great view.  They have a lot of events at the clubhouse, weddings, class reunions, comedy shows, even fall color tour events every weekend! Everyone at the course, from the guy we made the tee time with to the groundskeepers, was very nice. We will definitely go again!

http://lynxgc.com/#home

Rush Lake Hills Golf Course, Pickney, MI

I had purchased a groupgolfer last winter for Rush Lake Hills and finally got there. The course is owned by Henry Ford Hospital and all profits go to cancer research which I think is pretty cool.  The course is older and the facilities reflect that, but the course itself is kept up very well.  The front nine is kind of wide open and the back nine is more scenic and rolling. Hills is the operative word in the title of this course. There were lots of them even on the greens! It was not a hard course but the greens were not easy by any means.  There were very few sand bunkers and water only came into play on a couple holes. There were some nice par 3s and the par 5s were very manageable. There were only three tee boxes and the women's were quite fair. There was no cart person or ranger and play was really slow. They don't pair you up so that might have been part of the problem (although as a general rule I don't like getting paired up).  We didn't get any food on the turn but it was available. No water available that I could see and the only bathrooms were port-a-potties that were quite clean. The employees were beyond nice and thanked us for coming.  It's an hour drive for us but I would play there again, for the cancer research connection alone!

www.rushlakehills.com

Greystone Golf Club, Washington, MI

What a pretty course! We got a groupgolfer.com cert for this course and drove just over an hour to get there. There were a couple outings before us so it was just a bit slow for us. And it had rained quite a bit right before so it was a bit wet. BUT those are my only "complaints". We started on hole 10 and, I think, saw the prettiest holes first. In fact, the say they have "The Best Finish in Michigan Golf" and I  think they might be correct! The last 3 holes go around a quarry, a pretty par 3 and 2 challenging par 4s. The course is quite friendly for women, very playable (5033 yards). Course was in good condition and we saw a lot of guys working on it. The greens were VERY fast which was a challenge. The score card has tips on it for each hole that were quite helpful. I think the course is very reasonably priced. There were two bathrooms on the course. No cart girl but a very nice grille with outdoor seating with a beautiful view of the course.  Would love to come back but it is quite a drive so we'll see.

http://www.golfgreystone.com/

Royal Tee Golf Course, Cape Coral, Fl

We first golf this course in 2016 and have been back a couple times. It's now called Cape Royal Golf Club. There are three 9 holes Queen, King and Prince. There was always a pretty effective starter there and we alternated which course we started on. Play was fairly quick for a Florida course.  The course was well-maintained with water on almost every hole. There are homes on the course and some of the holes can be pretty tight because of it.  We were able to book through golfnow so we got a little cheaper rate and we have golfed as a twosome here which is unusual for Florida.  There was a cart girl and bathrooms. We had a pretty good hamburger after we golfed.  There are 5 sets of tees so the course is good for all level of players. We enjoy the course and that's why we keep going back.

Cape Royal

Eagle Ridge Golf Club, Ft. Myer, FL

Florida courses are very expensive and as much as we golf, we have to try to get a deal. So we booked through golf now at 2:37, big mistake, got there early but right behind 16 guys, then another 4 some. We were told by the starter that we'd be lucky to get 12 holes in so the couple we were paired up with and ourselves decided to just do 9. Then we were told they "don't have 9s".  After a long back and forth with the manager, he gave us the twilight rate of $30 - said we should have known that by booking at 2:37 we were taking a chance. We said we had no idea it would be so crowded and so backed up. We got 11 holes in and have a rain check for $22.  The course was nice, the holes we saw anyway. Water, and narrow. We did see a big alligator near the green on one hole. No cart girl. Have to go back to do the raincheck. Well, we never went back because it was just too expensive. Maybe some day...

http://www.playeagleridge.com/

The Majestic at Lake Walden, Hartford, MI

This is a 27 hole course with tree lined fairways, marshland, and lots of bunkers. The 18th hole played around the lake but other than that there wasn't much water. There's no turn but the cart girl was very attentive. There's a bathroom after 9 and port-a-potties.  I lost lots of balls but the course is very pretty. The course was in good shape except for the greens which were really in rough shape, maybe because of the wet spring we had (?). The carts have a GPS system which was great. We were able to golf for free here because a friend won passes but rates aren't too bad. It's about an hour drive from us but I definitely plan to golf there again.

http://www.majesticgolf.com/

Rocky Gap, Cumberland, Maryland

I bought a stay deal for Rocky Gap Resort & Casino from Groupon. It was for 3 nights. It was a 6 hour drive from my home. I was very pleasantly surprised by what a good deal this turned out to be. The resort was in the middle of nowhere but easily accessible from I-68. It's in the hills of the Appalachian Mountains. It was very nice and had everything we needed. The room was great with a beautiful view of the lake. There was a golf course, kayaks, paddle boats, nice beach, beautiful indoor/outdoor pool and hot tub, 2 nice restaurants and a casino.  The course is the only Jack Nicklaus design golf course in Maryland. We golfed three days in a row and enjoyed it each time. It had an up north feel with some really nice elevations. There were some really nice par 3s, one of which offered up to $5000 in free play for a hole in one. The cart girls came around frequent. They used Zing Zang for their bloody marys, but had no olives or pickles, etc. There were several bathrooms on the course which was very well cared for with very nice greens. There were senior rates Tuesday and Wednesday, $65/with a casino card - $99 otherwise. (The course manager gave us senior rates on Thursday too!) We really enjoyed our stay here and would love to go back.

www.rockygapresort.com

Royal St. Cloud, St. Cloud, FL

This course is one of our favorites in the Orlando area. It's a links style course but with lots of variety in the holes and many bunkers, ridges, and stone walls. There are 3 nine hole courses, Red, White and Blue. We were told Red is kind of tight so we choose to play the other two courses every time we go. 
We have been there 3 or 5 time and have not seen a cart person yet. We paid $40/person which is very reasonable for a Florida course and unlike a lot of Florida courses, the bathrooms are not locked.
There are trash cans and ball cleaners every hole which is nice. We've not eaten there so I can't comment on the food. They have British phone booths where you can order at the turn food. It is a well maintained, scenic course that we enjoyed playing very much.

http://www.royalstcloudgolflinks.com/

Pebble Creek Golf Club, Tampa, FL

We enjoyed this course, even though it was very cold for a Florida day. It is an older course with a lot more trees than most Florida courses. There was a lot of water on this course. In fact, they brag that 16 holes have water on them. The course was in decent condition but the rough was a little too long for me. We saw a lot of birds on this course so I liked that. It was reasonably priced for a Florida course so I'd like to try golfing here on a warmer day.

http://www.pebblecreekclub.com/pebblecreek-golf/

MetroWest, Orlando, FL

This course is a newer (1987) Robert Trent Jones course located about 10 minutes away from Universal Studios. It's a little longer course for women than most Florida courses. There's lots of sand on the first nine and water on the back nine. The back nine was "prettier" than the first nine. Because this is a fairly reasonably priced course ($38 from golfnow.com) it was pretty crowded. There were bathrooms and a code was needed to get in. The cart girl was around quite often but beer was $5 a bottle! It was in good condition especially considering all the rain but there were certainly some flooded areas that had to be avoided. We didn't eat here but the clubhouse looked very nice. We did try to go back there the following January when we were there but couldn't get a tee time! Like I said, when you get a reasonably priced in course in Florida, it's always crowded!

https://www.metrowestgolf.com/golf-course

Golf Club of South Georgia, Tifton, GA

I thought this was a new course because there was a temporary clubhouse, looked like one was being built. There was no beer and not a good bathroom. The paths were terrible, really broken up.  But on reading the website, the course was built in 1992 so I'm not sure what's going on.  The webpage is old but they do have a facebookpage with more recent info on it. https://www.facebook.com/TheGolfClubOfSouthGeorgia/

From the facebook page, I've gathered that there are new owners. The tee boxes were really nice and there was an island par 3, as well as some other really nice holes. It was $30/person and no one else was there, which is always nice for us. Of ocurse, it was January in Georgia so maybe it was too cold for most people.

The fairways were in good condition and the greens were OK. There are some really good reviews on the facebook page so I'm sure if we're in the area, we'll try it again.


http://www.thegolfclubofsouthgeorgia.com/

Cooks Creek, Asheville, Ohio

We loved this course. We "accidently" found it on our way back from Myrtle Beach. It was late in the year and kind of cold so we pretty much had the course to ourselves. The pro shop was empty but I think that was because of the time of the year. They had nice port-a-potties which were very clean. The course was in nice condition and had a lot of holes we really enjoyed.

http://www.raintreesouthgc.com/

Addendum 10/21/15: I was anxious to go back to this course on our way down to Myrtle Beach this year. However, I discovered it is now Raintree South and the recent reviews are very mixed. The condition of the course has deteriorated (though everyone still praises the layout) and the pro shop/clubhouse is non-exsistent. If I go, I will again amend this review.

River Club, Pawleys Island, SC

River Club is now part of the Founders Collection, a golf management company, that took over this club right before we golfed here. There was a lot of talk about the course being "taken over" but so far everything seemed fine. The course was a little wet in spots because there was a lot of rain and there was some work being done so some machinery around, but seemed in fine condition. There are bathrooms on the course but no cart girl and no driving range.  There are water hazards on several of the holes but nothing really "scary". We'll play this course again.

http://playriverclub.com/

The Legends - Heathland, Myrtle Beach, SC

The Legends Golf & Resort has five golf courses and offers breakfast and lunch with every round of golf. We've golfed at two of the five courses previously. Heathland is the links style golf course and like all of the Legends golf courses was pretty crowded.  The Legends is a popular place for groups coming into the Myrtle Beach area and with good reason.  It's always in good condition and you receive good service from everyone. There's a nice driving range, a full service clubhouse, a beautiful "pub" and great staff. I've never stayed there but the accomodations look very nice. We enjoyed the course very much (even though I'm not fond of links style). It was in great condition, especially for the "end" of season.

http://www.legendsgolf.com/

Coyote Preserve, Fenton, MI

What a pretty course! It really is a nature preserve. Here are the good things:  the course was in good condition, with lots of elevations, woman friendly tee boxes, and fast greens. It's a very scenic, beautiful course. But here are the bad things: there were no bathrooms (just port-a-potties), no cart girl (she called in sick), and it was really crowded - we waited on every hole.  The course is very choppy with lots of hills, bunkers, water and marsh (which is also kind of a good thing - you have to use a lot of strategy) There was no menu at the turn so we just grabbed a hot dog which wasn't very good. It's not a long course (4800 for the women), it's a strategic course. Would I golf here again...maybe, if the price was right!

http://www.coyotepreserve.com/

Elk Ridge, Atlanta (Gaylord), MI

We love this golf course. It is one of the prettiest in Michigan and one of the most undiscovered! We've been there twice now and no one has been there (or very few people). It's kind of in the middle of nowhere but well worth the drive. Course was in beautiful conditon both times we were there. There's a really nice par 3 on the first nine and hole 10 is a cool, elevated par 3 with a pig shaped sand trap.  It is very women friendly 5200 yards but provides a challenge to men at 7000, if they want.  There are bathrooms on the course and there is a turn staffed with very nice people and good food.  There is no cart girl or wasn't both times we were there. We didn't see any elk, although we were told they were there, but we did see many deer.  We plan on making this course an annual trip!

 http://www.elkridgegolf.com/

Angels Crossing Golf Club, Vicksburg, MI

Bought this deal on groupgolfer.com but it expired.  We couldn't get out there because of the weather.  However we were in the area so we were finally able to get there.  We only had to pay an additional $10 each to golf.  Right at the beginning, the pros:  very nice people, beautiful clubhouse and the cons:  no view of the golf course from the clubhouse.  The course itself is a little drive from the clubhouse, the starter was extremely nice and very proud of the course.  It's almost entirely links style with a few trees.  The starter said cart path only, however there were very few paths and most of them were rocky paths.  The fairways were in nice condition as were the greens. Most of the greens were tricky with pin position in almost impossible positions.  There was water on only one hole but lots of wetlands, bunkers and grassy areas. There was no cart person and no bathrooms, just a couple of port-a-potties.  There were quite a few of well dressed women golfers on the course and I can't believe they used port-a-potties. I didn't so I can't speak to their condition.  My husband really enjoyed the course and would gladly golf there again.  I did like the course but am not really crazy about links style and definitely not crazy about port-a-potties! There is a small "house" between holes 1, 9, and 10 but when we were there, she was up at the clubhouse so we drove up there, went to the bathroom, grabbed drinks and ran to hole 10.  The weekday price is $40 which seems very reasonable for this course.  It was pretty crowded but everything moved well.

 http://www.golfangelscrossing.com/