Sea Scape, Nags Head

We were warned that the course was very narrow, surrounded by houses, and that we would lose a lot of balls.  Of course, we were told this where we golfed yesterday!  There were houses on the course but we had lots of room to "swing away".  There were lots of long, tricky par 5s and some really clever par 3s.  The fairways were in bad condition, barely grass but the greens were really nice.  There were two bathrooms on the course and the cart girl was around frequently.  There were a lot of seniors golfing but everyone moved very quickly.  There were a quite a few (4) holes that were cart path only and we couldn't figure out why!  They were not in good condition and no one was working on them!  There was some water, a little sand and some trees...quite a few doglegs.  We enjoyed the course and found it to be just the right amount of difficulty.  Don't know if it was worth $60 though.  Would probably golf there again.

http://www.seascapegolf.com/

The Carolina Club, Grandy, NC

Golfed here Tuesday, April 24th.  Kind of a flat course in decent condition, considering the season hasn't really started here yet.  They were remodeling the "clubhouse" which was quite small and redoing several of the cart paths which made it a little hard to get around.  It was a little cool and really, really windy because we were so close to the ocean.  The course had some really nice holes but most were kind of straight forward. The picture is of an "island" green par 3 which was nice.  The greenskeeper put sand on the greens so they were really fast and kind of hard to get use to.  I lost a lot of balls in the water and woods.  There was one bathroom which was accessible from hole 6 and hole 13 and had a pretty canal next to it.  There was a small cemetary on one of the holes too which was really unusual. There was no cart girl because it was early season but the clubhouse had some sandwiches and hot dogs of course.  Everything was quite expensive, the golf was $50 for golfing after noon.  Would golf here again but hopefully better.

http://www.thecarolinaclub.com/

Plantation Palms, Land O' Lakes, FL

We booked this course through teetimesusa.com as part of a package. In some ways it was your typical Florida course...in a neighborhood, mostly flat, lots of water, but in some ways it was not typical...the fairways were wider, there was more marsh area and a little more elevation than I've seen in most Florida courses. There was no cart girl, but there were lots of bathrooms. The clubhouse was nice with a good balcony to watch golfers on both 9 and 18. The 18th hole was a really challenging par 5 which narrowed down right before a water hazard, right before the green. We both lost our balls in the water and as we watched other golfers come up, most of them did also! The greens were smooth and I made a few long putts and the fairways were in good condition...the sand was really nice too. There was some wind, thank goodness, because it was 80 degrees. The course was very crowded...we were sandwiched between two foursomes and the foursome behind us drove up everytime we were teeing off, which I hate and the foursome in front of us was pretty slow. But I would like to do this course again.

Riverhills, Valrico, FL

We golfed here before, about 3 years ago, and I had really fond memories...but I don't know why! The course winds through a community with not very wide fairways. It was an OK course, fairways OK condition, greens OK condition, etc. They had a cart girl, at least for the first nine. There was a bathroom, conveniently located, and there was a good hot dog at the turn. It was a typical Florida course, mostly flat with some water. The clubhouse was beautiful but there was no place to sit and watch the golfers either going out or coming in, which is what I love to do after I golf! We booked through teetimesusa.com so the price was very reasonable. It was not crowded but very, very windy which really came into play. I've now done this course twice and I think that's enough...

Sage Meadows in Jonesboro, AK

We were rained out again from golfing at Mirimichi so we decided to start driving home with a little different route so we could golf one more time. Some we drive northwest to Jonesboro. We found this really nice course. It was in the middle of a subdivision however the homes were well placed and out of the "line of fire". The greens were a little rough in spots and some of the tee boxes were beat up. The folks in the clubhouse were great. I think this used to be a private club and was recently taken over by a different group. It had rained the day before torrentially so it was cart path only and it was kind of chilly (about 50). The sand was full of water so if your ball went in there, you didn't often find it again. Some of the holes were really nice, with some interesting uphills and doglegs. We did like the course but would like to golf there on a nicer day!http://www.sagemeadows.com/

Mallard Pointe, Sardis, MS

We were unable to golf at Mirimichi because of the weather but we took a ride over an looked at it. It looks really nice, with a cool clubhouse and some really nice holes. We'll try to golf there tomorrow. We decided to drive to casinos about a half hour away in Tunica, Mississippi. On the way, we found this golf course in a state park in Sardis, Ms. It turned out to be a really nice day and this was a really nice, extremely challenging course. Lots of hills, really nice sand bunkers, water, woods, everything that makes a nice course. Again, there was the strange, yellow, spongy grass but the fairways were nice and the greens were OK. There were a couple bathrooms on the course, which I like a lot better than port a potties. The price was good also. Would definitely golf here again if we're in the area.

Ted Rhodes golf course, Nashville, TN

We decided to take a short driving trip down south to golf at Justin Timberlakes course, Mirimichi, in Tennessee. On the way down we stopped at this course. It was a public, city owned course. There was a pretty steady stream of players. The course was not in the best of condition - don't know if this was because of the time of the year or if it's always like this. It seemed like all the courses down south had that weird yellowish kind of grass that's kind of hard to hit out of, it's so spongy. The tee boxes were rough but OK and the greens, for the most part, were in OK condition. The folks here were really nice - no cart girl at this time of year of course and they didn't sell alcohol, probably cause it's city owned. There were port a potties out there, didn't use one though so no comment about cleanliness. The course was pretty flat with some sand and some water. Jerry ate a sandwich which he wasn't crazy about but I didn't eat anything. It was about $25 a person to golf. There were a few nice holes and, given the opportunity, would probably golf here again.