ALERT: (Projected Aeration Alert)
Will be aerating the greens on the Hills Course 10/14 & 10/15 and then the Orchard Course 10/21 & 10/22.
* Please note that although we put a great amount of effort into forecasting course maintenance, we still recommend you contact the golf course to confirm this information.
Lincoln Hills Golf Club is a 36 hole facility in the midst of Dell Webb’s Sun City Lincoln Hills active retirement community. I played the “Hills” course, which as I understand it, is made up of the original Billy Casper/Greg Nash designed holes along with a few “new” holes that Greg Nash designed. The remainder of the original holes became part of the newer “Orchard” course. Obviously, these courses were put here to attract active retirees, and it plays as such. But, this is NOT a bad thing, because the designers did a great job of making the course easily playable, yet interesting enough to hold any golfer’s attention. The two residents I played with said the course gets a lot of “outside” players, like myself, and other than being the youngest guy around that morning, I felt welcomed and comfortable. I’ve got to say, retiring here would be great.
I know what you’re thinking… “Ugh, a golf course to sell houses.” Well, yeah, that’s pretty true, but Lincoln Hills did it right. The holes are laid out in wide corridors, so that there is plenty of space around the fairways whether wetlands, ponds, or hillsides. Sure, the houses are there, but generally, they’re far enough away so as not to be too overbearing. And there are sections of the course where the corridor is at least two fairways wide, so you really feel that the golf course has a space of it’s own. However, this is definitely a “carts only” course as some of the distances between holes are very long. And speaking of carts, the fleet was only a week old the day I played, which made for a nice, shiny new ride with plenty of electric get up and go.
The range and practice facility are magnificent. The short game area is one of the best I’ve ever seen. There’s a large green with 3 or 4 flags and enough room that you can hit 50- or 60-yard pitches. The putting green is a good representation of the greens on the course, and the range balls are included with your green fee.
This is a wide and generous course. No tight tree-lined dog-legs here, but as with most courses like this, the ability to really score comes from leaving your shot on the correct side of the fairway to set up your attack on the day’s pin placement. The highlight holes on this course have got to be the par-3s. There are a couple of really beautiful and tricky one-shotters. But first you have to get your long game going on the par-5 number two. It’s a pretty healthy carry over water, but not an issue for a long hitter. From the blues, I managed to get to the green with a driver and 3-wood (no, I didn’t make the eagle putt). Here there are plenty of holes to hit driver on, and generally the landing areas are very generous, and even if you roll it into the rough, there’s plenty of room to work with. For example, on number four, as long as you go over or stay right of the fairway bunker on the left, the landing area is huge. Though, at least for me, this course’s defense is on the putting surfaces… they’re pretty quick, and the undulations can be subtle and deceiving. More than a few times I was completely fooled. Number five is the first notable par-3. The water to the right of the tee isn’t really in play, and you’re shooting a little uphill to a long two-tiered, diagonal green with bunkers short and long. Number nine is a fun, downhill, short-ish par-4 that plays easier to the green if you can keep your tee shot as far to the left in the fairway as possible.
Number ten is one of the few holes where the fence on the right is close enough to make you worry about a slice off the tee and the bunker in front of the green is ready to catch a shot hit without conviction. Twelve is my favorite hole on the course. It’s a downhill par-3 with bunkers below and right of the green, and a beautiful view of the tree-framed pond at the bottom of the hill. The fifteenth is a par-5 where the water again will get in your brain on the tee. Only a pretty big hook can get to the second pond on the left, but just knowing it’s there is enough. Sixteen is the last par-3, and it’s another beauty. You’ll hit a short- to mid-iron downhill to a big green, with sand right, left and beyond the green. It’s a nice view back up to where the big clubhouse sits on top of the hill. Finally, eighteen is a gentle uphill par-4 that’s not too long to give you a chance to get one back if your round didn’t go as well as you’d hoped (when isn’t that true?!).
Conditions were very good to excellent. The greens were smooth and pretty fast, though not overly so. And the residents must take pride in their course, because there were few to no unfixed ball marks. Tees were nice and level and in good shape. Fairways were beautiful, and would roll if you hit it low. I only noticed a couple of fairways that must have some drainage issues that were likely highlighted by the season’s crazy amount of rain, but it looked like the repairs were made, and were now in the process of recovering. The rough was long enough to affect your shot–I hit a couple of fliers from the rough–but never felt like I didn’t have a chance to recover. The sand was soft enough that your ball wasn’t going to roll out if you hit it in, but the consistency and depth were just right for getting out. Overall, the course was a pleasure to play on.
If you don’t have a serious allergy to playing with houses in view, Lincoln Hills Club’s Hills Course is an excellent track to play. The golf is not overly challenging, but it’s long enough for a low-handicapper and fun for anybody from the right tees. The upscale feel and nice conditioning is enjoyable, although for the moderately high greens fees, I would expect it.
