This is somewhat of a moral dilemma for me, because I hate to be given a birthday present and then go complain about it publicly on the Internet. But with no reviews since April, I feel obligated to w... Continue »

This is somewhat of a moral dilemma for me, because I hate to be given a birthday present and then go complain about it publicly on the Internet. But with no reviews since April, I feel obligated to write a review even though I played on a completely free birthday round out here today. I checked in around 12:30 and was sent straight out by myself, and basically had the whole course to myself. I waited briefly on the 9th hole for a twosome to clear the green, and then passed them at the turn. Total POP was 2:20, without even rushing. That's one big positive.

Conditions are extremely mixed and inconsistent throughout the course, although "mixed" might imply some areas are very good. None were. Here's a breakdown: Greens were good/decent for the first seven holes. They were soft, somewhat smooth and ran medium-fast to fast. Then, starting on the eighth hole, the greens were rock hard and extremely pock-marked from healing ball marks. Because they were so hard, they were even faster than the previous greens. They stayed rock hard for a couple holes, and then went back to being a little softer and more accepting of shots. But then, the 18th green is one of the worst-conditioned greens I've seen in a long, long time. It was a patchwork of about 50% grass and 50% dirt. Fairways for the most part were thin but playable. Rough varied from thick, gnarly stuff around some greenside bunkers to non-existent/bare spots. Bunkers seemed like they were somewhat maintained, but all in need of a good, deep raking. Tee boxes were inconsistent from one hole to the next and not great overall. Several front nine holes also reeked like raw sewage.

I'd played here once or twice previously when it was known as Temeku Hills, but that was a long time ago. Obviously the recession/golf downturn has taken its toll here. I was never a huge fan of the course, but it does have lots of dramatic elevation changes going for it and some quirk in the layout that could make it kind of fun. However, current conditions make it very difficult to recommend for anything other than a free birthday round, and even then, go in with lowered expectations.