Black Forest

Tough course, disappointing conditions

Played in late June 2013, and to my surprise, the conditions were poor for such a highly touted course. Greens were kept up nicely, rolled well and true. However, much of the rest of the course was in worse shape. Fairways were decent, too many weeds though. For a Friday I would've expected the grounds crew to be cutting them to get them ready for the weekend. We played 36 holes and I didn't see much in the way of anyone working on the course all day. Tee boxes were in good shape, some weeds though. Some areas of the course seem to have had some overwatering or drainage problems. Worst of all were the bunkers. Which, for a course that features such large and penalizing bunkers, was especially surprising since I've read so many great things about the Tom Doak signature bunkering at Black Forest. Edges and areas around the bunkers were not kept up, some weeds, but most irritating and unsightly were the amount of rocks in the bunkers. And I'm not talking about a few pebbles. Rocks that ranged from the size of a grape all the way up to a grape fruit were the norm, and their were tons of them. I have to imagine the sand was not screened before being delivered. Over the course of 36 holes, nearly all 16 of us had to hit out of a bunker and we all were pissed at their conditions. Overall, its a nice, tough layout, but more work on the course to get the conditions to what it was, and should be, is necessary. For the price, 36 holes for under $80 was great, but I would've gladly played somewhere nicer and paid extra. Willing to go back, but I'd probably wait a couple years and see what other people are saying about it.

Overall Experience

Value

Conditions

Based on my experience: I would not play the course again.