Tobacco Road GC - Sanford, North Carolina

First impression:  This is a fun house.  Cue the wavy mirrors and spinning tunnel.  From the moment you pull in, you can't help notice there are as many bunkers as fairway greenspace.  The flat landscape on the roads leading to the club are far different from the rolling landscape we've now entered.  The atmosphere of the course is something you feel as if you've stumbled upon.  Pines tower all around like soldiers in a row.  The road narrows, and we start to wonder if we're in the right place.  The clubhouse is unassuming.  A plantation-type house with a front porch spanning the front.  You would think it's someone's house.  Plows and cultivators line the tee boxes.   I guess this is all a pretty big first impression.  Overall, our excitement was growing by the moment.  

The clubhouse

The finer details.  I played from the cultivator tees.

Just outside the golf mecca of Pinehurst, Tobacco Road has been on Shawn's unofficial list of "must play" tracks even prior to our decision to play a course from every state.  It's more than we imagined.  Warming up, the driving range served it's purpose, but wasn't anything remarkable, and it's irons only.  On the other hand, the putting green proved a challenging start to the many other challenges that would come throughout the day.  There were putts I sent five different ways, and somehow none of them had the proper line.  The edges of the holes on this double-tier green were pretty tight as well.  

First hole.  Note the cart path winding up the "mountain" at right. 

Looking back at the first tee from the fairway.

The putting green sits alongside the first tees, and pictures don't begin to do justice to the elevation changes and awe of the land on the first hole.  The cart path runs up a plateau that's to the right of the narrow valley that is the first fairway.  I would compare it to the layout of a miniature golf course.  The only aspect missing was one of those windmills you have to hit through.  I suppose that makes Tobacco Road a big, miniature golf course.  So that's just a golf course then, I guess, but that's no way to describe what we're getting into here. 

Ten

You'd think it's a mirage in this desert-like oasis.
The only water on the course is on 14.  

Interesting to note, you can pick up your ball in the sand, ground your club, and take as many practice swings as you want.  Given most of the course is sand, there are no rakes.  You just smooth over the sand with your hand when you leave.  There are also a number of holes with bells to ring once you've left the fairway.  Therefore, it always sounds like it's dinner time, as you hear the bell chime from around the course, and, more importantly, it eludes to the fact there are a number of blind tee and fairway shots.  We had the luxury of having a great cushion between the groups in front of us and behind us.  Thus, we could take our time, and not worry about hitting into anyone (or being hit into).

Thirteen's hillside separating the fairway from
the green (to right in this picture).

Notable holes: It's hard to pick favorites because it was all so picturesque and sculpted.  Shawn's favorite hole was the thirteenth.  This zig-zag, or double-dog leg, par 5 makes the GPS a must.(Sidenote: TRGC has their own app.  Turn your phone into landscape mode, and you get a flyover of each hole.  After two holes, you realize why they really had to provide their own app.)  Shawn landed his shot right in the fairway, only to follow that with a blind seven shot.  His shot was a little thin, but that was clearly the work of the golf Gods, as it was thin to win.  His next shot was over a plateau covered in "monkey grass" (words of the starter, not my own...I liken monkey grass to McDonald's fry guys) that creates a mountain range between the fairway and the green.  Chipping out of the monkey grass, Shawn landed within 15 feet of the hole.  It was meant to be because he sank his par putt.  Maybe it wasn't all luck.  Maybe he's just that good.  I'll let him have that one.  

Sixteen.  One of my favorites.  Straight into the valley, and then dogleg left up a hill to the green.  Note the monkey grass EVERYWHERE.  It's like a dog shed really badly all over everything. 

11: from the green looking back at the
fairway over the expansive bunker. 

Caution: Bunkers are deeper than they appear.
Here's Shawn playing around in the sandbox on 11.

Eleven was pretty remarkable as well.  It's really just the bunker that had us in awe. You hit over a wetlands wash into the left-hand fairway bordered on the right by a bunker that's easily thirty feet deep and 130 yards long.  We both made our way safely into the fairway only for me to land in the aforementioned bunker on the next shot.  For the record, I was thisclose to clearing it.  Caught the lip and bounced down.  The difference one foot would have made...  Shawn cleared the bunker, but decided to take the stairway to heaven (or maybe hell...you are stepping down into red sand, after all) to try chipping out just for shits and giggles.  He was unsuccessful.  Doesn't hurt to try though.  My favorite would be fifteen or sixteen.  I did play my best golf on those two holes, so that surely doesn't hurt.  Both had Sedona-like red sand bunkers and amazing elevation changes. 

View from the seventeeth tee

Stairway to 17th tees

18: Hit over the road and sea of red sand to the elevated fairway that quickly doglegs left.

Off-road adventures

At the end of the day, we thoroughly enjoyed our time on Tobacco Road.  The course was challenging, beautiful, and fun.  We also thoroughly enjoyed being able to drive through the bunkers.  It was the perfect marriage of four-wheeling coupled with golf.  Cruising up hills and back down the bumps of others felt, at times, like a rollercoaster ride.  This is officially our new favorite course, and I have a feeling we'll be back to this area sooner than later to hit this track again and possibly try out some of the other Pinehurst offerings.  

http://www.tobaccoroadgolf.com

More of our Tobacco Road experience

Tobacco Road Golf Club (Sanford, NC)

Eagle Eye GC - Bath, Michigan

Likely landing spots include water, a house,
or the marsh to the right.  Not the green.

After the trials and tribulations of Purgatory yesterday, we restocked our golf ball collection before turning our sights toward Michigan for our next round of golf.  Greeted by overcast skies that felt heavy with rain, we arrived at the Hawk Hollow clubhouse.  Don't worry, the sun came out before the turn.  Gearing up for our next 18, we warmed up at the driving range with raised tees.  While excited at the prospect of a new day of golf, Melanie was a little lethargic from the 100+ strokes she put forth yesterday.

Our first impression was green as far as the eye can see.  This course is immaculate.  Long-winding fairways and a great expanse of water extended from the mighty clubhouse.  We were paired with an older Canadian couple who were on their fifth round of golf for the week in the region.  Needless to say, we have a great deal to live up to.

We quickly each hole was vastly different from the rest and spread out.  We felt as if we were the only four out there playing.  Houses dotted the edges of some fairways, but we truly felt as though we were in a nature preserve away from it all for the majority of the 7323 yards.

The sea of sand on 12.

Some highlights were the 408 yard par 4 that looked as if it extended forever upon first sight.  A great wedge shot saved me on this hole, however we all favored the bank at the right--likely a result of the water to the left.  Darn water.  The tree-covered drive up to the twelfth tee had us pretty excited, but the sand monster to the left of the fairway quickly became a magnet to a couple of our group's shots.  Thirteen was truly a wow hole from its sheer size.  Water and a sand bar followed the edge of what was clearly a paradise for wild fowl.  Beautiful.  I could tell a story about every hole because they truly all are so unique, but I'll reserve my last comments for the the par 3 seventeenth hole.

13.  Gorgeous.

Pete Dye did an amazing job replicating his island green par 3 from the TPC Sawgrass 17th on this course.  We each took our turn holding our breath and taking a swing at what we hoped would be a shot on the green.  Somehow, I was the only one to land on the green.  Others may, or may not, have taken a second (or third) tee shot, but all eventually made it up to the green.  That's what drop zones are made for.

A view of 17's tee box from the island green. 

Shawn on the 17 green. 

Ultimately, this was a much tougher course than we ever anticipated.  The course proved to be as much of a mental challenge as it was physical.  Bring your camera to take in some of the beauty that surrounds you, even though my reflections back on my pictures leave me feeling as if the real deal was a little more impressive.

We both agree it was significantly more difficult than Purgatory, and one of the more difficult courses we've ever played.  It is easily the hardest course Melanie has ever played, but Shawn has a little more experience, considering he's played since he was seven.  It's number three on his list behind Double Eagle and Muirfield Village.  He hesitated to say Troon North was more challenging, but ultimately put Eagle Eye before Troon (got all that?).  This was a fantastic way to close out our holiday weekend, and we would love to come back, right after we've finished visiting all those other states!

Eagle Eye Website

Side note: For those interested, Michigan State is not far away.  We landed there after our round for our traditional post-game Starbucks.

Purgatory GC - Noblesville, Indiana

Yes, it's that early.  We're right behind the crew rolling
the greens, and we continue to tee off just after the
sprinklers have ceased at each hole.

Fresh course.  Love it.  

When you think a relaxing three day weekend, you think driving three hours after work to rest up for a brutal 5am wake up. Oh, you don't?  This is the beginning of our Labor Day escape to conquer two states on our list. First stop, Indiana.

Being the type-A individuals we are, Shawn and I researched not only the most interesting and challenging course to play in Indiana, but also ensured our choice would allow us to rack up more Marriott points while providing close proximity to head to that state up north (aka Michigan, for the non-Buckeyes) for our next round.  Thus, we landed on Purgatory Golf Club.

The 5am wake-up call was a little rough, but we had a 7am tee time. Powered by Christmas-like excitement, we found our way to Denny's after a few U-turns. I have to take a moment to commend Denny's-known affectionately by some as "Lenny's."  It has never been a glamorous breakfast joint, but they do breakfast SO well. Has the Grand Slam even gone up in price over the years?  Four items for around $6. It just doesn't get much better than that. At any rate, we bounced into our booth overlooking a group who was obviously still finishing up their evening. A couple cups of coffee and a Grand Slam later, we were leaded and ready for the course. Who am I kidding?  Desite our early-bird mentality, we were still pretty sleepy.

Our drive led us from suburbia to countryside, as we approached Purgatory. Nestled among cornfields, the clubhouse known as The Lodge, sat in the darkness. Red was just beginning to peer out of the horizon, as I was barely able to make out what I later found to be the range.  We had bought yellow balls since we knew golfing in uncharted territory would prove challenging, but I began to wonder if I would need a glow-in-the dark ball.  Entering the clubhouse, there was no sign of life. Clearly, we are the only people crazy enough to be here. Finding our way to the pro shop through what was every bit a mountain lodge, we checked in and collected our logo ball to commemorate the visit.

How did that not go in?  Look for it...

Loading up the cart, I was introduced to my first GPS golf cart.   The touch screen was larger than an iPad, and the graphics were amazing. Shawn and I both use the Golfshot GPS app on our phones to track hits, view yardage, and keep score, but this was just too cool. We would later realize it knew the exact pin placement on each hole. I'm no professional (heck, I'm barely an amateur), but it's pretty nice to have this versus just the front, center, and back green yardages. The grass on the range was perfect. Spongy and forgiving to our divots. There was still no sign of the sun, but the sky was glowing with orange and pink.  I finished up on the range while Shawn went to putt. By the time I hit my last few shots, he was returning-unable to putt, as the green was still being rolled.

Looks easy enough, right? (see photo at right)

Aerial of the same hole from purgatorygolf.com

Our impressions after the first few holes were: this is the nicest sand we've ever seen, every hole is breathtaking, and there was a nice balance of and distance. Course management was going to be a must.  By the fifth hole, the heather and rolling grade conquered two sleeves of golf balls for me alone.  The freshly rolled greens proved quick, and the par fives long. The par threes generally seemed to have some obstacle between the six tee boxes and the green, be it heather, sand, water, or other naturally growing nonsense.  It was hard to believe this was Indiana.

Yeah.  It's kind of like that.  On every hole.
Neon ball.  No help.

If you asked me to pick a favorite (Shawn did), I couldn't pick one. Each hole was different from the next.  Shawn's favorite was hole twelve, a par three.  The green was raised, the front lined with rocks.  Thirteen, another par three, ate my ball, as my tee shot went right into the water between the tee in green. Somehow I knew that would happen, even though it wasn't a long shot, so I played one of the "found" balls in my bag.  Hole sixteen was modeled after Mackenzie, and my extensive vocabulary could only describe the bunkers as reminiscent of a bear claw pastry.   High in the back, low in the front, the bunkers disappeared from view as you looked back from the green.

The view from the sea of bunkers (purgatorygolf.com).

Aerial of 17 from purgatorygolf.com

Seventeen was an island green, and by that I mean it was a sea of bunkers. I'm proud to say I didn't land in the sand. However, in the interest of full disclosure I must tell you my ball landed in a bunker only to bounce into the heather surrounding it. Drop ball.   The third hole was probably my favorite par three, as my tee shot granted great placement on the green.

Purgatory logo.  It's branded on
the sign for every hole.

Luckily, our early start rendered a nice early finish, as the humidity and heat were gaining steam.  As we unloaded our cart, we noticed a gaggle of girls with a coach in a rancher hat at the first tee.  Their bags led us to realize this was the IU golf team.  We sat in awe for a few minutes--watching them tee off.  They make it look so easy and effortless.  One day, when I use my NCAA eligibility...

An early finish means we had time to trek over to a local BW3 to catch the first Buckeye made of the season. Yes, they won. All in all a great trip. Tomorrow's stop: Bath, Michigan.

Purgatory Website