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Ponds
'n' Pines Golf by:
Bruce Ryder
Review
by: diruby |
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First
of all, I must put this out
there. I am a novice TW 08 player. However, since I've been
playing I have been impressed with Mr. Ryder's courses and gotten to
know him personally. So, I was really surprised when he
asked me to review this new course and I'm a bit nervous, but will try
my best and try to use his review criteria. So, with that being
said, here goes nothing! |
The
first thing I noticed with this course is the realism. Upon
looking to the left on the 1st tee (I am very curious!) and past the
green on the 2nd hole, I saw the little details he uses to add realism
to the course.
In fact, the whole course is very realistic and one gets the impression it is fairly easy until you reach the 4th hole. Here you are faced with a dangerous tee shot with very little room for error! Your second shot to the green on this par 5 has to go over some pine trees and avoid deep rough and water. An eagle is possible on this hole, but with the wind conditions I used to play the course (Calm) and green conditions (Dry), I decided to play it safe! Here is the overhead view of the hole and my landing spot for the tee shot:  Holes 5-7 offer some challenges,
but hole 8 is rated as the most difficult according to the
handicaps. Upon looking at the overhead map and the lay out, I
saw why. This hole goes around the edge of one of the nine ponds
on the course and you have to avoid the pine trees, deep rough, sand
and rocks. This was a daring shot with Calm winds. I can
only imagine how it might be with winds that are stronger! The
second shot has to reach an undulating green protected by pine
trees...hmmm..no wonder he named the course Ponds 'n' Pines!
 The back nine starts off on an easy does it par 4, but after that it gets interesting! Continued on next page.... |
