A Round on The Meadows

The Meadows Course is still “under construction” but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a round on it. I was able to get in a round after dinner last night. The course is still rough in many spots, and the tee boxes are still just flagged ground so many times you’ll need to carefully through a “stand still”, but the Meadows is already a fun layout. At the moment only the “Red Layout” back tees are marked by white flags. The shorter green layout will be set soon, but if you are playing with some kids or newbies, feel free to “make your own” short tees.

Nearly every day you’ll see Drew out on the course cleaning things up, often accompanied by Chris Barden, Chris Burk or other volunteers, so improvements are coming quickly. Feel free to join us!

You’ll find the tee for hole #1 just up from the southwest corner of the parking lot (that’s to the left when you are facing the shack). The opening hole is a 284’ throw in the wide open meadow. The only hazard might be the thrones on the edge of the woods to the right, but you’d really have to grip-lock one to reach that.

After putting out on #1, you’ll have a bit of the walk into the woods on a clearly defined path to the second tee. Although we don’t have any tee signs yet (coming very soon), you should be able to make out the path. Hole two is a mostly tight 195’ throw to a basket guarded by a few huge trees. You’ll find the Meadows woods fairways to be a bit more generous than those on Spoonwood Ridge. After two, look toward the back right for a trail to the next tee.

Hole three is a challenging 244’ slightly downhill throw, well treed the entire way. Along with #6, this is the most difficult par on the Meadows Course. After putting out on #3, turn back and to you right and walk along the path along the stream a bit to get to the next tee.

Both hole #4 & #5 are short (175’ & 170’) technical uphill throws, short ace runs if you can hit your line. Be sure to say hello to the “old man in the tree”.

After #5, look for the short path that takes you to #6. There is still some snow left in this area of the course. Six is a tough 250’ tight slightly downhill and a bit of a dogleg to the left. You might not see the basket right away off the tee.

Currently this fairway needs the most cleanup, with the snow right now you’ll need to walk carefully. I suspect by the end of April this will be in great shape. Avoid an early tree or you’ll be tempting bogey or worse.

Hole #7 is a transition out of the woods. You’ll have about 100’ straight trough the woods to get to the Meadows, then another 150’ to reach the basket. Hope you have a hard-turning right shot in your bag! You’ll see the remnants of an old hunting stand in the tree near the tee, and a “critter cam” is still set up. I’m not sure if it’s still working, but SMILE anyway.

Hole #8 tee is not yet defined as the snow is still covering the south edge of the meadow. For now pick a clear spot and let it rip to the basket, a wide open 300 feet away. After playing so many holes in the woods, you’ll now feel the wind.

Hole #9 is a rare treat: a wide-open 285’ downhill toss. Just don’t go OB into the road long and left. You may have some spectators hanging around the shack as you finish out. The perfect place to card that elusive ACE!

You'll finish your nine in under 45 minutes, so even if you start a round at 6 PM you'll still be done by sunset. Maybe even have time for another loop. Just watch out for the old man in the tree.