The Diggins was released on Sept 17, 2005 by Bobby Jones....yes Bobby Jones. The course is a par 72 and plays to about 7200 yards from the back tees. There are no course notes.
For those of you that don't know Bobby Jones (the PGA designer), you are about to learn of a really good architect. The Diggins has a great layout, which will provide some serious strategy to be successful. Bobby has somewhat of a trademark with his courses, and you see it alot.....bunkers in the middle of the fairways. They not only come into play with a driver, but laying up needs to be done accurately too. These traps are always manageable with a good shot, but will cost you if you get in them. Here is an example:
Notice the great job of planting. Very realistic looking.
This next pic is interesting. The texture you see that looks like a rock type formation, is actually the 'dirt' texture. The detail on this formation is outstanding. Mr. Jones knows his way around the architect:
My favorite hole at The Diggins, is the driveable par 4 12th. Take the safe route and choose option 'A'. Do this with an iron or fairway wood off the tee and you will have a wedge in. Option 'B' is the epitome of risk/reward. It's not a long carry, but you must negotiate the trees directly in front of you with some shot shaping. I chose this route and ended up deep in the woods short and right. However, I made a 40 footer to save par!
The Diggins has an awesome layout with alot of options, and even alot of opportunities. I shot a good round (for me) at -2, and nearly had a hole in one on the 16th. The combination of the Woodford Park library and the Pine Valley library looks really good together. The bunkers and fairways are done nicely, as well as the greens. I do NOT recommend anyone playing these greens on very dry, because some of them are very steep. I hope you will enjoy this course as much as I do.
Bobby Jones has also given us 13 other courses. Alot of these are on Dar's A list:
Booneyville Mountain
Boulder Beach
Grass Valley GC
Hard Rock Island
High Sierra Golf Club
Jonesborough Oaks
Kanora GC At Firth Lakes
Monte Vista Highlands
Octotillo Dunes
Pacific Pines
Shady Lakes
The Diggins
The Island Course At Seven Palms
Whispering Pines GC
Oldie but Goodie: The Diggins
Re: Oldie but Goodie: The Diggins
Doron! Great choice for a review! Not just the course but the designer Bobby Jones. I have almost no knowledge of this designer which seems kind of weird. I have heard of him ( such a great golfer ) Oops wrong guy. The Diggins looks like another on a growing list that I missed the first time around and I'm going to download as soon as I get done here. I was looking at the list of courses he designed and I didn't realize he did that many. The only one I currently have is Whispering Pines. I discovered it last Spring but I haven't played it except a quick go through. Once again NICE ONE. looking forward to your next review.
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Indy Anna Jones
- Legend of Golf
- Posts: 684
- Joined: November 17th, 2010, 11:54 pm
Re: Oldie but Goodie: The Diggins
It's been quite a while since I've played The Diggins but Bobby Jones is one of my favorite designers; I think of all of his courses I've been disappointed with only one and I can't even remember which one it was. One of my favorite Jones' courses is High Sierra, a mountain course that also requires a lot of thought to play successfully. We played Boulder Beach a couple of months ago; it's one of my favorite "California" seaside-type courses. I highly recommend his designs. Thanks for the nice review.
Last edited by Indy Anna Jones on January 19th, 2011, 9:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Stan Nehilla
- Legend of Golf
- Posts: 1966
- Joined: November 17th, 2010, 5:29 pm
- Location: Pennsylvania USA
Re: Oldie but Goodie: The Diggins
Bobby is another one of my favorite designers. His courses are universally first class and tough. He has a real flair for strategic design and forcing the player to really think about nearly every shot. Play them on very dry, gusty or strong winds, they turn into snarling beasts. We still play his courses frequently.
Bobby produced 11 of his 14 courses in the 2002-2003 timeframe. His last was in 2006. It is a shame we lost him to PGA2000. According to Crank (a close friend of Bobby), Bobby was somehow lured into designing for Tiger Woods. Last I heard, he even deinstalled the PGA2000 game. Maybe one day, he will get the itch and come back... who knows?
You can't go wrong with any of Bobby's courses. I have 13 of his 14 courses on my A-List. The lone exception is Pacific Pines. He was in the process of redoing that course when he decided to switch to TW. The redesign of PP never finished.
Bobby, if you read this, please consider rejoining us.
Dar
Bobby produced 11 of his 14 courses in the 2002-2003 timeframe. His last was in 2006. It is a shame we lost him to PGA2000. According to Crank (a close friend of Bobby), Bobby was somehow lured into designing for Tiger Woods. Last I heard, he even deinstalled the PGA2000 game. Maybe one day, he will get the itch and come back... who knows?
You can't go wrong with any of Bobby's courses. I have 13 of his 14 courses on my A-List. The lone exception is Pacific Pines. He was in the process of redoing that course when he decided to switch to TW. The redesign of PP never finished.
Bobby, if you read this, please consider rejoining us.
Dar
Re: Oldie but Goodie: The Diggins
Indy, I honestly have never played High Sierra, but I'm gonna check it out right now. My favorite from Bobby is Hard Rock Island, which is probably his last design. It was actually a small part of my inspiration for the style of contest course I did.