Chloe Ann Golf Club by Steve Opfer [New Course]

[sandwedge]

Picked up the new offering from Steve Opfer and decided to give it a whirl. My favorite design of his is Franklin Lakes - hoping this one offers as much fun.

First impressions after walking the course - greens appear to be fair - maybe not quite U.S. Open variety as in some of his other designs - elevation change works well and might make you stand and think about your club choice and loft a little bit before having a go - looks like tee shots are fairly straightforward with only a few holes on the back nine requiring you to dial in your distance.

What I liked - definitely the best thing visually for me was the creek and its representation - very realistic! I also liked the look of the fairways. I wouldn't say this is a visually stunning course but it has its moments. The layout is a fair one. I had a lot of fun playing a few rounds here. The round I kept score in had average, normal, breezy conditions. My score was -5 total, -5 on the front nine and even par on the back nine (despite 3 birdies there, I also had a bogey and double bogey) No particular hole was overly difficult - just don't have a brain lapse when playing the back nine like I did or it will cost you.

What didn't appeal to me - mounding, water banks and bunkering in places looked a tad artificial - tee markers appeared a little too large to my eye.

Overall impressions - I am keeping it on my hard drive for its fun factor! Thanks so much Steve for another wonderful course.

[bryce]

Great looking course Steve. I especially like the par 3s. All have their own individual look with varying yardage. Still not sure why this course was 57 MB, but still a good track.

[SteveHorn]

Another really nice course from Mr. Opfer. I will be scheduling this one next season. I'll be happy if I shoot (-19) in four rounds.

[seopfer]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I appreciated them greatly! Have fun with the course. I'm hoping someone might decide to rework it into just two par 5s and two par 3s on each loop. I think that'd be fun to see. Bryce, the large size might be because I'm using a huge amount of objects around the border of the course since the pano has no land in its horizon line. I, too, had that thought about the tee markers sandwedge; they are 12 inches tall in the architect.

This was a (re)learning curve for me. Halfway through I was rediscovering techniques I used to do, but had forgotten. They came back to me by going through the process again.

Thanks again for the feedback; it's quite valuable and speaks to many issues I encountered during designing but didn't have time/patience to tackle.

[Spaulding89]

wow. i just downloaded and played this course and i have to say it's one of the most fun i've played yet. You can tell that the architect really enjoyed making this. The Par 3's were especially beautiful. I'm terrible and i still managed a 76 - couldn't make a putt for my life. This ones a keeper! thank you Steve and great job. ps - did anyone ever make Chambers Bay?

[SteveHorn]

Spaulding89! No, to your question on Chambers Bay. But if you want to try a little different and hilly course try " Mai Nui ekahi" which if my memory is correct use's the Kapalua Plantation course plot and was a done by a collaboration of designers.