Playing Bent Creek

OK, so this round was played November 2nd and I am just getting around to posting it on March 5th.  Oops.

Larry Wheeler was gracious enough to ask if I would join him to play his course Bent Creek.  This is a private course in Eden Prairie.  Event though the official golf season is over, the weather is still nice enough to golf, so I was excited to get to try out another private course in the cities.  Earlier this year I played Minnesota Valley.  Now with playing Bent Creek, my rounds at private courses include a lifetime total of 4 rounds!
While it was a bit chilly for this round, there was little wind so the conditions were fine.  I think we may have seen one or two other people out on the course.  The conditions of the course were just great.  The greens were really nice and fairly fast, even this late in the year.  This course made it through the summer heat wave without any damage so the conditions were better than most.  Bent Creek has a fair amount of trees but the grounds crew has worked hard to keep the course free of leaves.  They were out there during our round picking up the few stray leaves that had blown around onto the course.

I played from the tips and Larry played from the Whites.From the tips the course is 6369 yards.  From the white it drops to 6030 yards.
Hole 1 is a dogleg right par 5 at 510 yards.  You can cut off a little bit to the right but not a lot.

 Out of bounds runs along the left side of the hole where neighboring houses are.

 The green is slightly uphill at the end and surrounded by bunkers.

 

Hole 2 is a par 3 at 135 yards. Again surrounded on all sides by bunkers.

Hole 3 is a straight ahead par 4 at 340 yards. Staying on the fairway is crucial as many trees line either side and trying to advance your ball is very difficult.  If you do miss the fairway it is likely you will need to take a shot to punch out sideways.

 A look back up to the tee from the fairway on 3.

Hole 4 is another straight ahead par 4 at 415 yards.  The left side falls off so anything left might be trouble.  The better play is to hit right and let it funnel left.

Down by the green a pond is off to the left.

Hole 5 is a uphill par 4 at 310 yards.  Right is dead with woods but the left is also tree trouble.  

Your second shot is uphill to a green protected by bunkers that are partially hidden.

Hole 6 is a 380 yard hole with strategic fairway and greenside bunkers.

Hole 7 is another par 4 at 405 yards. Again straight away with all kinds of small trees off the fairway.

Hole 8 is a longer par 3 at 180 yards.

Hole 9 is a dogleg left par 4 at 360 yards. Trying to cut the corner is not wise since there are loads of trees in your way.

Your second shot, after you clear the dogleg, requires a carry over trees short of the green.

And the green:

The back nine is a change from the front.  The front reminds me a lot of old school courses I have played like Waveland in Des Moines or Minnesota Valley in Bloomington.  The back nine of Bent Creek feels much more open.  Apparently back when this course was public, they had a lot of drainage issues on the back nine.  Some major renovations and additions of a lot of small drainage ponds fixed the drainage issue and made the course feel like what I would imagine a lot of Florida courses are like- relatively flat with lots of water.  The back 9 is also located across a street from the front and is accessible via a tunnel near the club house.

A shot of some of the drainage ponds on the back nine.

The tenth hole  is a 500 yard par 5 that plays mostly straight with a small overall curve to the left.

Off the tee.  Again trouble left with heavy trees.  Right is problematic too with scattered trees and a pond further up.

A view from the second shot in the fairway.  Notice one of the various small ponds where all the tall grasses are.

And the green on 10.

Hole 11 is a 330 yard par 4. A dogleg right, water protects the dogleg all the way up to the green.

Driver here is not a good idea as you can easily hit through the fairway and a large sunken area is on the left side of the dogleg.

A view of the green on 11 seen from the 12th tee.

The 12th is a 410 yard par 4. Another slight dogleg right, the green is heavily bunkered on all sides.

 More drainage ponds left and right off the tee.

The green with bunkers on all sides.

Hole 13 is a 400 yard par 4.  This hole doglegs left and then requires an accurate second shot into a green that has water both right and left.  Around this green is one of the areas that has had the most drainage implemented with ponds on every side of the green.

 Off the tee

 A view of the approach- water in play here.

And another view of the green.

Hole 14 is the one hole I remember thinking was a very tough challenge.  A par 3 at 185 yards you must hit over water and carry and front bunker to a green that slopes aggressively from back to front.

 A tough tee shot.  I hit a nice 4 iron that hit betwen the bunker and green but rolled back into the sand and a nasty situation.

A view of the green seen from the 13th.  You can see the slope of the green from back to front here.  Larry hit his tee shot to the back of the green but managed to get down in two for a nice par.  I can't recall, but I think I also saved par out of the bunker.


After surviving the 14th, you come to the 15th a tough 425 yard par 4 that requires a decision to lay up short of a creek running across the fairway or try clear it.  I decided to lay up short as a strong head wind made my decision pretty clear.

 From the tee.

After laying up short of the water you can see here your long approach in.  I will remember this as the creek that killed me.  Two topped balls into it.  Yuck.  You can see the green ahead which is ringed on three sides with water.  If I had one hole I wanted to play over from this round this would be it.  It still feels bad after 5 months.

16 is a 505 yard par 5.  The tee shot is fairly open with a couple of weeping willows right to knock down balls. Right past those trees is water as well, hidden off the tee. 

 For your second shot you will contend with a creek running across the fairway. (The same evil creek as the last hole).

Above you can see the water on the right hidden from the tee.

 Another shot of the creek running across the fairway and the gree beyond. All in all a fairly wide open hole, Left is more problematic with woods down the side but the fairway is fairly large here and the green is mostly unprotected.

Hole 17 is a 160 yard par 3 with water front left. Also left are a couple of grenside bunkers.

 A closer view of the green.

The final hole is a 420 yard par 4 finishing hole.  The drive is fairly open, maybe the most on the back.  The hole does dogleg left and I was just able to cut the dogleg off the tee and avoid the trees.

A view towards the green on the second shot.

 The green is protected front by a pair of bunkers and is fairly deep front to back.  A retaining wall along the left can come into play.  Also from the second shot the road gets into your head but should be far enough away as to not really be in play.

The hole finishes aways from the club house.  The quickest return to the clubhouse means you need to walk up the hill and behind the green and cross the road to get back.  Alternativley you could use the tunnel from the clubhouse to hole 10 but that is a longer route back.

Overall I liked the course.  The greens were really nice, as was the shape of the rest of the course.  You could definately tell a difference in conditions between this and most public courses in the cities.  Larry tells me the membership fees are fairly reasonable.  The course is strictly a golf style membership.  There is no pool or tennis facilities.  With its convenient location it would be someplace to consider joining if I didn't enjoy the variety of playing lots of courses.

A big thanks to Larry for inviting me to play here with him.

Final handicap of 2011

Since the Minnesota golf season closed October 31st, the final handicap revision of the year has come out. Spurred on by my recent good play during the last few rounds I have had my handicapped dropped again down to a 5.3.  That was another full point drop.  It is great being able to say now that I am a 5 handicap all winter long.  I fully expect next spring to post scores to get my handicap back up to reasonable levels.

Golfing Sawmill for the last time in 2011 YTD

The Minnesota golf season is drawing to a close.  On Friday the 28th I played Sawmill for the third consecutive week.  The golf season in Minnesota normally ends mid October but due to unseasonable temperatures it was extended this year to the 31st so I guess this trip to Sawmill was my last official round of the year!

The last couple of weeks have been great playing out at Sawmill.  I think fewer people are coming out.  I don't know why since the weather has been great.  Fewer people has helped the greens get to be in great shape.  There are hardly any marks and they are rolling really well.

Sawmill has a lot of trees on the course but the grounds crew does a great job keeping course free of leaves.  So the great playing conditions and thin tee sheets have allowed for several sub 3 hour rounds.