Chilton Valley

@joeluhlmeyer

166

I try not to be too harsh on courses but this one is rough. After playing 18, it seems pretty obvious to me that the folks who designed and installed this do not have much experience in course design and installation. First, let's get something clear, the valley in question is the neighborhoods storm runoff area. Vast portions of the course are, and always will be, full of storm runoff - one step above sewage - and trash. There is nothing to be done about it and it will always be an issue with the course. Whoever put the pin sleeves in simply did a very bad job. Almost every single basket is leaning significantly. There are also a few pads that are extremely slanted, 11 is one of the worst installed pads I have seen. The flow of the course is really awkward with some strange backtracking. One of the worst aspects of the course is the multiple holes that play, not just across, but along sidewalks and walking paths that get regular traffic. Hole 3 is especially dangerous as there is a large pine tree that obscures your view of the path making it very hard to tell if you're putting a pedestrian in danger with your shot. I am unclear why the are south of hole 17 was not used instead of the area around the playground and the holes that bring walkers into play. It's a much more visually appealing area and looks like it would make for better golf as well. The last thing I'll mention is that I'm unsure of who this course is for. With it being in the middle of a neighborhood, you'd think making a fun and accessible course would be the primary goal. Some holes meet this demand, but there are also a number of long par 3s and 4s that even experienced players will find challenging, but those same experienced players will get very frustrated with all of the flaws. I would be surprised that DD was willing to put their branding on this course, but even the DGPT decided they don't like their best courses so I can't be too surprised.