 I was extremely excited to play the new Poppy Ridge on May 27 (preview play before the course opens to the public on May 31). The old Poppy Ridge was nothing special, but everything about the new version—the architect, the plans, the budget—suggested that it would be a huge upgrade. And it is! Poppy Ridge is now a beautiful, modern, championship golf course. There are a lot of exceptional golf holes—at least 7, maybe more—and a bunch more good solid ones. The best things about the new course, in no particular order:
I've only played it from the pro tees, so my hole-by-hole comments are generally based on that experience. I've done my best to be honest and fair, including a few holes about which I have some degree of critique. (On that note, if someone asked about anything to pick on more generally, I would say only the prevalence of cart paths—it's understandable, and I've kept them out of my photos as much as possible, but they're somewhat noticeable in many spots.) A side-by-side comparison makes clear that this is a completely new golf course with essentially zero relation to what was there before:
Here's the full routing and card, followed by my hole-by-hole review with one picture of each (all photos mine). For more pictures, please visit my Flickr album! And of course, I should note l that I’ve spent a total of one day there, and I’m sure some of my thoughts will change with repeated play (which I will definitely be doing!).  1. 610/5: A solid opening hole—nothing crazy to complicate your first couple shots of the day, but interesting around the green whether you’re going for it in two or playing a wedge shot in. Kind of an uninteresting layup—just open fairway—which is definitely not the case on the two other long par 5’s.  2. 518/4: A very good par 4. Though I don’t think there’s a big benefit to playing along the penalty area on the right side, it’s a demanding tee shot followed by an interesting approach to a low-profile green—one of several long, downwind approach shots where the design and firmness makes using the ground pretty much mandatory.  3. 214/3: A wonderful and distinctive par 3—visually arresting from the tee, lots of day-to-day variety with hole locations, interesting contours, pretty much the whole package here!  4. 490/4/5: A demanding and great-looking hole. Whether you call it a par 4 or 5, a good drive is followed by a long, uphill second shot (more uphill than it looks in my picture), which is always difficult to execute well. The layup, if necessary, has to fit between several bunkers and requires full attention. Appropriately, this is one of the course’s calmer greens. Another really excellent hole. Hard to be believe this corridor used to be played in the other direction!  5. 264/3: Surprisingly difficult construction beyond just its length. Anything left of the green tends to bounce left, anything right tends to bounce right, and the green mostly falls away from the tee. There aren’t a lot of ways to end up in a good spot here! It’s also not highly visually defined—there’s no sand or real color contrast, just grass—which I think makes it harder to visualize the desired shot. It’s a strong test, though not likely to be many people’s favorite hole.  6. 389/4: One of the standout holes as picked by the architect himself. The huge bunker short-left of the green reminded me of the bunker behind the 12th green at Old Town: a big, bold construction visible from many different spots on the property. As far as the hole itself, I like it generally, though the punchbowl contours are notably steep and moundy on a course that mostly lies low on its terrain.  7. 598/5: The tee shot is fine (and challenging), but the most significant “they’re gonna have to change that” spot on the course is the layup here: it’s just too narrow between the penalty area on the right (where the right 10 yards of the fairway slopes into it) and the steep slope of native grass on the left. It looks and sounds like something didn’t go quite the way they meant during construction. For now, they can at least mow down some of the long grass on the left side, but perhaps they’ll look to redo this area in the future. Everything else about the hole works well, and I think with that change it would be an excellent hole, whether played as a three-shotter or a reachable par 5.  8. 205/3: A solid par 3—nothing new to the world of golf, but it looks nice and works well, again with lots of potential variety in hole locations and several significant slopes that could either help or hurt.  9. 339/4: This is a good short par 4—probably a layup short of the central bunker, but potentially drivable or nearly-drivable depending on setup. There’s some interesting green movement, including some parts that fall away, making the wedge shot interesting.  10. 441/4: There’s not a ton going on here: no bunkers in play, plenty of fairway width, and no big contours in the green. It’s not necessarily easy, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but if you were looking to study golf architecture, there’s probably less to study here than on any other hole on the course.  11. 502/4: This is another very good, long, downwind par 4. It’s hard to imagine the far back tee ever being utilized, given that it requires a 295 carry to reach safety on a line towards the middle of the fairway! But assuming you play the correct tee, it’s an appealing teeshot over a broad valley, then another great-looking approach shot with the big bunkers on #6 directly in the background.  12. 402/4: This hole looks cool from the tee, and we all love a good centerline bunker. I couldn’t immediately figure out when you’d want to play to the right of the bunker, but perhaps there are hole locations where this would be an advantage. I think similar to #6, my uncertainty here is that the central bunker is a very vertical feature on an otherwise pretty low-lying course; when you look back from the green, you see a really giant mound that isn't reminiscent of anything else on the course except maybe #6.  13. 527/4/5: This is another good one, with a giant landing area and some huge fairway contours that necessitate some thought before you pick a line off the tee. By contrast, the green is the smallest on the course (and slopes away from the fairway), which is an interesting setup whether you call this a long par 4 or a reachable 5.  14. 240/3: The finishing stretch is fantastic, including this hole. It’s another beautiful and imaginative par 3, with 30-40 yards of hidden landing area left of the green (probably all the way to the left edge of the picture below!) that will redirect a ball back towards the green. It’s not easy to aim for something you can’t see, even if you know it’s there, and that might cause a lot of players to get in trouble on the right when there’s really no need to be anywhere near there. Another totally top-tier hole.  15. 506/4: Another long par 4, but with a green that’s open in front and playable under any circumstance. There are several shots on the course with at least some degree of obstructed view, and the tee shot here is one of them, which can create just a little bit of doubt in the player’s mind.  16. 382/4: I think it’s going to take a few plays (from various tees) to get a sense of what this one’s all about. In some ways it’s easier from farther back because there might be 100 yards of width from there. Moving farther up introduces a lot more possibilities—reaching (or carrying?) the central bunker, going beyond the fairway into trouble on the right, maybe even going over the green from the tee and leaving a really tricky pitch up to the green. My first experience wedging up from the valley short-left of the green was fine, but I can also imagine that shot getting scary. This hole will take some figuring out!  17. 154/3: I wasn’t prepared for just how downhill this little hole is—I think my rangefinder said it was down 17 yards from 154 yards. Between that, the wind (mostly down), and the shallow green, this is not an easy shot. It’s also one of the slopier greens on the course. In theory the course ends with three gettable holes, but I’m not sure it will be that easy to hit one close here.  18. 565/5: This might strike someone as a pretty standard finishing hole—a par 5 with a lake alongside the last 200 yards—but Jay has made this a very good hole with some thoughtful details. There’s some visual ambiguity on the left side of the tee shot, which I think tends to push players right of where they really ought to aim. The central bunker about 70 yards from the green forces decisions on the second shot. And again there are some interesting green contours that necessitate some thinking if you’re going for the green in two.  Thank you to the NCGA for the opportunity to play, and congratulations to them, to Jay Blasi, and to all involved in the project!
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