Lonnie Poole Golf Club

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As promised I am reviewing the new course built at North Carolina State University. When I say new I mean it has been open for a few months at most, and it still has that new course smell. It is an Arnold Palmer design, and anyone who has played one knows that this means HUGE bunkers lining the fairway right in perfect driver distance from all tees. Gorgeous layout, with MASSIVE greens. I ended up with two puts that were over 100 ft. Two of the greens that were deep into the shade were aerated but the rest were flawless, outside of the massive numbers of ball marks on the greens. Honestly I don't know how a course this young can let that happen. They should have people out every night fixing those things so the greens stay immaculate. I was easily able to fix mine plus 5 just on my walk from my ball to the hole. That was kind of sad, but other than that the course was awesome.

Anyone who has played a young course knows that the fairways are left a bit long to protect them while the grass can take full root, but even so there was a definite difference between the fairway and the rough. I had a few balls sit so far down in the rough that it wasn't until someone was almost standing on them that you could see them.

Difficulty wise it didn't have much besides the fairway bunkers, if you could avoid those you were ok, and it made up for this with length. A par 4 that was 529 yds, and a par 5 over 620. A lot of fun, and if you are ever in the Raleigh area I suggest calling a week ahead to get your tee time. They go that fast.