Golf Top 18 - Golf Top 18 Recent Courses Blog

Three Nine Heaven

7/6/2025

Eagle Bend Golf Course Review Picture

I recently got to go back and play Eagle Bend Golf Club again, located in Bigfork, MT, near Glacier National Park. I'd played it a few times before, including in spring and summer (see one photo from each season here). I now got around to posting an updated review that highlights more golf holes on the Osprey nine, which is the "third" nine at that complex.

Having played it now a couple of times, it's the perfect compliment to the other Eagle and Bear nines. Those two "fit" better together as a cohesively designed golf course, but the variation created by the Osprey nine is an absolute enhancement to that golf club and, frankly, the Osprey nine has the best stretch of holes on the entire 27 holes.

Although I rarely rate private golf clubs on the website criteria due to the fact that their private nature gives members privileges and other benefits that can't be ascertained by the pure golfing review, I can say this place is great through and through and the golf course (all nines) is very enjoyable and well maintained.

Eagle Bend Golf Course Review Picture

Wisconsin Worth the Wait (and the pain)

6/22/2025

On the heels of my last post regarding the end of my golfing "streaks", I have now posted a new review of the Meadow Valley Course at Blackwolf Run, along with updated reviews of Whistling Straits and the River Course at Blackwolf Run, both of which reside on my GolfTop18 Favorite Courses list for best golf courses.

Although my trip did involve some personal "failures" on a golfing level, I can say with certainty I wasn't alone and golf misery definitely loves golf company. My golfing group all had a truly great time and it was a memorable trip. Pictured below is one of my good friends having the misfortune of finding, but not escaping, the dreaded coffin bunker on the 6th hole at Whistling Straits. It's fun watching the Ryder Cup team driving this green and making no worse than birdie and contrasting that with our luck, from much shorter tees, having maybe one in our foursome scratching out a par and others doing far worse. I love the fact that we, as golfers, can bond over our collective mistakes as much as we can our individual successes, and still root for each other, but laugh at each other and ourselves as well, when warranted.

I'm happy to finally get updated reviews of all these courses at the Kohler resorts and to relive some of the memories of my friends and me, whether positive or otherwise. There is one more famous Wisconsin course from our trip to review soon, so stay tuned.

Whistling Straights Golf Review Picture

The Post I Never Wanted to Write (but I knew would happen)

6/15/2025

"Pride comes before the fall" is how the saying goes. In this case, as an aging golfer, one knows more falls are coming, but the question is how many, how far and how deep is the pride and subsequent fall(s).

In my case, I had taken great care in tracking my rounds since 2001, when I started playing more rounds at golf courses other than my beloved home track of Saticoy Country Club, where I grew up. I had a track record during that window (and probably even a few years before but didn't have the evidential proof to back it up) of having my score average rest in the "70s" for every calendar year. Additionally, at no time during that window did I post an individual score of 90 or higher (we're talking handicap allowable rounds with reasonable gimmie putts, a mulligan here or there, surely not pro style by admission, but still legit by amateur standards), and those records remained intact through 2023.

Coming into 2024, I had been on a bit of a golf decline and knew that there was one key stretch of golf that would likely make or break my streak. That came on my annual golf trip with my buddies, which this year saw us take a trip to Wisconsin, playing 5 public golf courses in the Top 100 in the US, several of which have hosted majors, and all of which are hard, even on benign weather days.

I will post more updates about this trip but I think I delayed the start of this post for 9 months as its a written admission of the end of both of those streaks, with the key blow being being absolutely trounced by a heavy wind day at the Irish Course at Whistling Straits. I had played there before once and not fared well either, but suffice it to say, of all the hard Pete Dye golf courses, and there are many, this one might be the one I struggle with the most. It's got plenty of good holes, but it just seems like all trouble is set up to capitalize on my most frequent misses, and with the 3 clubs of wind like we had, it was with no great shock, but with sadness (in a golfing sense only, I want to keep perspective here) that both of my streaks essentially ended on that golf course in September 2024.

The picture here is of the golf course, but is of my good friend, Taylor, who stuck his shot here really close to the pin, which was a moment of excitement in a round otherwise characterized by four golfers being pulverized by Pete Dye. Also, Happy First Father's day to Taylor!!

A Little Spring Cleaning

6/10/2025

As a foreshadow of things to come, I've recently re-organized the section of reviews related to the Central United States to make room for a little bit more activity in there. Although, I've only still played golf in four states in that region, there is a 25% expansion in reviews from that region coming soon with additions hitting both Wisconsin and Texas.

Making Up for Lost Time

5/17/2025

California golf course review Picture

My work schedule is always busy in March and April but this year was extraordinarily tough, leaving me with a two-month delay here since my previous posting. So, in order to "catch up" a bit, i've been able to upgrade four separate reviews from the state of California herein. None of these are major changes but do enhance them all from my previous time playing them each several years ago.

PGA West (Stadium) - La Quinta, CA
Eagle Falls - Indio, CA
Strawberry Farms - Irvine, CA
Tierra Rejada - Moorpark, CA

A Little Bummed

3/16/2025

River RIdge Ventura golf review Picture

The good news is that I have an updated review of the River Ridge Victoria Lakes course, which I hadn't played in a few years. The bad news is that the rating actually went down a little, which is fairly unusual for me when I've played a golf course as many times as I have this one. I understand the plight of "mid tier" public golf courses these days in Southern California as a lot seem stuck between staying fully busy (by lowering prices) and trying to over-price things and make profits that way. Very few golf courses get it right, whereby there is value and good conditioning and/or relatively fast rounds. Rustic Canyon probably gets my award for that in the SoCal marketplace. This golf course, however, used to fall in that rare category of balancing it right, but has really fallen into disrepair. To be fair, their greens are still very good, which I will give credit for and why my rating still keeps the golf course as an average value. However, the tee boxes are unlevel in many places, devoid of grass in spots and the rough patchy to the point where a golfer can expect only the unexpected. I hope they are able to rebound with better conditioning and earn their rating back again.

Post Valentines Posting

2/15/2025

Happy Hallmark Holiday to everybody!! Now that I officially got to make my annual profession of my undying love for my wife with candy, flowers, dinner and a movie, I can move forward with my wife might call my other love: golf course reviews.

I recently was invited by a friend to go to the Amex PGA tournament in the Palm Springs area and got a chance to go play Cimarron's Boulder course for the first time in 15 years. It was pretty much how I remembered it, with a little more "growth" in and around the washes and lake, but fairly consistent with my memory. However, I added a lot more photos to upgrade the review.

Hawaii: Last Part

1/25/2025

It took a year, but we're to the end of the series from the Maui trip taken in January of 2024. After having it be on my list but keep getting knocked out for various reasons, I finally played the Bay Course at Kapalua on my 5th trip to Maui. I found it to be pretty similar to how I had heard it was before: lots of good views, a few really good holes and a chunk of holes that are sort of less memorable parts of the journey. Fortunately, I played well and had a good overall weather day for golf, which led to a pretty positive review.

Almost...

12/28/2024

My first post of 2024 was about a round in Hawaii and how I would do better in 2024 with timely posts. My update from 2024 was from that same trip and my first post of 2025 will be the last part of that golf trip.

Self assessment would say I did do better than the last year or two on golf course reviews, but that was mainly updating golf courses I've played before and, so, here I am at the end of another year with a similar sized stack of unreviewed golf courses. In my defense, I did have a kid graduate high school and my wife go back to full-time employment, which gave me a lot of additional domestic roles to accomplish.

So, here's to looking forward to 2025 being a year where I catch up. For the first time in many moons, I do not have a trip to Bandon Dunes planned and similarly, have no golf trips with my buddies that involve new destinations. My family vacations will also be repeat visits as well. So, there might be some new golf course reviews here and there, but not as many as in years past. So, I should be able to finally get to my 2024 trip to Wisconsin as well as the multitude of updates to various golf course reviews in California I've been sitting on. Here's to hope, and happy New Year!!

Hawaii Next to Last Part: A New Correspondent

12/21/2024

Maui Nui Golf Course review Picture

Legacy is something that crosses the mind of most folks as they age, especially as it relates to their children and/or accomplishments. Although I can't say that this website qualifies as something monumental, it does capture a lot of my memories and golf legacy.

For the first time, my son played a golf course and took over duties of the golf course review. Maui Nui is a golf course I played a very long time ago and only took 3 pictures. On our 2024 trip, my son played it twice with his cousin, had a great time, and took more pictures at my request. He didn't know I'd ask him to help write the review, but he did and I'm very appreciative. Who knows, maybe he'll take up the mantle some day?