Out of the almost two thousand TW08 courses available so far, it is always nice to discover some “hidden” ones, and this one is a very nice surprise, especially considering that this is (apparently) only Craig Johnson’s third design.
With a nice forest as a panorama, plenty of tree-lined fairways, with houses all along (mostly on the left) and water hazards on the front 9, and some rocky hillsides on the back 9, this par 71 offers quite a variety of holes.
After the right dogleg par-4 1st, with an undulating fairway and a lake to the right of the slightly-elevated green, I like the short (about 360 yards) and straight par-4 3rd hole, with houses overlooking the fairway on the left, a big elongated bunker on the left ending in the middle (and another one on the right), with a little pond to the right of the green (with nice bushes around), and another short elongated bunker on the left !
Then, after the short (about 350 yards) right dogleg par4 5th hole, quite narrow in the middle with a big pond halfway on the right (and a bunker on the left) ending in front of the green to the right, you will face four different and nice challenging holes.
The par-5 6th is a left dogleg, quite short (less than 470 yards) with a small lake in the corner (on the right) and a long and tough approach shot over a meandering creek in front (and to the left) of the green, whereas the par-3 7th has houses on the left side and behind the green, framed by a tiny pond on the left and an elongated bunker on the right.
The right dogleg par-5 8th hole is very scenic with two little creeks across the fairway, a little bit apart, connecting two lakes, and is followed by the short (about 340 yards) right dogleg par-4 9th, with houses all along the left side, a lake to the right (next to the tee box) and another one behind the green.
The scenery then changes on the back 9, starting with the right dogleg par-4 10th hole, with an elongated bunker in the left corner ending to the left of the green, and the par-4 12th, with a rocky hillside on the left, three big but shallow bunkers halfway, slightly to the right, and plenty of sand on the left of the slightly-elevated green.
Following the par-4 13th hole, with a downhill tee shot and a green, slightly to the right, and the left dogleg par-4 14th, with an elongated lake on the right of the tee, the last four-hole stretch is quite tough.
On the short (about 500 yards) and straight par-5 15th hole, the fairway is quite narrow halfway with plenty of rocks on the left side and an elongated bunker further to the right, but you should be able to putt for an eagle despite its elevated green, before heading for the scenic par-3 16th where your downhill tee shot will fly over some bushes in front of the tee area and a big pond across in front of the undulating green.
Then, after the right dogleg par-4 17th hole, with nice vegetation in front of the tee box and two big elongated bunkers on both sides, with the right one ending to the right of the sloping green, you will finish your round with the right dogleg par-4 18th hole, with a steep downhill tee shot and a big lake halfway on the right and behind the green !
Needless to say, this One Hundred Acre course is very enjoyable and a definite keeper, thanks to Craig Johnson's nice design...

I have just played an enjoyable round on this course. It played very smoothly with no lag. Thanks for sharing this course and I look forward to playing the Royal Melbourne. One small point is would you consider adding some bird sound and a course life file on your next course, as I enjoy some sound while I am playing, it breaks up the rather repetitive game commentary. Good luck with the Royal Melbourne.

I was gonna say it was a very good course for your first one and then I realised that it was your third course Craig.,anyway it is still a very good course. Liked the planting.,the bumpy fairways.,the elevation work around the 11th green.,the course layout.,thought the large sandy areas were a bit bland. Thanks for all your hard work. Rated the course a 4.

Just played the course last night and was very impressed! Excellent job on building it! Excellent layout! If you build it, the will come...

Very well made and beautifully planted. I wasn't keen on the fairway and light rough textures as I thought they looked a bit flat and lifeless, in contrast to the rougher areas which looked very realistic. The course lagged a little for me in places.