I knew going in conditions could be questionable as the Big Cats have not shined over the past couple of years. That said, I found a good rate, $37 on Golfnow the night before so decided to give it a shot.
I had a 8:10 tee time and showed up about 7:30 to warm up. I get there and there are only 2 cars in the parking lot. Bag Drop and Club House personal. My reaction 'Oh Sh&* !', especially after driving by the other clubhouses and seeing very active bag drops.
Turns out the 1st tee time was not until 8:00 to allow maintenance to 'finish their job'. Ok, thought that was quite odd but fair enough. I was supposed to be be paired with another 2 golfers but they let me go out just before 8:00 playing as a single before anyone which was simply fantastic. Played a nice relaxing round in about 2 hours 20 minutes.
The course has really great bones but conditions are still only average at best. Tee boxes were generally good although 1 or 2 was bare. The fairways are generally ok for the most part with the occasional weed to be found but off the fairways its pretty scrappy with different growth, grass, weeds to be found, very rustic and natural resulting in some interesting lies. The greens were the worst part, a bit slow, bumpy at times and quite a few of them had some brown patches which is not too appealing to the eye.
A real solid layout with great mix of holes which I enjoyed. Chipped in for an Eagle on 1 of the shorter par 5's (#11) so that's always nice. ????
#18 is a cool finishing par 4 with the waterfall fronting the green. When i finished I was happy to see a lot more cars in the parking lot.
Absolutely not the premium course it once was but overall it's still quite a playable course for the right price, which could really be fantastic if they could ever bring the conditions back to the good old days.
LC is a tier one layout in tier 4 condition. I love the routing and used to play it often years ago when it was in good shape.
Golf is just an excuse to drink whiskey and smoke cigars
LC is a solid course with some tricky holes, back in March it was in the best shape I have ever seen it in that time period. Thanks for your report.
If the bent greens had full coverage, that is some progress over previous years,
although they were pretty good last Oct. It's from now to the end of summer
when the bent struggles in the heat. Those brown patches in the greens are most
likely fairway bermuda creeping in. They will get bigger.
Thanks for the report!
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It is really sad to see what has happened with the "Cats" courses. While I have not played LC, I have played the others several times. Our group used to include one in our trip but stopped about four years ago due to conditioning issues.
Love they sent you as a single i bet you flew around it. Thanks for the update!
Let the Big Dawg Bark!!!
Thanks for the report. After a bad experience at Tiger's Eye a few years ago, we haven't been back. There are still too many others that I have to play for a first time (and many a second or third time) before I would try the Cats again.
Thanks for the report. After a bad experience at Tiger's Eye a few years ago, we haven't been back. There are still too many others that I have to play for a first time (and many a second or third time) before I would try the Cats again.
Understandable. There certainly are a lot to choose from. If I was playing on a package 'The Big Cats' would not be at the top of my list either. I am fortunate to have the benefit of having a 2nd home in NMB so I get to continue to sample courses at all ends of the spectrum. One benefit of Covid 19 is I've been able to play much more down here this year than in the past when I've been largely office based and had to do a lot more work travel.
Thank you gor the LC update.
Great layout.
Everybody keeps hoping the conditions to improve .
At least they are not getting worse... and with the new superintendent, hopefully it continues to get a little better each year.
"King Of The Mid-tiers"
Thanks for your report @mperna2001!
Played LC only once a few years ago... when the conditions were great!
I just hope the Big Cats will improve after a couple of years of so-so reports!
Denis Gilbert
Quebec City, Canada
ob, we also played Tigers Eye in March, will not go back as the greens were terrible, bumpy and very slow, plus the traps needed much TLC.
@leftygar1 there wasn’t much we liked about our day. We had the first tee time in the am and 2 groups were sent out ahead of us as we waited? No explanation when I said I was told I had the first tee time. Weeds everywhere, bumpy greens. Too many other courses
Played Lions Paw last October.
It was dry as The Sahara.
The best conditioned out of the 4 Cats courses over the past 3 years is DEFINITELY Panthers Run.
jw11
"King Of The Mid-tiers"
