This is the latest addition to the Treetops Resorts collection of golf courses. The others are The Jones, Fazio, Smith and an unbelievable par three, Threetops. They range from very tough (Jones) to fairly gentle (Tradition). With this batch of courses the golfer of any handicap can find all the challenge they care to have and still see some of the beauty that the north has to offer.
We did come here to talk about the Tradition so I suppose we should get at it.
Treetops Director of Golf, Rick Smith, designed this course to be strictly a walking course and one that you could use a catty if you so desired. Hence the name "Tradition".
For those of you to young to remember, a caddy is a person who carries your clubs and shakes his head when you hit one into the woods.
Treetops has one real tough course and two pretty tough courses so they decided to ease up on us and came up with the Tradition, and a fine job they did.
The fairways are wide with very generous landing areas. You will have to work pretty hard to put one in the trees off the tees on this one, but it can be done. Unfortunately I know this for a fact.
Fairway bunkers are all over the place but with the wide fairways are more for looks than to cause problems.
The greens are well bunkered, and these may be a problem. Anyway, its always fun to watch someone ELSE hit out of bunkers. They are generally large greens that look to be on the flat side. I said "look" flat. It's best to check your putt from both sides of the hole, because these greens are sneaky.
It didn't take Treetops too long to find out that us golfers are a lazy lot and only walk when our car quits. So they now allow carts. You can still walk the course and even hire a caddy if you so desire. (They must know in advance that you want to use a caddy.)
Let me say here, that this course is not a flat course so a walk here is just that, a real he-man type walk. This course is laid out on a beautiful piece of rolling hardwoods. That means your going up as much as you're going down.
Three sets of tees for the men can let you match the course to your handicap. I play to a nine or ten handicap and the blue tees are about right for that handicap range. Although a couple of the par fours were all wanted for length.
The par fives were the length that left you a short third shot to the green to give you a chance at the bird. If you hit it long enough to reach these in two, get back on the black tees where you belong.
The par threes takes a mid-iron or lower club to reach and with the large greens we should be on. Of course, should be and doing isn't always in the same swing. One thing I did find out about large greens. They quite often leave you with long putts, so the dreaded bogey is always just 3 putts away.
This course was not designed to beat you to death, Treetops has other courses to do that job. This was to be a course that you could relax and just enjoy a round of golf on a beautiful chunk of land. Standing on the tees and looking at the wide fairways working up and down those little valleys, you know they did what they wanted to do.
A great family course. What a treat it is to stand on the tee and look out at a fairway that you just know that you can hit. Makes you feel like a pro. This course gives the high handicapper room to spray the ball around yet gives the low handicapper all the challenge he wants.
Just match the tees you play to your handicap and you'll enjoy the course.
Ken Ducker
