Sagamore Resort and Golf Club

The elevated first tee sets the stage for a grand day at the Sagamore.

From this perch, you can almost see Lake George in the distance. It's an easy tee shot: You could worm burn a ball 200 yards into the valley below. But the second shot personifies what makes the Sagamore such a brute. It's all uphill, probably from a tilted lie. Good luck.

There's a lot of elevated greens at Sagamore, notably 3, 5, 7, 12 and 13. Blind tee shots (13 and 15) and turtle-back fairways (17) keep players guessing off the tee. Our threesome didn't make a single putt outside of five feet. That's how hard it was to read the greens.

I think the Sagamore's a fine Donald Ross classic - worthy of its sterling reputation - but it probably takes a while to get comfortable learning all its nuances. I need another 2 or 3 cracks at it before I can truly appreciate it.

The resort, located a little more than a mile down the mountain, has already earned my affections. It is already one of my all-time favorite lakeside hotels. Set on an island in Lake George, it's the ultimate summer hang.

I'm so perplexed. Only 1 review for this course and it's several years old? And we just moved up this way, but is June 1 still considered early season because the conditions were not good. So standard non-guest of then resort fee is $135 until June 21 and jumps to $160, but I'm not sure it was worth the $65 we played as part of a group.

Some observations:

1) Staff was very friendly. +++

2) Cart attendant made her way around +++

3) No pin placement yet so you shoot in blind to mostly elevated greens which for a first timer is a huge challenge. According to the starter, due to the conditions of the greens, they weren't following a pin placement map and placing the pins in the best sections of the green (should have been a warning). Pins are obviously not color coded so no clue since many of the greens are blind. GPS doesn't work for anyone using satellite images though yardage works.

4) Greens were in bad shape. Tough to read because straight looking putts broke and putts that look like they're breaking went straight. I know everyone has come across greens like this so I promise. Only drank one beer.

5) Tee boxes were in rough shape and some are not flat.

6) Two of the par 4's couldn't be played as designed and were modified to par 3's.

7) Kind of goes with 6, but some fairways were in bad shape.

8) Some bunkers were overgrown. Some were really nice.

Am I being too tough? I don't know. But if you want to charge resort prices, you expect resort playing conditions. Not sure I'd make the trek for $65 even with best of conditions.

This award winning Donald Ross masterpiece should be on your golf bucket list. The rolling mountainside terrain and severe bunkering makes this layout a real test of golf. Because the course was built on a mountain ridge, most putts break toward Lake George.
How cool is that. Expect expensive green fees, but this is a first class golfing experience as evidenced by the first tee with an outstanding scenic view and is lined by the pro shop and Grill steakhouse .