Bidermann Golf Club

Bidermann is a true championship course. By that, I mean it requires you to be smart with your ball placement, demands that your misses be in the right spots, and forces you to hit every club and shot in your bag.

The conditions were very good, although the growth of some fescue or native grasses would have been a great contrast to the fairways and ample rough.

After a quirky first hole, Bidermann is clearly laid out in front of you. There are few trees on the interior of course, so you can clearly see what you need to do from the tee. There are a number of doglegs and steep elevation changes between the tee and green, although the two are often at roughly the same elevation. The greens were playing pretty quickly the day I was there, although the member said they were frequently faster. The greens are the courses best defense, as they had a number of moderately steep slopes. Hitting your ball hole high or past meant you were lagging your first putt, not trying to make it.

All that said, Bidermann is not a fun course to play. It's challenging, and playing well is definitely rewarding, but it's not a course that I'd want to play every day. It's kind of like playing a US Open course for amateurs: hit the fairway, hit the green, two putt, and move on. There aren't really any risk/reward holes or unique shots that attract your attention. Instead, you're spending your round trying to grind out pars. Again, this can be really rewarding. It's just not all that fun over 18 holes.