Black Bear GC
A view from Black Bear Golf Club.
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Rating Index Rating
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4.2
529 Reviews (529)
5 Stars
186
4 Stars
191
3 Stars
72
2 Stars
38
1 Stars
42
Conditions
4.0
Value
3.9
Layout
4.4
Friendliness
4.4
Pace
3.8
Amenities
4.1
88.6%
Recommend this course
433 out of 529 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.8
5 Reviews (5)
5 Stars
4
4 Stars
1
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.4
Value
4.4
Layout
5.0
Pace
3.2
Amenities
4.5
StaffFriendliness
4.8
100.0%
Recommend this course
5 out of 5 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.2
45 Reviews (45)
5 Stars
24
4 Stars
14
3 Stars
3
2 Stars
2
1 Stars
2
Conditions
4.2
Value
3.9
Layout
4.3
Pace
3.7
Amenities
4.0
StaffFriendliness
4.4
91.1%
Recommend this course
41 out of 45 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Public/Resort
Par 72
Length 6673 yards
Slope 129
Rating 72.4

Black Bear Golf Club is part of the Crystal Springs Resort, which offers six other courses, though, it's hard to remember they're connected since they each offer a distinct character and look. Unlike Ballyowen and Crystal springs, two of the resort's most well known courses, Black Bear has more of a parkland layout. The course tumbles across rolling hills covered with trees, which come into play along the undulating fairways and greens. Water only comes into play on three holes but there are a whopping 65 bunkers coming into play. It's challenging but not frustrating. Both low and high handicappers will enjoy not only the golf course but also the beautiful scenery. Black Bear is one of the best values in the area and has garnered a strong local following.

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Course Details

Year Built 1996
Fairways Ryegrass
Greens Bentgrass
Golf Season Open: 3/15 Closed: 12/31
Architect Jack Kurlander (1996) David Glenz (1996)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fees
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes - "David Leadbetter Golf Academy"
Golf Simulator Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Indoor Practice Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No

Food & Beverage

Bar, Snacks, Restaurant, Beverage Carts

Available Facilities

Showers, Lockers

Accolades

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Reviews

4.2
529 Reviews (529)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 24
Dinner 11
Patio Dining 11
Course Challenges Include:
Elevation Changes 35
Bunkers 30
Narrow Fairways 22
This course/club is great for:
Wildlife/ Scenic Views 33
Advanced Golfers 21
Locals 20
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 26
In the 'Burbs 21
At a Resort 10

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 94
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 47
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Little disappointed

Usually black bear is a wonderful course, but today (4/08/2919) fairways not cleaning well, green is terrible so many small hole, I think you need wait to May for playing golf on Black Bear.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 17
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Wet

Course was soaked. Wish the website had posted cart path only. Like the layout. Would play again after it dries out.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Not worth the drive

Played here plenty of times in the past. Wasn’t expecting the condition the purse was in. I understand due to a lot of rain, some courses are struggling but to charge $87 for a cow pasture is rediculous. If they would have explained the course conditions before we went out then atleast we could have decided before we went out. Not coming back to this mess. Very disappointed.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
2.0

Cart path only

Couple things;

They didn’t have our foursome in there system for Weds 8/15, they had it for Thursday 8/16.

Fortunately they weren’t that booked so we were able to go out at 2:36 pm

Second it was cart path only , because of the weather in the area past couple days, which I understand but it should be noted on Golf Now, we would have went to another place. Plus we paid for cart but really couldn’t use it. price should have been reduced because of this.

Love Black Bear just wasn’t thrilled with them today.

Thanks

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 27
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing

Need to be accurate off the tee

7:40 am tee time on a Saturday and the pace of play was for us was 4:10.

The fairways are a bit narrow and visually are narrow. If you hit a shot into the trees you’ll be playing another ball. The front seemed tighter than the back.

Number two is protected by water in front and in your shot into he green if you go long, left or right you’ll pay the price. Lots of elevation changes on the course and a few blind shots if your tee shot is a little short.

The bunkers were all raked and in good condition. The sand isn’t deep but I found them easy to hit out of. Greens rolled true without being too fast. Several greens have tiers and it helps to have someone who has played the course before.

The difference between the white and blue tees is material for the par 3’s on the front and the par 5’s.

If you spray the ball you’ll need extras and it will be tough to score well.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

Always a pleasure playing here

I've been playing this course for years now, and it's one of my favorite layouts to play. It can be challenging at times, especially if you end up in the rough, and depending on where the pins are placed that day.

That said, you're not going to find a nicer facility or better staff anywhere else. I find this to be true throughout the Crystal Springs complex.

I highly recommend checking this course out, you can't go wrong.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 9
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great shape

Course is in great shape. Pace wasn't too bad. My buddy and I were paired up with two nice guys but they were a bit slow. 4 1/2 hours. Should've been 4. But rangers planted in strategic spots helps people move. Excellent value on golf now. We played very early though.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 39
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

Top Notch

Greens were the best I've seen all year. Sand Traps were like concrete.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 205
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Top 500 Contributor
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Good not great

Good course. Layout not spectacular but nothing negative to say. Staff was good. Price was low compared to other crystal springs courses. I would play it again.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 13
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Absolutely perfect

Course in fabulous shape. Sand traps need more sand.Best conditions i have played on ever. You need Charmin in men's bathroom instead of the sand paper there now.Me and my son had a very enjoyable day on a GREAT COURSE!!!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 74
Handicap 15-19
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Top 1000 Contributor
Previously Played

Black Bear Golf October 2017

Black Bear Golf Course was in great condition this past Tuesday. Greens were slightly fast and pin location was challenging on several holes. As the season begins to wind down you can expect frost delays for the earlier starts. Sand traps varied in depth and greens were susceptible to ball marks due to their softness but easily repaired. All of the staffing were very helpful and friendly. Looking to return soon.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 24
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Wet weather
Used cart

Foggy but beautiful

When you are playing good - nothing can be bad about the course or the round of golf. I went out as a single and was matched with 3 gentlemen (and I don't use the term lightly). Despite them having a tough round they were more than happy to point me in the right direction (they had played the course before - I had not) and they cheered my "success" - shooting an 84 on a course I had never played before is something that has never happened to me. Although the conditions were wet from fog and early morning dew (we were the 2nd group out), the practice greens were the same conditions and contributed highly to my success. There is a driving range that was available also (included in price of round is small bucket) and the staff turned on the lights for the pre-dawn warm-ups. I've only played Crystal Springs in this group of courses before and will definitely be back! The only thing better would have been if I got a discount - will scour GolfNow for that :)

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Twice a year
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Great round of golf

The course was challenging and very well maintained. I would highly recommend this course to my friends

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Awesome time at the SC sheriffs outing!

Although some holes are cart path only, we had another great time at the bb golf course. The greens are in great condition and the fairways were maintained. They got rid of the orange carts and spent some money on the ezgoes! They even have a USB port. Staff was friendly and everyone was more then helpful. Even the rangers were friendly and helped us watch where some of our shots went. Kudos to the CS team!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 161
Handicap Don't know
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 100 Contributor
New York Advisor
First Time Playing

Solid challenging track, moderately narrow fairways

Always nice playing a course operated by Crystal Springs. Consistent great course conditions under their operation. Staff was friendly and helpful. Tee times were spread wisely and rangers actually come around to enforce pace of play. Tee boxes and fairways were lush and greens at almost full recovery from aeration almost two weeks prior. Not a very long course but narrow fairways and many elevation changes will challenge ball striking in accuracy and distance control. Despite my threesome got stuck playing behind a foursome, our round was 3 hours and 50 minutes. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Again

This is the third time I got to the course and the tee time was pm instead of am and I am positive I made an am tee time so I didn't get to play the course or that day for that matter 7 am is hard to find a nearby tee time. So now golf now let me down 3 times

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Poor
Pace Poor
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Best course around

You're not going to find a more well maintained, beautiful course! A fun and challenging course. Doesn't get better than that!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
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