Champions Club At The Retreat

Staff over booked course....took 40 minutes to play first hole!!! Rude staff!!! Don't recommend this course!!!!

The course has some serious elevation changes. While the course is not terrible long it will require some accuracy and ability move the ball because of the steep sloping fairways. The greens were just sanded but still pretty good in size and quality.

A good straight drive on number 1 will put you in the hazard through the fairway. You must manage distance and direction on all tee shots...

Great course but pretty dry fairways for April. Several twosomes cut in and out of the course in front of us and behind us during the round which affected the pace of play. A bit annoying really. But a great course layout.

Course had too much sand on green, tough but reward for good shots. Decent pace need plenty of balls and patiences.

I would not play this course ever again and would not recommend it to anyone !!!

They should warn you before booking that the greens are unplayable. I understand courses need time for maintenance but let me know before I ruin a Saturday playing in a sand box.

Don't bring your new forged wedges to this course, there are rocks and stones in virtually every bunker, both greenside and fairway. Expect your clubs to get dinged up. If you don't care about your clubs then this course is unique in it's canyon/mountain layout. I played with a guy who lost 23 balls playing here. He had a decent swing too.

Be prepared to work hard.. This course will not give you any breaks. Every shot will be a chance to move forward or lose a shot or two.

This course tests your game on every hole.....The course needs lots of ATTENTION TO DETAIL....The greens are amazing. If you dont hit the greens in the right place, you will have an easy 3 or even 4 putt! For the price the course is worth it! Do not pay more than $60.

The course is tough, I don't think anyone under a 10 handicap should even consider playing it. Greens were beautiful but difficult. the biggest problem I had with the place was the staff not a friendly group at all. I won't play it again just because of the staff.

Had player course before, but did not remember the unfairness of the course being so dramatic. Lots of extreme elevation changes. This would not be a bad thing except that all the downhill shots go into the hazard or OB, because you cannot figure out how far you have to underclub because of the extreme rollout. The uphill shots are so extreme that if you don't hit the exact spot the ball rolls back 40 to 60 yards to the flat. Then the few fairways left are so sloped sideways it might stay in bounds. I love the beauty of the course, but it is just too unfair and unrewarding to enjoy playing.

I played the course a year and a half ago and it was very wet. Wet was fine since the fairways would eventually stop the ball on the very steep hills many of which this golf course contains. The design is pure target golf and its almost laughable the extreme nature some of the golf holes are. However, the course was allowed to become bone dry on the fairways. The greens were ok..............

The 2nd hole is a severe incline to the green. Like a ski slope. Its a short hole at about 290. The group in front of us suffered the same problem. I hit a drive just past the bunkers on either side of the slope. I thought the short was a good one. My wife hit her shorter drive 120 from the tee. We went to her shot and lo and behold my ball rolled all the way down the hill about a hundred yards because there is no grass to stop it. I landed in the middle of the fairway too. Complete joke to allow a course to become unmanageable. The rest of the course was no different. Its severe. Every single green is with one or more tiers. Nice tough design but little chance for success..

This course is a challenging layout of target golf set in foothills of the Cleveland National forest. It offers a high end golf experience, from a beautiful clubhouse to many views of the valley below. This course is a serious golf test but provides many inspiring golf opportunities. Enjoy!

This is an extremely good looking but challenging course, No room for error Down fairways. Greens are multi tiered, quick and unforgiving I was passing through and decided to stop here and play on weekday afternoon after 2pm. I couldn't believe how slow it was!! +4 hours and I skipped 4 holes!
What really topped it off was the carts, on the 9th hole, my cart died.. By the 16th the second cart was almost dead and only with the help of some other golfers did I manage to scrape back to the club house.

What a place to play golf! This is one of the best values in the area. It's hilly and very little flat ground, but boy is it fun.

Course was exactly as expected if hit your spots you were fine if not you paid for it with bad lies and lost balls..A few fairways had sections blocked off as there was damage and repair work being done.. The only real problem was with the carts ,we were a foursome 1 cart had issues with its parking brake and would not stay still on uneven lies at the turn we had to change it out for a different one . The other twosomes cart battery was starting to die around the 14th hole and was completely dead on the 18th fairway group behind us had to play around it but they understood wasn't our fault ..I booked using GOLFNOW and got a deal for half off regular price so if not for that would've been a real let down..

Always a great place to play and eat not an easy course but still a great place

Extremely challenging and at times borderline unfair, the Champions is a course that was designed and built into a location that would have detered most course designers but the Nicklaus company saw a course where most humans would only see impenetrable canyons and brush. In retrospect it isn't an ideal place for a course as the design and layout at times feels like it was forced into the landscape as opposed to the truly great courses that blend in so well and feel as if they were always there and just needed to be released. Nevertheless the Champions has some grandeur to it and at times some jaw dropping holes. The removal of some bunkers may have enraged a few of those who experienced the course originally but in the interest of playabilty and repeat playing from returning customers, you can't blame the powers that be from attempting to appease the naysayers. As it is, the Champions is tough, super challenging and in generally good shape and is a destination course due to its uniqueness and the beauty of its surroundings. It's well worth playing and if you survive only somewhat beaten to a pulp, it's worth trying again.

Overall good. But some fairways and greens need to clean. Playing at the Champion will be Good experience to all golfers.

I had been wanting to play here for a while. I had heard good and bad. I enjoyed the challenge but some holes did get the better of me. Patiance and shot selection is needed. Don't try to overthink or overhit. I'll be back.