St. Anne Country Club

St Anne’s played well considering the early spring conditions. The people were friendly, the pace good and the course challenged us. Overall a very good outing that will get better as nature greens the fairways and Covid restrictions are lifted. Excellent value.

The staff said they aren't accepting golf carts from people who purchased through golf now. They gave us our cart we paid for but just a heads up.

My ratings are not necessarily based on conditions you would expect in the summer, but for December 28 it was outstanding. When we arrived in the parking lot was packed and they were lots of people on the course. Two groups waiting at the Teebox made us a little nervous, but everything spread out quickly and we were able to walk 18 holes and just over four hours! Some challenging and tricky holes always make St. Anne’s fun to play, and it’s even better in-season!

The Course was in great shape a couple of wet spots but not bad. The course is challenging and fun. I play here a few times a year and drove 2 hrs to get there. Love this course and will definitely be back .

My daughter is a new player and this course

Sets up as a perfect layout and I be j geoducks to the game. We had a great time.

Will definitely be back to play!

Great time and great deal. Not a challenging course but by no means an easy one either. Good for every skill level.

The course was beautiful!!! The greens were perfect. I was very impressed with how well manicured the course was.

Greens and fairway around the greens were the best I’ve ever seen (especially considering the lack of rain this year)!

St. Anne Country Club begins and ends on a flowing, sweeping hillside—the drive up to the pleasant, relatively spacious clubhouse gives you a peek at some stunning vistas to follow. The parking lot here was packed today, even in the afternoon and despite today’s broadcast of the U.S. Open’s final round (I watched the last two hours later by recording).

While this is a well-conditioned layout with some fine holes, the slowness of play I experienced here today (4:40 for 18) was unexpected—after a much better experience last visit. It was pretty much the same old story: a couple of slow groups, no marshals anywhere in sight to speed them up; three or four groups backed up behind them.

This is not a course with a raft of holes so difficult that they overwhelm the average player—the slope is an above-average 120 from the whites, 124 from the back tees—and may be just right for most mid-handicap golfers. The genuinely tough holes, including six and seven on the front, along with 10, 15, 17 and 18 on the back, should appeal especially to low-handicap golfers. Another positive quality is avoidance of the opposite problem: the course lacks, thankfully, the kind of “runway”—meaning back-and-forth, straight, dull—holes which were virtually a cliché in 1960’s golf architecture.

It may be hard to beat some of the more iconic-looking holes set upon the taller hills at St. Anne, but the fifteenth, set upon the plain on the course’s northern end, tries hard. Your tee shot on this longer par-3 will fly over a pond almost immediately in front of the tee, and then a bunker set some 30 yards prior to the green, effectively blocking a complete view of the putting surface from the tee. Seventeen is another impressive test, a doglegging, uphill four-par with enough trees to make the drive tricky, and enough elevation at the green site to make your approach difficult. Pronounced slopes on this green could finish off any hopes of a birdie or par here. The front-side, longer par-4 sixth also stands out, the drive relatively open, and the approach likely blind to a bunker-guarded green with dangerous woods behind.

Some may see the stretch of shorter and relatively straightforward holes, running from 11 through 14, as a weakness; others may find them refreshing birdie opportunities—or like taking the option of driving the 275-yard 14th. But all in all, you’ll still need quite a few arrows in your quiver if you hope to conquer St. Anne.

The course also features a beautifully secluded, countryside setting in which you’re not aware of the nearness of a large industrial park, nor highway 57.

THREE BEST HOLES:

The SEVENTH begins from a high tee, affording an impressive, panoramic view of the surrounding terrain and hills. Don’t be too distracted, though, as you’ll need an accurate tee shot that must not fly too far—or it will meet its demise in a fairway-crossing brook. Playing short of the brook still leaves and longish approach into a slightly elevated green, tilted back to front and guarded to the right by a bunker. It’s an impressive longer four-par.

TEN: A difficult fairway to hit—it slopes sternly from a high right side—although it’s not a bad option to hit your second from the flatter left rough, though wiry. This hole is particularly harsh around the green, given its precipitous falloff on the left, its narrowness, and its deep rough if you miss to the right.

EIGHTEEN: If you like a challenge, then savor the experience of playing this artful par-5. As a two-shooter, it may foil all but two great shots, with the second requiring a heroic effort that might even give a tour player fits: strongly uphill, around a huge, hillside tree and onto the perched green. I hit green eighteen, playing conservatively, in three today—but it’s still a gauntlet. And the sloping green is tough to two-putt. Play the ball left on any layup to steer clear of the giant tree.

Other notes, comments, and opinions:

A)..Any slow-play issue is always two-fold: One can also blame ignorance, sadly, as everyone who picks up a club should be aware of the golfing rules of etiquette before stepping onto a golf course.

B) Very good response to Covid-19 here. Outdoor dining.

C) I played St. Anne CC with two good golfers today, and found myself the short hitter in the threesome (I’m unaccustomed to this role, but those are the breaks!). We enjoyed great conversation throughout, much of it about the NFL but also national politics. These two were truly friendly, pleasant, and insightful gentlemen. They’re “Mr. S” and Mr. C” in the pics.

D) Conditioning was best on and around the greens, including fringes. A few of the greens, especially early on, were inconsistent. The fairways were good, although some seemed a bit long.

E) St. Anne gives out free, extensive and exceptionally-done course guides.