Hot Springs Village

Beautiful course and in good condition, but not a course for the older guys. Most of the greens are elevated and are surrounded by several feet of zoysia grass which means you aren’t running the ball on the green. Wide fairways but very few level lies. Seems rather odd that they would construct several golf courses in the village that I would consider very challenging to the senior golfer considering most of the players here are seniors.

We played this course not knowing much about it. It is shorter than the courses to which we are accustomed so we anticipated getting on in regulation without any problem. The problem was a number of deep bunkers resembling washed out rock quarries or filled with extremely fine sand. The greens were a strange colored Bermuda, difficult to putt on and in poor shape. The green on #14 was half-dead so it was closed. A temporary green was set up in the fairway. That was unfortunate since it was a scenic hole. The broken up cart paths are difficult to traverse in the really slow old gas carts. Many of the fairways had large bare spots of no turf. Maybe in a better weather year this course would be ok to play. It’s not a bad design. It’s just in bad shape.

I played this course while visiting the area and my thoughts are:

1. The course is in great condition. Tee to green, no issues.

2. I played by myself and course knowledge would have helped. Shot an 86...handicap is 14 so it was right in line.

3. The course has a few tight driving holes. Not awful but certainly not wide open.

4. One of the par threes is 161 with a sand bunker in front. The rest is all water.

5. Greens were smooth and reasonably fast. Especially as they dried out.

6. For the visitor price I would expect free range balls and GPS.

7. It's truly 45 minutes from Hot Springs. Only 25 miles but the max speed is 45 with lots of turns.

Enjoy your round if you play there.

Our goal is to survive hole 1. This par five is a tough starting hole, but the views, course conditions and pace of play keep us coming back. The back nine par fives are unique. The more you play, the better your management becomes! The restaurant has the best onion rings in HSV, as well as delicious specials.

Among the 8 HSV courses, Cortez is #1 because.the greens staff keeps Cortez in excellent shape year round. The views, the wild life, and the helpful golf shop staff add to the enjoyable outing, as does the 5 star food at the restaurant on the premises.

Course is a fun & challenging layout. It was in better shape than I thought it would be due to time of year and recent rains. I’m looking forward to playing this course again.

Excellent course layout. Will like to come when the fairways and rough awaken. Greens where a bit slow

This course was worth the money. Even though a ladies league was in front of us it never really affected our threesome. Pleasantly surprised. Less than 4 hour round. Fairways and rough grass still dormant but still played well

Greens need some work but layout and challenge holes were good

Keeping in mind it was February and they had an enormous amount of rain the night before, it was average. The greens were below average but otherwise not bad. Would like to give it another chance when it warms up.

We played this course as members of Club Corp’s Signature Gold. We think this it’s the most challenging and most fun course we’ve played. The setting is beautiful in the hills of central Arkansas and is so quiet compared to the big city....and we saw a lot of deer and a few foxes. Really neat to see. The fairways are lush and very wide and some with a lot of slope and sit among a lot of big homes. There’s no chance to hit into another fairway...but you can hit into the woods! The rough is a big challenge so stay on the fairways at all cost. There are many bunkers filled with very white sand and getting out is tough. The greens are huge and putting on them is like putting on glass. And a couple of pins were on the slope of the green! The Pro Shop is small. Pros were friendly and gave us good tips. Food service was good and we ate on a nice patio area off the clubhouse. We will go back there again to play.

HSV has excellent courses and Ponce is one. Staff has you checked in and ready to hit. Pro shop is well stocked, carts are clean and practice areas are available for you: Course is in excellent shape, greens are in top condition and are really fast. Lots of folks enjoying the fall weather and a four hour round is expected. The restaurant has your beverages and breakfast/brunch was the Sunday offerings to eat.

Golf in Hot Springs Village is the best semi-public experience in the state of Arkansas. Golf doesn't get any better unless you have some private club’s membership.

The greens, fairways, and tees all are looking great now. Pro shop is fully loaded with everything you might need or wanted to get for your equipment, supplies or wardrobe. A full service restaurant for 3 meals and a full bar. Come play Ponce de Leon and spend some time enjoying the other 8 courses in the village!

Today’s one drawback was the course was busy and packed with golfers so the pace of play was right at 4 hrs and a bit. You would like to see a bit more separation of tee times to add some space so playing thru would be possible.

Returning soon.

Either the starter need to do better spacing or the Marshall must have people speed up or let other groups pass. They have a 27 hole lay out it shouldn't take 5 and a half hours to play 18.