50 Words or Less
North Creek golf course has a very good layout. Lots of challenging and fun holes. Conditioning, outside of the greens, is not excellent.
Introduction
For some golfers, conditions are everything. Others are willing to look past almost anything to play a fun layout. If you lean toward the latter group, book a round at North Creek golf course. I can’t think of a more enjoyable layout that you can play for a $32 weekday rate.
Practice Facilities
At the end of a short walk from the clubhouse, you’ll find a medium-size putting green with plenty of cups. While the speed is similar to what you’ll find on the course, it can’t prepare you for some of the sharp contours you’ll encounter. The driving range at North Creek can best be described as scruffy, but it does provide enough room to hit every club in your bag.
Customer Service & Amenities
Amenities are fairly bare bones at North Creek. The one element that stands out is the bar and grill which also functions as the turn stand. They have all the staple food items you’d expect, and the atmosphere is very comfortable for sitting and watching a game after your round.
For the full story on northern Mississippi golf, and what to do beyond the course, click HERE.
Beauty & Scenery
Your eyes will never be bored at North Creek. Between the water, trees, native grasses, and mounding, every hole has something interesting going on. Your round starts and ends with holes that are bordered by houses, but the vast majority of the round is played in blissful isolation.
Tee Shots
Looking at the scorecard, you would get the impression that North Creek is a very short course. In truth, the modest yardage – the tips play just 6,433 yards – is the result of several short holes. The majority of the course plays to fairly standard proportions.
Hitting tee shots accurately is the key to playing well at North Creek. This is a course with plenty of water – some visible, some not – and some wooded areas in play from the tee. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that the fairways shrink and swell at different yardages. On many holes, a 250 yard drive on a given line will be fine, but a 270 yard drive on that same line won’t be. Tee shots here require both good planning and good execution.
Approach Shots
If you hit the fairways, North Creek is generous on your approach. Most of the fairways are reasonably flat – only a few have moderate undulations.
When you miss the fairway, North Creek uses mounding to make your approach difficult. Many holes are bordered by mounds that are, in some cases, extremely tall. Not only can these obscure your view of the green, they can also impact your stance.
On all of the medium and longer holes, North Creek has a clear recipe: give the golfer a large green but punish them for missing it. The second hole is a good example. It has a very long green with adequate width, but deep bunkers sit on either side. If you miss the green by more than a couple yards left or right, making par becomes unlikely.
Greens & Surrounds
For a course with mediocre conditioning overall, North Creek has excellent greens. They’re fast, smooth, and they have a mix of subtle and extreme breaks. If you want to shoot a low score at North Creek, you need to take the contours of the greens into account on your approach and pitch shots. Being above the hole will nearly guarantee a three-putt.
On the other end of the conditioning spectrum are the bunkers. To reduce maintenance costs, North Creek is allowing their bunkers to fill in with grass. When I visited, that meant the bunkers played like ground under repair. The bunkers are very deep, so whether they’re filled with sand or grass, they represent a substantial hazard that needs to be avoided.
Favorite Holes
#6 – Par 4 – 355 Yards
This short par 4 becomes driveable if the wind is at your back or if you’re playing up a set of tees. What makes it a lot of fun is the green. This is one of the smaller greens on the course, and you can run the ball up from the right side of the fairway. On the left side, however, you can find yourself several feet below the putting surface.
#8 – Par 5 494 Yards
A medium length par 5, this hole starts with drive that feels tighter than it is. To get to this shallow, well-defended green in two, you need to hit a solid drive that either flies a clump of trees or cuts around them. This is one of the easier greens on the course, so if you can get there in regulation or less, you’ll have a great chance at birdie.
Conclusion
One of things I’ve come to value most in a golf course is the opportunity to hit memorable shots. With an equal amount of scoring opportunities and penal hazards, North Creek golf course has those opportunities by the bunch.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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No address or contact info???
Paul,
There’s a link to the course at the very top of the review.
-Matt