This is a combination blog Post. Part golf course review from Carter Plantation and part reviewing the Reel Golf feature on hole 14. Carter had that installed only about a month ago and it is a feature I have been wanting to check out since they announced it. Although I have played golf at Carter a few times this year, it had been since March that I did an official course review. I figured why not do both at the same time.
First I will get into the normal golf course review before talking about the Reel Golf feature (click here to skip to that). As always the course review video will be at the end of this post but features the Reel Golf experience in the middle. For those that may only be interested in the Reel Golf that starts at the 5:00 mark in the video.
I always enjoy a visit to Carter Plantation. It is one of my favorite properties within an hour drive of downtown New Orleans. A good layout that is fun and presents a good challenge depending on the tee you elect to play. Some greens are more elevated than others and require good imagination to get the ball up and down. (there is a shot and tip in the video showing one of these scenarios). Carter Plantation has a full clubhouse with a restaurant and great practice facilities that include a double-ended grass driving range, two putting greens, and a short game area that includes two bunkers. For a golf course under $100, they have more and offer more than many others in the same price range. I even met the Director of Golf this trip as he went out of his way when leaving the property to stop in his car to introduce himself to me while I was on hole 8. I have not met many directors who would do that.
The past few visits the golf course conditions have been very consistent of a high-end property and as a result, have led me to have high expectations for this visit. After all, Carter Plantation is actually a full resort and the course conditions should be that of resort golf. Even at this time of year when the weather may not be ideal for the turf I arrived expecting better than my last official review where I gave it an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5. This time was much better.
Overall: 4 out of 5
Tee Boxes: 3.5 out of 5
The tee boxes seem to be the only area the course struggles with consistency. From the last review to every other time I have played Carter this year, things have somewhat been the same. Some tee boxes have longer grass than others. When teeing up a driver on some holes you'd barely get the tee in the ground but the ball would barely be above the grass. It doesn't really affect play with a driver but it can cause a problem trying to tee up a 3-wood or iron on a short par 4. The par 3 holes were cut down enough this was not a problem at all. Also, not every hole was the same height whether cut low or not. I personally would like to see the grass be more consistent and match fairway height at the longest. Also, as I've mentioned in other course reviews they could do the tee boxes a favor on par 3 holes by using the USGA recommendation of putting the markers 6-yards apart. Some were a good 10 yards wide and you can see those teeing areas getting beat up more than necessary.
Fairways: 4 out of 5
The fairways were very good. Slightly longer than a few months ago, but I expect that this time of year as the ground is softer and it protects the turf not cutting the grass too tight. All this means is that the fairways were not as firm and fast as they would be from Spring to Fall. The ball still bounced and rolled some just not a whole lot. The consistency of the fairways was great from hole to hole. Each reacted the same way and each had the grass cut to the same height. The only downside of the fairways is a result of golfers. There were a lot of unfilled divots. So many in fact, I played out of 4 in total (more then my last 20 round combined) and I used 6 bottles of sand to fill divots during my round.
Greens: 4.75 out of 5
The greens were absolutely amazing. The speed was very fast and the ball rolled true. The speed could be borderline too fast for some of the undulation the greens have on them but they were manageable and only dangerously fast if you had a severe downhill putt. Uphill putts on the other hand you could be more aggressive with. I did 3 putt from 4ft on the 3rd hole but I think that was a result of being too tentative from above the hole and the ball spinning out the lip of the hole. What also made the speed manageable was the receptiveness of golf shots hit into them. The greens would hold shots very well. Wedge shots would check up pretty quickly but mid to long irons would release some. The 4ft I had on hole 3 was hit with a 4-iron that only rolled out about 20 ft from its pitch mark.
The bunkers were in good condition, although many were not raked after golfers hit out of them, and the rough was in good condition as well.
About Reel Golf - (from their website)
"ReelGOLF™ is the first on-course autonomous videography system to create PGA® Pro Tour quality video for the everyday golfer. With ReelGOLF™, smart cameras are placed discretely near the tee boxes and greens on signature Par 3 holes to capture tee-to-green shots. Simply scan our QR Golf™ code, to record your shot, and the video will be sent to you within minutes. It’s that simple.
Just Scan, Shoot, and Share!"
I was excited to try the Reel Golf feature on hole 14. I think something like this is a great way to make golf more interactive. I also think it would be great to help promote Louisiana Golf. The idea of being able to have your shot recorded, and compete in contests for prizes (like closest-to-the-hole challenges) is a great concept. It is a great way to capture a great moment you may not capture otherwise. Imagine getting a hole in one and instead of just sharing the story, you have it on video, to share with everyone.
I had two issues. One was the amount of time it took to set up the Reel Golf challenge once I got the 14th tee box. I scanned the code like I was told and filled out the info but it took almost 4 min before I was able to get it ready to record. I know 4min is not long but I also prepaid. If a golfer got there and needed to put in payment information it would take longer. Also, I am not sure if some of the time was due to a weak cell signal or the website you have to use. Second was the recording itself. It only picked up the top half of my body during my swing and the video showed an incorrect yardage. I played the back tee which was playing 160 yards. the video shows 140 yards. I did not get a prompt to tell the system what tee I was playing from but you would think the video would cover all teeing areas in the frame. Again if that is all you would like to see you can do so at the 5:00 mark in the video.
I was going to go in and ask some questions upon leaving but I had to rush off after a call I received. I will get some answers to my questions about teeing areas, log-in, and other questions I have from both Carter Plantation and Reel Golf. Then I will go back out again next week and do a follow-up of just Reel Golf and see if I can get a better experience with it. Plus I want to go get a better shot as well.
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