Red Oaks is a Course Where Your Confidence Can Grow

 

      Every golf course has its purpose and Red Oaks as a member of the Oakland County Parks System and when you trek to this course you will not pull out most of your clubs during the nine hole course but you will have fun. Better golfers will have fun at this 2,442 yard  Jerry Matthews designed nine hole course and pull out their irons on 5 par three’s that just keep on coming. Beginning and higher handicap golfers will be challenged by the course working on your iron game where golfing from the longest hole is only 420 yards from the tips and from the middle tees you will have no shot over 396 yards with most much shorter than that. 

 

   The first hole plays at 366 yards from the back tees (where this course was reviewed) and appears to be a little longer than that from the tee box. A huge driving range net runs quite a ways down the left side and you can wack it here as the fairway is open and the rough will leave you with an uneven lie if you clip the ball right. Still, a drive of 250 yards will give you a wedge to the green or if you miss your drive you will still be a mid iron away from achieving a birdie or par on this hole. A sand bunker looks to collect errant shots down the right side of the landing area. Yet another huge sand bunker obscures the hole on the right side and you cannot tell where the pin is if it is tucked behind the bunker which it was both times I played this course. The green is undulated and tends to run from back to front. Both times the pin was in front of the bunker so most likely you will have an effort rolling downhill or curving one way or another. This is a good par hole and two very good shots will give you a chance to start one under. 

Don't go left on the par three fourth hole. Lots of bunkers, a sloping hill and ob awaits you.

The second hole is one where most golfers will be licking their chops. It plays as a 170 yard par three (152 from the middle tees) and plays slightly downhill. There are bunkers guarding the green but it is very open and the green is huge so hitting it is not a problem. The green is subtly undulated so try to stick it as close as you can. If you miss the  green and go off to the side the grass is cushy so you should have a good shot. The sand bunker is fluffy so you should have a good attempt to blast out and push it close depending on how close to the lip you are.

Moving onto number five, this hole plays to 383 yards and is very deceptive. The hole has  a line of trees that funnel diagonally from the left rough to the fairway but going left will most likely leave you will a second shot as many trees are not mature and you might have a second shot. Go right and you will have a cluster of trees that very well could leave you pitching back to the fairway. The fairway has not been mentioned yet and you can really drive and roll it here with a well placed shot down the low cut prime cut of grass. Bunkers will guard this hole but once you are on, this green rolls fairly slow so you will have to hit your putt but you should be able to get it close or knock it in.

   Every course has a number one handicapped hole and number seven has the honors at Red Oaks. It plays as an arching dog leg right. The hole is framed by a huge driving net down the left side of the fairway around the landing zone of this 420 (396) yard par four. There is some trouble left side in the rough and I’m telling you, the longer fescues will take your ball and you most likely not find it although you will not believe it as a playing partner of mine found out. You actually could drive your ball behind the driving net and I did that the second time I played it. How you score that is an unsolved mystery. Go right and you will find some of those same fesccues but it is more open over there and fading it right will not hurt you. Once again, the classic sand bunkers guard the hole on both sides up front and hitting the green in two is no guarantee that you will par this hole as the ball tends to keep rolling as its subtle slope does come into play.

    

The 9th fairway from the tee box.

The 9th fairway slopes right and there is plenty of hardpan here.

The par four 9^th hole is another hole where you feel like you can whale away. The hole plays at 374 yards but playing off of the elevated tee and slightly sloping fairway toward the green will most likely give you your best drive of the day like it did mine. The problem comes where most of the right side of the fairway slopes toward the rough and carries into a series of young pine trees that will alter your second shot and most tee shots run hot into them. The rough is also full of hard pan grass and is absolutely no fun to play out of. Play it down the middle and you will never know about this. Go fairway right center or right side and surely you will experience this. A sand bunker does obscure the pin on the right side where it was on both days of playing this final hole. The green is fairly large but putts do role fairly true here.  
Customer Service- 9.5- They have a friendly staff overall and this includes the golf course maintainance people. 


Course Markings- 8.0 - Good.  No suggestions on playing the course as for individual holes. Plastic fairway markers and some sprinkler heads were marked.

Conditions -8.0 - Course in good shape. Oakland County courses are always in very good shape. Number nine was the exception. The hard pan was little more than dirt. The areas around the green are always a treat. Few ball marks as golfers help to take good care of it and the  maintainance workers are very nice on the course. Remember golf course owners, they are part of the staff and our interaction with them is as important as the staff at the starters tent and in the pro shop.   

Playability 9.5- This is a good scoring track. The course plays different depending on your tee box played. The greens are very readable and there are some subtlties to it. If you need to work on your short game or irons and you want some challenge or play some fun golf games such as skins, this is a good place to do it.   

Course Design- 7.5 - Course laid out with the  beginning to average average golfer in mind. For you to get into trouble on this course you will find it in spots such as the 4th hole to the left. It is fair and a good design. It is not the tough track many Oakland County public courses are. It is designed for the beginning  or league golfer that wants to have fun without the stress of having to hit it over long carries, bunkers in the landing areas and so forth.  

The bottom line. I give it a 8.0/10.0.The course is enjoyable and allows you to work on your game or play with an inexperienced player where you can have the challenge of hitting plenty irons.

I think if you want a good walk unspoiled with frustration and want a friendly game, this is a good course to have one.

Oakland County always has tournaments, leagues and good deals and I would contact them. Here is the website and you can find the course you want to play.

http://www.destinationoakland.com/parksandtrails/golf/redoaks/Pages/default.aspx