Review: Little Bennett Golf Course (Part 2)

And we're back with the back nine. Here's the front nine if you haven't seen it yet.

The tenth hole is a fairly short par 4 at 370 yards. You have to deal with small streams on multiple occasions, but this hole contains the only pond on the golf course. The only nonnatural water hazard. You need to carry the tee shot decently far off the tee to carry the water, but at the same time, a driver is really not a great idea. Starting around 250 yards from the tee the hole is pinched by the pond and the tree line to the right, and it becomes quite narrow, which is something I didn't know when I played the hole. Luckily, I hit a very good drive, and was right in the middle of the narrow fairway. A wood or long iron is all you need, this isn't a long hole. Also, if you lay up and keep your shot close to the pond, you'll have a better angle into the green. Not a bad way to start off the back nine.

The tenth hole. It gets pretty narrow beyond where you can see.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a par 5 that plays extremely long. Obviously, it plays uphill, but it was also playing into the wind the day I was there. You need to hit a couple of decent shots to get into full view of the green in two, and you need to stay close to the right trees to have the best angle into the green, as there is a greenside bunker lurking to the left. Also, the second shot is completely blind, much like on the fifth, I had absolutely no idea where to go with it. It's very adventurous golf at Little Bennett.

If you can make the top of the hill, you're in good shape.

Another blind second shot on a par 5.

The third shot is semiblind unless you get your second shot far enough.

The twelfth hole is another fairly short par 4, and in terms of strategic interest, there isn't a whole lot there. But the view from the tee is quite nice. You actually want to aim pretty much at the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain, the fairway runs out quicker than you might expect on the right side. The green is quite small, and similarly to the fifth green, runs slightly from front to back. I like that feature quite a lot, it's interesting when even a high-flying wedge bounces and rolls out.

The twelfth plays sharply downhill. But you get a nice view of the mountain.

The twelfth green is not a large one.

The thirteenth hole features something you don't see every day: a split-level fairway. I'm not sure how necessary that was, but now Little Bennett can say that they've got one. This is another drive-and-pitch par 4, and this one is probably the toughest of the bunch. The drive isn't too bad, but your approach needs to be very precise. It's a small green, and if the hole is on the right side, a shot hit even slightly left will run down to the bottom-left section of the green, leaving a long, uphill putt that's very tricky to judge.

The thirteenth hole.

You can get a slightly better look at the split-level fairway here, as well as the tiny little green.

The fourteenth hole is the last par 5 on the course, and is pretty reachable at 512 yards. You'll notice that once again, the tee shot plays up over the crest of a hill. Yes, all the par 5s feature tee shots like this. A certain lack of variety in the way this course tackles the topography keeps this course from being all that good. The par 5s all play pretty similar, all the par 3s play downhill, things like that. At least you can see the green if you make it up on top of the hill.

Another blind drive on fourteen.

But you can see where your second shot is going. Mostly.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is a short par 3 at less than 150 yards, and it plays even shorter. The green is tilted pretty sharply from back to front, but otherwise, there's not much to this hole. Club down, and watch the wedge hang in the air for ages and ages.

The fifteenth hole.

The sixteenth hole is a mid-length par 4, and is a fairly interesting hole. You can clearly see that the fairway falls away pretty severely to the left. It's very easy to sort of bail out from the right-hand fairway bunker, and let your drive drift down the hill. But this will leave you with a blind approach over the greenside bunker. Keep it right and you'll get a better view of the green, and a better angle.

The sixteenth hole.

The sixteenth green is semiblind.

The seventeenth hole is almost identical in length to the fifteenth, but it doesn't play quite so much downhill. The green is not big, and this is the most well-bunkered green on the golf course. Otherwise, not a whole lot of strategy here, but it is nice to see a par 3 with a bit less extreme elevation change.

The seveneenth hole.

The eighteenth hole is a fairly long par 4 at 425 yards, and it plays even longer. Much like the ninth hole, you have to lay up off the tee. Use too much club, and you'll leave yourself a ridiculously downhill stance on your second. The stream does cut across the fairway, but that's probably out of reach unless you've got some serious length. If you've laid up correctly, the second shot is a mid-iron over the stream to a big and inviting green.

A layup is definitely in order on the last hole.

The eighteenth green, across a valley.

Is Little Bennett as good as its next-door neighbor, P.B. Dye? No. It's not really even close. P.B. Dye had better views, more interesting greens, significantly more strategy, and it was offbeat in a way that this course just isn't. Interestingly, both courses do share a weakness, in that the closing holes of both nines at both courses are mediocre at best. Seriously, neither course could conclude a nine. Kind of odd, but what are you going to do?

This wasn't a bad golf course though, I'd definitely place it as above average. It was certainly better than Rattlewood. On a course with so much elevation change, Little Bennett could hardly fail to capture at least a little of your attention. And there are quite a few decent holes here. No stand-outs, but some well-designed holes that provide a fair amount of strategy and fun. For a muni course owned by Montgomery County, it's pretty good. I wouldn't pay the $60 they charge on weekend mornings, but the $40 I paid on a Tuesday? That's not too bad a price. Would I play here again? Maybe. Really, it depends on how much P.B. Dye is charging on the day I'd want to play. It's not a bad back-up course.