#879 Sherman Hills GC

I returned to the Brooksville area again this week to play another nice course, designed by Ted McAnlis in 1993. Conditioning was very good except, for the 13-15 holes, where I encountered temporay greens on 13, 14 and sparse turf in the FW of 15. This stretch is more heavyly treed and lower in elevation then the rest of the course which is probably the reason for the poor conditioning.

The opening five holes is an easy start to your round and I was a bit dissapointed, but starting on the 6th hole it became alot more challenging with just about every hole thereafter very interesting. #7 and #16 are brutes of par 3's. #8-11 is a nice stretch of par 4's with a lot of variety and the final three provide a strong par 3-4-5 finish. I hope to return next year after the holes are repaired and play it again.GOLD

"Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection."- Mark Twain

#878 Hernando Oaks GC

Hernando Oaks GC is a 2003 Steve Pate design in Brooksville, FL. This is the only Steve Pate course that I can verify that he designed all by himself. I am venturing further out as I have played almost every course in a 40 mile radius of The Villages. The course had modern contouring of the FW's and green complexes (Tiff/Eagle). There was heavy rain the night before and most of the bunkers were flooded but without any rain they would have been bad. Lack of sand and weeds growing in them is the one major negative for this course.

I found eleven holes interesting, Front 9(1,4,5,7,8,9) and the Back 9(10,13,16,17,18) by far the most enjoyable as it is totally isolated from any development with a strong finishing stretch. Even with the poor bunkers I gave it a GOLD rating.