In the belated first of the course reviews from my recent trip to Ocean City, MD, I’ll share my thoughts on Eagles Landing, the first of the four courses we played on our stay.  There are a couple of things to keep in mind about these reviews.  First, because of some spotty weather and poor planning on my part, I didn’t take very many pictures at all.  I also, didn’t take any notes, apart from the mental kind.  I’m still learning how best to do course reviews, so you can expect these will improve with time.  For now, however; I’m working off memory.  If there’s any conciliation it’s that I have a near photographic memory when it comes to golf.

Another thing to keep in mind is that we took our golf trip to Ocean City in mid April.  While some courses were definitely in better shape than others, I think it’s fair to say that all of them were still in the process of shaking off winter’s rust.

Course Information:

• Eagles Landing (www.eagleslandinggolf.com)

• Par: 72

• Yardage: 4896-7003 yards (we played the gold tees – 6303 yards)

Description (from the website):

Eagle’s Landing Golf Course…a beautiful seaside golfing paradise with a sweeping vista of land, water and sky. Located just minutes from Ocean City, Maryland, Eagle’s Landing Golf Course overlooks the serene Sinepuxent Bay and the unspoiled beauty of Assateague Island National Seashore.

Eagle’s Landing Golf Course boasts the most scenic and challenging golf course on the Eastern Shore. In 1996 Golf Digest rated Eagle’s Landing Golf Course 45th in the top 75 most affordable public courses in America. Eagle’s Landing is also the first certified audobon cooperative sanctuary in Maryland. Eagle’s Landing offers superb conditions. Eagle’s Landing also features a hospitable staff and a variety of links style and marsh land holes with Bermuda fairways and bent grass greens.

We arrived at the course plenty early (after 6.5 hours on the road), which gave us plenty of time to settle in, grab a lunch and some beer, and practice a bit.  For those concerned about the food, I had a turkey sandwich, which was, well…a turkey sandwich.

Practice Facility

We didn’t see a driving range, and I didn’t ask if they had one.  They do offer a large putting green as well as a very good short game area, which provides lots of room for pitching and chipping, as well as a larger bunker to practice your sand game.  While it’s not the best practice facility I’ve ever seen, it’s probably substantially better than what you’ll find at most of your local courses.

Layout

Eagles Landing plays almost like 2 separate courses.  Several holes (including most of the front 9) are what I would describe as Parkland style.  Trees border the edges of the sometimes parallel fairways.  A good chunk of the back 9 is near or on the ocean.  There are wetlands throughout (I’d describe it a marshland course), and to be successful, you must play target golf (not something I particularly enjoy, or that I’m particularly good at).  While the back 9 is more scenic, I got more enjoyment out of the front.

Perhaps the most visually stunning hole at Eagles Landing is the Par 5 8th. A severe dog left left, the 8th requires a tee shot over wetlands followed by a well executed lay up to set up yet another shot over wetlands.

Conditions

With considerations given for the fact that we were playing in early spring, Eagles Landing was in reasonably good shape.  The greens had obviously been top-dressed recently, so they were perhaps a bit slow, and I found myself constantly wiping sand off my ball.  Grit aside, they rolled true with no major damage.

The same holds true for the fairways.  While not everything was a plush a green, I don’t recall any bare spots, or any real damage of consequence.  I suspect if we had been two weeks later into the season, the grounds would have been absolute beautiful.

Pace of Play

There’s nothing worse than a 5 hour (or 6 hour) round of golf.  For the most part, the pace at Eagle’s Landing was smooth.  We had to wait at a tee box or two, but nothing uncommon or excessive.  No complaints whatsoever.

The Staff

How the golf course staff treats their customers is very important to me.  What I hate is being made to feel like the course is doing me a favor by allowing me to play there.  The pro shop staff, restaurant staff, and the starters were all matter of fact about taking care of us.  Call it adequate.  There weren’t any issues, but they didn’t go out of the way to make me feel welcome either.  That said, when one of our group discovered he’d locked his keys in the car, the staff was extremely helpful in getting him a locksmith, and even took a shot at getting the doors unlocked.

Favorite Hole

The par 4, 6th is a dog leg left where you must contend with water off the tee, and down the entire left side of the hole.  I started by yanking my tee shot into the wetlands just off the tee box.  I followed that with a moon shot off the driver, that I’d generously say traveled 200 yards.    I continued my display of mastery by flubbing a 3 wood, before knocking my rescue club well left of the green (thankfully not so left as to be wet).  Eventually I found my way to the green, and 2 putted for an 8.  Still, it’s a beautiful hole.

Overall Experience

For the most part I enjoyed Eagle’s Landing.  I don’t like trying to quantify ratings, but all the same, I’d say based on layout and condition it’s a solid B.  Here’s the rub though (and the comparison I’ll be making as I review the other courses we played).  The retail price for our round was $95 per golfer, which leads me to two key questions: In a fantasy world where Eagle’s Landing could be dropped in the middle of Saratoga, NY (my home town); side by side with the courses I have access to on a daily basis, would I be willing to pay $95 for 18 holes?

More often than not, the answer would be no. With all due deference to the occasional spectacular view, I probably wouldn’t be willing to spend more than $75 for a day at Eagles Landing.

The more important (and more reality-centric) question is, if I were to take another trip to Ocean City, would I want to play Eagles Landing again?  Again…it’s a good course, but not a great course.  In all likelihood, I’d leave Eagle’s Landing off the list, even if in meant spending a few more dollars to play elsewhere.

For overall value, Eagle’s Landing gets a B-.  I don’t feel like I overpaid by much, but for $95 a course needs to be closer to great (not spectacular, but great) than it is to good, and I simply didn’t feel that way about Eagle’s Landing.