Raven - Sandestin

Last week before the storm I played Raven with a buddy. For this trip I had actually booked a tee time at Baytowne and then cancelled it because we ended up not leaving Lafayette until about 9:00 PM, getting us to Destin around 2:00 and our tee time was at 7:30 that morning.

So I kept checking Golf Now and ended up landing a 8:00 tee time at Raven for $90/per player on Friday, so we jumped on it.

The course was well maintained. There were some spots in the fairways and around the greens that could've been better, but not anything that I'd really gripe about. I thought the layout was great. Had some challenging holes, with well placed traps and water that made us think before swinging. I was satisfied with the greens for the most part. They aren't very flat which was a challenge and some of the hole placements were tricky too.

We pulled up to 6, which is the island green par-3. That was the first true island green I've ever played. Beautiful hole but it's pretty intimidating and of course I hit in the water. My buddy hit within 10 feet of the hole. He was pumped up, but not as pumped as I was on the next par-3 which was the 8th, where I hit a hole in one!!!! I've only been playing a few years but it's first one I've ever hit. I actually didn't know until I got on the green and couldn't find my ball, but I knew I had hit a great shot. We look in the cup and sure enough it was there. Surreal experience!

I settled in after that and played a good back 9. I usually hit low 90s and ended the day at 92. My buddy plays in the mid 80s and finished with an 83. Also played in about 3.5 hours and very rarely had to wait after about the 3 hole.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I'm not sure how it measures up to others in the area at the same price range (Kelly Plantation and Regatta Bay), as i haven't played those, but I'd play Raven anytime at the price we paid.