Fyre Lake National Review - Sherrard IL

[Hawk]

Fyre Lake National is a Jack Nicklaus Design course in Sherrard, IL, about 30 minutes south of the Quad Cities. This course has been in the news quite a bit around here over the last few years. It was designed to be part of a new upscale community and the developers ended up in financial trouble that delayed its opening by two years, even though the course was complete and ready for play.

This is a par 70 course, the back tees playing 6,505 yards with a 72.1/130 slope and rating. Played quite a bit longer than it looks.

The course is characterized by large elevation changes, rolling and tiered greens, numerous bunkers, and water. It's susceptible to wind as well.

I'll give yardages from the second to back set of tees.

Holes 1 through 3

Hole 1 Par 4 401 Yards

Longer par 4 playing slightly downhill towards the lake. Was straight into a wicked headwind today, making it play quite long. Fairway bunker is in play on the right side. Green has two distinct tiers, so getting the right yardage is important.

Hole 2 Par 5 487 Yards

Goes steeply up hill off the tee, with a hazard and treeline in play on the left side. Up hill all the way to the green, which is severely tiered, with a rise of about 4 feet from front to back. Tough hole, even though it's on the shorter side.

Hole 3 Par 4 385 Yards

Back down the hill and back into the wind. Tee shot is down a hill, with a fairway bunker that is very much in play on the right side. Green sits on the water, so it requires a forced carry from a downhill lie to a very narrow and deep green. Another difficult one that played a lot harder than it looked on paper.

Looking back at the tee from the green

Holes 4-6

Hole 4 Par 4 341 Yards

Not a hard hole, plays uphill, but tees off from an elevated tee. Played with the wind today, which made it a little easier. Lots of fairway bunkers to gobble up crooked drives. Another tiered green that requires some distance control on your approach. Pin today was in a pretty good spot. Behind the bunker would be a tougher spot.

Hole 5 Par 3 150 Yards

The first par 3 is pretty tame, though it played right into the wind today and was really difficult to hit. Bhilln hit his 175 yard club and was right near the front bunker. I punched a hybrid to the back left.

Hole 6 Par 4 365 Yards

Another uphill, shorter par 4 that played straight into the wind. Approach plays steeply uphill to a green with a couple bunkers that say, "Don't come up short." Green is wide, but shallow.

 

[Hawk]

Holes 7-9

Hole 7 Par 4 402 Yards

Longer par 4 that starts from an elevated tee box. Big bunker complex on the right will grab anything over 265. Green is narrow and deep with some bunkering. Pretty easy hole if you can pop off a good drive.

Hole 8 Par 3 147 Yards

Plays from an elevated tee box down to a green that is fronted by water. Bunkers are waiting for you on the right if you try to get too cautious. Good par 3 here.

Hole 9 Par 4 316 Yards

You tee off to the right of the 8th green, back up the hill to the fairway. Big fairway bunkers make you think twice about where you want to hit the ball, but there is plenty of bailout room. This hole seems much longer from the tee than it is. Big deep greenside bunker sits right in front of the green, which is deep back to front.

Holes 10 through 12

Hole 10 Par 5 495 Yards

The back nine starts off with a fairly forgiving tee shot up the hill. From the top of the hill you are left with a blind shot back down to the green, which is well protected by a greenside bunker. An easy hole to start the back and good chance at making a birdie here.

Hole 11 Par 4 401 Yards

Tee shot is downhill and into the wind (today). Trees on the right side of the fairway will punish any slicers. Green sits aside the water and the guaranteed downhill lie makes it a tough one to hit. Difficult hole.

Hole 12 Par 3 170 Yards

Tee shot is over a ravine to a green that is heavily bunkered. Green is quite narrow and it makes for a tough target. Played 185 to a back pin today.

 

[Hawk]

Holes 13 through 15

Hole 13 Par 4 373 Yards

This one plays similar to 11 in that the tee shot is down the hill and the right side is tree lined. Probably would be considered the signature hole by virtue of the island green that it features. This played into the wind today and it was very difficult. Green isn't all that hard, but getting there was a challenge.

Hole 14 Par 4 321 Yards

Pretty forgiving short par 4 here. Tee off over the water onto the fairway. A few fairway bunkers are out there to keep you honest. Green is wide and shallow. Good hole to make up a stroke on.

Looking back at the tee from the fairway.

Hole 15 Par 4 362 Yards

Straight away with water on the left side. Forced carry to the green, which is protected by bunkers short, trees right, and water left. Not a tough hole if you execute, but it will punish you if you make mistakes.

Holes 16 through 18

Hole 16 Par 3 142 Yards

This one plays up hill and is heavily bunkered. Green seems tiny, and at 17 yards deep it is. Short shots will roll back down the hill a long ways. Don't ask me why I know this

Hole 17 Par 4 305 Yards

This was another shorter, but steeply uphill par 4 with lots of bunkering. Not all that difficult though.

Hole 18 Par 4 382 Yards

Played from a slightly elevated tee box, this one bends sharply to the left around a lake. Due to the wind, it was basically next to impossible to take a good shot at. Pin was far left near the water. Could be a little easier if the pin was on the right front side. Difficult finisher.

Thoughts:


I thought the layout was pretty good. I love a links style course and this one really fits that bill. The ridiculous wind coming off the lake made that even more the case. With that said, many of the holes have a similar feel to them. A good portion of the par 4's are either up or down hill, with a bunch of bunkers to look at. I thought the par 3's were very good.

It's hard to judge conditions this time of year, but in comparison to other courses I've played in the last two weeks the greens were on the slow side. Fairway lies were extremely tight and I think people will end up liking them once they get some growing time in. The greens willl be very difficult when they speed up. Again, it's not even growing season here yet, so conditions are hard to judge.

The financial issues I talked about earlier had another effect on the course. There isn't a true clubhouse or a parking lot built yet. The clubhouse is basically a modular building that looks nice on the inside. However, the lack of parking and the temporary (I assume) clubhouse gives the course an unfinished feel to it. Same with the surrounding property. This was a housing development that never took off, so there are lots that have unfinished work on them, construction materials, etc.

In the end, I think $70 might be a little high, but it does appear that their are plenty of online specials out there for the taking. While the course is very nice and unique for our area, the full price is more than many courses in the area. I think $50 would be a perfect rate.

 

[ATLGolfer]

That course is a beauty. Hard to believe its rating is 72+ on a Par 70 course for a 6,400 track.

 

[Hawk]

I thought the same thing Seth. We'll see how that works out for me lol.

 

[fairband]

Looks like a beauty, can't wait for your thoughts.

 

[JRod]

I'll be there.

Probably won't even pull driver and will still shoot 100.

 

[jacob1]

Those pictures look amazing!!

 

[bhilln]

I've been looking forward to playing this course since hearing about it. Can't wait to see what you think of it!

 

[sleuth]

I've been waiting a long time for this place to open. Can't wait to hear your thoughts and if it's worth the drive/money.

 

[lambro2]

Can't wait to read about this one. Description looks amazing.

 

[Hawk]

I'll be there.

Probably won't even pull driver and will still shoot 100.

I have my concerns as well lol. Appears to be a very sandy and watery place. If it's as good as I think it has the potential to be, we could have a great new course in the area. I do wish they set the pricing closer to the $50 range. They are going to have to be very good to draw people in at $70 around here.

 

[cheffor]

Looks beautiful, looking forward to the review.

 

[Hawk]

Hopefully it drains good. Supposed to get up to three inches of rain in the next two days. Yikes.

 

[Tbonafide]

Looks very nice. It'll be interesting to see how well it does in such a rural area. Isn't it 30-45 minutes from the QC? With all the closer and cheaper options in the area, I'd think it has to be something very special to take off. Pics seem to indicate it's got the potential, but I'd anticipate lots of "specials" once it's open for a while.

30 minutes seemed far when I lived there, but pretty standard for me nowadays.

 

[Hawk]

Looks very nice. It'll be interesting to see how well it does in such a rural area. Isn't it 30-45 minutes from the QC? With all the closer and cheaper options in the area, I'd think it has to be something very special to take off. Pics seem to indicate it's got the potential, but I'd anticipate lots of "specials" once it's open for a while.

30 minutes seemed far when I lived there, but pretty standard for me nowadays.

From my side of the QC, it's about 30 minutes or so, but probably closer to 45 for the Iowa folks. Plus, it's in a rural area. For me, it's no worse than Glynn's Creek in terms of drive time.

I agree, it looks great, but I worry that they will be struggling for business at that cost and distance. We are blessed to have a lot of nicely priced courses very close by. I think they originally figured it would fill two niches 1) a destination course and 2) a high end residential community. It remains to be seen whether they will accomplish either of those things though. I hope it works for them though.

 

[TRyan]

I'll be there.

Probably won't even pull driver and will still shoot 75.

slight FIFY sandbagger

 

[mikedean441]

Looks awesome hawk, especially for that price, hopefully they can survive and keep it in solid shape, looking forward to the review

 

[Tbonafide]

From my side of the QC, it's about 30 minutes or so, but probably closer to 45 for the Iowa folks. Plus, it's in a rural area. For me, it's no worse than Glynn's Creek in terms of drive time.

I agree, it looks great, but I worry that they will be struggling for business at that cost and distance. We are blessed to have a lot of nicely priced courses very close by. I think they originally figured it would fill two niches 1) a destination course and 2) a high end residential community. It remains to be seen whether they will accomplish either of those things though. I hope it works for them though.

Any plans for a hotel/resort, that you know of?

 

[Hawk]

I'm not sure actually. Basically, the new owner bought it at a steal and felt that was the key to his potential success. The original developers really hosed up things.

 

[Tadashi70]

Stunning hawk, I love layouts like this

 

[Illinimick]

Nice looking pictures, Hawk. I look forward to your review to see if the course might be worth a day trip for me to play.

 

[manlai]

I'd love to try it out. Looking forward to your review. It's a bit of an in-betweener distance wise for me, about 3 hours drive. One of those too long for a day trip so I'd have to stay nearby. A resort would seem like a good idea.

 

[Golf Ghost]

Wow. Love the design. Looking forward to this one Hawk.

 

[bhilln]

Got a coupon emailed from them this week; looks like it's only a little over an hour from me... not bad at all. Not a long course, interested in seeing the layout in person.