CR&J’s Final Rating: 49/80 (Good)
The General’s Retreat Course at Hermitage Golf Course is the lesser sibling of the President’s Reserve course. Often called little brother courses, the General’s Retreat course is actually the older brother of the President’s Reserve, and hosted the LPGA at the Sara Lee Invitational in the 90’s.
This course was reviewed as part of a broader Journal entry exploring public golf courses in the Nashville, TN area.
The General’s Retreat course is a relatively easy golf course tee-to-green. It visually resembles a lot of other courses built around the time, with holes tightly bunched together and of a shorter overall length than modern standards. However, the main defense is a very interesting set of putting surfaces, that contain significant undulation (significantly more than its younger brother).
What Works: Hermitage is typically first class when it comes to the conditioning of their golf courses. Both the President’s Reserve and General’s Retreat courses are normally in about as good of shape as can be asked for a high output, daily fee public course. I’ve never been dissatisfied with course conditions and have played this course a lot. General’s Retreat also introduces a lot of variety, doglegs, and has an interesting double green on head-on par-3 holes (the third and the thirteenth). For how close the holes are to each other, the course is not overly tight, and typically presents some room for tee shots to move rather than work through narrow corridors. Wind management is good too, with 3 of the 4 par-3 holes and 3 of the 4 par-5 holes working in unique directions. General’s Retreat provides an approachable round of golf, and while challenge is not extremely high, challenge on the greens, and overall fun, are high.
Best Hole: The eighteenth hole, a short par-4, strikes me as the best hole both visually and from a playability standpoint, with options plentiful on this shorter par-4. While not quite driveable for most players, a driver can challenge those greenside bunkers. However for most, the challenge is picking the right club to land on the up-slope between the protruding lake and the cross bunker short of the green. From there, a short wedge to a wild green awaits. Getting close (rather than laying up to a number) is helpful here, because the green is sloped violently from back to front; thus, controlling the spin is required either through a pitch shot from a shorter distance, or an extremely precise wedge.
Interesting Hole: I could have chosen a few different holes here, but the fifth hole best illustrates that even this comparably easier course has some real teeth. This long par-3 plays over two bodies of water, flanking left-and-right, and the oddly shaped green sits atop a flattened part of the hill, with steep runoffs on all sides except the very back. I’ve personally witnessed many golf balls end in the pond left (on a pulled long iron) or down the hill to the right. Any miss here makes for a very difficult up-and-down, due to the narrow and oddly shape of the green. This is a very difficult hole, and bogey is not a bad score.
Limitations: The limitations at General’s Retreat is simply the availability of land. The course is too tightly packed onto a bit too little acreage, and therefore, you kind of need to keep your head on a swivel while playing. Because it is the cheaper of the two courses, it attracts the higher handicap player, and there are a few holes that create some proximity danger. If I could make property exist, the General’s Retreat would be a better course if it were a bit longer.
Final Thoughts: The General’s Retreat is a very solid round of public golf, is quite fun, and presents an opportunity for a great score if you happen to bring your best game. You’ll also undoubtedly have some interesting putts. It is not going to be found on any top-10 lists anytime soon, but if you want that, the President’s Reserve exists.
CR&J’s Final Rating: Shot Options: 6; Challenge: 4; Layout Variety: 7; Distinctiveness: 6; Aesthetics: 5; Conditioning: 8; Character: 6; Fun: 7. Total: 49/80 (Good)