Pinnacle Country Club

What a pleasure to play this course several times after the Wal-Mart LPGA event. The course is in such good shape and the membership and staff are so welcoming.

You have to play this course several times to learn all the nuances of the course. The greens are large and have a lot of slope to them. They have subtle slopes on them too, which makes it hard to lag putt on greens that are a 12 on the stimpmeter.

The course has beautifully manicured, shaved zoysia grass around the greens. Most of the time I would use a 8-iron around the greens back home in Missouri but at Pinnacle, you use your putter around the green.

It is a very strategic course to play. You have to learn where not to hit your ball. If you can keep the ball below the hole, it makes for a much easier round on the greens.

One of my favorite parts of the course, is an outside bar called Red’s. Positioned between the clubhouse and the driving range. Just a great place to be after the round.

I look forward to this trip to NW Arkansas every year!

This is the course the LPGA plays in late September, call the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. I have a friend who is a member there and I got to play 3 rounds there, the week after the tournament. Before you even play there, the first thing you notice is the high slope rating. Blue tees at 6,231 yards (137 slope) and white tees at 5,632 (131 slope). We usually play around 6,000 yards, but with the high slope rating, we played the shorter white tees. Once you arrive, a cart attendant brings carts to your car and the pro shop personnel could not have been nicer.

This course is one of the best conditioned courses I have ever played. I have never seen better tee boxes and grass around the greens. Just perfect! The fairways and greens were terrific too. The tees and fairways are Zorro zoysia, a thinner blade of zoysia than I see back in the St. Louis area. It gives you the impression the tees and fairways are bent grass. The bunkers are white sand and drain extremely well because after a 2-hour rain delay, there was no standing water in any of the bunkers.

The greens were on the fast side (11-12 on stimpmeter). With most of the greens being large and they have gentle slopes and some tiers, you will have several 3-putts. Several of us putted the ball off the green, several of my playing partners putted their balls off the green into the water. The reason this course has a high slope rating is because of the greens and the slopes around the green. There is no rough around the greens, just tightly mowed areas.

To play this course well, you need to play it several times. You need to play this course defensively because if you hit your ball in the wrong area, you are taking a double or higher. You should stand at the back of each green after you play it to see where you can’t hit your ball. You will need a range finder because the greens are big and there are 6 pin locations on each green.

I would describe the fairways as fairly generous. A creek meanders throughout the entire golf course and you need to take notice of this. Several holes need a good tee shot with some overhanging tees, fairways pinching in the further you hit them (hole 7, 8, 12, 13 & 16).

If I had to list anything negative about the course, the list would be very small. I was not a big fan of hole 7 with the fairway bunker in the right center of the fairway. When you stand on the tee, you’re just not sure where your aiming point is with additional bunkers on the left side. The rough is a little spotty with mostly Bermuda grass. The range is between holes 1 & 10 – a lot of range balls in these fairways.

In closing, I loved the 19th hole area called “Reds”. Neat outdoor patio area, with a bar and music playing. It is located near the driving range.

Not a long course but defended by heavy rough which is penalizing each time you miss a fairway, assuming you find your ball. Plays true if stay in fairway. Greens in great shape and can be challenging. Reds bar next to driving range is great place to start and finish a round.

Private course in great condition. Pace of play was somewhat slow but not bad. Food in the clubhouse was great. This course gets the most love of NWA private courses, but I personally like the Blessings way better and think that Shadow Valley down the street is actually more fun to play. That doesn't take away from this being a five star course and must play if you can get on!

Pros:
-Excellent playing surfaces (especially considering the amount of rounds played)
-If you like to walk when you play, it's a very easy walk
-Challenging but fair layout

Cons:
-Fri-sun guest fee is excessive. I think with cart it was around $130. I've played TPC courses for less. Reduced Tues - Thurs guest rate is more fitting given the course.
-Weekend pace of play can be painfully slow despite being a private club. I've seen groups stack up on par 3's more than once.
-Clubhouse facility is extremely dated overall.