Let's update the shape of a few local tracks.
I've been playing Oak Valley a lot lately. Greens are somewhere around average (#10 looks horrible, but the other 17 are in pretty good shape)... Their rough is the plushest/thickest I've played this fall. A ball will actually sit up in it... which is great for us hackers.
I played with a fairly competitive group there without rolling & from the backs. It is a hell of a course & an even better deal. The most I've paid is $32 and some days have gotten away for $19 (all riding 18). The staff is very welcoming.
The past few times I've been out, we've been rolling & lift/clean/placing everywhere, but it hasn't helped much at courses like Grandover and Maple Chase.
Maple Chase looks great but has some serious broccoli (there's a canopy above the stems of the grass) that makes it almost impossible to find a golf ball if you're not standing on top of it.
Grandover East, as always, is a gem. They lost a bridge on #5 so had to shut it down for a bit... But I think they were able to open it back up this week for the Bojangles tournament. Their rough is thick, but thin enough to find a ball in. Getting it out is a bit tougher.
Grandover West is still a solid 'OK'. As a non-walker, I'm actually really fond of the layout.
I wish they would price the two courses out there accordingly. I think, especially with their new Griffin Club program, pricing is fair for the East... But they could probably knock $25 off the west & disappoint far fewer people.
Those are the 4 I've been playing with some regularity in the past month. Any other public/semi-private tracks I should be checking out before the year ends?