Rock Manor Golf Club

First time playing at Rock Manor. Brought my wife and 4 year old son out. For still being cold out the course was well maintained and clean. Course is very challenging and is a lot of fun. Teeboxes, fairways, bunker, and greens were all great for this time of year. Would recommend to any golfer.

Always a pleasure to play here. They do a great job of maintaining the course, especially the sand traps. With so many courses doing away with traps due to the high cost of maintaining them properly, it is refreshing to find a reasonably priced course doing such a great job with them. Greens were VERY fast the day I played.

Unless you have 5-6 hours to kill do not play here. The course is always in good shape but pace of play is always an issue. I was told to play in a five-some and we were still on the butts of the other groups in front of us, waiting on each. Absolutely ridiculous.

Was a club member way back when Always liked this course. It got very popular and more expensive for some of us seniors. So I play when I can get a better rate. Otherwise I would play a lot more often.

Love the course. The Rock is a solid 18 even if it’s kind of expensive. Greens are decent and the rest of this muni course is in great shape despite a huge number of rounds played. Best bunker sand in the region, too. Greenskeeper is a hero.

But.. like so many other busy courses, The Rock’s tee sheet controls everything and ends up causing problems that can be avoided. Self inflicted delays should be embarrassing to the course management. It’s not that 10-minute tee times are necessarily a problem; this course could handle a steady 10-minute of 4-somes all day long. Not managing the first tee is the problem. I offer a possible solution. Read all the way here, please.

For example, I GolfNow-ed a 1:20 pm single walking tee time for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Beautiful day. I arrived about 45 minutes early to warm up on the range and putt prior to my tee time. When I arrived I told the starter my tee time and told him that IF he needed to fill out a group, I would go off early. But no rush.

While I putted I watched several 3-somes and at least one 2-some go off the first tee. Ok, not necessarily a problem. Moving me up is optional for the starter. But I also watched the carts fill up with groups getting ready to go out. It was a busy day. Why wouldn’t the starter want to fill up groups to keep things even out there? After all, 3-somes play faster then 4-somes, so creating logjams is not a good strategy when the carts are full and ready to go out.

But here’s the problem. When I went off at my 1:20 pm time, I was paired two players who Missed their 12:40 pm tee time. Not a problem except the gap should have been filled. This is where it gets good. We tee’ off and play the first hole. I missed a 12 foot birdie put t and then missed a 3 foot comebacker. Just bad putting, dang it. Bogey. We go to the 2nd tee box. Guess what? 4-some waiting, 4-some on the box and a foursome in the fairway waiting on a 4-some to putt on the green. Why? How can the 2nd freakin hole be jammed up like that? Come on, Rock!

Here’s my theory. The Rock’s 1st hole (old 10) is a blind tee shot, 430+ par par five. Any group on the tee box cannot see the group in font when the group plays the second shot. So every group tees off on the 10 minute mark, just as the starter who stands 150 yards away in the parking lot tells them to do. They drive up, fairway looks clear, and they swing away. And they take off up the fairway. Only to find the ahead group still working on their 2nd shot. So they wait. And the jam up is on. By the 2nd tee it’s 2-3 groups standing there with something in their hand. Great.

Why, Rock? Starter must worry ONLY about the 2nd hole, not the 10-minute tee sheet. Tee sheet is not the controlling document. Pace of play is the responsibility of us players, but when are told to go off matters. Waiting 5 minutes in the first tee box is not a problem,. Waiting at all on the 2nd tee box is unacceptable.

Solution: starter uses tee sheet as a starting point and figures out what is happening on hole two. Put in a camera. Focus on hole two, not hole one. Manage the tee sheet, don’t be slave to it. Come on, Rock!

We waited all day only because the tee sheet failed to account for what was really happening on the course.

Again, great course,. Let’s all manage this tee sheet thing better.

This is the closest course to us 10 min. Away. has some tight holes and is popular in this area. Fees tend to be quite high for the quality of the track and gets a lot of play as a local favorite so I always consider alternatives. Wilmington area has lost several nice course to development over the past 10 years. Golfer skill levels are probably below average and so can play slow. Greens in decent shape and can be fast. Staff always friendly and accommodating. Good enjoyable course.

Fairway and green in great shape, some interesting holes, enjoyed the round, will be back in the future.

Very fast greens in need of ball mark repairs, but in excellent shape on fairways and tee boxes for this time of year.

Now if I could just clear that front bunker on #7!

Played on a perfect day. 68, no wind, full sun. The course is a mix of open fairways and challenging tee shots. Never feels like a slog. If you have trouble with a hole, it's usually followed by a wide open fairway. My one issue was the greens. They were F-A-S-T. I mean "tap a 10 foot putt and it rolls 12 feet past the hole" fast. Even uphill putts were risky. I finished the day with 11 3-putt holes, which is demoralizing. Maybe it was the fact that it's late in the season and it's dry. I don't know. Just be prepared.

It was pretty nice. Starter got us out about an hour early. A lot of courses have been dried out due to the lack of rain but that wasn't an issue here. Greens were a little slow but that had more to do with a recent aeration, Looking forward to going back.

The course is usually good but I was unaware that they had aerated recently so the greens weren't the best. Also, the fairways have seen better days.

Great course and layout. However, very disappointed in conditions of the greens, which is very unusual for Rock Manor.. Very scuffed up with spike marks and many unrepaired ball marks. Paid total of $80.00 for 2 twilight rounds, not at all cheap or even a good value for the green conditions and the poor treatment we experienced that evening. Rock Manor is pricy, but usually in A+ condition and has outstanding player service - not this time. Nasty starter who told me I was very late for my tee time even though no one was waiting to tee off. Starter then tells me I won’t have much time to play because it is getting dark earlier and he needs the carts back. Never suggested that we could walk. Starter comes out on cart on 6th hole and tells me only one more hole, which was going to be our last hole any way given the rush the starter was in to leave. Completely understand need to get carts in by a certain time and have no issue with that. Rude starter needs a training class in diplomacy and manners. Could have simply said, “Enjoy, guys, need the cart in my 7:30 PM. Will go to another course next time for twilight golf.