Black Oak Golf Club

Played Black Oak today. I really should giving it three stars because the clubhouse is in construction and this is not a walkable course (the distance between 1 and 2 was a good 3 minute ride) but the actual golf course gets 4 stars because of the uniqueness and exciting holes. The man who designed this course created a very challenging visually stunning course that incorporates many features, doglegs, elevations, challenging greens, vistas and every hole presents unique and beautiful combined features but also challenges.
Example — The 13^th hole was a short par 3 but from the white tees it presents a water hazard, sand trap and tight green all within feet of each other. Very hard. See pic
Other holes — you can see the steep drop of water hazards cutting across the fairway.
The greens were relatively fast but so confusing. Slope goes one direction and you expect your putts to break right but they go left. It really blew my mind and opens your eyes to the subtle complexities that go into course design. I played with some low handicappers and they were also perplexed by the green undulations. To make things worse some of the hole locations were just unfair that day. This is a private course with nice golf amenities, it has a small pro shop and small lounge, nice putting areas and nice chipping and driving range areas.
When the clubhouse is done and if done right it could gets four ½ stars. Also it’s about 1 ½ hour drive from city so I could not give five stars for lack of convenience. As a private club if you get a chance to play it go for it — it’s worth the drive but it might just be too far to join permanently if you are from nyc. If this club was closer to me I would join for sure. It’s just a fun memorable course that I don’t think one could ever get bored of. Every hole truly has it’s own statement, it’s a great piece of land with so many great features you get overwhelmed.