I have a friend traveling down there in a few weeks and he asked me for advice on courses. I dont know anything about the area and was looking for advice. Looking for the top public or private courses, thank you!

The Dancing Rabbit courses are about 45 minutes away. Both designed by Fazio and a lot of fun to play! I don't think there is anything outstanding in Jackson itself........

Patrick Farms in Brandon is nice, Baypointe, The Refuge, not sure how the Hinds CC course is but its in Raymond. I usually play Patrick Farms when I'm back in Jackson, or my old course Castlewoods, but its private now, and don't know anyone around there who is still a member.

My home course is Deerfield CC. Great track. You can play it during the week for around $45 with cart. I'd pass on Patrick Farms and Baypointe. Also, Colonial CC is an old style course, but still a good track. Those 2 are in the Jackson area. If you want a real treat then play Reunion CC, but it will cost you around $80.

I haven't lived in Jackson for about 6 or 7 years, but I got to play Deerfeild in a high school tourney. Nice place. Also, I didn't think you could play any of those courses you mentioned unless you were a member or with a member.
So what one public course in Jackson do you prefer? I'm not a fan of Baypointe, but its public and reasonably priced. I even have a friend who works at Reunion and he can't get us on.

I live in Jackson right now. For someone coming into town, I'd probably say the Refuge. It's fairly tight with a fair amount of water and costs about $50. The only problem with it is it's basically a marsh. If it's been raining forget about it. I practice there on the aqua range since it's the best public range in town (it's sad). It's also less than 10 minutes from the airport, so it's easy to find. Baypointe is very much a target golf course. The course is in good shape (well it was 3 weeks ago), but almost every hole is a dogleg. For someone from out of town, a GPS or rangefinder is a must. The cart paths look like they've had cluster bombs dropped on them though. Patrick Farms is the sister course of Baypointe. It's open and not too bad. The course at Hinds College course is a 30 minute drive. I've played it once and it wasn't bad for $30. Dancing Rabbit would be a huge treat with an hour drive, but it's expensive. It's a Top 100 you can play course, and I go there once a year for a 3 day tournament. Sadly, I usually play at Pearl Municipal. It's 18 holes with cart for $25 and allow you to bring your own cooler. I wouldn't recommend it to an outsider, but it's cheap and still golf. Reunion, Annandale, and Castlewoods are all private and require members to play. Annandale is where they play the PGA Viking Classic. I play there every year in a scramble and it's quite nice (but I like Dancing Rabbit better). Haven't played Reunion. My friend has a corp membership at Castlewoods. It's in really good shape right now since they dumped their 3rd nine and concentrate fully on just 18 holes. Whatever your friend does, tell him to stay away from La Fleur's Bluff!!!

Wow did not know Castleweeds dumped that horrendous extra nine. The only hole worth a damn was the 1st hole it was tough. The rest was goofy golf. I have played Patrick Farms and its mainly a bombers paradise. I remember it being very short. If Hinds is like it used to be they have the slowest greens on the planet, one year I lost 2 dollars in change marking my ball in college tournaments. Dancing Rabbit is very nice, played it several times now and it never disappoints. Anybody from Jackson remember Shady Oaks? Wow what a time machine that was worst course I think I can ever remember playing, and we played the state tournament there. I have also had alot of fun rounds at Canton Country Club. I wish Lake Caroline was still open it was a fun course.

That reminds me of one more thing about Hinds... The fairways were so hard that on a lot of shots the ball bounced like it hit the cart path. The cool thing about them now too, is that they put lights on their range and bought all new range balls. It's just a bit too far to justify driving out there to practice though. Castlewoods is in really good shape right now with grass everywhere. They made it expensive though. My friends corporate account gets him and 1 person on for cart fees ($15 each) and then goes up to $70 for any other guests. We just split it up equally and everyone pays $42.50.

They're also gonna reopen Lake Caroline, or that's the big rumor anyways. It will take a lot of work though, but the shape of the course is still there.