If excellent golf course design was the only criteria, Sherwood Hills would be one of the very few on that list.
What is there to say about a golf course that sprung out of the windswept, gently rolling terrain of Trece Martires in Cavite? That it was there from the start and that Jack Nicklaus Design only had to build a tee box here and a green there, a fairway here and a bunker there then let nature take over again?
You can say that Sherwood Hills was a golf course waiting to happen, that it is unlike other contrived courses that twist and turn over whatever land is left from the residential lots then shaped by bulldozer operators and signed on by prominent golfers. It is the excellence of its design and design philosophy that sets the course apart. Any environmentalist who sees what is happening in Sherwood Hills will readily agree that golf and the environment can co-exist and thrive together at the same time and at the same place if that is what was the intention from the start.
There are no transplanted palm trees here, no tropical gardens or flower plots or flower beds or imported ground cover plants—just a golf course winding through the natural environment of the place. While cogon grass is seen as a weed and a nuisance in other courses, it actually frames the fairways of Sherwood Hills. The ravines are left to fend for themselves and it is there that the local flora and fauna flourish.
The golf course routing and design is also something to rave about. The outstanding placement of bunkers and penalty areas make the course challenging from whichever tee marker you decide to start off from. This is unlike some courses out there that may be challenging from the Blues but play like a joke from the Whites since a lot of bunkers and penalty areas become irrelevant when you play from the forward tees.
All of the Par 5s will present tantalizing challenges for the long hitters since they are reachable in 2-shots with a properly placed drive. The Par 4s were all results of impeccable shaping and design. The real challenges will come at the Ninth and Eighteenth which play tough especially in tournament conditions.
