The Loop at Forest Dunes first time - gimmick or genius?

[sophie_bakes]

So I finally played The Loop up in Roscommon last weekend and I still can't decide how I feel about it. Booked it as the second round of the day after Forest Dunes proper (which wrecked me, shot 97 and lost three balls) and figured the Loop would be a chill little walk to close out the trip.

It's reversible. That's the whole deal. They flip the routing every day, one direction is Red, other is Black. We got Black. I'd read that the fairways you play in the morning are the ones you're hitting into in the afternoon and I didn't really get it until like hole 6 when I looked at a green and went wait, I've seen this from the completely opposite angle. Genuinely disorienting in a fun way.

Greens were stupid fast. I three putted four times and I'm usually fine on speed, so that's on me but still. And the fescue, oh my god. Knee high in spots. Lost two balls, my buddy lost four. Shot 91 from the whites, which for me is actually good, so maybe the course is doing something right.

But here's what I keep chewing on. Is it a real course or is it a trick? Like does anyone actually think Black is the better routing, or is that just a thing people say? And does it hold up if you play it twice in one day? Half the fun for me was the confusion, and the second loop you'd kind of know where everything is.

Also completely unrelated but I was worried about my betta fish the entire trip, my neighbor was feeding him and I texted her like six times. He's fine lol.

Would I go back? Yeah. But I'd want Red next time, and I'd want to play it before Forest Dunes proper instead of after. Anyone played both directions?