A very enjoyable course, pretty to look at with those Blue Ridge Mountains far away, and challenging, especially around the middle holes and down the finishing stretch.
This par 72 starts with a nice panoramic view as you tee off from the dogleg right par-4 1st hole, with a downhill shot and a slightly-uphill approach to the green, and is followed by two dogleg right holes (par-4 2nd and 3rd, with a small slope near the cup, on the latter).
Then, after two more doglegs (par-4 5th, to the right, with a tree-lined fairway, midway, and the short par-5 6th, around a small wooded hill, to the left), you will face some pretty and tricky holes, with the dogleg right par-4 7th, along a sandy area (midway, on the right), and a blind approach over a wide area filled with deep rough to get to the green (guarded by a wide daisy-shaped bunker), the dogleg left par-4 8th, with a blind tee shot landing down in front of a wide lake, over which you will have to hit your approach, and the dogleg par-4 9th, along trees (on the left), with an undulated fairway and elevated green.
On your way back, you will have an eagle opportunity on the dogleg right par-5 10th hole, with a downhill tee shot and a green, reachable on your second shot, before heading for the picturesque par-3 11th, with a big rock to the right of an elevated green, and the very short risk/reward par-4 12th, with a green reachable with your driver if you can avoid a small elongated bunker across in front of it.
Then, after the straight, but not as "easy-as-it-looks" par-3 13th hole, with a lake (to the right) and an undulated green, quite tricky with slopes on the sides, you will get another eagle chance on the short dogleg left par-5 14th, downhill all the way, with a tree-lined and slanted fairway, midway, and a long second shot toward the green.
If the dogleg right par-4 15th hole is nice, with trees on the edge of a wide lake (on the right) and a steeply-elevated green, the very short (less than 110 yards) par-3 16th is very scenic and quite tricky, with its downhill green, next to the lake (right behind), just like the beautiful dogleg par-5 17th, quite short but, with a wide lake on the left, you will have to hit your tee shot straight before aiming your second shot over it to reach its tiny green.
Overall, with its nice trees and wide open look, this rather short Joshua Lakes Golf Club II looks more real than some... real courses, as Bruce Ryder did a very good job with this updated version, well worth keeping !