Fun is the name of the game at Applebrook. Some golfers look only for the sternest test, seeking to prove themselves by making the hardest shots into the most unforgiving greens. At Applebrook, Gil Hanse, in his second solo design, offers a good challenge but the emphasis is on golfers having a good time. Hanse gives players wide fairways, a wonderful variety of holes, including short, drivable par 4s, and playable green surrounds that open up lots of different options for the player who misses a green.

Upon arrival, the enormity of the property opens up below the clubhouse. The course begins by easing the player into the round, with a stretch-your-legs par 5 followed by a couple of short par 4s. Apparently, Hanse had match play in mind and thought some birdies early would spice up the match. The tee shot on 2 is intimidating, with a tremendous bunker on the right that looks tough to carry, and little room for error on the left side. 3 is a good strategic hole, forcing the player to decide whether to try to drive the green, which brings a nasty pot bunker into play, or lay up and have a completely blind shot into the punchbowl-like green. The 9th is a wonderful par three over a quarry.

The course becomes progressively harder, with some good shots required to make par. One feature of a Hanse course is that he often makes you think on your second shot on a par 5, not just grip it and rip it. Here, 10 is like that, as is 16, a beautiful dog leg right with a hazard all along the right and a well-placed bunker in the middle of a large fairway; with a shot over water to a false-front green, avoid the sand at all costs. 14 demands a long and accurate drive over a meadow to a cape fairway that is easy to go right through. The finishing stretch is excellent: 16, as mentioned; 17, a visually intimidating par 3 whose putting surface you can't see from the tee; and 18, a long par 4 playing uphill around a gaping quarry that fronts the green. In the spirit of course, the green is backed by large mounds that can repel a shot hit too far back onto the green - or leave you with a very delicate pitch back down on to the green.

As you walk up 18, a friendly neighbor has a sign welcoming players to come over and help themselves to a draft beer or a shot of Irish whiskey. It's a fitting way to conclude a round as fun as any you'll have just about anywhere.