ELBRIDGE - If at first you don't succeed, try again.

And again. And again. And again.... That's what Millstone Golf Course can do to you.

Just ask Scott Lusignan.

Relaxing on the patio after a round at Millstone on Monday, Lusignan recalled a story that conjures up images of Roy McAvoy from “Tin Cup.” Lusignan stood at the tee box on the par-3, 148-yard 18th hole and popped a shot toward the island green, only to watch it descend with a splash. Another swing, another splash. Swing, splash.

“He just kept saying, ‘Give me another one,' ” his golf partner, Steve Myrto, said with a laugh.

Before he knew it, a dozen of his brand new Nike golf balls were sleeping with the fishes.

Lusignan, an Auburn native who now lives in Camillus, laughed it off, though. He's just here to have a good time.

“The hills and the water are what make this fun,” he said.

Fun, yes. But also frustrating. Take for example, the par-3 sixth hole. At just 106 yards, it only takes a half-swing with a sand wedge to reach the green. Oh yeah, it's virtually straight downhill, too. And if you go left, brush. Too long, brush. To the right, brush. Too short, well, that might work.

“Sometimes you just get some lucky bounces off the cart path,” said Myrto, of Jordan. “That's how we do it.”

Mark Lepak, a self-proclaimed “long-time hacker,” has a different approach.

“I just know I'm hitting and then playing it from the drop zone,” the Sennett resident said. “Then you're chipping for a three.”

While those holes offer some of the toughest challenges of the round, not every hole is this difficult. In fact, much of the front nine is wide open, with some room for error off the tee. The distances are split evenly with three par-3s, three par-4s and three par-5s.

The only real obstacles are some chest-high pines - the course is only in its third year - and Route 5 traffic. Try not to slice on the first hole if you want to avoid road rage.

The back nine is quite a different story, carved through thick, isolating trees. On some holes, the trees are so tight you can hit a trunk on each side of the fairway with a single shot - yes, we know that from experience. Plus there is Skaneateles Creek to contend with on three holes, ponds on two more, and of course, the island green.

There's only one par-5 on the back, making it more than 200 yards shorter than the front, but that's where precision comes in handy.

“If you don't hit straight, you're going to lose a ball,” Myrto said. “You might as well just put away your driver on many of the holes.”

Owner Paul Fietta didn't have something specific in mind when he laid out the course and admits the landscape is just an added bonus.

“You just build a course with the land that you have,” he said. “It's just unique.”

It sure is.

In all, the course offers six par 3s, ranging from 106 yards up to 193 yards, and also has a mammoth 538-yard par-5 with a giant rock just right of the fairway.

“This is one of the most fun golf courses I've played, and it's very scenic,” Lusignan said. “There's a lot of downhills and plateau shots, and you don't see too many island greens around here.”

Maybe it's a good thing there aren't many more, or else we might have to take up scuba diving.