Lives
Bay Area
Handicap
10-14
Age
45-54
Gender
Male
Skill
Intermediate
Plays
Once a week

Review Statistics

Average Rating

2.8
2.8
Total 5 Reviews

Rating Breakdown

5 Reviews
5 Stars
0
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
4
2 Stars
1
1 Stars
0
Recommended Courses
1
Not Recommended Courses
4
Helpful Votes Count
2
Not Helpful Votes Count
0
First Review
08/13/2014
Last Review
07/04/2018

Reviews Map

Reviews

2.8
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Hiddenbrooke Golf Club

Played On 06/30/2018
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Slow Progress

I write a review about Hiddenbrooke about once or twice each year, to gauge the progress. Still needs to come a ways, and expected more from Troon. This is a great layout, challenging and fun. Off course amenities are solid, the grill and drinks are good. The course once was so much fun, and is less than ideal because of (1) crappy uneven tee boxes (mats would be better almost), (2) uneven and poorly maintained bunkers (maybe getting better glacially) and (3) poor rough and off the fairway maintenance. The last one is very frustrating because they don't mow off the cart paths and you lose far too many balls that are a foot from the path. I have no idea why it's so hard to fix the tee boxes (17 has been ripped up for so long that weeds have grown back into the area they prepped for a new sod), It still is fun when you don't get stuck behind a slow 4 (or a 5). They need to fix the boxes all of them and move the grill to the main clubhouse and set up a public drinking area where you can watch people come in on 18 (like Half Moon Bay),

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate

Hiddenbrooke Golf Club

Played On 05/27/2017
3.0
Previously Played
Cold weather
Walked

Still Problematic

I continue to review this course because if you are like me and play public courses, you end up here every so many weeks as there is not that much to choose from. This was once a gem and is undergoing yet another management change (from Casper to Troon North). I have a lot of respect for Troon North, and expect things to improve steadily.

But $85? Really? No way. Not yet. As others have said, the tee boxes are terrible. After a record rainy season, there simply is no excuse for these tee boxes. How hard is it to spread a little seed and keep golfers off a box for a while. It's not like there aren't options. On 2 for example, they moved the tee to a rarely used forward tee on the right. Think it would be better? Nope. Horrible.

What's worse these days is that they clearly don't have the landscaping budget they used to have, and perhaps not even the paltry budget that Casper Golf had. You WILL lose tons of balls and you WILL lose them within two feet of the cart path. You WILL lose them even if you had your eyes on the ball and tracked it into the junk. The "grass" is so long and unkempt that you stand no chance. And I'm not talking about really bad shots here. Just marginally offline shots that you should at least play or be able to drop as a lateral.

It's totally unfair and a waste of money. Greens are okay. Bunkers spotty but getting better, but if you like plaging the Bridges at Gale Ranch, then you;ll like this. Unfair and ultimately not fun. If you get stuck behind the legions of slow players (getting worse now), then it has almost nothing to recommend it. On the plus side, the food in the grill isn't bad.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate

Hiddenbrooke Golf Club

Played On 07/23/2016
3.0
Previously Played
Good weather
Used cart

Keep Looking

Hiddenbrooke was once one of the best daily fee courses in the Bay Area, but a series of management changes have left it desolate and in need of major TLC. In fact, the management should pack it in, because they are ruining a once proud course. The current management will put out a tournament on the back nine after letting you tee off on the front. It's all great until you run into the tournament on 12 and your day comes to an end, This has happened not once, but twice to me and my weekly crew. The course director recently quit without notice, so maybe the new guy can turn it around. As for the course, Hiddenbrooke has among the worse tee boxes around (think Franklin Canyon) and the bunkers have us taking a free drop.

If they could pump some mone into this course, it still has among the best layouts around, however, the Casper Club isn't even worth it any more. They stopped even caring about the areas off the fairway. You can lose a ball in the rough, and if you hit it into the junk, forget it. Hasn't been weedwhacked in years. You're much better off heading over to Eagle Vines or Chardonnay than plahing Arnies old course.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Moderate
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Commented on 09/01/2016

Couldn't disagree with you more. I played there last weekend and actually thought the course was in really good condition compared to other courses in the area.

Right now good sand traps are really hard to find, with the water shortages all over and the heat the traps really suffer.

The only thing I would agree with is that pace of play has always an issue here.

Hiddenbrooke Golf Club

Played On 05/09/2015
2.0
Previously Played

From Gem to Sad Muni

This course was once a publicly accessible gem but has turned into a sad muni. Something akin to what you might expect from nearby Blue Springs. Perhaps the recent purchase and new management to Casper golf means it's better than the course just closing down, but it leaves one less course in a declining field of public day use courses that are nice. Tee boxes are terrible. Uneven, beat up and no grass. It's not even like they are varying the location in an attempt to let them recover. Bunkers are as bad or worse. The sad is terrible. So much so that we just take a free drop out of them now. Fairways are uneven. Some are okay. Others approach the tee boxes in terms of conditioning.

They dropped the prices some but shorts they will have to drop them again. Golf carts are starting to get raggedy and they took gps out. Hiddenbrooke is a sad sad tale from LPGA event to run down dog track.

This is a fine layout with good but fair challenge. Until they fix the conditioning issues, it's no better than Kennedy in Napa, Blue Springs in Vallejo or Adobe Creek in Petaluma.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Friendliness Good
Pace Poor
Amenities Fair

Hiddenbrooke Golf Club

Played On 08/09/2014
3.0
Previously Played
Good weather
Used cart

Getting Worse

Not too long ago, Hiddenbrooke changed management companies, and the course has clearly suffered as a result. As a design, the course is one of the better public courses in the near East and North Bay area. As a design, it's on par with the better public courses in Napa, and is quite fair and challenging.

However, for the extremely high price of $99 on a weekend, there is a huge disconnect between that the management thinks the course is worth, and what players should pay. The tee boxes are now atrocious. They are some of the more beat up tee boxes anywhere in the Bay. They are ripped up, uneven, without a place to stand, and what's worse is that it does not even appear that the management is re-seeding them or at minimum, moving them around. It was just a horrible experience. Secondly, the tee boxes would be one thing if the fairways were in decent condition. But, they are not. In almost every conceivable landing area, the fairways are as poorly maintained as the tee boxes. This leads to a very unsatisfying experience.

Had I paid $59 for this round, I might have looked the other way, but for $99, are you kidding me? Stay away until the reviews reveal that this club has gotten the message. Until then, they clearly are looking to churn as many rounds as possible out of it, until they can declare Chapter 11. Come on, Billy Casper Golf, Bay Area public course golfers deserve better than this.

Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Friendliness Fair
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Moderate
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/08/2014

hit the nail on the head. 100% accurate review, i played 9/7/14

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