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Empire Ranch Golf Club
Played On 09/15/2018Empire Ranch survives because it is the only game in town in the Folsom/EDH area.
ER is a decent track, but in mediocre shape, with mediocre service. Parts of the course are in great shape. Parts are in terrible shape. Greens are usually slow and bumpy. It's pretty clear that ER's parent corp (Clubcorp) isn't putting much money into the course, as it has deteriorated significantly over the past couple of years. For example, in a number of places, cartpaths have degenerated to the point where there are large potholes and tree roots pushing up the paths -- in some places they are almost dangerous to drive on.
But the worst part of ER is the pace of play. On weekends, they pack people on the course, almost always resulting in a pace of play at about 5 1/2 hours. And the staff makes almost no effort to improve things by moving people along. (About once a year, I play ER on a weekend, and am quickly reminded why I don't play ER on a weekend). Well, they do put a little card on your cart telling you what your 'time par' is for each hole -- but without marshals out on the course enforcing it, the card becomes just a sad reminder of how far behind you are...
On top of that, they regularly pack the course with tournaments, while still selling tee times on top of that. These tournaments make the pace of play even worse -- and sometimes result in drunk, rowdy patrons out on the course.
For example, today I played while the course was hosting a fundraising tournament for a local high school wrestling tournament parents org. This group was not only slow, but drunk and rowdy by the end of the afternoon. To that point where some of the participants were driving carts on greens, and drunkenly driving carts the wrong way up holes, saying they were "looking for the 18th hole". I have nothing against people having fun (and raising money). But the host club shouldn't get greedy and sell regular public tee times on top of that. Close the course and let the group have fun, without taking my money for a crappy experience at the same time. Or at least warn people ahead of time so they can make an informed decision...
In the end, I think people play ER mainly because it's close. But there are much nicer courses 30~35 minutes away that get you around in an hour or more faster. So the drive time is offset by the play time (on a better course). Drive to one of those on the weekend, and use ER for what it's best for -- a quick nine after work during the week.
Mountain View at Desert Willow Golf Resort
Played On 04/01/2017Superb Day of Golf!
Had an amazing day of golf at Desert Willow. The course was in superb condition -- greens were fast and true, and the fairways were immaculate. Visually stunning course -- also playable for mid-handicappers. Staff was friendly and helpful. Got the round in in just over 4 hours -- refreshing to play a resort course at a good pace.
Highly recommend this course!
The Classic Club
Played On 03/31/2017Great course ruined by pace of play
Beautiful course -- a little out of character for Palm Springs, but great nonetheless. Almost a Carolina-course kind of feel to it. Course was in immaculate condition. Greens were slightly slow, but true. Staff was incredibly friendly and helpful.
Downside is that our round took 5+ hours! For this price, completely unacceptable to pack players on -- and even more unacceptable for the rangers not to keep things moving. Rangers were nice when we complained, but didn't seem to do much. They made excuses about having several bachelor parties earlier in the day. I get it, but letting bachelor parties degrade the experience for your other paying customers is not good business.
By comparison, we played Desert Willow the next day (on a busy Saturday at the resort). Got the round done in a little over 4 hours. Had much more fun! We will go back to Desert Willow, very unlikely to return to Classic Club given all the other great options in Palm Springs...