House001

Played Valley/Mountain 9s. Nice course, very challenging (141/139 slopes from white tees) with narrow fairways, blind shots, doglegs, and considerable changes in elevation. Would compare it to the front 9 of Tierra Rejada. Grass on the tee boxes and fairways was a little long, but understandable considering the hot weather we've had recently. Got a yardage book (free) in the pro shop. Would recommend to everyone playing their first time as there is no GPS. My only real complaint was the price. I think $90 is a bit high (perhaps they would throw in range balls or something). I would definitely play again.

Mark

Ocean Course

Beautiful view (nearly every hole has a view of the ocean. Course was in very nice condition. Not a super difficult course but very easy to lose balls if you don't hit it in the fairway.

The carts were disappointing for this level of course (no GPS or ice chests)

Played front 9 in about 1.5 hours, then got to the 10th tee with three groups waiting (I was the fourth). Back 9 was probably 3.5 hours. They could really improve the overall experience by having marshals on the course to keep people moving and to help spot for lost balls (especially on the nastier holes). It really lessened the overall experience having two or three groups waiting on every tee box.

I was drawn to this course after I saw it on the golf channel ranked #1 in the country. I had a couple of friends play it and tell me it was the nicest course they had ever played.

I really enjoyed the course layout, the intelligence and professionalism of the staff, and the design (and furnishing) of the clubhouse and restaurant.

The cons- they had recently treated the fairways (perhaps punched and seeded)? This was totally unexpected and took the conditions from a possible 5 star to a 3 or 4 star rating. in my opinion they should go out of their way to warn people when this happens (at time of booking, when checking in, etc.) so that there are no surprises if they expect to get top rankings.

Also, the driving range- you hit off a cliff, over a canyon to a much lower landing area. For everything less than mid irons the ball just falls into the canyon. There is effectively no chipping area. The setup is gimmicky. I think that they need to build a separate area for chipping and mid irons which would significantly improve the overall experience.

This course is a hidden gem! Overall, a really pleasant experience. The course has holes of many different types (uphill doglegs, downhill doglegs, island greens, forced carries, etc.) so that you can use all of your shots. It also has nice chipping and putting practice areas

The two negatives were the driving range ( they have a "irons only" range) and the bunkers (they were a gooey/muddy consistency) .

The driving range is in extremely poor condition and a definite black eye for a course that could otherwise be 5 stars in the wine country.

I will definitely be back!

We played this course after playing the Norman course. The restaurant and bar were very nice, overlooking the 9th and 18th greens. Water was only available every 6 holes and the marshals and beverage cart were non-existent. Be sure to bring lots of water.

It seems that Mr. Nicklaus must have been given a flat course through a housing community, a bulldozer, and been asked to spice it up. What you can’t see from the course tour is that there are huge fluctuations in elevation (gigantic trenches on the side or across the fairways, huge moon sized craters (5), or mountains in the middle of the fairway (11)). The course fly over gives you a little more of an indication, but you still can’t get a true feeling of the depth of the bunkers or the size of the obstacles. It makes the course seem rather Mickey-Mouse. There are so many really nice courses in the PS area that I wouldn’t play this course again.

Management (which likely won’t read this) would do a great service to the mid handicappers (and first time players) if they installed a nice GPS system in the carts that describes the size and distance of the hazards (perhaps even gives pointers of how to navigate them). I understand that this isn’t “cool” at a high end course, but would make for a much nicer experience and probably bring more people back. It is frustrating to keep accidentally getting into bad situations and not be able to advance the ball. If they had a GPS system, I would likely play the course again.

Of the PGA West courses I’ve played (Nicklaus, Stadium, Norman), I would rank the Nicklaus course last.

This is a great desert course with no houses in sight. Played this course before playing the Nicklaus (Tournament) course and had a much nicer experience. The staff in the pro shop and on the course were all super nice. It was a 104 degree day, and they had water every three holes plus the marshals kept coming around to check on us and give us water.

The course was in great condition, even on a hot day. There is no GPS on the carts, and we should have purchased the yardage book as distances are a little misleading and somewhat difficult to judge from the fairway. However, it was still very playable. The wind was a little tricky as there aren’t really any trees to judge the direction or strength.

This is my favorite course in PGA West and I would definitely play it again!

Played a tournament on the Wilson course on Saturday. The course was in nice shape (plenty of grass- no dead spots), you would never know there was a drought. The holes had a lot of variety (changes in elevation, doglegs both ways, etc.). The greens were quick and a bit tricky. My group never had to wait. Overall, a very nice experience- especially for a muni. I would have given the course a better rating, but the driving range was in need of improvement and the putting and chipping areas in the back need some work.