cassidylmartin

I played here for the first time. Solo single round and finished in under two hours. It’s a great facility to learn how to play, and get some practice in. Definitely putting it into my weekday rotation of places to practice after work. I recommend come here with low expectations and be pleasantly suprised.

Pros:
-tee-times are plentiful
-Greens are in playable shape
-Holes are great for learning how to play
-Very walkable
-Grass range
-Multiple short game areas
-Great practice green

Cons:
-Fairways & Tee-box conditions are to be desired, and make it feel like a bit of a dog track

Welcome to the Penal School of architecture, at PGA West Dunes. Played her for the first time today, and conditions were great. Staff was friendly, and course is a fair challenge. Precision on approach to small is a premium, or else be prepared for tough up an downs. Finishing holes are the highlight. If you can’t control your irons or wedges this might not be a fun round.

Can’t wait to try Mountain later this weekend.

I go a reasonable GN deal to play here, and got paired up with a couple locals who were fun to play with. Was it worth it? Maybe. Definitely not worth the rack rack of $250. Here’s my breakdown.

Pros:
-F&B are included with the greens fees. However I hope you like Corona, Popcorn, Chips, or Soda. That’s all you’re gonna get.
-playing in the jungle is fun & novel, there’s cenotes as hazards, animals everywhere, and the surroundings are stunning.

Cons:
-Pace of play was awful. 5.5 hour round, and play was extraordinarily light. It was cart path only, which is fine, but I could have seen us push 6 hours easily.
-Layout is too tight, especially for a resort course. Any offline strike… adios pelota, your ball is now in the jungle. Bring balls you’re willing to loose.
-Layout is also boring, greens are tiny, lots of weird doglegs. There’s not a hole I remember besides 18, which plays like none of the other holes. It feels like a bootleg Pete Dye course without any of the nuance that makes his courses brilliant.

First time playing here. Conditions are okay for winter golf, tees are pretty chewed up, and the fairways are really tight, and lots of dead grass, bunkers were soaked and had puddles, but the greens were amazing.

Play up a tee here if you can, I’d you’re out of position you’re severely penalized, lots of hazards, and danger everywhere.

I’m gonna give this course a fair shake again in the spring, but nothing to write home about at the moment.

I came back to play Sharp Park after moving out our the area 6 months ago, and I just wanted to write a note to say thank you to the course staff for putting some much needed TLC into the greens and the course overall.

Most of the greens are rolling true, and the expansion of the 18th green complex is great. The tee box build on 6 is looking beautiful. It looks like some other greens are being expanded, too, and the collars are looking crisper than they ever had.

This was the first time I’ve ever seen multiple course Marshalls during a round, too.

I’ll be back and looking forward to seeing what other improvements are up next. Ps please replace the push carts with clicgear ones (like they have at gleneagles).

Fun little track that does the best with the neutral resources given to it. Not a bad course to add to your rotation if you're playing with players of varying skill levels.

Pros:
-Great practice area that includes a bunker, putting green, range and chipping areas.
-Green complexes are funky and fun, they’re the main defense on the golf course.
-Good curation of par 3s, especially the 17th.
-Lots of scoring opportunities, drivable Par 4 on the 9th hole and all the par 5s and birdie opportunities.
-Staff is friendly and the regulars are all having fun.
-The bunker conditions are way better than expected.

Cons:
- Pace of play. By far the biggest downside. Expect 5+ hour rounds, which is understandable because it’s a beginner friendly course.
- Turf conditions are okay at best, fairways are splotchy, and lots of bare areas. It’s honestly kind of fun since it kept me thinking about what shots would work best on the lie.
-Tees are beat up, but looks like they’re reseeding many of them.

If you’re looking for a well-kept 7k+ yards from the tips experience, this isn’t your spot, but if you’re looking for a laid back and accessible golf round then this might be a spot for you.

Jumped onto the Pebble Par 3 late afternoon and was surprised on how well it was maintained. Great course to start off a weekend in the desert to knock the rust off. Only three downsides were pace of play (took 1.5 hours to play 9 as a single), the course pulled flags and shut down before sunset (5pm), and it’s a bit tight for how many errant shots are hit, I nearly got pegged with a ball and has to call fore. Otherwise, great for the price for the layout and conditions.

Played DeBell for the the third time, first time I thought I was fun and had some interesting shots, and a good, but not great collection of “target golf” style of holes. The front 9 demands crisp irons shots and shaping both ways to score, while the back 9 opens up with more elevation changes as asks for long straight drives off the tee, with accurate approach shots.

The collection of Par 5s are fun and gettable, the par fours are forgettable and the par threes (minus #7) either ask for a 180 - 220 yard tee shot, or an aggressive draw shot around a mountian-side, onto a blind green. They almost seem to be there to add overall yardage to the course.

Teed off early this morning and the playing condition were rough at best. Standing water we’re in most bunkers and felt like you could build a sand castle in them, which were littered with small rocks. Standing water was everywhere, and the turf was either extreme soggy or hard pan. It felt like playing winter golf.

I’m aware and appreciate that the grounds crew is doing its best with the poor irrigation, and I see that they’re working on getting new irrigation in the ground on the back 9, but this place could go from oaky, to borderline great with a proper renovation. Expansion of the Green complexes, re-designing the par 3s to be more interesting, rebuilding the bunkers with sand that doesn’t have marble sized rocks, and getting the irrigation up to snuff would change the course dramatically.

Solid Local Muni that is fun, and wide. Easy to par, but challenging to score. I just wish it was easier to get a tee-time and pace of play was a bit quicker.

RTJ built a challenging GC, which must have been beautiful back in the day. Course is fun, hard, but in a bourderline state of disrepair.

Played here for the first time and here are some take always:

Pros:
-Greens are true and fun.
- Pace of play is great (we finished in 4 hours on a weekend twilight tee time).
- layout is interesting.
- Tee boxes are nice.

Cons:
- Bunkers are trashed, and are the main defense for the course. Mostly hard pan or ultra fine sand.
-Fairways we’re even, but we’re hard underneath the grass, and were challenging to get a ball airborne at times and take divots.
-Cost $80 to play and ride, which is way too expensive for the poor surface conditions.

This place could be a great mid-tier course, it just needs some extra TLC, and care on the fairways and bunkers.

4 hours 41minutes. That's how long it took to finish a mid-day round yesterday at Metropolitan. This is one of my favorite mid-week courses in play in the bay area. However, I might be looking elsewhere if pace of play continues to be this bad.

No starter, No sight of a course Marshall. Lots of two-somes, and people playing multiple balls every shot. The wind was feisty (15mph), but this course isn't particularly long, and has many different tee options. We waited longer for a tee than it took to play most holes.

Please Metro staff, employ some ways to improve pace, and I'll be coming here for years to come!

I used to play this course semi-regularly to get my golf fix, but at the moment, it’s been trashed.

It seems like they’ve had an invasion of baby geese, so every hole that’s near the drainage pond is wrecked. The tee boxes are un-usable on most holes and there’s goose poop on many of the greens. Also, the bunkers are rock hard.

I’m fine with a bit of dinginess on a course, but this was bad. I hope they can reduce the number of geese and replant some of the tee boxes soon, or at least give us mats to hit off of.

Got a $19 Hot deal on Hiddenbrooke, and it's been on my list of courses to play in the bay area.

Pros:
-The Design; Arnold Palmer really took advantage of the natural landscape and routed a fair, but challenging track. Every hole has it's own character, and flows well. Lots of elevation changes. The front 9 is gettable, while the back 9 is a wild ride with lots of challenging shots. A premium is put on making smart, creative shots, and being confident with every club in the bag. The wind also plays a huge factor.

-The scenery: Looking at the map of the course, I was expecting to play through condo canyons (i.e. like at Bodega Bay), but the course protected the houses with a layer of trees, and hills. It never felt like I was going to hit a house and the sightlines never really look directly at a home.

-The Practice Area: Grass driving range, and nice practice green was a plus. I'd advise arriving early and dialing in the green speeds.

-The Green complexes: These have been my favorite greens I've played in the bay area. Extremely challenging to read, and fast. a premium is put on a good approach shot to avoid 3 or even 4 putts.

-Course conditions: Fairways were some of the best kept i've played recently, even better than TPC Harding and Chardonnay.

Cons:
-Pace of Play: For a Wednesday lunchtime round, it was SLOOOW going. At times we were stuck behind two+ groups at a teebox (especially after the turn) and waited at hole for 15 - 20 minutes. We never saw a course Marshall. This was a shame, because it wasn't particularly busy.

-Teeboxes: The tee boxes were chewed up, which was weird, since the rest of the course was near immaculate.

I can't wait to play here again, I just hope the course Marshall is out there because 5 hour rounds really suck.

I played Washington National as a birthday present and was really looking forward to playing it after spending time researching golf courses in The Seattle Area.

The course design is modern and can plays on the longer side. The fairways are wide and have good roll, and each hole is littered with, strategically placed, deep bunkers. Which created a lot of fun risk reward decisions throughout the round. The greens were were varied in shape, size and undulation and rolled true. The tee boxes were not in rough shape, either.

However, like what seems to be the story with most Oki golf courses, the management seem to make lots of cost cutting decisions and deferring maintenance on parts of the course and clubhouse. The most glaring of which being the molestation and removal of many of the waste bunkers on the course and replacing the white sand with gravely, pebble laden dirt, draining water hazards, including the mote on hole 15, the carts had busted windshields and cracked seats, the pin flags were sun bleached and faded, and the clubhouse was in need of new paint.

All in all, the course was a fun, challenging and fair layout, but if there was some real care taken to maintain the course it could be one of the top tracks I’ve ever played.

Pros:
-Great value for the how well kept the grass is.
-Great for beginners or families.
-Great variety of hole layouts.
-Staff is friendly and kind.

Cons:
-Plays on the shorter side, lots of irons off the tees.
-Greens are carpentry and thick, not very true.

I had a blast playing at Nile Shrine. It’s a cute course that knows what it is, and the maintenance crew takes care of the course, which makes up for the short layout, and small greens. It’s a great course for beginners to gain confidence on a full 18, and for skilled players to work on their iron play and shot shaping

I played Lake Chabot for the first time today for an mid-week afternoon getaway from work and had a nice time out.

Here are some pros and cons for the course.

Pros:
1. The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. My playing partner was late and the starter was able to push back our tee time a slot. The woman who was working the snack bar was also a sweetheart and made my buddy a great sandwich.

2. Pace of play. Since it was slow we got through a round in under 4 hours and never had to wait for another group until hole 16.

3. The Greens and fairways are in pretty decent shape. Not too dinged up, and the greens rolled as I read them.

4. Fun novelty holes. The wedge shot on 8 down a 60ft cliff was pretty fun, and so was the bizarre par 6 hole 18.

Cons:
1. Blind Tee Shots - Many of the holes play blind tee shots which are a pet peeve for me, especially without local knowledge.

2. The green complexes are almost all circles that are the same size and lack much undulations or character. Many shots are also blind onto the green.

3. Shooting over a street - Many holes play over the road to the clubhouse and it felt uncomfortable.

4. Little to no bunkering - or at least any bunkering that came into play.

All in all, I had a good time at Chabot. It’s a good community muni w/ nice people and some unique golf shots. However, it’s layout is a little bland for my tastes to play on the regular.

I have the privilege of being an SF residence card member, and play TPC Harding about once a month and really enjoy it every time out. I shot my first ace on 17 last time and created a lasting golf memory.

Pros:
-The course is well maintained
-The rough is thick and penalized bad shots, but plays fair
-Extremely walkable
-Doesn’t feel like you’re in the city at all
-Greens are fun and

Cons:
-Pace of play can be slow
-The weekend rates for non residents is very high

Tips:
-Midweek twilight rates are hard to beat, also tends to be a chiller crowd
-Walk the course with a pull cart, it’s faster than a motorized cart.
-Flemming 9 is a hidden gem and worth the price

Finished a mid-day round in under 4 hours! The course is tight, short, and fun. Definitely dot to flex the mid-iron game. Greens are in good shape, and the bunkers aren’t half bad (the rakes are trash). Front 9 is forgiving and scoring opportunities galore, the back 9 plays around a set of hills, and mounding that makes for some fun target golf. Lots of risk reward shots.

Note: the tee boxes are in the process of over seeding, so all the boxes are currently in weird muddy patches off the main boxes or on the beginning of the fairway. This was the only downside. Lots of par fours ended up being 200 - 230 yard shots onto the green.

course staff, please consider placing some mats instead of forcing players to hit off mud, it would help a ton.

Great place to bring friends of all skill levels, I’ll be back once the overseeing is completed.

Trekked out here after Tilden was shut down due to fire danger. We were able to book a twilight two-some last minute for a 3:00pm Tee time.

Course was pretty fun, and forgiving for us high handicappers. The only two moderately interesting holes were 3 (short par 3 over water), and 9 (had a water ob, across from a fairway bunker). However the rest of the course was straight step and repeat straight Par 4s. Greens were on the inconsistent and soggy side, and the fairways were patchy, and muddy. Not to mention there were divots galore.

Back 9 we were stuck behind a family of 4 who refused to let us play through, even though they would each take about 8 - 12 shots each to get through a par 4, and we had to stop at 17. It was frustrating, but hey this is totally a family oriented 18, and it was a weekend twilight round. The back 9 was also much more forgettable than the front, 10 is one of the only dog leg lefts on the course, which was a nice change.

Would I could here again? Yes, but I'll probably try my hand at the newer North Course, and perhaps get an earlier start.

Would I recommend this course to a friend? Yes, but probably if they have children, or beginner golfers who wanna try their hand at a full 18.