Piggybacking off yesterday's review of Chester Washington, the greens are indeed currently punched and sanded and an absolute travesty. I've putted on aerated greens before that still held lines or rolled somewhat true, but the current greens at CW are nigh unplayable and just plain awful. Sure would have been nice to have been informed in advance.

Aside from the gree... » More

Piggybacking off yesterday's review of Chester Washington, the greens are indeed currently punched and sanded and an absolute travesty. I've putted on aerated greens before that still held lines or rolled somewhat true, but the current greens at CW are nigh unplayable and just plain awful. Sure would have been nice to have been informed in advance.

Aside from the green issues, the only bunker that actually had great sand in it was 'Ground Under Repair,' while all the other ones were thin, had rocks in them and weren't very pleasant to play from. I don't understand why the one good one was 'closed.'

Some good things? The course is more green than usual and the fairways are actually in pretty nice shape all around. The rough is thick and can be very penal if you find yourself in an extra thick patch or underneath some of the mowed shavings that can be find in a lot of areas. The tee boxes were mostly good but not all completely level so you had to find a good spot.

POP was not great with big lines at every single par 3 that often went three groups deep. It's somewhat maddening to get into a flow and then be constantly held up and lose all sense of rhythm and timing. There was no cart service at all during the afternoon and the snack shop is sadly in a very inconvenient spot going away from the 9th green in the opposite direction of the 10th tee box.

Luckily though, for all the course's current inadequacies, the cost is reasonable for a walking fee of around $43. The driving range is dated and kind of small, but it's functional and conveniently located near the first tee. But at the end of the day, why are they punching greens again in May when it was already done in April like everywhere else?
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Played this morning 5/16, and was disappointed to see they have aerated again and sanded the greens. Not sure when they did it but seemed like a few days or a week ago. I was surprised because they had already punched and sanded in late March (?), and there was no notification about the maintenance when I booked. No idea why they felt like they had to punch again but oh well. O... » More

Played this morning 5/16, and was disappointed to see they have aerated again and sanded the greens. Not sure when they did it but seemed like a few days or a week ago. I was surprised because they had already punched and sanded in late March (?), and there was no notification about the maintenance when I booked. No idea why they felt like they had to punch again but oh well. Overall I guess it was fine but putts were extremely inconsistent in terms of line. Other parts of the course were fine. The rough is long again which is a penalty but still annoying because I lost a ball that really should not have been lost, just buried under grass and impossible to find. I would wait a few weeks to play Chester.
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Had not played here in almost 2 years.
In that time, they have not made much improvement.
Except for the layout, this would be an average daily fee
course. Shots off tees need to take slopes into consideration.
An up and down course with average conditioning.
Sorry to say......a bit disappointing.
It might be another couple of years!

The pro shop elected to let me on at 5:00pm (hooray!) and insisted that I take a cart even though I wanted to walk (understanding that it's very hilly terrain). Cart didn't have GPS and had the speed governor turned up a fair bit. That said, I'm glad they reversed their previous decision and let me out in the premium twilight hours. Was able to make it around in 2.5 hours with ... » More

The pro shop elected to let me on at 5:00pm (hooray!) and insisted that I take a cart even though I wanted to walk (understanding that it's very hilly terrain). Cart didn't have GPS and had the speed governor turned up a fair bit. That said, I'm glad they reversed their previous decision and let me out in the premium twilight hours. Was able to make it around in 2.5 hours with no one in front or behind.

This remains a really tough track - accuracy off the tee is a must, and many landing areas are obscured by hills or fairway bunkers. Plays 6300 from the white tees, which was plenty of challenge for this average golfer. Rough tangles your club up if you don't come at it steep, which is fair. The greens were recently punched (seems like a couple weeks ago) but they rolled fairly true and still fast. Lots of multi-tiered greens with wicked undulations.

Pro shop charged $40 "for 9 holes, and we need the cart back by 7:45", I think the price is a little high - peak times the fee is $80. Tee boxes were mostly level with a few funky spots.

$14 for a large bucket that doesn't even fill to the brim, that's the worst deal here. Overall, really enjoyed the challenge, hadn't played here in years and you really have to remember to focus on every shot or you'll be hacking it out of the rough.
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After a couple month hiatus from Spanish Bay, I was back out yesterday with some good friends, including DeepSea14. Whereas the course is in great shape overall, I will say it is a notch below its usual fantastic condition. I may be a tough critic as I have a lot of samples to draw against. We tee’d off just before Noon in cool but not cold weather. I was in short sleeve... » More

After a couple month hiatus from Spanish Bay, I was back out yesterday with some good friends, including DeepSea14. Whereas the course is in great shape overall, I will say it is a notch below its usual fantastic condition. I may be a tough critic as I have a lot of samples to draw against. We tee’d off just before Noon in cool but not cold weather. I was in short sleeve for 17 1/2 holes so no complaints. We had a modest 1 club wind most of the day. For the afternoon, it was definitely acceptable.

Greens had recently been punched with tiny holes that were mainly filled in and hardly noticeable. In fact the ball rolled very true at an acceptable medium fast pace. Aside from the aesthetics of the greens they were in actually nice shape. I did notice that on Hole 12 there was a brown streak running across the green. It was in a perfect straight line so my guess is it followed the drainage pipe under the green and had something to do with that. My 7 rating for the greens is probably a bit harsh but oh well.

As for the fairways, I’m happy to say I got to actually experience all of the fairways this time! Again, overall the fairways were lush and a nice emerald green. I knocked the rating down to an 8 just because as I mentioned before, I’ve seen them in better shape. Tee boxes were excellent. No issues there. I was in two green side bunkers and they were fine. I was also in my share of fairway bunkers which I was quite upset about. It’s just wrong to punish a player for hitting it straight!! I propose a new rule. No fairway bunkers in the MIDDLE of the fairway!! Anyway, they were in excellent shape. We had a big gap in front of us so no issue with the POP.

I love this course with its scenic views and solid playing conditions. Course layout offers a great variety of holes with a handful of forced carries to really keep you on your toes. the greens are tricky to say the least, but other than that it’s a double thumbs up in my book.
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