Private course which allows daily public play after 11AM. I cannot say it loud enough. This course is worth every penny of the $100-$115 green fee in which they charge to play. Most of the club mem... Continue »

Private course which allows daily public play after 11AM. I cannot say it loud enough. This course is worth every penny of the $100-$115 green fee in which they charge to play. Most of the club members play in the morning, so the course is wide open in the PM.

Booked a time for my monthly golf group, 12 of us in total. The pro shop, bar, and course staff treated us like we were members. Top notch service.

The course itself is beautiful and immaculately maintained. Not a spot of brown anywhere on the fairways. Felt like hitting off carpet of driving range mats. Every fairway shot felt like the perfect lie. Greens were fast, fair, and rolled true. Very few houses on the course, loads of panoramic views.

In the 4 hours it took us to play our round, we never saw another group. 100% felt like it was our own private club. Take advantage of playing here before others figure it out.

The greens are very challenging and some course knowledge is very helpful. Unfortunately, the course does not have yardage guides or gps, and yard markers are sparse. Still, the greens alone are worth... Continue »

The greens are very challenging and some course knowledge is very helpful. Unfortunately, the course does not have yardage guides or gps, and yard markers are sparse. Still, the greens alone are worth playing this course. Very fast, very true, quick and tough. Most greens have severe undulations and getting above the pin is costly. I can't recall how many putts ran off the green putting downhill in our group, but a lot. As to the course, there are lots of good looks. Every hole is unique with great features, except perhaps one average par 5 on the back. There were only 10 players out all day that we could see, so the pace was perfect. Conditions were excellent tee to green, and bunkers superb. Flat fairway bunkers with good compaction and soft fluffy bunkers greenside. The 18th hole is one of the best finishing holes in Northern California. This course is a real good setup and very well maintained. I sure hope to get an opportunity to play again.

Played Winchester, as a guest, a few times now...this is more of a review for all of the rounds. The course is immaculate and probably in my Top 3, in regard to conditions and beauty, with Indian Wel... Continue »

Played Winchester, as a guest, a few times now...this is more of a review for all of the rounds. The course is immaculate and probably in my Top 3, in regard to conditions and beauty, with Indian Wells and SilverRock. However, this course is much tougher than both of those tracks. Pretty much every hole has OB on both sides (although they call it a hazard, probably for the sake of play-ability and speed). However, if you can hit the ball well off the tee, the par 5's are pretty much reachable with two good shots. The greens are very tricky to read, sloped well, and are fast but true. They are bent grass and the grain/reflection off of the sun depending on which way you look at the putt, screws with you. Tip: keep the ball below the hole at all costs as you will quickly pile up 3 putts. With all that being said, this is one of the best courses (and probably the best kept secret) in Northern CA. If you ever get a chance to play the course, even if you have to pay the $100+ guest fee...it's worth the drive and money.

Course is a gem in the Sierra foothills. Located just east of Auburn on I-80, the course is semi-private with limited public play (after 11AM). Panoramic views, elevation changes, manicured fairways... Continue »

Course is a gem in the Sierra foothills. Located just east of Auburn on I-80, the course is semi-private with limited public play (after 11AM). Panoramic views, elevation changes, manicured fairways, this course is beautiful and worth the green fee. Reserved it for $65 on Golf Now for a 130PM time on Friday afternoon. Pace of play was excellent. The course is beautifully maintained, as you would expect for a private course. Greens rolled true. Fairways were cross cut and in great shape. Will return again and again. Wish it was closer!

Winchester Country Club Review
Northern California Golf Course Reviews

I played Winchester on 07/21/12 from the Black tees at 73.7/136/6819 for the first time and in a couple words, wow what a course! One of the benefits of the rough economy the last few years is that so... Continue »

I played Winchester on 07/21/12 from the Black tees at 73.7/136/6819 for the first time and in a couple words, wow what a course! One of the benefits of the rough economy the last few years is that some of the private courses are allowing public play and that is exactly what Winchester has done. The course is a community course, but because it was built for those folks with a bunch of money the homes are set back from the course and the big trees hide the homes. Plus, the lots are so big that the homes are not a bother. The course is a couple exits east of Auburn about 5 minutes off of I-80 so it is very easy to get to from Sacramento and would make the perfect golf stop on the way to Truckee or Reno. The course is at ~2500 feet in elevation in the Sierra Nevada foothills and has spectacular views of the surrounding area. This is a Robert Jones Sr/Jr design and a quick scan on a search engine shows that I have played a couple of their courses and enjoyed their work before, but this place seemed overly penal. More on that in a moment though. The course featured just about everything I love about Northern California golf. There was plenty of elevation change, elevated tees, great views, mentally involved holes, and separated holes that felt in a world of their own. The maintenance was good with good lies in the fairways, surprisingly quick greens (especially on downhill putts), and very few brown patches of grass. Because this is now public I suppose they have had to cut costs on maintenance compared to recent years and it was possible to end up in a thin lie (the tees were very thin) and I did not think the greens rolled as true as their speed would indicate (might have just been me though). Now about the layout. The course featured large and elevated sloping greens with many blind and semi-blind shots from both the tees and the fairways. Commonly I had to modify my stance in the fairway for a side hill or uphill/downhill lie which made hitting crisp shots a challenge. Basically, playing the first 4 holes would give an idea of the course. Hole #1 is par 4 with a blind tee shot to a downhill slot and then uphill to the green and #3 is a par 4 with a semi blind tee shot from an elevated tee box where bunkers pinched on the right so I had to fire at the blind part of the fairway to avoid them. Hole #4 was a par 5 that almost required a 4 or 5 iron off the tee because it was so uncomfortable to look at from the box. It was this type of thing all day long and it wore me out, I do not like blind shots and approaches where I cannot see the bottom of the flag. It was very uncomfortable to play, especially the first time. The signature hole, #16 is a long par where any miss short or right is in the water, a good challenge. Overall I liked it here and would certainly have saved 5+ strokes if I had played it before. I played on Saturday afternoon and no one out and got around in 3.5 hours after finding an online time for $50. Best $50 that I have ever spent on a round of golf, even with the involved holes.

Winchester Country Club Review
Northern California Golf Course Reviews

The layout (at) Winchester is fantastic; however, the course conditions are not commensurate. There were tire tracks around multiple greens, yardages were poorly marked, the fairways looked like they... Continue »

The layout (at) Winchester is fantastic; however, the course conditions are not commensurate. There were tire tracks around multiple greens, yardages were poorly marked, the fairways looked like they had been re-seeded or quilted together and it was hard to tell when the fairway started and the rough began. With the current conditions, it's easy to see why this course is semi-private and it would be difficult to have full membership, especially with better courses in the area like Darkhorse, The Ridge, Apple Mountain, etc. Do not pay the full rack rate for this course, you will be sorely dissapointed. The one positive about the course is that pace of play is good; however, given the poor conditions, I could see why people would want to get off of the course as soon as possible.

Winchester Country Club has a fantastic layout in a scenic location. But the conditions are terrible. Other courses in the area--like the Ridge and Darkhorse--are in much better shape. Many of the ... Continue »

Winchester Country Club has a fantastic layout in a scenic location. But the conditions are terrible. Other courses in the area--like the Ridge and Darkhorse--are in much better shape. Many of the greens at Winchester are a patchwork of new sod, diseased grass, and old grass. The entire green on No. 8 was replaced with new sod and a brown spot 50 yards short of the green has been designated as a temporary green. The fairways are also in poor shape, with some areas completely burned out, other areas devoid of grass altogether, and some areas a virtual swampland.

I can't fathom how anyone let a course of this quality degenerate into the mess it is in right now. Hopefully they can quickly identify the source of their problems and fix it. Until then, I won't be back.