Played 4/27 at 9:10. First time at Bennett Valley after hearing generally good sentiments for years and was pleasantly surprised. As others have pointed out, layout is very straightforward parkland co... Continue »

Played 4/27 at 9:10. First time at Bennett Valley after hearing generally good sentiments for years and was pleasantly surprised. As others have pointed out, layout is very straightforward parkland course with the established trees lining each fairway and the undulating greens providing most of the challenge. That said, the course was in really great shape, especially for a public, and generally is a great setting for a round of golf on a nice day. Tee boxes, fairways, greens, and bunkers all in good condition and didn't have any major complaints about any of them. Some areas in between fairways are still muddy from a wet winter, but those areas are clearly staked and there were no cart restrictions during our round. Will definitely be coming back and highly recommend this track.

Played 8/3 early morning with a PoP of 4 hours, walking rate of $47. Well worth the price of admission considering it was a weekend prime time spot.

The conditions are as follows:

Tee Boxes: ... Continue »

Played 8/3 early morning with a PoP of 4 hours, walking rate of $47. Well worth the price of admission considering it was a weekend prime time spot.

The conditions are as follows:

Tee Boxes: Mostly fine. A few were chewed up & one or two were not level, but easily found spots behind the markers that were.

Fairways: For the most part fine, but there are various thin spots on many fairways & #9 fairway is currently closed for reseeding & the hole is a temporary par 3. Lots of rain in Winter/Spring really effected this course & the fairways have taken the longest to recover.

Rough: Not overly long, but thick & lush. Definitely grabby & penal

Sand Traps: Very good. A little wet, as we played early in the morning, but plenty of sand and well maintained.

Greens: Definitely the highlight of the experience. Very smooth & rolling medium/fast. A pleasure to putt.

Bennett is a fun, straight-forward parkland course. The challenges are in the trees lurking just off the fairways, some very narrow chutes off the tee & well guarded greens. It appears they are working hard to get the fairways up to par & they should recover well before the next rainy season.

This was our second round, and it was an adventure. They were very honest about course conditions when our tee time was booked and also when I called ahead on our way over. They let us know it was in ... Continue »

This was our second round, and it was an adventure. They were very honest about course conditions when our tee time was booked and also when I called ahead on our way over. They let us know it was in very rough shape right now because it has rained so much and they have barely been able to mow anything this year. We still gave it a shot and kind of played the course the best we could. There was hardly anyone there, so we zipped around. It was another good GolfMoose deal, too. Things look lush and green here, but it's barely playable because the ground is so wet and the grass/clovers are so deep right now. They had some temp forward tees out on a few of the worst holes and otherwise many shots in the fairways were lost balls (rough almost always would eat the ball up forever). We kind of had to make our own rules and play a very loose attempt at this course the way it is. Most everyone but us will want to heed their advice and avoid it until things dry up and they are able to mow again. They were out doing some mowing today and hopefully the weather cooperates in the next couple months so they can recover for the summer. On a positive note, they have been maintaining the greens and the areas around the greens the best they can (other than the bunkers, which were all pretty firm-packed). The greens were really nice! I did not rate the course because the greens would probably be an 8 while everything else would be 0-1 because it's mostly unplayable in its current state. I hope to come back again to play it again during a better time of year, so I can give it a proper play. It is a nice traditional parkland layout and pretty setting, so there is a lot to like about it when it's back to normal. For now, avoid.

Played Boxing Day, 12/26, teeing off as a twosome at 10:22, on a cold, sunny day to start - 46 degrees, warming up to upper-50's by early afternoon. Very light amount of play POP was 4 hrs, with no wa... Continue »

Played Boxing Day, 12/26, teeing off as a twosome at 10:22, on a cold, sunny day to start - 46 degrees, warming up to upper-50's by early afternoon. Very light amount of play POP was 4 hrs, with no waiting on the two twosomes in front, and we let a single go through.

Course is soaking wet right now from a healthy amount of rain, with a little standing water on a number of holes, and plenty of 'casual water' coming up, but everything is indeed lush and green, fairways and rough last cut maybe 4-5 days earlier. CPO entire course, and very necessary. Greens today were fantastic, cut nicely, rolling medium speed with very few bumps. A few elevated tees were really nice and firm. Well-drained, no standing water.

Nice, friendly gentleman in the pro shop told us to wait to pay at the turn, to see if we really wanted to play a full 18, or just 9 due to course conditions, as the back 9 was a little soggier than the front. When has anyone ever heard that offer? Me - never... very impressed! Was only going to be $3 difference pp, and the sun was out nicely, so we happily waded onwards for a leisurely 18.

Certainly not a day for scoring, as the ball died whenever it hit the ground, and getting it airborne and/or hitting clean shots was a challenge all day. That said, very happy to have played here again. Last played Bennett Valley probably 3 years ago. Holes are pretty straight, but lined with a lot of Redwood trees, so its a very pleasant day out. Glad I wore my water-proof Footjoys, which passed the test - but did get very muddy!

Assuming no further rain (slim chance of that), course would probably be much more playable (drier) in 2 weeks.

My wife and I played Bennett Valley 8-10-16. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. We had an 11:30 tee time and started on time with two friendly young men. The driving range is large and has b... Continue »

My wife and I played Bennett Valley 8-10-16. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. We had an 11:30 tee time and started on time with two friendly young men. The driving range is large and has both grass and mats to practice from. The mats were new and gave a good cushion to hit from. The practice green is large and putts the same as the greens on the course. Most of the tees were in very good condition with the exception of the par 3 tee boxes that had quite a few unfilled divots. The fairways had some dry or bare areas but were mostly lush without much divot damage. I think the bare areas were caused by water restrictions rather than poor maintenance since they were mostly in areas that were on slopes that would be hard to hold water. The bunkers had good consistent sand but, like many muni courses, were full of footprints and poorly raked. The front nine has some holes with significant elevation changes while the back nine is nearly all flat. The course has very many mature redwood, pine and oak trees. The fairways are reasonable width but a shot into the tree line will frequently require a chip back to the fairway. This is a very scenic and enjoyable golf course. I will return to play here again.

Played the morning of 7/14.
The course was recommended to me by a local I played with at Windsor GC so I decided to check it out. Boy, I was glad I did. Beautiful redwood lined fairways make accuracy... Continue »

Played the morning of 7/14.
The course was recommended to me by a local I played with at Windsor GC so I decided to check it out. Boy, I was glad I did. Beautiful redwood lined fairways make accuracy imperative if you're going to play well. The fairways were in very good shape with limited divot damage as were the tee boxes. Greens were also in good shape with some interesting tiering making accurate approaches a must. Bunkers had some very heavy sand made even thicker by the morning dew (I had a 5 wood plug in a greenside bunker!). Once everything dried out a bit they were very nice to play from.
Being a municipal course, rates are very good for weekday mornings ($27 to walk) and you'll likely see some nice wildlife on your first few holes (I saw deer and turkeys in the first three holes).

Play here often and from what I have seen for Muni courses you don't het any better than this. Prices are minimal for what you get. Course is almost always in great condition. Course js for the most p... Continue »

Play here often and from what I have seen for Muni courses you don't het any better than this. Prices are minimal for what you get. Course is almost always in great condition. Course js for the most part flat and straight. However if you get off the fairways good luck. The trees there have arms that will make you lay dearly everytime. Hope your good at punching out of bad lies. Biggest complaint is the pace of play is terrible; they pack the course and I wish they would just charge more and break up the times more. Driving range is mats only so its good for warming up but nothing is truer than hitting off real grass. Range balls are decent and appear newer. Overall great course.... if you have the time and patience.

Played midweek on a beautiful summer day. Most holes are relatively straight, but are lined by LOTS of trees. If you venture off the fairway, you're in jail, and your only choices are to chip back int... Continue »

Played midweek on a beautiful summer day. Most holes are relatively straight, but are lined by LOTS of trees. If you venture off the fairway, you're in jail, and your only choices are to chip back into the fairway or try to thread a shot around the tree trunks. Even then, you're unlikely to get on in regulation. Not much water. The greens and sand traps are in great shape, but the fairways have some thin spots. The pace of play was pretty slow, however.

I played with friends who live nearby and paid an unbelievable senior rate of $18 to walk. This is probably the best deal in the Bay Area as long as you don't mind waiting to hit most of your shots.

Bennett Valley Golf Course Review
Northern California Golf Course Reviews

Great course. Really nice shape, especially the greens. Great price and always fun. Front 9 is always interesting.

Great course. Really nice shape, especially the greens. Great price and always fun. Front 9 is always interesting.