Played here Saturday the 2nd of August, at 8am w/ a friend and two singles

really enjoyed the layout. fantastic views of the sierra mountians around you. back 9 has a lot of fun dogleg holes. very scenic track.

the conditions were excellent. the tee boxes were level, the fairways were nice and lush w/ no thin or brown spots and the greens earned positive comments from everyone in my foursome for how true they rolled

although i've heard that it can get quite slow after 9am, especially on the weekends, we got around in 4.25 hours, so, that wasn't our experience

i would definately recommend this course to anyone looking to get in some golf while in the tahoe area

Played here on Father's Day

it's very cheap ($27 w/ a cart on the weekend)

greens were in decent shape - relative to the rates and condition of the rest of the course at any rate

it's essentially a pitch/putt, so the rest of the course wasn't really maintained. there are 2 par 4 holes though, and the "fairways" are pretty gnarly

tee boxes need to be leveled, badly

but, if you just want to go practice your irons and don't want to slap down a bunch of dough, it's okay - you pretty much get what you pay for here

Played afternoon, Saturday May 10th.

Started out w/ lunch in the clubhouse. My mother-in-law had a chicken tortilla soup that she thought was excellent. Myself and my 2 playing partners all had the Oak Valley Special - a burger w/ bacon and mushrooms. All the food was very good, I'd eat there again for sure.

Now on to the important stuff, the course.

this course is in AMAZING shape right now. tee boxes were all in phenomenal condition, greens were in excellent shape, and the fairways were nearly spotless as well....even the rough was well taken care of...i'm not sure i've played a course that was in better shape in my 5 years of playing in southern california.

great job oak valley staff!!!

Love this PAR 62 executive. It's almost always in very good condition, and the terrain is beautiful - hilly with lots of large boulders, tons of scrub and a few water hazards.

even if you're not a huge fan of executives (like me) this is a really entertaining track.

This is my favorite course in the entire state (keeping in mind i've only played 4 courses here).

i love the layout - with all the mature trees. it's pretty unique for this area too, in that it's not a "desert" course...and the price is very affordable relative to most of the other courses in the area.

Played here on either new year's day or new year's eve day, can't remember.

at any rate, it's a very well maintained track w/ lots of interesting holes. it was a bit on the spendy side, but that's been my experience w/ arizona golf, if you want to play when it's not 200 degrees outside, it's going to cost you.

that being said, you won't feel like you were ripped off....everything about this course was nice - clubhouse, staff, practice facilites, layout, course conditions....all excellent.

first, the pros:

i really liked the layout. it was fun, not very hard if you play smart (something i can't say i do very often). one of the guys in my group hit irons off of every hole and still scored well.

the cart girl was a regular mario andretti. sometimes you're lucky to see the refreshment cart once a round. we saw her no less than 5 times.

the cons:

5.5 hour round and the starter didn't have an accurate list of start times/groups. we were 1/2 hour late to tee off and waited on every hole. after reading other reviews, i see this isn't uncommon. i'd say this isn't the greatest choice for a weekend round. weekdays are probably better (unless you don't mind 5-1/2 hour rounds).


the greens were beat to h*ll. ball marks everywhere, not a lot of ettiquette apparently (not the course's fault really). there was also a lot of what i believe is called "fairy ring" in the greens - a disease of clover shaped dark patches you sometimes see in greens.

bunkers were very inconsistent...some were as soft and fluffy as bunkers are in florida, others were hard-packed and wet from errant sprinklers ( a pet peeve of mine, it's certainly not endemic to this course).

no clubhouse should ever have rap playing loudly in the pro shop, and the staff need to be more professional. they were a bit too casual about stopping their conversation to come to the counter to greet our foursome.

bottom line: i'd avoid it on the weekends, course condition is OK, not great, especially the greens, they need work. staff were a bit immature, but not rude. the cart girl should get some kind of greenskeeper award. layout was worth another look, but during the week.

Played here on Sunday the 16th. It was a beautiful day. I'd say the greens are in decent shape, not great. the fairways were in very good shape, definately not muddy, as another person mentioned. so if that problem did exist, it's gone now. and the rough, although not incredibly lush, isn't dead or brown. the tee boxes still have not been leveled though, so at times it's hard to find a flat spot to tee off from. they need to address that issue.

it seems like the cost has gone up, i never remebered paying $55 to play here. still a fun track, but i agree that the condition of the course has suffered some since billy casper took it over.

Played 09-28-2007

new clubhouse is under construction, which impacts play at the course. there are still 18 holes, but they have a temporary par 3.

the greens were in pretty good shape, however, the rest of the course had a lot of bare spots, hardpan fairways and brown grass.

it looks like they're making a lot of changes - several new water features, ponds, waterfalls and the like. you can see that when they get done, the course should be pretty nice.

currently though, i'd consider other options in the area. the construction seems to be temporarily affecting the course conditions.

Played on 10-01-2007

course was in great shape, top to bottom. the greens were great, very few ball marks and they putted consistently. fairways and rough had very few bare spots, mostly green and lush.

a few wet bunkers, but other than that, the course conditions were very good. after the first tee, we barely saw a soul- no one in front of us, no one behind us.

Played Saturday the 21st of July.

Greens were in pretty decent shape...they were all at least consistent and putted pretty true.

Fairways had lots of bare spots and definately were in need of some serious TLC.

Tee boxes were in good condition.

Course is only in marginal condition overall, but it's an entertaining track nonetheless and the price is pretty decent.

If you don't go expecting flawless course conditions, I think you'll find this to be a fun course with very interesting terrain.

Played on Father's Day. (shot an 87 for the curious folks)

The greens were in great shape, smooth and putted very true. For the most part, so were the fairways, although there were a few brown patches. The tee boxes also had a few brown patches but few divots. Overall, however, the entire course was in very good shape.

My only complaint is that the bunkers were wet. I see this at a lot of courses in the area though, so it's not a problem that's endemic to Oak Valley. IMO, all bunkers should be bone dry. They actually had a couple of bunkers that had standing water (one w/ enough water to swim in). But, again, there was only standing water in 2 bunkers. Most were pretty wet though.

They have new carts, but they should have added GPS. IMO, that speeds up the pace of play. It was a 4.5 hour round on Sunday, but it was Father's Day, so I've got no real complaints there.

The views from this course are amazing, and the course is very nicely landscaped - lots of great mature trees. We saw tons of wildlife, including a mother lynx w/ 3 cubs on the par 4 2nd hole.

Overall, my impression of this course was very good. It's a relatively challenging track, but a fair test. I actually prefer Oak Valley over the two PGA courses across the freeway.