Okay, I took some time to process this review....

Played out at Sherwood yesterday in preparation for a Scramble with my buddies next week. First, and foremost, the good. There has been a noticeabl... Continue »

Okay, I took some time to process this review....

Played out at Sherwood yesterday in preparation for a Scramble with my buddies next week. First, and foremost, the good. There has been a noticeable amount of trees cut back. I haven't been out to Sherwood since COVID had begun, and it was getting sun up to sun down play and was showing a lot of wear. The overhanging branches have always been an issue off the tee, and on some greens as well. But they have cut a lot back.

Now, for the bad. The tee boxes are mangled! So many bare spots! Many tee boxes were nearly all dirt. Next, the fairways, theres always been a handful of fairways that have the spotty cut jobs and in the middle of fairways, you will have large pockets of crab grass growing in the middle of the fairway. Which to me, why aren't they getting those middle spots? Next, the greens, and it was from the jump. They had reseeded or done something on the first green, but it has not turned into anything resembling a golf green. All 4 of us in our group and the other 4 in the next group all said the same thing about 1, every put was jumping around and you truly couldn't get a read on the putts. Next a few other greens, 2 and 13 the worse has large areas of bare spots that limit pin placements but also putting through those bare areas isnt golf. But now, with the bare spots comes with mowed down crab grass thats popping up in the greens. It knocks your putt off line, but understandably, a long distance putt can hit anything, but when theres tufts of crabgrass a foot off the hole, in your line, and it clearly hits it and knocks it off, it makes for a tough hole. I get the lay of the land, but pulling those has to happen.

Best part of the course was the bunkers, there was adequate coverage in all the bunkers, I was in 1 but from talking to the rest of the groups we played with, they said the same thing!

All in all, Sherwood is a fun little course, you can not go into this course with any high expectations. Can you shoot a number here? Yes you can, but you are playing the golf course but also, playing the lack of up keep. 40 bucks to walk and a bucket of balls is good low price on a Sunday morning.

I played Sherwood Forest this morning with a 10:30 tee time. I’ve only played here a few times and the last outing the course was in complete shambles. I was looking for a course I hadn’t played... Continue »

I played Sherwood Forest this morning with a 10:30 tee time. I’ve only played here a few times and the last outing the course was in complete shambles. I was looking for a course I hadn’t played in a while, was easy to walk, and I could get in several reps with my 3 wood.

Naturally, being a weekend with a prime-time tee slot, it was busy. Check in is down outside on a table, tent area. Unlike other places, Sherwood has their pro staple supplies out on the table as well. So if you forgot a glove, need some tees or run out of golf balls at the turn, you can easily purchase them right there at the check in table.

I took a picture of the first green as it looked like a tie die dye shirt it had so many different colors and patterns to it. So I casually rolled my 20-25 foot “birdie” attempt up towards the cup, and to my surprise it rolled true at a fairly decent (medium-fast) pace. Throughout the round the greens were similar in that the looked horrible, but the ball actually rolled fine. I was pleasantly surprised at both the smoothness of the greens and the speed.

The greens at Sherwood are pretty tame. Most are small in size (think Del Monte and Pacific Grove) with minimal slope to them. In fact we kept getting fooled thinking there was some break in the putt when most of the time it rolled straight.

Tee boxes were in good shape on the Par 4’s and par 5’s but were pretty beat up on the Par 3’s. Fairways were what you would expect for a muni course in the valley. Winter then and spotty. Having said that, the fairways at Sherwood were probably slightly better than Valley Oaks.

I was not in any bunkers all day. Looking at them as I walked past they seemed Ok and on par with what’s in the valley.

Layout is tight with tree lined fairways and the greens heavily guarded by trees. Being on the wrong side of the fairway will often require a punch shot onto the green or if you are far enough back, hit it short and let it roll up.

Customer service was great and the beverage cart was out making the rounds multiple times throughout the day. For a busy Saturday morning POP was right at 4 hours.

Overall, the conditions, though below average muni, were better than expected. Would I recommend it? Depends on what you’re looking for in a course. It’s certainly not a destination course by any means, but not so bad, I’d avoid it

OK, I have written about Sherwood in the past, and I was VERY worried about this course! It is a hidden local spot, that doesn't get a ton of play outside the ones who want to get away from the busy c... Continue »

OK, I have written about Sherwood in the past, and I was VERY worried about this course! It is a hidden local spot, that doesn't get a ton of play outside the ones who want to get away from the busy courses around Fresno. My thoughts have started to sway in the past month. First and foremost, I received an email in early December from the owners, or the daughter who was taking over the course to inform people who subscribe to their emails that course improvements were going to begin in the winter and proceed into the spring.

The issues that many of us that play out at Sherwood have always complained about were many of the things that were on the list.

I have played out there twice in the past couple weeks, and I will be the first to say, the email and the improvements are noticeable! The fairways, are actually looking like fairways, where as before there was good areas, and then there were areas that looked like a thick patch of rough in the middle of the fairway. There now is a significant different in fairway length and rough length. The fairways are getting cut properly and you actually can get some run out on the fairways. The rough, is thick in areas, but still playable.

The greens, first off, when you played Sherwood in the past, you always expected SLOW greens. Well now, those slow greens are a thing of the past, instead of getting some hairy, thick grass on the greens, they are rolled and cut well where the ball moves much faster than one used to be accustomed to. But there is patched that they are trying to fill in with one of the old putting greens. This is something that shows they are making efforts to improve the course. So this was understanding of the rough patches that they are trying to alleviate.

All in all, I think this course will get better as long as they continue to make these improvements. I think with now, the right care that this course is getting, I think it will be a much better course to play.

Will it top some of the bigger and better courses around the Fresno area? No but if you want to work on hitting less than driver, and keeping your ball in the fairway and out of the trees, this is a course that will really make you think, and hit clubs to certain yardages, not only off the tee, but into greens! Not a bombers course because it still is VERY narrow in spots and if you get into the trees, you have to get creative and/or take your medicine.

Rates are fair, get on their email list and they send out lower rates. They are also on Golf Moose as well!

Hoping the improvements continue out at this old course!

Tip 1: Don't agree to a course when a buddy text's you without first putting on your reading glasses! With that being said, I knew we weren't playing a great course but sadly this this the absolut... Continue »

Tip 1: Don't agree to a course when a buddy text's you without first putting on your reading glasses! With that being said, I knew we weren't playing a great course but sadly this this the absolute worst condition of a golf course I've ever played. Greens were atrocious with several huge dirt areas, numerous ball marks and weeds thrown in the mix. At one point the weeds on the green were so thick I contemplated using a wedge. Getting a smooth roll was rare. Fairways had decent coverage but I couldn't tell where the fairway ended and the rough started. Tee boxes on the par 3's were so heavily riddled with divots, finding grass was slim. The layout is tight with narrow tree lined fairways and some creek crossings. Customer service was great, it's just a shame that the conditions are so terrible. Definitely not recommended. Overall rating a 2.

Met up with a golf buddy that I hadn't seen in a while and we decided to play a late afternoon round at Sherwood Forest. Being that we were more interested in catching up on the gossip than our game,... Continue »

Met up with a golf buddy that I hadn't seen in a while and we decided to play a late afternoon round at Sherwood Forest. Being that we were more interested in catching up on the gossip than our game, we felt Sherwood would fit the bill as we were looking more for a cheap round than pristine conditions.

The course layout is very tight with tree lined fairways from tee box to green. The fairways which were narrow, were still fairly easy to hit. The greens however.... well, 3 out 10 holes one of us hit a tree, With a PERFECT shot! There are a number of trees that stick out over the green and if the pin is tucked in behind them, there is no way to get to the flag. If you know the course and can shape your iron shots in both directions then it's manageable. otherwise it can get frustrating.

The course has a river (lake run off) that goes through it which adds to the aesthetics of the place. Greens were furrier than my 6 month labradoodle. Sticking with the dog theme, the fairways were about the same as the grass at your local dog park. Patchy, thin and full of weeds. Having said that, I somehow managed to have a decent lie most of the time.

After hitting 6 bunkers in a row in my last round, I somehow managed to avoid them all day here, so I can't really rate the bunkers. Tee boxes were nice. Level and lush.

Customer service was excellent and the pro shop looked like it was decently stocked. There wasn't a drink cart out, but obviously you wouldn't expect one out during mid week at 5pm-7:30Pm. The good news was the kitchen was still surprisingly open at 5pm!!

Overall, it was a decent little muni course with conditions a wee bit under acceptable. Course is easily walkable and a good place to work on accuracy. Especially with your irons.

Played 8-5-17

Just an update. Once again this course continues to baffle. The winter and all the rains were tough on the course with large areas of out of control growth and poor conditions all aro... Continue »

Played 8-5-17

Just an update. Once again this course continues to baffle. The winter and all the rains were tough on the course with large areas of out of control growth and poor conditions all around. In the spring they seemingly were back on track and the conditions were roughly average for munis in this area. This weekend was a step back. There was good growth on the fairways and tees but many of the tees were placed in the chewed up areas. Bunkers I was not in.

Greens were in poor shape and there were many with invasive grass, bermuda I'm guessing that looked almost like crabgrass and all were long, slow and patchy.

This layout is very fun with the tight tree lined fairways and the river but unless you need to add it to your list I would wait until condition of the greens improve.

My review will be similar to CenCalHack's and won't be long due to previous review. I played today 4/20 and the tee boxes were well trimmed, they are letting tee boxes recover and markers are smaller ... Continue »

My review will be similar to CenCalHack's and won't be long due to previous review. I played today 4/20 and the tee boxes were well trimmed, they are letting tee boxes recover and markers are smaller than I've ever seen before. The fairways, are nothing like a fairway, they are long and I hit a few perfectly placed drives, and had to hunt for my ball, knowin full well it was in the fairway and it was sitting down in thicker grass.
The weird part was, was they had mowers out when I had gotten to the course, but the fairways were not cut on any of the holes. They had about 4-6 people in the maintence shed when I came off of 9, which doesn't make sense. There was also a maintence worker, working on the ditch that runs along Hole 6, but couldn't figure out what he was doing.
Greens were dry and typical slower speeds like Sherwood is known for. Bunkers had grass coming through certain parts which was odd.
It's a goat track, and there's gotta be some way they can cut back some of the branches in certain trees, but then again, that adds to the difficulty of this course!
Curious to know what is going on out there with ownership.

I have reviewed course in past so no in depth is needed. I am updating because of the currently poor conditions. I don't know if there is a lack of manpower or an equipment issue, but they are having ... Continue »

I have reviewed course in past so no in depth is needed. I am updating because of the currently poor conditions. I don't know if there is a lack of manpower or an equipment issue, but they are having some problems. Fairways were long and many had rough length grass. No recent mowing was evident. Sand was hard packed and/or dirt. Tees were about normal with patchy coverage and many uneven lies. Greens were worked recently, but regardless they still clearly had not been mown for a long time. They were shaggy and slow slow slow. The rough was mostly out of control and even areas that showed signs of mowing were still deep enough to result in ball searches even just off fairways. This is a fun scenic course and I usually recommend, but at this time I advise waiting until these issues are corrected. Apparently my rating was so low that it didn't even show up.

My first review of this course is detailed and in-depth. But this review stems from the conditions from this past week.
We had a team time for 9:45, and I got their around 9 and they were just endin... Continue »

My first review of this course is detailed and in-depth. But this review stems from the conditions from this past week.
We had a team time for 9:45, and I got their around 9 and they were just ending s frost delay, and sent most groups out on the front, and one group ahead of us beat us to stsrt on the back, we played the back in less then two hours without waiting on any shot. The group in front of us was at least two to three holes ahead. I was walking while my buddies rode, which helped open up that gap.
But the waiting game came when we played our second nine, which was the front, and seemed as if eveeyone was going off the front. So the group in front of us was a group of 5 and was extremely slow, and never once waved us through or ever said a word. We literally waited on every shot we hit, sometimes minutes on end. Which turned into a 3 hour last 9 holes.

Okay, the course was in okay shape for being one of the lower ended golf courses around the Fresno area. We played it because the guys I play with like it. The course itself was wet for the most part from all the rain we've been getting, and couple thst with the cold freezing nights and there isn't much growth or green. Had a few muddy balls from wet areas. The greens were fairly soft but in solid shape.