Played Stockdale yesterday morning. They were another club that was very nice when I reached out to them. They set up a 10:30 tee time for us. The only caveat as guests was that we were required to be... Continue »

Played Stockdale yesterday morning. They were another club that was very nice when I reached out to them. They set up a 10:30 tee time for us. The only caveat as guests was that we were required to be accompanied by club pros (and we had to chip in a little extra for their "services"). On the front nine, we played as a fivesome with an assistant pro and two members. On the back, we played as a threesome with a different assistant pro. Everyone there was really friendly and the experience was great. Even with all that, our round took only a little over 3 hours to complete. The course was in very nice condition. Tee boxes were nice. Fairways were lush and green throughout with just a few brown/thin spots here and there. The fairway grass is kept a tad shaggy on purpose. I guess the super like to keep things soft here, especially to combat the summer heat. Not much roll on drives, but good lies to hit from on fairways. Rough a bit spottier along fairways, but good in the areas where it mattered most (especially around greens). Bunkers were great. Greens were receptive, very well-kept and rolling true at medium speeds. I had driven out to Stockdale before just to check it out. The course turned out to be more interesting than I thought it would be. Like a lot of the other older Central Valley tracks, the terrain is flat and the layout is back-and-forth with tree-lined fairways. It certainly has a similar look and feel to a lot of courses throughout Bakersfield and Fresno. However, there are some doglegs here and it has just enough character. And the conditioning is a step up from most. The early half of the back nine is the most interesting part of the course by far, so I enjoyed that stretch the most. Nice practice facilities and very friendly, simple club atmosphere (at least around the golf shop). Glad I had the chance to play it.