Driving home to the LA area from my weekend in the Roseville area with an old Vegas work buddy on Monday, 11/11/19, decided to stop at Castle Oaks based on Top 25 rankings and past reviews, walking on... Continue »

Driving home to the LA area from my weekend in the Roseville area with an old Vegas work buddy on Monday, 11/11/19, decided to stop at Castle Oaks based on Top 25 rankings and past reviews, walking on at 715 and was paired immediately with a father-son team from Toronto who had played the course several times, so I got the benefit of some ”local” knowledge. Started out brisk and chilly on a clear, sunny day that warmed up nicely, and we had almost no wind. The first tee was fairly busy and we kept pace, finishing in around 4 hours.

Both nines start out here with challenging holes with a combination of length, lakes, trees, narrow openings, and elevation changes. You need to be hitting crisp, straight shots right away to avoid getting into a scoring hole early. The final 4 holes (15-18) are also a challenging mix of shotmaking needs, including a long iron approach over a deep swale to a deep, sloping green (15), a terror-filled short iron over oblivion to a perched shallow green (par-3 16), a tee shot over a group of 3 oaks where you can bite off as much as you dare on the dogleg (17), and a decision to go the long way around or hit to an island fairway between 2 lakes to cut down the distance on the approach shot (18).

While the layout is diverse and challenging, the greens were easily the best part of the course, with wall-to-wall lush coverage, firm but holding well-struck shots, and rolling smoothly at medium+ speeds. Fairway lies were usually good, although the ball could occasionally set low. Rough early on was wet and could be treacherous, although later after drying out was much more playable. Some tees were sloping to the rear of a right-handed golfer, and no divot mix boxes were provided on the par-3 tees. Tees looked like they might not have been moved after Sunday’s play. Sand was in good condition, though a little damp this early.

Carts are basic. Saw the cart girl a few times today, even on a Monday morning. Didn’t use the driving range. No GPS, but a yardage book is available, and colored posts are located on most holes. Bathrooms are just basic but useable. The course nicely uses old railroad ties for an interesting mix of slope control, cart direction, and aesthetics. We quickly used the sand refills in the carts and there was no refill rack, so at the turn we pilfered some full sleeves from the waiting carts. The course uses a red-white-blue pin rotation, and needs to mix it up a little on the pin placements, to avoid giving golfers similar looks as you go through the round (first 3 par 3s were red flags; red flags in similar positions on holes 2, 5, and 14 with similar green shapes; etc.).

The course is pretty far off the beaten path in rolling hills west of the foothills of the Sierras, but definitely worth a play if you are in the area. Definitely recommended.