Decided last minute to try and seek in a round early Sunday afternoon as the playoff football game didn't interest me. It has been unseasonably cold over the past few days in the Sacramento area, so ... Continue »

Decided last minute to try and seek in a round early Sunday afternoon as the playoff football game didn't interest me. It has been unseasonably cold over the past few days in the Sacramento area, so I didn't know what shape the course would be in. In fact, earlier that morning, the low temp. was 28 degrees which is very low for the region. I figured that play could be slow after a (possible frost delay).

When I arrived at the course, the guy working the counter at the pro shop informed me that they indeed had a frost delay, but it was a fairly slow day (the high temp was only around 45 degrees) for a Sunday so the pace of play shouldn't be an issue. The only hiccup was because of the course layout with shade and its effect on frost, all play was starting on hole #11.

My playing partner and I made our way to the #11 tee (a par 3) and saw a twosome ahead of us teeing off. That was the last time we had to wait for them the entire day as the pace of the round was very smooth (about 3 hours 40 minutes).

The course itself had quite a bit of muddy areas on the fairways, as could be expected with the cooler temps, and some dormant patches of grass in places. The tee boxes were still in decent shape considering the time of year. The greens were in good shape, fairly soft, albeit a little slower than I expected though they rolled true. Once I adjusted to the speed I putted well (although frustratingly I lipped out several long putts). I had to clean my golf ball often because of all of the mud.

The Par 71 layout presents quite a few risk-reward shots and the player is rewarded for keeping the ball in play. There are several hazards and Out of Bounds areas that can come into play off of the tee. I found myself grabbing my 3 wood and hybrid about half of the time off the tee. Overall I am glad that I came out to play the round, especially considering the 1:45 PM tee time was only $19 per person on Golf Now, which is a great price for a Sunday afternoon at this decent course.