Not wanting to have a 5 hr round at Coyote Creek, I opted for a new course and decided on Spring Valley. Being my first time here, I came with an open mind. In short it was slightly above average muni conditions. Track layout was fun with a wide variety of hole designs. The total yardage on appearance seems on the shorter side but it’s only a par 70 so in fact it’s a “full distance” course. In fact all of the par 3’s are on the longer side (170-200+ yards).

Greens for the most part are single tier with modest slope. Greens rolled smooth but we’re on the slow side. The odd part was they were slightly on the slow side.

Whereas the fairways didn’t have the wow factor on appearance, they presented a great hitting surface with ample coverage throughout. Rough was also lush with good coverage throughout. Rough was manageable and not too penal

Tee boxes were level and divot free. Course is walkable (as I did) but not for the faint of heart. Course is set on a hillside, so there is a lot of elevation changes. Most transfers are reasonable.
The one major design flaw that kills pace of play is the 9th hole. A fun design with a forces carry over water off the tee. Problem is there’s no bridge across the water so you have to go all the way around the 18th hole (which also has a forced carry over the water). It’s not too bad if you are in a cart but put a few walking groups in and it gets backed up bad as it takes extra time to both go around the lake and wait for people on 18 to tee off before crossing in front of their landing area.

Customer services was excellent. All in all a fun experience and I’m sure I’ll play it again

It’s been a while since I’ve played the valley course. Conditions are pretty nice all around No issues at all with the greens. They rolled smooth at a medium fast pace. Most greens are double tiered making it key to be on the right level, otherwise a three putt comes into play

Tee boxes and fairways all had good lush grass and were divot free.

Pace of play in the afternoon is always slow here and yesterday was no exception. Luckily I was waiting for traffic to clear up so no big deal I opted for a cart even though the course is walkable. There are some longer transfers but the entire track is flat

Overall, the Valley course is a good option when in the area.

In short the course is in fantastic shape. Honestly, I’m not sure why I didn’t give it all 10’s. I played on Tuesday 5/16 and the greens were lightning fast. Probably the fastest I’ve ever seen them here. I played with my caddie here a couple weeks ago and the greens rolled much much slower (to the point where they were almost disappointingly slow). But this week the greens were fast and true as always. There were also some tough pin placements making putting a challenge.

Fairways were near perfect. Very lush and green throughout. Maintenance crew were also out filling in divots with sand. This last 18+ months has seen some of the best fairway conditions at Spanish Bay and the trend looks to continue. Again, I rated the fairways at a 9 and not sure why I didn’t give them a 10.

Tee boxes were the same. They have a few tee boxes closed off for reseeding so a couple of the white and gold tee boxes are combined right now as they get ready to head into “prime” season. Sand traps all have high quality fluffy sand and the rough was lush throughout. Rough at Spanish Bay is manageable. Don’t mistake that for easy, but compared to Spyglass Hill it’s survivable.

They are finally getting serious about rerouting the course and per my caddie a couple of weeks ago, PB Corp has narrowed it down to three architects (Tiger Woods Co being one).

Not sure when they will pull the trigger on the makeover but if you are a fan of the current layout get out and play it while you can.

In my bid to play Poppy more this year, I went out last Wednesday with SDF on a perfect mid afternoon day. Conditions are pretty much the same as they were in April with the exception the greens have firmed up and are back to normal for here. They still roll true at a nice fast pace but getting an approach shot is more difficult (especially compared to the greens at Spanish Bay). Middle and back pins aren’t much of an issue but front pins can be challenging.

Definitely a recommended peninsula

I took my “little” (he’s 6’4”) cousin out to Monterey Pines and this course just doesn’t get the accolades it deserves. Yes it’s a shorter distance Par 70 course, but the conditions are awesome. The greens are still healing from recent aeration and though they rolled fairly smooth, they still need about 10-14 days before being fully healed.

Fairways on the other hand were just short of perfection. Super lush and a deep
Emerald Green throughout. Tee boxes and bunkers are also of high quality. Pop was a bit of an issue as we got stuck behind a super slow foursome who ended up being 5 holes behind the group in front of them. Once we got around them it was clear sailing the rest of the round

Monterey Pines is an easy walk and a fun course to test your short game

Trying to get caught up on reviews. Played Dragonfly on Monday 5/8 as well as back in March. The course is improved quite a bit from the horrible March condition but it isn’t quite back to normal Dragonfly above average shape.

Greens weren’t bad as most were fairly smooth and rolling at a nice medium fast pace. Fairways in March were really beat up. They have improved significantly and though they might not look pristine, they prevent a very decent hitting surface. Tee boxes were ok. Nothing to complain about and nothing to brag about. Bunkers are so much better now than in last years. No issues at all.

POP was a bit slow but then my buddy struggled on the back nine so we lost pace as it was.

Not worth a trip but worth playing if in the area

Finally made it back out to Ridge Creek after about a 6-7 month hiatus. I almost forgot how much fun (and tough) this course is. We got it on a perfect sunny 72 degree day that made it a pleasant walk. The course is still transitioning from winter dormant to its lush summer green so the fairways still have a lot of brown to them but they present a great lush hitting surface as well as offer plenty of roll out.

Greens were receptive to approach shots and rolled true at a medium pace. RC usually aerates their greens in June so the greens are starting to show signs of heavy use in regards to pitch marks. Greens at Ridge Creek are nice and large and at first appearance appear docile but they present plenty of challenges in regards to breaks.

It looks like they have completed all of the bunker restoration. The sand is a very grainy almost small pebbles, but it’s deep enough to easily get a club under and it’s consistent.

Tee boxes were fine. RC has some very wide tee markers so you can usually find a good level spot that’s divot free.

Many of us have mentioned it before and I’ll say it an again. Keep it between the lines off the tee and the course is for the taking (2 birdies on the back nine) Stray off line and you will be adding those OnCores’s to auto ship! Theirs is a “first cut” of rough which is only about an inch tall. After that it 2’ tall weeds. I shot 11 strokes better on the back just by finding fairways.

Bottom line good track, good conditions and good times Restaurant is also worth eating at.

Played in the GolfMoose outing on Monday 4/17/23, teeing it up with JohnnyGK and RGM2525
This was my first time playing this course and I enjoyed the layout a lot. As the name suggests, it sits on a hill and just about every shot has some sort of elevation gain/loss to it. Some fun and creative dog legs in conjunction with the elevation changes makes for an exciting and challenging experience. Not only are all 18 holes different and unique but they are different and unique to every other course anywhere. Yet, They didn’t seem gimmicky

Conditions wise I’ll admit that whereas they were certainly acceptable, they were a tad below country club level. No issues with the greens as they rolled fast and true. Greens were a tad firm but nothing major. Fairways were average. A bit thin with some sporty coverage here and there. Again, nothing that hindered play and shots but not the carpet fairways of elite CC’s.
Tee boxes were level with good coverage Sand traps were ok. Some were thin to little dirt others very playable. It was a shotgun outing and POP was the usual 5 hours.

Weather was overcast and chilly. We never did see the sun. Course was certainly worth the price of admission and I’d play it again for sure.

Played yesterday afternoon walking as a twosome with RGM2525. This is a great course that will eat your lunch as soon as you blink! The course is set on a hillside so you have several off cambered lies to add to the challenge. Every hole is unique so you never get the “been there played that” feeling. It certainly helps to have a seasoned veteran with you who knows the course inside and out.

Conditions were very nice. Greens rolled excellent at the perfect medium fast pace. A couple greens were a tad slower than expected but they rolled true every time.

Fairways were nice and lush with good coverage throughout. No issues with all the rain as this course drains extremely well being built on a hill and having a good sand base. Most tee boxes were flat with good coverage but one of the par 3 tee boxes was heavily riddled with old divots. But that might have been the hole i birdied so I can’t complain! I was in a couple of bunkers and the green side traps had great sand.

Course is a challenging layout for sure but definitely fun to play. It’s a great walk but again it’s a hilly terrain so you have to be in decent shape to walk it.

Definitely worth a drive and play

Being that Kern River was one of the few courses open during the pandemic, I wanted to show some support and played here during the weekend on my Bakersfield trip. It was also a good course for my buddy who hadn’t played since September as Kern River is forgiving off the tee with its parkland setting. Aesthetically, the track is set on a gentle hillside so it’s not completely flat and it offers several views of the Kern River reservoir lake which was busy during the perfect low 70’s weekend day.

Course is in decent muni like condition. Pretty much what you would expect from a course at this price point. Greens rolled true albeit at a medium-slow pace. Most greens are two tiered so they are manageable (2 birdies on the day) if on the correct tier but difficult (three, 3 putts) if on the wrong level. Also, they had a “masters” tournament in the morning and had some nasty pin locations

Fairways were average. Decent enough but nothing to brag about. The pleasant surprise were the sand traps. They were in excellent condition with nice light fluffy sand. Bunkers are where most courses in the price point fail but Kern River excels.

My main issue with this place is the par 70 rating for a course that plays 6350 yards from the whites. There are 4 par fours that are around or over 450 yards and three par 3’s over 200 yards including one that was 225 uphill playing into the wind. That’s PGA stuff not double digit handicap (or worse beginner) yardage

Other than that it’s an enjoyable experience.

After seeing the review by T8fish, I decided to stop and play hunter ranch on the way home yesterday. Wow! What a difference five weeks makes. Course is in excellent shape right now. Greens rolled true as always at a nice fast (compared to the Bakersfield courses) pace. The fairways are voted most improved! The are just shy of a 9 rating. Fairways are lush and deep green throughout sans a few areas (on the entire course) here and there. Bunkers rivaled that of Pebble. The only area still in need of improvement are the tee boxes. Other than that the course is in fantastic condition.

Definitely back on the highly recommended list!

After it took four years convince Roarksown1 to come up in January last year to play Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill, we tentatively set a play date for Pebble in January 2023. As everyone knows the weather did not cooperate at all this year. I was able to secure a tee time on April Fools day and the hardest part was convincing everyone (caddie included) that it wasn’t a joke. We actually had a tee time. Weather was perfect. Sunny, Low 60’s, and very little wind

Driving range was on the mats which I assume was due to previous weather as it’s too early to keep people off the grass for the Women’s US Open I called on my go to
Caddie, Mitch to do the heavy lifting and carrying my bag and Robs. Mitch has the perfect blend of technical skills (green reading, etiquette , ball spotting, etc) and personality. It’s why he’s my go to caddie.

Course conditions were spot on. Yes the greens had been aerated about 5 days earlier but we knew that going into the round. Still, they rolled surprisingly fast and fairly true, with the exception of a few bumps here and there.

Fairways were somewhere between a 9.5 and a 10. Super lush and green throughout. Fairways did not show any signs of the 32” of rain we’ve had this year. And yes the sink hole has been repaired

Bunkers: I was in a lot of sand traps throughout the day and they were all top notch. All had great white fluffy sand.

Tee boxes were also super. Level and lush with no signs of divots
Rough is being grown in and up but as of now it’s still manageable. That will change as we get closer to the LPGA tournament on July.

I played absolutely horrible but still had a great time. My only complaint was that it was just a bit too cold to put the top down on the way in!

I once heard a saying that the definition of perfect isn’t that everything goes right but that everything goes right given the circumstances. If that’s the case then it was a perfect day. After having lunch at the Tap Room and paying all my outstanding debts ( most of which I got back the next day at Poppy Hills) I put the top down and drove home with a huge smile. It’s that type of course.