I played in the Greenskeeper outing on 7/17/2009. The course overall is visually pleasant. The course staff were pleasant and attentive to our group before and after the round. Teeboxes were in goo... Continue »

I played in the Greenskeeper outing on 7/17/2009. The course overall is visually pleasant. The course staff were pleasant and attentive to our group before and after the round. Teeboxes were in good shape and level. Sand traps had good soft but not fluffy sand and had no problem getting out. Fairways had some bare spots but I have seen much worse elsewhere! Greens were smooth and had some ball mark damage but not excessive for a public course. The members in my group were outstanding and we won Team Net, I tied for my flight with another member along with taking Low Net. The Mexican food buffet after the round was excellent and it shows the detail the Sandpiper staff executed seamlessly. All up it was another great event arranged by JohnnyGK and the GK staff, the Sandpiper staff, and the participants who make these outings so enjoyable. This is a must play in my book and I will definitely be back next year — Johnny?? LOL!

Played here on 7/17 with GK Outing. Great place to have a tournament as they treated us exceptionally well! Customer service was excellent, staff very friendly and helpful. The dinner afterwards had p... Continue »

Played here on 7/17 with GK Outing. Great place to have a tournament as they treated us exceptionally well! Customer service was excellent, staff very friendly and helpful. The dinner afterwards had plenty of good food and staff actually waiting tables!
Overall the course is beautiful. Some very pretty holes and wonderful views of the coast. Some of the holes are just standard fare. Some really interesting par 3's- including #18 over water! Good job on making them more challenging!
There were a couple of things that were less than positive here. No GPS units. I can, and do, play without GPS but usually there is at least a yardage book with hazards clearly defined. No such luck here. If you were not familiar with the course you were unfairly penalized on many holes because you couldn't tell when/where to lay up from the tee.
The fairways had MANY places that were bare dirt!! Understandable that conditions sometimes exist where there are problems being dealt with. However marking ground under repair is appreciated. What is not appreciated is landing in the fairway and having to take a shot from bare dirt!! Happened to me too many times to be considered a rare occurrence. Added strokes, and reduced enjoyment.
The forward tees were NOT level. They looked beautiful- lush and green. But it was hard to get a solid flat stance as there were hidden pockmarks everywhere. They need to be rolled consistently to level them out. Granted they probably don't get as much use as the other tees but I heard the same complaint a few times about the white tees as well.
The greens were SO not consistent! The practice green was lightning fast! The rest were not really. There would be 3 or 4 in a row that were pretty dang slow- and then a fast one would jump in. Then back to slow on the next green. Hard to get a feel for them when they are so inconsistent!
Would we pay full price and play here again? Probably not - because of the above mentioned issues. Would we play here again in a GK Outing? you betcha! (Johnny you're the best!) Would we play here with a deal? Most likely. We just expect more from top notch courses.
What made this outing a great time was the GREAT people in the GK community and the EXCELLENT course staff!!

Had a great time at the casual outing 7/17/09. Customer service is tops here. They come out to you, grab your clubs, and place them on your cart. Lots of high-end courses do this and it is appreciated... Continue »

Had a great time at the casual outing 7/17/09. Customer service is tops here. They come out to you, grab your clubs, and place them on your cart. Lots of high-end courses do this and it is appreciated. The snack bar/kitchen serves some very tasty food. The buffet that was provided after our round was great. Lots of tasty food. The course itself is in great shape. Fast greens, manicured fairways, and a challenging and scenic layout right above the California coast make for a wonderful golf experience. If you have never been here and are coming down the 101 near Goleta, exit at Hollister and take a quick look at the course. Grab a bite at their snack bar, sit on the patio, and take in some great ocean views. Guaranteed, you will want to play here.

I attended the GK outing on July 17 and had a great time. The staff at Sandpiper was terrific and did a great job with everything.The layout of the course is a lot of fun with a handful of memorable h... Continue »

I attended the GK outing on July 17 and had a great time. The staff at Sandpiper was terrific and did a great job with everything.The layout of the course is a lot of fun with a handful of memorable holes along the ocean. When the cloud cover burned away,the views of the coastline were stunning. As for the conditions, I would say very good, but not excellent. There were some bare areas around the course which are probably the result of drought issues. The greens were good, but not as lightning fast as advertised. Thanks, again, to Johnny for putting on another successful event at a top-level venue.

Thanks to the GKer members that attended this event. It is only through your participation that not only make these GK Events possible but enjoyable. Not bad when you can make new friends and play g... Continue »

Thanks to the GKer members that attended this event. It is only through your participation that not only make these GK Events possible but enjoyable. Not bad when you can make new friends and play golf at the same time surrounded by some of California's premium views and at a green fee that is out of this world!

Now I understand why they call this course the "Little" Pebble Beach. Amazing views even when overcast. Great weather and golfing conditions that I have to say are simply amazing. The course is very green. That is to say you can see the green of the grass and really tell the difference in undulations from fairway to green. Maybe it's the light but you could stand on the greens there and really see the faint undulations of a green clearly because the greens all had the same color compared to say a muni that would vary from deep green to perhaps gold. It's hard to explain but you could see the color and the break easily. Standing on the green you could even feel the undulations just by standing on the greens. These greens rolled very true for me. Pace was easy to figure out after around 3-4 holes.

Fairways are very lush. Collar around greens had this sticky grass that would grab the ball. If you could put a little back spin on your ball you could really control the ball's release. Rough is more of that thick sticky grass. Red Staked areas was golden brown.

This was my first time playing here and I have to say and I was kicking myself for waiting that long (since High School)... most of the holes kind of blended into each other... that is to say they looked identical from one hole to the next. But and this is a HUGE BUT depending upon the wind direction the course played very differently hole by hole. Some holes had a lot of wind along the water, wind would swirl around several holes. Gotta say the front 9 had the character of terrain with wind thrown in on certain holes and the back had the ocean character with tons of views. The long Par 3s were very difficult.

Very impressed with course. Also have to say the staff is very friendly, attentive and accomdating. Service is not a four letter word here, it's expected and given willingly. Thanks again to the staff, the Greenskeeper, GK and Johnny for putting this heck of an event together -- cannot wait until next year.

Played in the 2009 GK outing. Course layout was nice. Some very nice par 3 holes and overall a good course. Not mean, but somewhat challenging. The rough was good to me, sometimes I preferred it t... Continue »

Played in the 2009 GK outing. Course layout was nice. Some very nice par 3 holes and overall a good course. Not mean, but somewhat challenging. The rough was good to me, sometimes I preferred it to the thin fairways. Fairways seemed good at places and very thin at other places. The greens threw me off. The practice greens seemed a lot faster as I was long on all of them, and short on almost every put during the actual round. The carts could definately use some GPS on them instead of searching for sprinkler heads. Some holes had trouble that you couldn't see ahead. The service was good and facilities were great. Once the fairways are back to better condition, this place will be nice.

First time playing here in the GK outing. The layout is excellent, numerous holes along the coast with the ocean waves breaking down below just waiting to catch an errant shot. Several holes remind me... Continue »

First time playing here in the GK outing. The layout is excellent, numerous holes along the coast with the ocean waves breaking down below just waiting to catch an errant shot. Several holes remind me of holes (at) Pebble Beach. There are also plenty of mature trees to catch errant shots

Customer Service was exceptional. The rough is thick and will catch your club and grab balls just off the green, making chips a challenge. The sand traps had great sand and were well maintained. The fairways were good to excellent. The tees were good, but several had tons of crabgrass.

The greens were not nearly as good as I'd been led to believe. They were firm and hard, but inconsistent. Our group had numerous putts or chips where if you barely got it past the crest, you were looking at an additional 20 ft. of roll, slowly trickling down the other side. Yet, uphill, they were downright slow (at) times, and it wasn't just the upward slope of the hill! The greens slope from back to front, and many are humpbacked, where balls will naturally fall off toward the fringe/rough from the center.

It's a very nice track overall, but not the great track I'd heard.

This coarse played beautifully. It got a bit windy on the back 9 though. All the greens are very fast but playable. The staff was very helpful and courteous. Beware the green on 18. Its slopes back ... Continue »

This coarse played beautifully. It got a bit windy on the back 9 though. All the greens are very fast but playable. The staff was very helpful and courteous. Beware the green on 18. Its slopes back to front and your ball won't stick. It's best to play the tee shot pin high and let the back trim hold it in place.

Played the course on 3/23 with a twilight rate, and it was worth every penny. There was only a wisp of wind, and the views were spectacular. Course was in terrific shape, with few areas of thin fair... Continue »

Played the course on 3/23 with a twilight rate, and it was worth every penny. There was only a wisp of wind, and the views were spectacular. Course was in terrific shape, with few areas of thin fairways. Greens were a bit slower than I remembered but they had none of the usual ball marks affecting the roll. Great service, great afternoon, now if only I could have found my swing.....