I found infrequent and dated reviews of the Tahoe area courses that made it frustrating for me to do the usual GK research in advance of my recent trip, so I'm going to be thorough here. We had a four...
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I found infrequent and dated reviews of the Tahoe area courses that made it frustrating for me to do the usual GK research in advance of my recent trip, so I'm going to be thorough here. We had a foursome on Tuesday 8/25 with a 10:50 tee time. Covid procedures at the clubhouse and check-in, but the chipping green, range with mats, and putting green sans flags were all open. Nice to have a proper warm up. Some issues with their credit card connection but they worked around it and comp'd my warmup bucket. In general, the service was fine and the employees we interacted with were smiling and in good spirits.
Onto the course conditions which were pretty nice overall. The best compliment I can give about tee boxes is that I mostly didn't think about them all day. There always seemed to be good coverage and the few unlevel were only very minimally so. The fairways were green, well grown in and cut with good rollout. No recall of any dry or thin stretches and the rough was similarly green and well grown in. Sometimes the rough allowed full recovery and sometimes it forced more of a compromise shot to get back to the fairway. The temps up there are not the brutalizing temps we've had around here, so the conditions don't show the accompanying signs of stress. While I managed to stay out of them, the bunkers were on the hard side to the point that the starter suggested taking a free drop out of them if so inclined. The areas around the green were consistently lush, and a bit thicker for pitching than I'm used to seeing, but not punitive and I seemed to have good results to confirm that. The greens were nice, running at a medium quick pace with a reasonably true surface. Most of the greens had contour to them that added challenge and visual interest.
The course is miles from the lake and has no lake views, but pine tree lined fairways and surrounding mountains make for a very scenic setting. I, atypically, had my wife with me and so was riding as opposed to my usual walk and carry mode. The $90 price included the carts and I didn't ask about whether walking was an option or if there was a walking price. I don't recall seeing walkers, so without knowing if it is even an option, the course is pretty flat and would be ideal for walking.
So much for the facts and conditions, which I can't fault. Now for my subjective spin. I can usually come back from a round of golf, visualize each hole and replay just about every shot in my head while I'm laying in bed. For this course, very not so much. The layout has a healthy dose of long straight, usually generous, back and forth fairways. Some soft doglegs thrown in on longer holes, a couple of sharper doglegged, short par fours and a creek that meanders through through the property and occasionally comes into play. I thought the par threes were pretty nice. But the conditions and surroundings are more interesting than the course itself, which is enjoyable enough, but also rather forgettable — in my case literally — in the lack of distinguishing characteristics between many holes. Compared to to-rich-for-my-blood Edgemont up the road at $250 per person, $90 at Lake Tahoe seemed a bargain. In the mid afternoon, the price here drops to about $60 and $50 for twilight. I think the layout value was closer to the $60 than almost a hundred. One of my buddies insisted on the earlier tee time, while I would have felt like I'd gotten a nice experience and a great deal for $60. That said you are in a resort area and there is the expected bump. So, a muni-level layout with very nice conditioning in an amazing setting. Personally, I'd do it again at the lower price. But it is a total experience, people are on holiday, and that scenery definitely counts. Also, because people sometimes don't get to play much golf until they are on a getaway, this layout will be more accommodating to them and more fun. I'm splitting a lot of first-world hairs here. It's a nice course. Because of the mixed abilities in our group, it was actually the perfect layout for us. If you can afford the price go play it and you will enjoy it. Play it for $60 and you'll enjoy it more. Based on my research (but not experience) I suspect there are some more interesting layouts in the greater area in a similar price window or even a little less (I'm looking at you, Toiyabe Golf Club!)