Played Sunday with an early time as we prefer actually a priority both for POP and cooler conditions. Also in seek of a weekend prime time rate worthy of the course conditions. That parameter is fle... Continue »

Played Sunday with an early time as we prefer actually a priority both for POP and cooler conditions. Also in seek of a weekend prime time rate worthy of the course conditions. That parameter is fleeting these days. Checking in the "Senior and Troon rate" are equal. Equal to the maximum online rate as well $68 w/cart.
Course conditions are ok.
Greens are rolling good medium speed and very little undulations. A couple tiered. (10th is one) A few brown areas and spotted with brown ball marks, especially par 3's. On 12 I commented that I needed to negotiate the "mine fields" and used a ball marker (of fellow player) as my line and drained a 14 ft'er for par. Not speedy, I had 28 putts.
Bunkers wet and dirty brown take a hack with a big blast and hope. It worked for me. Fairways good and the rough deep in areas. Lots of watering so some soggy areas.
I think they are relatively new to Troon management so maybe the future will be brighter here as far as improving overall course conditions. Nothing bad to report similar to other public venues there are areas of maintenance that are not priorities left unkempt. Staff our playing partners and under 4 hours POP made it a good experience.

Played 7/4 7am, single paired up as 2, 4:15 leisurely pace with no waiting. I walked, and it's a hilly walk with 4 or 5 long green to tee walks, some really hilly... so get your cardio in. Course in... Continue »

Played 7/4 7am, single paired up as 2, 4:15 leisurely pace with no waiting. I walked, and it's a hilly walk with 4 or 5 long green to tee walks, some really hilly... so get your cardio in. Course in decent shape. Greens were in muni shape: bumpy, lots of marks, quite a few of the greens are damaged to the point of taking line of putt relief. Course overall in muni summer shape: playable, but not well manicured. I really like this track, except for 18. Interesting holes with a quality routing. This could be a great course if they were able to upkeep it. Had a good time.

Played 6/20 The course is in good condition overall rating. Friendly helpful staff easy check-in covid restrictions easing no masks required.
Interesting design and routing. Many holes remind me of ... Continue »

Played 6/20 The course is in good condition overall rating. Friendly helpful staff easy check-in covid restrictions easing no masks required.
Interesting design and routing. Many holes remind me of other area courses. Water in ply on 6 or so holes.
Using lots of water evident by some wet drainage areas. Fairways tight giving up rollout on drives. Rough easy to play out of. Bunkers not in any but wet and only the existing gravel or dirt not sand lined.
Greens ok rolling med/slow and some patches of brown on many.
$45 green fee $17 1/2 cart = $62 on father's day rack rates.
Play here a couple times a year.
New carts are due in this week.

Conditions update - Course is a fun layout with some easy holes and some challenging holes. 18 is the signature hole with a split fairway with water in the middle. As for the conditions the course o... Continue »

Conditions update - Course is a fun layout with some easy holes and some challenging holes. 18 is the signature hole with a split fairway with water in the middle. As for the conditions the course overall is in decent shape but the greens are a little beat up. plenty of divot marks and some greens have a fungus on them. It's more than playable, just know that you'll be fixing ball marks in your putting line. WE enjoyed it and had a great day on 10/4/20.

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.

Played Fri 10:30am, 2 some, eventually became a 4 some, 4:45 round, nice sunny day. Course in great shape. Greens running a fast 10, true. Truly great track that not too many people know about, be... Continue »

Played Fri 10:30am, 2 some, eventually became a 4 some, 4:45 round, nice sunny day. Course in great shape. Greens running a fast 10, true. Truly great track that not too many people know about, because, Ione. Biggest weak point were the shape of the bunkers... many of them in disrepair. They are punching soon.... so hit this place up before then.

Castle Oaks is one of my regular local tracks. I haven't played this one in a bit, so I thought I'd review it with my current experience.

Arrival was a breeze. Pro shop is well-stocked and staff ... Continue »

Castle Oaks is one of my regular local tracks. I haven't played this one in a bit, so I thought I'd review it with my current experience.

Arrival was a breeze. Pro shop is well-stocked and staff is always friendly. My playing partner headed to the range (which is natural grass in average shape for the area) while I hit the putting green (as I do when time is limited before our tee time. Practice green was in excellent shape and matched the speed on the course.

Course Conditions:

Actually I was a bit disappointed for late April conditions. We've had a wet winter so the course greened up nicely, but the course was not in the shape that I thought it should be for late Spring.

Tee boxes were chewed up quite a bit, it was a challenge to find a level spot with good grass. Too many bare spots.

Fairways were in decent shape, a few bare spots here and there, no real muddy areas from the wet winter.

The rough was an udder disaster. Evidently they'd recently cut the rough down a bit (still very high) and there were piles of grass clippings everywhere. I literally lost multiple golf balls in which I saw the exact landing spot and arrived to find piles of grass clippings making finding the ball like an old-fashioned treasure hunt.

The bunkers had very little sand, some like hitting off pavement and others digging just a tad.

The greens were the saving grace of the day, in great shape, quick, and rolled true.

Amenities:

No beverage cart (it was during the week) and water available only on one hole on each side that I saw, which was disappointing on a warm day.

Overall, I'll still play here, but I'll probably wait a bit to see if they take care of the issues I shared.

Played 3/17/19 early out. Cool start with dew to a sunny warm finish in spring conditions. Previous review mentioned a few dry spots, which is accurate now.
But far more wet spots and the ground too... Continue »

Played 3/17/19 early out. Cool start with dew to a sunny warm finish in spring conditions. Previous review mentioned a few dry spots, which is accurate now.
But far more wet spots and the ground too wet to mow properly with the soil saturated. This made the rough thick in spots that were mown with left over grass clippings 4"+. You could find your ball after a search. Other areas up to and higher than 7"+ sometimes around the greens where you don't want to hit it anyway but if you do good luck taking a hack out.
These conditions are what maintenance has to deal with considering the rainfall this year. Not something they can do much about until sunny weather. Then when it come the grass explodes in growth with ground very wet underneath, too wet to cut without leaving a bigger mess sometimes.
That said the greens freshly cut and serviced and rolling true. The best part of the course. Fairways good with a few wet GUR areas. The bunkers not so good. mostly red dirt and mud with a few loose impediments. I found a quarter racking my way out of the front one on short par 3 16th. Nasty and borderline unplayable compared to the day before at Silverado in Napa a PGA level course.
I like the layout, facility and the service and will make the annual trip here for that. An hour drive that warrants a comeback play in the summer when things dry out.
Recommend if your not fussy about the bunkers.

Just played Castle on Sunday morning. It's one of my favorite layouts and usually in good shape. Sunday was no exception. Fairways were mostly good with a few dry spots with some thin lies. Greens... Continue »

Just played Castle on Sunday morning. It's one of my favorite layouts and usually in good shape. Sunday was no exception. Fairways were mostly good with a few dry spots with some thin lies. Greens were perfect! My one complaint was the bunkers. Horrible. They were wet heavy dirt. some were compacted. Some were ok. Otherwise the course is in good shape and fun to play and well worth the golfmoose rate of $59 for 2.