Played a 1pm tee time on a real quality course and test. The tournament course is tough, and the strong winds didn't help. I didn't score well but that's on me. The course conditions were excellent! F... Continue »

Played a 1pm tee time on a real quality course and test. The tournament course is tough, and the strong winds didn't help. I didn't score well but that's on me. The course conditions were excellent! Fairways moderately lush and the greens true and well maintained. It's probably one of the better conditioned courses out there right now. I highly recommend if you're playing well. Only downside was pace of play. The round was 5 + hours with a lot of waiting on tee boxes. Not sure what happened in front of us, but this started happening by about the 3rd hole. Still, great course and well worth the stop if in the area.

The Tournament Course at Coyote Creek is a very good golf course. Challenging, well maintained by course employees and if you search hard enough, and get on their email list, a good value. Great sce... Continue »

The Tournament Course at Coyote Creek is a very good golf course. Challenging, well maintained by course employees and if you search hard enough, and get on their email list, a good value. Great scenery, interesting holes and designs. Don't expect to grip it and rip it around this place, as shot shape off the tee is crucial on most fours and fives if you want par or better. Greens are difficult, with elevation, undulation and lots of pace; traps are well placed and well maintained. What could go wrong you ask?

The downside is awful - bloody awful - game changingly bad pace of play. 5+ hours (3 on the back 9) recently. It's pretty much a cart golf type of course due to some long gaps between holes. I've found the pace problem on both courses (the mate is the Valley Course - a flatter less interesting but very playable 18) and it has to be systemic rather than chronic bad luck. Maybe it's the high green fees some people suffer that causes ridiculous etiquette, but man, it raises a red flag whenever this course is considered. Ballmark damage on the greens (all of them) is also currently in epidemic mode. Who doesn't bend over to fix your own mark, and a couple more? If it's not the course maintenance staff or management that only leaves - gasp!, the client. Educate, don't tolerate.

Played today, walked on as single, teed up with another single on the tournament course. First off it's always windy, the wind picks up in the afternoon. Pop was 2.5 front because we spent time wait... Continue »

Played today, walked on as single, teed up with another single on the tournament course. First off it's always windy, the wind picks up in the afternoon. Pop was 2.5 front because we spent time waiting on a group ahead, they waved us through on the tenth, we played the back in 1.5. The staff was very helpful and friendly, the carts have gps which really helps. There are a lot of ESA's so pay close attention to the yardage points AND the wind.
The green, fairways, and tee boxes are all great, I was pleased to see that there was hardly any issue with ball marks on the greens. I do wished that they would have been a bit faster.
The only major negative are the bunkers, all of them. I don't know what they use in them but it doesn't even look like sand. It looks like grey concrete and feels like peanut butter, it really sticks to the club. If that's not enough, there is only about 1" on top of clay.
I payed rack $60, and felt it was well worth the price, if you can stay out of the buckets you'll have a great deal of fun.
The other thing I need to mention is that this is a Nicklaus design, the thing that makes this great is that it is not tricked up, he uses the contour of the land and gentle undulations on greens.

Played here on 12/7 on my annual trip to Monterey. First of all, wow what a course. From top to bottom just an incredible experience. I came in not expecting much and was blown away with the Tournamen... Continue »

Played here on 12/7 on my annual trip to Monterey. First of all, wow what a course. From top to bottom just an incredible experience. I came in not expecting much and was blown away with the Tournament Course. On to the review:

Tee-boxes: Good condition. There seemed to be plenty of green areas to hit from and not much was chewed up. I am happy to see they offer plenty of boxes for varying degrees of play.

Fairway: Excellent condition. Cut tight and green all over. Balls rolled well and probably would run even faster during the summer. Divots were filled in and the every shot taken from the fairway was fair.

Rough: Excellent but at times very hard to hit out of. There are plenty of areas that are designated as environmentally sensitive that allow you a free drop so its very nice to have that. Stay out of the out-of-bound areas.

Greens: Amazing. They rolled true but very quick. They were cut tight and it was very nice to see them in peak condition. Undulation in greens was also incredible and putting was very challenging.

Bunkers: N/A. It had rained hours before so the bunkers were terrible but towards the end of the round they dried up and they were playing fair. Sand was not the fluffiest but it was soft enough to hit out of. Plenty of rakes.

Etc: Staff was extremely friendly. The property has its own exit off the freeway. The clubhouse is amazingly beautiful. The restaurant was excellent. The carts were newer but did not have GPS. Course seemed to have adequate markers. Layout is wonderful especially on the holes on the opposite side of the freeway.

Overall, this course is a must play.

Played here on Thursday, 6/27 and what a difference between this course and the Valley, like night and day. This one of Nicklaus' better designs (in my humble opinion). Undulating greens that rolled s... Continue »

Played here on Thursday, 6/27 and what a difference between this course and the Valley, like night and day. This one of Nicklaus' better designs (in my humble opinion). Undulating greens that rolled smooth and "hold"! Forced carry over traps to uphill greens. Front nine is on the side of a hill, very interesting! Lots of Environmental Sensitive Areas that run across the fairway and along side many of the fairways but the fairways are wider than the Valley course. Did I mention wind, we had a steady 2 club wind! Didn't mind paying the $60 Senior weekday rate. Did I mention that the course is in GREAT condition except for the traps, no sand in them

I finally got to play the Tournament course on 08/18/12. I had been wanting to play here for the last couple years but it just never worked out because they are not on golfnow and I never really wante... Continue »

I finally got to play the Tournament course on 08/18/12. I had been wanting to play here for the last couple years but it just never worked out because they are not on golfnow and I never really wanted to drive 45 minutes to risk not getting a full round in during twilight. I had an appointment in San Jose in the morning and then headed over here to play after for a twilight time. I got out right away and it turns out there were not many other people out. I cruised around in about 4 hours playing by myself which on a weekend in the Bay Area is unheard of. Maybe it was due to the $75 price I paid to play for twilight which was excessive but like I said, i had been wanting to play here. I ended up playing the back tees which I probably would not do again because the holes into the two club wind played too long. I am not sure if this strong wind is typical but it did take some of the fun out of the round. The tips are 74.8/144/7027 with six of the eight par 4s 425 yards or longer which made for a lot of long irons and fairway woods into the green. No complaint really about that as I could have played a tee up but 6633 yards is a bit short for my liking. The course sits in a valley alongside Highway 101 and is not really all that close to the airport for the out of towner. Most of the front 9 is up in the foothills with oak trees influencing play on the east side of 101 while the back is on the flat west side of the freeway with the Valley course (which I have not played). On the hill holes there was some elevation changes but not more than a club and the views were good. The fairways were pretty wide and a wayward day with the driver would not always result in a lost ball which is something I love in a course. The course got tough on the approach shots, very tough. The greens were heavily bunkered and a short sided shot would almost always be a bogey so it helped to miss it in the right spot so a bad day with the irons could be very costly. This is your typical Jack Nicklaus design with severe green complexes, not only to putt on but to try to get an iron close was tough. I liked the layout but i could see how some might think it is odd as there were quite a few parallel fairways, back to back par 5s, and 3 of the 4 par 3s were on the front. Personally those items did not bother me as much as the creeks cutting across the fairways on 5 or 6 holes. A little odd routing wise but playable and i would say well done. The conditioning was great with true and fast greens, tee boxes like carpet, and no burnt out patches in the fairways. The thing that bugged me the most was the road noise from 101 on 6 to 8 holes. For such a premium price I would have preferred a better setting, say like where Cinnabar is located. The 18th, hole with water on both the tee shot and second shot, has to be one of the top closing holes in the Bay Area in my opinion. This is not a course that I would play more than once every couple year but probably worth the fee occasionally. For a $75 twilight rate I would have at least liked a small bucket of range balls included.

Coyote Creek Golf Course Review
San Jose California Golf Course Reviews

I played this course Monday, and teed off at about 9:45. It's one of those courses with a kind of split personality. The holes on the east side of the (101) freeway wind through the hills and are real... Continue »

I played this course Monday, and teed off at about 9:45. It's one of those courses with a kind of split personality. The holes on the east side of the (101) freeway wind through the hills and are really pretty and relatively protected from the wind. The holes on the west side are flat, with a couple water features, and subject to a lot of wind. Customer service was great, as was the pace of play (around four hours). The conditions from tee to green were pretty standard for winter, with good quality sand. The greens were the best part, but certainly not as fast as they could be. While this Nicklaus design has been played on the Champions Tour, I definitely wouldn't list it among my personal favorites. It has some very good holes, but I like Cinnabar Hills better when I'm in the San Jose area.

Coyote Creek Golf Course Review
San Jose California Golf Course Reviews

Played 11/8/10 first out two ball. Played in about three hrs. Course in good condition but the location is bad (right next to the 101 Frwy).

Played 11/8/10 first out two ball. Played in about three hrs. Course in good condition but the location is bad (right next to the 101 Frwy).

Played the Tournament Course yesterday at the $55 e-mail rate. It was probably my 5th time on the course and it was probably in the worst shape that I've ever played it...that being said, it was still... Continue »

Played the Tournament Course yesterday at the $55 e-mail rate. It was probably my 5th time on the course and it was probably in the worst shape that I've ever played it...that being said, it was still in pretty good shape.

Tees were uneven on occassion, but you could still always find a flat spot to pay from. Fairways and Rough were great. I hit a couple fairway bunkers that were hard and shallow, which is great from the fairway, but my playing partner complained of the same conditions for greenside bunkers, which made it very tough to get the ball up and out of.

The greens were rolling true but were very hard and were not holding many approach shots. They also had some ball mark damage. But overall it was still a great round and very enjoyable for a demanding course.

One word of advice, the greens do not break near as much as you think. Play them for much less break and be sure to be on the right tier. This will help your score greatly