Played today, 10:15 tee time. The course was stacked, ended up taking 5.5 hrs. Despite the long round, I loved the course. Each hole was different, the most variety I have played in a long time. There are some very fun holes with challenging approaches over water to guarded greens. Even with the tough approaches, the course was wide open for bombing drives. I was almost always safe even with slight misses on the drives. A few holes require straight drives to avoid water but nothing too scary. My favorite hole was the par 3 island green, very fun downhill shot to a tough green.

Greens: medium speed but bumpy. A little disappointed for the price, but I think winter plus heavy play can make them like this. Fixed some extra pitch marks. Tough to get a smooth roll. The greens felt soft when you walk on them, but shots still bounced so I would say overall they were good for accepting approaches. There are some tough tiered greens which are more tough when you can putt on a precise line through the bumps.

Fairways and sand: fairways are in pretty good condition. No dead spots, not spongy, and actually had some roll on the drives. It was nice to see the ball bounce and roll for a lot of extra yardage in the winter. The sand was a little thin, but manageable. I was able to get out so I can't complain.

Tee boxes: all were level, most were great. Par 3s not so much. All the par 3 tees were divots not grass. Seems like they need to move the tees around more often, but grass probably isn't growing back in the winter fast enough.

Overall, great course, probably would be even more fun without the long round. I will definitely be back soon even though the greens need a little rest and care to get in top shape. Hopefully by summer they will have the tees and greens smoothed out and growing grass again.

Played today as a single, starting at 12:30. Slow going because of a tournament ahead, but no complaints, I finished in 4:30. This course is in amazing shape, and you can't beat the prices. The fairways and bunkers are visually stunning for winter time. Paid $58 with a cart. One of the best deals in the area right now.

Greens: Super fast, fastest greens I have played on all winter. The greens tend to be large on this course, but can be extremely difficult if you don't pick your spots wisely. It would have helped me a lot if I had remembered the greens from playing a few years back. Several times I was on, but still struggled to get the ball close with 2 putts. The greens were not tricky, they rolled true, but there were times where I could see putts rolling completely off the green if you misjudged the break. The condition of the greens was amazing. No ball marks, no bad patches, just smooth.

Fairways and bunkers: Amazing. No divot damage, no thins spots, no mud, just nice pure fairways that actually gave some roll on drives. Think how they should be in the summer time, but in January. The sand was excellent. Was only in it once, but it was fluffy.

Tees: Perfect also. No slopes, no damage, this course is well cared for tee to green.

Overall, I can't believe it took me so long to go back here. This course lives up to the standard that is golf in Monterey area. The quality of the course is top notch, this place is a steal for a challenging, well maintained course.

This course hasn't been reviewed in years so here goes... If you live in San Joaquin County please help me out and leave some reviews, and I will continue to do the same.

Swenson is a muni and for some reason doesn't get a lot of play compared to other courses in the area. This is great for me, no one there on a Saturday morning and I can play for $25 with a cart. This course is not hard, but it is long for its rating. There are several 420+ yd par 4's. Overall layout is straight up, with trees on the sides which will block you from reaching the greens. Keep your drives straight and this course is easy, but very good for practice.

Conditions: Fairways are thin, but no problem. Rough is a little thick, but overall unremarkable. Tee boxes are in good condition, no issues with sloping, and little divot damage. Greens are in great condition. Better than they have been in years, which is part of the reason I wanted to post this. It seems like they are being cared for better than in the past. They were a little soft from some recent rain, but overall they were smooth. They were not fast, but I can't complain. Smooth, non marked up greens in the winter is great!

As a side note, if you want to practice, they also have a great Par 3 9 hole course that is super cheap. This course is also in great condition right now. The greens are not quite as well taken care of, but overall this is an excellent practice option.

I have played this course once before, but it was years ago, and apparently not worth remembering because I didn't realize it until I mentioned it to a friend after my round. The day started out with an hour and a half frost delay, so there was a shotgun start at 9:30am. The starter handled everything very well, and was able to fit me in with a 3some to start off the first tee. I'm not sure why, but this course was boring to me. Think straight drives into sometimes blind fairways, and approaches uphill. Repeat that over and over. Par 3s were all pretty easy and similar looking. There's no water in play on the course, and the bunker placement was mildly challenging. Overall, this is a muni course with a few more hills.

Tee boxes- Overall pretty good shape for winter. A few were sloped but nothing too drastic.

Fairways- Also in pretty good shape for winter. Although soft, carts were allowed on them. No major divot damage, just some muddy areas.

Greens- Not in great shape. They had a lot of rough bumpy areas, a little bit of ball mark damage. Rolled a little slow. Also, some of the pin placements were comical (hit past the hole to have it roll back in), but this isn't something I will count against the green rating.

Overall, I didn't like the course because it was a little too boring and bland. The pictures on the website sold me, but I felt tricked, it doesn't look that nice right now. I think there are better quality options in the same price range in the area (Deer Ridge, Roddy Ranch).

Lone Tree Golf Course Review
Antioch California Golf Course Reviews

Was lucky enough to play this course as a single, starting on the back first thing in the morning. Didn't see a single person the entire round. First I will say this course is a par 63 so consider that when deciding whether or not to play. I played it for 35 bucks, definitely worth that price. Any more than that though and it would be a tough call. This course has many par 3s back to back, which provides an excellent opportunity to practice hitting greens consistently. Although there are a lot of par 3s, the par 5s are no joke. Long holes with tough guarded uphill approaches.

The course was a little wet still from the recent rain, so it was cart path only, but nonetheless the fairways and greens were in excellent condition. This course is very well manicured from tee to green, even in the dead of winter. The greens were a little soft but rolled true and were plenty fast. The rough was killer, and I lost a few balls just a few yards off the fairway due to plugging and very tall grass. This course is difficult enough to provide a challenge but is still fun for a short practice round. The par 3s are all pretty long (180-225yds+) which is a little annoying, but I think this will be my new course to use to tune up my ball striking. If this were a full par 72 course, I could see it being a $75+ course based on the attention to detail and course maintenance.

Dublin Ranch Golf Course Review
Northern California Golf Course Reviews

Played at 8:50am on 12/28/12. Cold and wet conditions due to recent rain, but overall there wasn't a lot of mud or soft spots. The course was under cart path only rules for the day though. Played in under 4 hours, no waiting or slow play.

Fairways- as you would expect for winter season following rain. Wet, but not soggy, and not a lot of roll on the drives. The fairways had very few bare spots, overall condition was a great for winter.

Rough- Great condition also, very wet and tough to get back in play.

Greens- Hit and miss for the conditions. A few greens were great, rolling true, and were actually still very firm. A few greens on the back 9 were heavily marked up and bumpy. The speed of the greens was a little slow but consistent throughout the round.

Tees- Excellent condition, most were level, and no issues with divots.

Overall I would recommend this course, especially for the price compared to others in the area. It is not going to be amazing compared to some of the nearby courses, but it will provide some fun easy holes mixed in with some tough uphill approaches on the back 9. Although the yardage for this course is rather short, it is still challenging and fun. The layout is a back and forth parallel fairway type, so I could see it being a little scary on weekends when the course is full and people are hitting at each other from adjacent fairways.

Just moved to the area so we had to try out the Bridges. Everything others have mentioned is true. This course is hard, target golf, with the most punishing rough I have experienced in years. We found a discounted rate on Golfnow, so check there for deals. To start, this course starts hard and doesn't let up. I think you should be a 12 or better handicap to enjoy this course, it is just too punishing if you cannot hit fairways and greens. We were lucky enough to play with a regular, who showed us the way. You can probably make it through fine without tips, but there are many blind shots, and the driver didn't get used very often. A lot of 220-250 yard drives are required for proper placement.

Some updates on the conditions: First, the tees and fairways are in good condition. All the lies were perfect, if you can hit the fairway. Once you venture a yard off the fairway though, good luck. Good luck finding the ball in the 5 inch rough, and even more luck getting solid contact on the ball to get it back in the fairway (note you won't be hitting the green from the rough, so forget about it). Finally, the greens were terrible. They were terrible because people around here appear to not care!!! This is sad since the greens were very fast, but the amount of ball marks and scars for this quality of course was embarrassing. You can't putt on fast greens full of unfixed ball marks, which makes it frustrating.

Overall, we payed 60 dollars for a weekend rate, which was about worth it. I wouldn't pay more, since the greens were so abused, but this course will definitely give you a challenge and a nice progress report on your target golf skills.

The Bridges Golf Club Course Review
San Ramon California Golf Course Reviews

If you are on Lanai to play golf, first play the Challenge, and then play this course. These courses are on the same island, but that is about all they share in common. The Experience is located up in the hills towards the middle of the island and feels like you are going to play golf in the Lake Tahoe forest. The weather is about 10 degrees cooler, so plan accordingly. See my review about the Challenge at Menele for info on getting to the courses.

We played early, and like the Challenge, this course was empty. We arrived to excellent service, which continued throughout the round. This course was rated much harder than the Challenge, but didn't feel that way. Most holes were straightforward, nothing surprising or tricky, and no tough cliff shots will be found here. The tee boxes were perfectly level, and looked barely used. The fairways were wet from some rain, but very good overall. The greens were perfect too, wet but still rolled good. We played this course in about 3.5 hours, without ever seeing another group on the course. Hole 17 is the best hole on the course, with an awesome drop off the tee. Play this course if you have time, but you must play the Challenge at Menele if you can only choose one.

The Experience Course at Koele Review
Hawaii Golf Course Reviews

There are a few ways to play this course, depending on where you stay. If you stay on Maui, a short (40min) ferry ride over will get you picked up at the dock and taken to the course. The more expensive route is to stay on Lanai at the Four Seasons next door to the course.

With this in mind, the course is empty!!! This is awesome, since the service is excellent, and it feels like your own private island course. We chose the unlimited golf package through Four Seasons, which I highly recommend if you plan on playing multiple times, or trying the sister course The Experience at Koele as well.

Since the course was empty, we were able to enjoy the amazing views this course has to offer without rushing, or waiting to hit every shot. Most of the holes have amazing ocean views, with forced carries over the ocean on a few of the holes. The tees, fairways, and greens were all immaculate. Greens were quick and true. Sand was excellent. We played early so wind was not a factor, but the course was still challenging. Out of all the courses we have played in Hawaii (Kapalua, Kaanapali, Makena, Wailea, Princeville Prince, Makai, and Experience at Koele) this was second best only the the Prince course. If you don't want to spend the money to stay on the island, take the ferry for the day, you can easily finish this course in 3 hours.

The Challenge Course at Manele Review
Hawaii Golf Course Reviews

The Makai course is located nicely near the Westin Princeville Resort. I'll start with the good. There are some very cool holes with shots over the ocean/canyon to greens, as well as a par 3 with a great view of the ocean and a huge drop off the tee box. The course was not very busy, and we played as a twosome in about 3.5 hours. The greens were in great condition, most were fairly large. The fairways were a little wet due to some sporadic heavy rain, which made them a little soggy, but overall the course was in great condition.

For the not so good, this course costs the same or more than the Prince course depending on the hotel you stay at and it cannot compare. The service here was lacking from the moment we drove up. The clubhouse doesn't seem interested in your visit, and for some reason there was no cart service on the course for that day. I highly recommend playing the Prince course instead of this course, as the service and the quality are much better. If this course was 50-100 dollars less, I would be less harsh, but this is not worth the current cost.

Makia Golf Club Course Review
Princeville Kauai Hawaii Golf Course Reviews

Sunday 7am tee time, perfect time to play this course. Finished 18 in under 3h 15m as a twosome. Course is in excellent condition. Tee boxes perfect, no problems with sloping tees, no divots. Fairways are great right now, can barely tell anyone has played the course. Greens were wet but still rolled smooth. Many greens are large, so you can end up with some long putts over hills, but the speed of the greens was perfect. Greens were a little soft, which was fine, we played them right after watering. The course has many wide fairways so there is some forgiveness, although a few holes can be quite punishing if you miss. Course is excellent quality overall, but probably not worth the rack rate. If you are going to pay full price, I suggest you play early and enjoy the round more without waiting on people ahead. Anywhere else this course would be around $80. All staff were extremely helpful , and the breakfast at the restaurant was also great.

Strawberry Farms Golf Club Review
Irvine California Golf Course Reviews

Played at 1:50 on a Sunday and went off on time. Course was busy but moving, minimal waiting, especially for this course which is usually super slow. Finished in just over 4 hours. Overall greens were good, some bad ball marks, pretty smooth otherwise. Fairways decent, a little wet in spots. Haven't played here in 5 years and I remembered why instantly. Expensive greens fee for a boring, dull, mediocre course.