Course if officially closed! We played on Monday at Noon with one of the last public tee times for Spanish Bay before it closed for the remodel. We were treated to another superior day weather wise. Sunny and hot (by Monterey standards) with very little wind.

The course was finally showing signs of the impending shut down with several of the fairways being brown and hard pan. The course actually played more like a true links course. But even with the “deteriorating” conditions the track still was a joy to play.

The rerouting won’t look too different from the current layout. The main difference will be the greens. They will all be softened up to a much more manageable and “resort” level basic green complex. Front nine layout won’t see any significant layout changes. Some waste land areas, aka Poppy Hills style are allegedly being added to conserve water. The back nine will see one significant change. The iconic and diabolical short par 3 hole 13 is being completely removed. Not sure why as that is such a great hole. Hole 14 is being changed from a par 5 into a long Par 4 and a new Par 3 will be added utilizing a new tee box from the left side down onto the existing hole 14 green. Course will be a par 71 layout with only three Par 5’s.

As someone who has played Spanish Bay as much or more than anyone else, I will miss the current layout. I have had so many great memories and GK Cup battles here. So many birdies over the years, yet never made a birdie on #4. Had a chance yesterday but it was not to be. My least favorite hole was #7. Only a couple of pars on that hole total but managed to roll in the long putt of the day from over 50’ out to save par and have one last great memory on an otherwise forgettable hole.

No birdies on the day from anyone in our group, but plenty of smiles all around. The sun has set on one of my favorite “go to” courses for now, but I will surely resume my quest to conquer this scenic course when it re-opens in 2027.

A good tittle for this course is you get what you pay for! It was inexpensive and course conditions showed. The track sits inside a gated community and the layout is a typical Florida course. Flat with numerous water hazards. As far as the layout goes, no complaints. A good mix of hole variety with plenty of water hazards throughout. Some forced carries over the water and some lateral so kudos to the designer.

Conditions were pretty bad. Fairways were non existent. Just some grab grass, clover and dirt. I will say the last few fairways were a tad better but still in the “poor” rating category. Tee boxes were even worse. Mainly sand from maintenance recently filling in all the divots. Hopefully that’s a good sign of things to come. The nice thing was there were a couple of artificial mats. Those presented the best hitting surface of the day.

Believe it or not. The sand traps were actually decent. As for the greens. Well they started off ok then got a little worse. But with a couple of birdies on the day, I can’t complain too much about the greens.

Misc. golf carts are gas powered and have GPS. Course was quiet and I finished in around 3 hours or less. Restaurant was closed. Overall fun layout with poor conditions.

I finally got my clubs out here so I wanted to play a “nice” course. I’ve been cycling around Key Biscayne a bit and have passed by Crandon Golf course, so I chose this as my first stop here in the Miami area. I played on Tuesday with a 10AM tee time. Chandon Golf sits in the middle of Key Biscayne island so I was expecting great things as this is a nice area just over the bridge from downtown Miami. The price point also suggested that I was in for a treat. Whereas the course layout was very nice with numerous water hazards and forced carries throughout the entire course, the conditions were a let down.

The greens themselves were large with moderate undulations. Basically what you would expect on a resort course. They didn’t look very pretty, but actually rolled ok. Fairly smooth at a medium pace was not desirable but acceptable. Fairways were the big letdown. Brown and bare spots throughout the entire course. What wasn’t bare was generally patchy. Fairways were generously wide and offered good roll out. If you don’t mind a little foot nudge to give yourself a good lie then all is well. If you play the ball down then it’s a frustrating day for sure.

Tee boxes were ok. Definitely level and most were divot free or at least had plenty of area you could find good footing and area to tee it up. Bunkers were really nice. They matched the price point. The sand traps were consistent throughout the entire course and between the four of us, we were in probably a total 30 bunkers so we had a good sampling of the bunkers. It was one of those days!

Carts had GPS to the flag and cart service came around a couple of times. Overall customer service was ok. Nothing to brag about, but nothing to complain about either.

The course had easily 15+ water hazards plus a few views of the Miami skyline. A big plus on that. I do think give the location of this course right on the edge of the water, they could have done a better job with views of the bay but overall, not bad. Given the location and course layout, I’m sure I’ll play here again at some point but not sure it’ll be anytime soon given the current conditions. I would just like it to be a little better for the cost.

5 weeks left before the course shuts down for the remodel. DeepSea14 and I teed it up with my buddy Bob at our usual 9AM (9:10) tee time. I have played Spanish Bay many many times and this may have been the best weather ever. Perfectly sunny without a breath of wind all day long. Temperature was around 80 degrees and just glorious. Course conditions remain steady as always. Greens were excellent. They rolled smooth at a medium fast pace. Greens are still tricky, as indicated by my fiver or six 3 putts. It will be interesting to see how tame they make the greens during the redo.

Fairways were super for the most part. Only #11 had some issues and had a portion being re-seeded. The rest were lush and offered good roll out. Rough was the only sign of the course starting to slip. Rough had some patchy areas that probably aren’t being attended to, due to the course being shut down in a little over a month.

Tee boxes and bunkers were fine.

Spanish Bay is one of my favorite go to courses and I’m curious what the redesign will look like, but I’m certainly going to miss playing here for 2 years while they do the makeover.

I’m still waiting for my clubs to arrive (and my car and bikes) so I decided to just rent some clubs and get out and finally get my first Florida round under my belt. I went with the local muni course, Palmetto GC since it was close by. This is your average muni course with about average conditions all round. Maybe slightly under “average”. Course is completely flat (aren’t they all in Florida?) with plenty of water hazards. Greens were fairly docile in that they were single tier and mainly flat with just some slight back to front slope. Greens were on the slow side for sure but rolled fairly smooth.

Fairways were a very weird grass but had decent coverage. Fairways were pretty wide open. Rough was more crab grass than anything. bunkers looked to be a bit hardpan but I wasn’t in any so hard to say. Tee boxes were flat but chewed up for the most part, but not horrible.

Overall, it was a nice walk on what was an overcast day. Palmetto is a typical Municipal course with average to slightly less than average conditions but very playable. Not a bucket list course by any means but worth the entry fee. I’m sure I’ll end up playing here again in the next few months.

The third and final round of the Vegas trip was at Anthem Country Club on Wednesday. This is allegedly one of the higher end CC’s in the Vegas area. I will be as open minded as possible during this review and my comparison will be against other high end public courses in the area and not against the Uber elite Southern Highlands CC which I played the day before playing Anthem.

I’ll start with the layout. Anthem has some of the widest fairways I have ever seen. It really begs a grip it and rip it attitude. Plenty of room for error in the landing zone with only the occasional bunker to disturb a tee shot that lands anywhere in the same zip code. Stray way way off path and your ball is in a creek or bare desert terrain separating the course from the surrounding houses. Plenty of modest elevation changes throughout the course but most holes are pretty straightforward. The course has a number of water hazards, but most are behind the green. Overall it was a decent layout similar to that of Serket or the two courses at The Revere Golf Club.

Greens at Anthem were very large. They had moderate undulations and rolled at a nice medium-fast pace. Fairways had some of the weirdest grass I’ve ever seen on a golf course. On the surface it looked fine but it had the tendency to grab your club in the worst way. On the other hand the rough was great. Only about 2” deep but lush and predictable.

Overall, Anthem is a nice course. Nothing super fancy but definitely enjoyable with decent playing conditions. I would put it on the same level (or a touch below) that of Serket.

Regarding recommending the course, I’d say there are better options (especially if you have to pay the ridiculously high “holiday week reciprocal fee” but if you get invited by a member who wants to treat you, don’t turn it down.

I’ll start things off regarding the name change. Rio Secco is now officially called Serket. I talked to the head pro regarding the name change and he clarified the course is still under the same ownership along with Cascata. Apparently they paid a licensing fee for the old name so instead of paying the increased fee and passing that along to players, they opted to change the name. I’m good with that.

For all the times I’ve played Cascata, I’ve never played here before. We tee’d off on Monday with a mid/late morning tee time. Weather was absolutely perfect. Course layout was fun with a number of elevation changes. I would have liked to have seen some more water features but there were some other forced carries to make up for it. Conditions were very nice all around. Fairways were great. There had been a lot of rain the previous few days so it was CPO which was a drag as it slowed the round down to over 5 hours. Other than a couple of plugged tee shots, the fairways weren’t bad at all. Definitely plush and easy to hit off of.

Greens were also on par with the level of this course. They rolled smooth at a medium pace and had what I would call a normal amount of undulations. Enough to challenge you, but nothing overwhelming. Tee boxes were level. Sand traps were a bit thin from time to time but overall ok. Customer service was excellent from the pro shop attendee’s to the waitress in the restaurant. Bag drop and club cleaning afterwards to ensure you get the complete service.

If you do the Double Down or whatever they call it with the Cascata package this is a great second course at a very reasonable price. In fact, I actually liked Serket better than Anthem Country Club which we played a couple days later and paid a WHOLE LOT more to play.

Bob and I joined SDF at Tehama Friday morning to kick start an upcoming week of great golf. Well at least great golf courses. The way I’m playing is an entirely different story. Anyway, we caught the first day of some glorious weather. This course is always in top notch condition and today was no exception. Even after a week of rain the course was only CPO on about 3 holes. Very few wet spots on the course which is mainly due to the severe slope and elevation changes on every hole. It also makes a for a fun and challenging track. Definitely a far cry from a flat parkland been there done that layout. Also, the stunning views of the ocean (from afar and high up) and the mountainous terrain on the back give this place a surreal and quaint vibe. The only house you will encounter is Clint’s house which has a driveway that goes through the middle of the course!

Greens at Tehama are the fastest in the business. Lightening fast in all directions. Including uphill against the grain. Just wicked. Rough was tough. Longer than usual due the recent rain which has kept them from mowing in a while. Everything was lush and green as expected. Customer service was great as always. One minor drawback is the lack of GPS in the carts.

Well, it’s a bike ride tomorrow then off to Vegas to see if I can double down on some pars and maybe find an Ace I can keep!

I played. Del Monte on Tuesday with a late morning tee time. Conditions are very nice all around. The small greens roll true at a nice fast pace. Fairways were lush throughout and the rough was very manageable. The sand traps were a perfect 10. Super fluffy sand throughout. This is a very easy course to walk so it was great to get out and stretch the legs after my MTB ride the previous day. The downside of the tight parkland setting is the greens are very close to the next tee box. Great for transfers when walking, not so great when things backed up and you had two groups waiting on the tee box, chatting away while you’re lining up a birdie putt. POP was ok for 10 holes then got horribly slow. The layout is so so but the conditions are up there with the big three.

Out for my monthly round at Spanish Bay with Bob. We tee’d off at our normal 9ish time in another beautiful day. No fog all day and about a 1 club wind on the last 6-8 holes. Course remains in great shape tee to green with the greens being maybe a touch better than last month.

We were paired with a 10 year old (soon to be 11) phenom!! Her name is Teagan Tudla and she is the real deal. She’s won several titles in the under 10 category and next week will be her first tournament in the big girl class (11-13). Teagan and her parents were absolutely wonderful people to be around. My game stunk to high Heaven but it was so awesome watching Teagan tear up the course. She came within a few inches of a hole in one on #8. I can’t wait to tee it up with Teagan again. But next time she’s giving me 5 strokes a side! And if we ever do another GK Cup team event, well sorry Peter, but I know who my new partner will be!!

As far as the course goes, each month there’s more and more talk about what the new design will be like. Unfortunately, I don’t have any information. At least not from a reliable source. If Jeff (head pro) does know, he’s not telling us.

What a glorious day yesterday!! Bob and I tee’d off just after Noon on what was one of the most perfect golf weather days on the peninsula all year! Sunny and about 72 degrees with hardly a breath of wind. The fog did roll in with about 2 1/2 holes left to play but given a couple of weeks ago it was sweater and vest weather and a couple weeks before that up the road at Poppy Hills we couldn’t see the greens through the thick fog from 100 yards out, this was a big welcome.

Condition wise, I’m happy to report that the course is in fantastic shape. Back in May and June the course was starting to slip a little bit. I was concerned that since they are shutting it down for a makeover in March 2026, that they were going to start letting conditions slide downhill. That is not the case, I can assure you. Greens were excellent, rolling true at a nice medium-fast pace. They did get a little bumpy towards the end but that’s to be expected at 5pm on poa annua grass.
Fairways were near perfect. very lush throughout the entire course. Tee boxes were level with ample coverage. No issues with the sand traps or the rough. Beverage cart was around several times and for those who do take a cart they have GPS in them. POP was about 4 3/4 hours which is to be expected for a weekend tee time here. All in all, Spanish Bay is in fantastic shape with ocean views galore. It’s no surprise that it’s one of my favorite go to courses on the Monterey Peninsula.

DeepSea14 and I met up at the newly redesigned Poppy Ridge. Gone are the three separate 9 hole layouts used in rotation to create 18 holes for the day, and in place is one standard 18 hole layout with a separate Par 3 course. This is obviously my first time playing the new layout, and I will admit that I only played the old course twice, so I didn’t have a huge sample to compare it with.

Before I go into the layout, I will give you the down and dirty only the conditions. Overall, very nice. Nothing below an 8. Greens rolled smooth and fast. Fairways had complete coverage throughout the entire course. Fairways presented tight lies but the trade off is good roll out.

Sand traps were an 8-9 in that they had deep fluffy sand. Only 1 was damp and a little compacted. tee boxes were level and divot free. There isn’t any rough to speak of here. Just lush fairway and dirt. Maybe Peter can recall something different.

Onto the layout. It’s a hilly course with WIDE open fairways. Probably the widest fairways I’ve seen in a long time. Much much issue off the tee. A bombers dream for sure. I struggled with the driver all day, yet I finished with the same ball I started with and didn’t have a single double bogey. Like I said WIDE open. Not a tree in sight. There is now only one water hazard on the entire course. That’s a bummer in my opinion. I’d say it was a water conservation thing but they have a ton of excess grass on tee boxes that are 100+ yards long and tightly mowed
“Fairway” grass from tee to green on a 200 yard par 3. If they needed to conserve water there are plenty of areas they could change that would save water yet not affect the playability of the course.

Greens were very large with modest undulations. Some of the greens rivaled those at Rancho Solano in nearby Fairfield, CA. BTW all flags are blue at Poppy Ridge we walked so we didn’t have access to the GPS in the carts and my golf app hadn’t updated the system to the new layout yet. We were often guessing at the pin location in relation to the overall layout of the green.

As mentioned before, the tee boxes while level and lush were. Huge. Sometimes a 100 yards long. We walked the course and for the most part it’s a fairly walkable course. There were only two real back breakers of a transfer. One was actually on a par 3 from the tee to the green which was across the gully. You had to retrace your path from the tee box back to the cart path and walk around the ditch then either walk all the way around the Side of the hill or hike through the barren land with rocks. A little bridge and path would have been nice.

Overall, I preferred the old layout to the new one. Not sure what the motivation was behind it as they didn’t make it any easier to walk nor did they insert any water conservation measures.

Am I disappointed? No, I’d play here again. The conditions coupled with the (NCGA) price is worth it alone. And it’s not that it’s a bad layout. I just preferred the old one.