Ventured out of my comfort zone (Admiral Baker-North) for a rare ‘Away’ round yesterday…accompanied by an even rarer course review…as I was looking to get some extra golf in this week. Took advantage ... Continue »

Ventured out of my comfort zone (Admiral Baker-North) for a rare ‘Away’ round yesterday…accompanied by an even rarer course review…as I was looking to get some extra golf in this week. Took advantage of a ‘Hot Deal’ on a warm, desert-like day while being able to stick close to home so it was a win-win proposition. Last played here in 2014 and given the beating the golf course took during this year’s rain storms, I was apprehensive as to what to expect. Stepped onto the first tee and immediately began to have second thoughts: namely, “What am I doing out here?”. The tee box was overgrown with splotchy, wispy turf and the general overview of the course didn’t look all that encouraging. Kept that same mindset through the first trio of holes but things markedly improved as I continued onward. While there are remnants of the water damage that wreaked havoc earlier in the year, I have no major complaints regarding the overall conditions. Tee boxes have been over-seeded…thus explaining the extra long turf…but should be fine once mowed to a proper height. Fairways were in good shape but soft; my ball picked up mud on just about every tee shot…with no rollout whatsoever. As a result, the course played much longer than the 6700 yards on the card. There were a few muddy spots in some fairways…some bare ones on others…but, on a grand scale, the turf was healthy and provided excellent lies. Fringe areas on some holes were extremely thick due to the over-seeding, making shots from those spots quite challenging. Nothing unfair though…you just need to have the game to handle those scenarios. But be aware there were also areas where the lies were a little thin and tight. Greens were the highlight…despite their speed being on the slow side, especially when putting uphill. And given the fact that there aren’t a lot of steep elevations on their putting surfaces, that says a lot. Still, putts rolled true but didn’t break as much as anticipated. Another positive point: I saw very few ball marks that hadn’t been attended to. Only drawback was the bunkers; they were hard-packed, like concrete, making it just about impossible to hit any sand shots with even a hint of confidence. It was a ‘chunk and run’ kind of day…which is not the preferred method if you happen to short-side yourself. Teed off as a single @ 1:00PM and wrapped things up three-and-a-half hours later. Was waved through a twosome on #2 and a group of three on #5 but ran into some extended waiting over the final six holes as things began to back up a bit. Want to mention that I walked and carried my bag; pace-of-play would have been much worse had I been in a cart. At the end of the day, I was pleased with the overall playing conditions, in spite of the transitional maintenance taking place. May have been a bit of an annoyance but I applaud the effort and investment being put forth into improving course conditions. Carlton Oaks will always rank as one of the toughest courses I’ve played and that experience is much more enjoyable…and fair…when the playing conditions are kept to an elevated standard. I’m hopeful the staff will continue to take the steps necessary in order to maintain playing conditions at a consistently high level.