Walked the white tees on Eagle's Talon with 3 friends this morning and had a great time. We finally have some summer weather here in the Pacific Northwest, and it seems like everyone wanted to get out... Continue »

Walked the white tees on Eagle's Talon with 3 friends this morning and had a great time. We finally have some summer weather here in the Pacific Northwest, and it seems like everyone wanted to get out and enjoy it. Willows was packed, but we still teed off just about on time at 7:33 am, and we got around in about 4:30. It was definitely a little slow for my taste, but the waiting never seemed too bad, and the day was so warm and dry and sunny that it was impossible not to enjoy it.

Course is in great shape right now, greens are the highlight. One of my friends was in southern California last week, and he said the greens here were faster than anything he played down there (Black Gold and Wilshire Country Club). They were definitely quicker than normal, but rolling really smooth. Make the right read and start it on line, it stayed on line. Well struck shots and chips would hold a little bit, but not as much as normal and anything not well struck was releasing a ton. You'd find a few unrepaired pitch marks, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Fairways and rough are really solid too, plenty of roll for me but still a nice cushion to hit from. One of my friends did manage to plug a couple of tee shots, but he does hit an extremely high ball. Rough is very healthy but mowed down nicely. Long enough to where you won't get a ton of spin, but not so long as to keep you from advancing the ball well. Traps looked good, I was fortunate enough to not find any. Tee boxes remain the weakest part of the course, many markers were placed in spots that aren't quite flat enough, and the par 3s had a fair amount of divot damage. The only other quibble I really had was that the pin positions and tee markers on the par 3s resulted in each of them playing nearly the same yardage, right around 145. There's plenty of room for them to make a couple as short as 110, or as long as 180, and I think the variety would have been nice.

Friendly service in the shop and at the shack at the turn (although they didn't have any soft drink options there, and my group grabbed the last 2 of the best beers) so overall the experience was really nice. Wish I could take full advantage of the weather and play there again tomorrow, conditions and price are lining up for an excellent value.

Walked the white tees at Willows Run Eagle's Talon this morning (6/4/22) and had a good time. Conditions were solid all the way around, with the greens being the highlight. They were medium quick and ... Continue »

Walked the white tees at Willows Run Eagle's Talon this morning (6/4/22) and had a good time. Conditions were solid all the way around, with the greens being the highlight. They were medium quick and rolling very true. If you made the correct read and started it online, it would hold the line nicely. Well struck shots into the greens were holding well. Some of the collars around the greens are in rough shape, they are doing a little bit of work here and there. Fairways were decent, offering good lies for the most part with a few bare spots. Roll out was a little less than expected, but it did rain all night last night. Rough is very healthy, and definitely makes you work. I didn't find any bunkers but my partners didn't seem to have any issues with them. Tee boxes remain hit and miss. Pace was excellent and customer service in the shop was great as always.

Back home for a round with friends at Eagle's Talon, and found the place in pretty good shape. Greens were running at a decent pace, not super fast but definitely not slow either. They were a little m... Continue »

Back home for a round with friends at Eagle's Talon, and found the place in pretty good shape. Greens were running at a decent pace, not super fast but definitely not slow either. They were a little more bumpy then I'd like, but that's most likely down to unrepaired and poorly repaired pitch marks as opposed to the recent punch. They did hold well struck shots nicely. Some of the collars aren't in the greatest of shape, there were several greens with bare areas around them which made things difficult if you prefer putting through the fringe as opposed to chipping. Fairways were in very good shape, still a bit soft but still providing good lies to hit from and a little bit of roll. Rough ranged from healthy to long, lush, and thick. I was in one greenside bunker, and it had a very good layer of heavy sand. Tee boxes are a bit hit and miss, as they most always are here. Customer service in the shop was great as always. At the member rate of around $47 to walk and warm up with a small bucket, Willows is a solid value for me.

Walked Eagle's Talon with a couple of friends yesterday morning, and enjoyed a very solid round. We teed off right on time at 7:30, and walked as a 3 some in about 3:45, behind a 2 some in a cart that... Continue »

Walked Eagle's Talon with a couple of friends yesterday morning, and enjoyed a very solid round. We teed off right on time at 7:30, and walked as a 3 some in about 3:45, behind a 2 some in a cart that was taking their time just a little bit, but definitely not too much. Greens here are very good, only the occasional bump with a few unrepaired pitch marks. They're punching next week, so they'll need a little bit to recover. Fairways are decent, still pretty wet in several places but it is late March in the northwest. Rough is really long and lush, at times you'll need help finding your ball, and it can be very hard work to get out of if it sits down. Traps looked ok, but I was fortunate enough to miss them all. Tee boxes remain the weakest facet of the conditions, a few aren't very healthy, many aren't very flat either. A little too much divot damage on some of the 3s and short 4s.

The range is still closed, I asked in the shop and they're hopeful of reopening that in the first week or so in April. Customer service is always pretty good here, the marshal came by a couple of times and was keeping things moving just fine. He didn't have to work too hard at that, as they're not on the composite course anymore and both full courses are open which had players spread out a little more than my last visit or two here. It was nice to play some of the holes that have been closed again, but I'm still pretty happy they were closed as they're still the wettest parts of the property. This was the last round I'll get at the winter card rate of $32, and it was very much worth it.

Played at Willows this morning, walking their composite course in about 4:30. Would much rather play a bit quicker than that considering we teed off right on time at about 7:30, but overall the waits ... Continue »

Played at Willows this morning, walking their composite course in about 4:30. Would much rather play a bit quicker than that considering we teed off right on time at about 7:30, but overall the waits weren't too bad. Conditions were pretty solid, greens were smooth at a medium pace, and getting quicker over the course of the round as it got a little bit warmer. A few of them had a few too many ball marks to repair, but I've definitely experienced worse. Fairways were ok for mid March in the northwest, wet spots were very wet but the good spots were very nice. Winter rules posted at the starter's shack, but I found myself only need to pick the ball up to clean it once or twice over the course of the round. Rough is thick and healthy, if the ball sat up you could get a nice lie, if it sat down you had to really gouge it out. I found the greenside bunker on # 7, and it had a nice layer of soft sand on top of a firm base. Tee boxes remain the weakest part of the course, the par 3s (and most of the short 4s) had tons of divot damage, and several aren't very flat. Customer service in the pro shop solid as always, but for the month of March the driving range is closed. I'm not sure what they're doing with it, but improvements certainly won't hurt. It isn't the worst range by any stretch, but I'm all for upgrades. Greens on Eagle's Talon will be punched March 28th and 29th, and on Coyote Creek April 4th and 5th so now is a good time to play the place.

Played my first round of the year yesterday at Willows Run, and had a decent time. Weather's been really terrible for golf for the last month (a ton of snow between Christmas a New Year, then lots of ... Continue »

Played my first round of the year yesterday at Willows Run, and had a decent time. Weather's been really terrible for golf for the last month (a ton of snow between Christmas a New Year, then lots of rain right after that) so it been quite a while since I'd been able to get out. I had pretty low expectations because of all that weather, and I was instead pleasantly surprised. The morning started foggy, but T the course it cleared pretty quickly, and was actually able to use the laser rangefinder by the 3rd or 4th hole. Greens were way better than I thought they'd be, they rolled pretty true at a medium pace. They were definitely soft, and holding shots very well. Fairways are pretty wet (no way around that right now) but most of them were playable. Rough is long and healthy, and in many spots it is quite a challenge to find your ball. Tee boxes were normal for here, not as flat or healthy as I'd like them to be but still playable. Bunkers were pretty good, with the exception of the greenside bunker on #17 of the composite course (#8 of Coyote Creek). They've made that bunker much smaller than it used to be, but still haven't updated the actual sand in it like they have in many of the other bunkers.

The place is limiting play to their "composite" course right now (1-11 of Eagle's Talon, 3-9 of Coyote Creek) and like that layout. Works out to a decent par 72, and keeps play off of the absolute worst draining parts of the property. From the parking lot I could see both course's 18th holes, and they look horrendous right now, I was so glad to not have to play one of them. Service in the shop was very nice as always. With the Winter Card I paid $37 to walk with a small bucket to warm up with, and it was well worth it.

Played Willows Run - Eagle with a buddy this morning walking in about 3:50 as the second group out. We played as a two, with a four in front of us that played at a really quick pace which was very nic... Continue »

Played Willows Run - Eagle with a buddy this morning walking in about 3:50 as the second group out. We played as a two, with a four in front of us that played at a really quick pace which was very nice. It's been raining hard here in the northwest all week, and the course is definitely feeling it. Greens weren't too bad actually, just pretty slow with all the water they had. They did pick up a tiny bit of pace as the day wore on (no rain while we played today, thankfully) but were a little bumpy. Fairways are ridiculously soaked, no roll to be had and plenty of standing water. A few of them were reasonable and others were terrible, number 16 is borderline unplayable. I'm really looking forward to them switching from the two courses to their composite course, as that'll keep play off of the wettest parts of the course. Rough is really lush and long, tough to get out of and not impossible to lose a ball in. Tee boxes are ok, but traps are really compact. I didn't actually find any thankfully, but they look pretty miserable to play out of. For the winter card rate of about $32 to walk, still a pleasant way to spend the morning.

Walked Eagle's Talon this past Saturday (6/12/2021) and had a really good time. Teed off right on time with our 7:39 tee time, and finished the round in just a hair over 4 hours, waiting just a tiny b... Continue »

Walked Eagle's Talon this past Saturday (6/12/2021) and had a really good time. Teed off right on time with our 7:39 tee time, and finished the round in just a hair over 4 hours, waiting just a tiny bit here and there. Conditions are very solid in just about every aspect. Greens rolled quite nicely, with just an occasional bump, at a medium to quick pace. Fairways and rough are excellent right now. Tee boxes for the most part are reasonable, a couple of the recently updated ones are a bit thin, but at least they're in their proper spots. The par 3's that were playing from mats (no. 7, no. 9) are now at proper distances. A couple of the others have a little bit of divot damage. Bunkers are decent with nice heavy white sand, and they even have rakes now. Customer service in the pro shop, halfway house, and restaurant excellent as always. The rack rate can feel a little steep, but its definitely worth it.

Walked the white tees yesterday early morning and enjoyed the round a lot. My buddy and I teed off about 10 minutes before our 7:12 am tee time and got around in about 3:30 never waiting and never pus... Continue »

Walked the white tees yesterday early morning and enjoyed the round a lot. My buddy and I teed off about 10 minutes before our 7:12 am tee time and got around in about 3:30 never waiting and never pushed. There was a pretty consistent light rain falling for the whole round, which probably kept a lot of people at home.

Conditions were pretty good, fairways and rough are really nice. Greens look pretty terrible, but rolled decently, medium pace with an occasional bump. A little bit firmer than normal as it has been pretty dry for the northwest over the last couple of weeks. Bunkers are very good, although I really do miss the rakes. Tee boxes in general aren't very good, but some of the worst ones are actually closed now, and being re-built, which makes me pretty happy. It does kind of break the two par 3 holes on the front 9 (nos. 7 and 9) to hit off of mats from about 90 yards out, but it should be worth it in the long run as those 2 tee boxes have always been very chewed up.

Driving range is always hitting off of mats, but they are covered from the rain and in reasonable shape. There's also a decent chipping green, and a very big practice putting green that matched the pace of the greens on the course very closely yesterday. Customer service is always good here, and the breakfast burrito after the round was very good too. All in all a very nice way to spend a Saturday morning.