Had the chance to play here today. A friend set up the round, but it ended up leading to a great line-up of private club golf in the Central Valley for this weekend. We had a 3.5-some (one guy's wife ... Continue »

Had the chance to play here today. A friend set up the round, but it ended up leading to a great line-up of private club golf in the Central Valley for this weekend. We had a 3.5-some (one guy's wife rode along and played a few holes here and there) and teed off around 11:15. The course was quite empty by this time in the day because it was so hot out, but we still ended up stuck behind a sixsome of members. We tried not to push them too hard and ultimately they played at a really good pace. We finished in about 3:45, so no complaints. The course was in pretty good overall condition, especially considering how darn hot it has been this summer. It was well over 100 today without much breeze. The tee boxes were good. The fairways were mostly nice with just some brown/thin spots scattered here and there. The rough had some areas where work was being done (aeration, resodding, etc.) but was mostly in decent shape. It was cut down low, but the grass was grabby and made you work more than expected. The bunkers were exceptional with soft, sparkling light color sand. The greens were also rather nice. They were very soft (tons of bite) and rolling pretty smooth at medium speeds (a tad slower than they looked). Noticed a number of unrepaired ball marks, though, which is unfortunate. I appreciated the history and old school vibe of this club more than the course itself. It is one of the oldest active courses in all of California (1911) and, in fact, the oldest course in Central CA. Their website says it it is the first course that was opened anywhere between LA and Monterey. The layout itself is very basic with a lot of back-and-forth holes. Most holes are super straight from tee to green. Nothing resembling a water hazard anywhere on the course (just some OB areas along outer edges that don't really come into play much). Very forgiving. The back nine, however, did offer a few doglegs and I thought it had a bit more character than the front. Still, nothing overly exciting. Grateful to have played it and experienced a bit of Fresno golf history!