While on the drive up north, I wanted to get an early morning Christmas round in. There weren't a ton of courses open in the Sacramento area other than the munis, so this seemed like the most appealin... Continue »

While on the drive up north, I wanted to get an early morning Christmas round in. There weren't a ton of courses open in the Sacramento area other than the munis, so this seemed like the most appealing option. I was intrigued by the fact this was an Alister MacKenzie design that might have some old school charm. I was ready to go for my 7:09 tee time, but unfortunately the course wasn't as I strapped in for a 2-hour frost delay. Ultimately, I teed off in the first group around 9:15. We were moving well, but I needed to get on the road as soon as possible after the frost setback, so I ended up breaking off from my group on the back nine to finish quicker (about 3 hours, 15 minutes total for me). The rate was $52.50 with a cart. The course was definitely in winter shape, so fairways and rough are pretty much dormant with more brown than green showing. Not terribly pretty looking. Still, the surfaces weren't too bad. Lots of thin/firm spots in fairways, but mostly had decent lies. Rough cut down, so not penal at all and more consistent to hit from than fairways. What matters most is that the greens were in very nice shape. I preferred them early on when they were still wet and more receptive. Once they dried out they got very firm and hard to hold. Pretty quick speeds and subtle breaks. The bunkers apparently had just gotten new sand, so it was a bit too soft. Balls would sink down a bit or plug easily, so it was tough to recover from them. This course wasn't anything too exciting, in my opinion. I'm sure it presents much nicer when the trees are alive and the grass is greener, but still feels like a pretty straightforward "parkland" course. Very flat. There are some interesting holes in the middle stretch going over and around the small ravine, but nothing that blew me away. As with other MacKenzie courses, it's best to avoid the bunkers here as much as possible. There aren't that many, but you will likely be presented with a challenging recovery shot. The course is definitely more difficult than it looks. Most holes are pretty straightforward, but the challenges are subtle and good shots are required to avoid big numbers.