Up in the area again, so slowly working my way through the various courses. Had a 6:00 tee time at Van Buskirk this morning. Got there a little early and the gate was still locked. Was almost 6:00 by ... Continue »

Up in the area again, so slowly working my way through the various courses. Had a 6:00 tee time at Van Buskirk this morning. Got there a little early and the gate was still locked. Was almost 6:00 by the time someone came to unlock it and the pro shop guy showed up. No worries because I was the only early bird. Price was $22 booked directly on their site (cart included). I teed off around 6:10 and zipped around. Only thing slowing me down was maintenance. I had to wait on the guy to cut each hole and put the flag out. He didn't want to let me through at any point and no flags were out on the holes ahead, so I had to just sit back. He worked quickly, though, and I felt bad pushing him. I still finished in a little over 2 hours.

Conditions were pretty decent. The front nine was in better shape overall than the back. Fairly good, lush coverage throughout tee boxes, fairways and rough. Maybe a tad on the shaggy side for fairways and tee boxes. Though the grass was mostly good, the ground underneath was bumpy and inconsistent, so not every lie was good and it was a bumpy cart ride. On the back nine, it looks like they are working on a turf reduction as a majority of the rough areas are all dormant and scalped right now. It has a different, more narrow feel than the front because of this. The greens were soft and rolling at medium/slow speeds. Mostly okay surfaces, though one green on the front (#3 I think) was completely overwatered and had huge puddles of water that made putting on it impossible. There aren't many bunkers here, but they all looked horrendous. None of them have any lip at all, though, so if you were to find one, the putter may have to be the call.

The course isn't anything too exciting. I liked the front better than the back. It had more character to me with a more open look. The back nine is pretty standard Central Valley parkland kind of stuff. Overall a solid track with serviceable conditioning and affordable muni rates, so it serves its purpose fine enough for local play.