Alta Sierra was my choice for today. Knowing everywhere around here would likely have frost delays in the morning, I was drawn to the fact they were having a 10:00 shotgun start. I found a "hot deal" ... Continue »

Alta Sierra was my choice for today. Knowing everywhere around here would likely have frost delays in the morning, I was drawn to the fact they were having a 10:00 shotgun start. I found a "hot deal" available on GN that was only $34 compared the higher regular rate for the same shotgun tee times. There were maybe 40 people out there, so they had us spaced nicely on the course. I was paired with a threesome and we started on the 6th hole. Nobody ever pushed us from behind and we didn't catch the group ahead of us for awhile, so it was a decent overall pace of 4.5 hours. The course was in okay shape for winter. Like I had yesterday, things were pretty lush and green after all the rains, but the fairways were extra shaggy here. Some areas were still frozen/frosty for a couple hours after we started and then turned to mush once thawed. Lots of goose poop and mud, so the ball would always be caked with by the time I got on the green. Tee boxes were fine. Rough sometimes deep, thick and brutal and sometimes not much of a factor. Bunkers were pretty terrible with just hard-packed sand/mud that you couldn't do anything with. Greens pretty good overall. Rolling a lot slower than they looked, so we never really adjusted to the speeds. I didn't know much about the course heading in, but I do love mountain-style courses and this fits that bill. Some narrow angles, big slopes and tricky doglegs, but not as tight or "target" oriented as some I've played. It played really long today with the wet, shaggy turf. Quaint old clubhouse and facilities. Of what I've played in this area, I would still take Darkhorse over Alta Sierra by a mile and definitely The Ridge, as well, but I still enjoyed this old mountain course plenty.