Made it out to Teal Bend this past week with two work colleagues and wanted to thank those who supplied me with some goo... » More

Made it out to Teal Bend this past week with two work colleagues and wanted to thank those who supplied me with some good tips before playing there. And yes, the road to Teal Bend is quite an adventure as you have to exit the highway at the airport and then navigate some roundabouts before getting there, but once you do, it's pretty nice.

The property itself is pretty great as there are no houses around the course whatsoever and absolutely every hole is framed by forest and colorful autumn nature. We experienced a myriad of weather patterns on the day so we saw the course at its best and worse from that standpoint. It's not what I would consider terribly narrow, but most every hole has lost ball potential if you go too far right or left. There's just no finding balls in that thicket.

But the layout is very fun and engaging and really a good but fair test of golf. Unfortunately the current conditions sort of let the rest of the scenery all down as it's not in optimum shape at the moment. The fairways are good, far from great, but have lots of thinner areas despite all the precipitation up there. The greens were mostly okay but many had piles of dirt core samples around them from a rather annoying apron punch that wasn't cleared. Often approach shots or chips would not reach the green thanks to this and that was frustrating.

Bunkers were actually mostly in good shape with lots of fluffy sand on the holes that I encountered, but as it had rained the past days, a few of them were a bit on the grainy side and one or two even had some standing water left. The rough was hard to find as most of the holes had fairway and wilderness, but where it was it was good and playable. Would absolutely love to play this place again in perfect summer conditions.

POP was okay as we got out a bit early thanks to the starter after around twenty minutes on the quite nice (and grass) driving range, but the group in front of us was not exactly setting the world afire with their pace, but it wasn't enough to be too upset about. We played the round in about four and a half hours at the end of the day - perfectly okay.

With a greens fee of only $57 though, it was all well worth it. Again, would love to come back here when it's prime and really enjoy all it has to offer. It's a good day out if you get there, but hopefully they clear up those dirt core piles soon!
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Played 11/15. Course is in pretty good shape. Fairways have some areas with thin coverage or bare spots. Greens were pre... » More

Played 11/15. Course is in pretty good shape. Fairways have some areas with thin coverage or bare spots. Greens were pretty smooth and fairly fast. Sand traps a little inconsistent. Pace was a little over 4.5 hrs, some of that probably due to the howling wind that day. Fun layout, still a decent value.
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Super short review. Teed off Friday 11/15 from the whites. Course is in nice winter conditions. Some odd dirt or thin st... » More

Super short review. Teed off Friday 11/15 from the whites. Course is in nice winter conditions. Some odd dirt or thin stretches mostly in out of the way places, the coverage is mostly good. Hit one bunker and it was OK. Greens were quick side of medium and in good shape. Perfect, invigorating, Cali winter day with spotty clouds, clear, cool air and even a spot of rain. Dug it. Recommended.
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Played Muni on 11/15/24. Sorry for not posting more Muni reviews as I do usually play here every other week, but there i... » More

Played Muni on 11/15/24. Sorry for not posting more Muni reviews as I do usually play here every other week, but there is rarely any changes for a really solid Muni course.

Greens are at full nasty. Down grain to the ocean, the putt always rolls much more than you'd expect. Chipping is a nightmare here with the Kikuyu. I'm not sure if they aerated as I haven't been here in a month, but I guess not because the greens are great right now. Not as firm as recent years, so they do accept iron shots better than they have in recent summers.

Fairways and rough are amazing for a bargain public course.

Only negative is that the tees have been recently verticut. Still very playable, just not visually appealing.

As always, highest recommendation.
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Played the Hay yesterday afternoon followed by a post round meal at the adjoining restaurant. As mentioned before the ... » More

Played the Hay yesterday afternoon followed by a post round meal at the adjoining restaurant. As mentioned before the Hay is a 9 hole par 3 course with yardage ranging from 45 to 105 yards. This is a super fun little track with the second hole an exact replica of the famed par 3 seventh hole of Pebble Beach.

Green complexes at this little par 3 course are tough make that very tough at times. Several undulations and a couple of trick areas make it fun and challenging. Greens roll true at a fast pace. You tee off on mats which is fine as real grass would be riddled with divots.

Course and restaurant overlook the ocean giving it a great vibe. Price is steep if you pay the actual rack rate but usually it’s comped with a long enough stay at the resort when playing Pebble Beach. I have free vouches so it’s worth it. No way I’d pay the $65.
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First out on a cold morning. Not very busy today, perhaps because of the colder temperatures? The greens have recovered ... » More

First out on a cold morning. Not very busy today, perhaps because of the colder temperatures? The greens have recovered nicely, rolled true with decent pace. Generally, the fairways are just fine. Still a few holes that remain carts on path? Tee boxes are good. With the forecast over the next couple days indicating temps in the high 30's, I suspect there will be numerous frost delays, so it was nice to be allowed to play early today.
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Nice to have Oceanside back in the rotation. Not a whole lot of change from my last review a few weeks ago, except the g... » More

Nice to have Oceanside back in the rotation. Not a whole lot of change from my last review a few weeks ago, except the greens have completely healed and rolled very true. Still prefer the smaller original green size, but I understand the improvement. As always, staff is wonderful here which only makes me appreciate playing all that more.
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Played here today with an 11:20 TeeOff.com "Deal" time. I was trying to see as much of Death Valley as I could before my... » More

Played here today with an 11:20 TeeOff.com "Deal" time. I was trying to see as much of Death Valley as I could before my tee time, and then Google Maps took me to the wrong spot, but just by one street. Fortunately, there were very few people out there when I arrived just a few minutes early and the very friendly pro shop attendant said I could start on my own anytime I wanted. I hit a few putts and headed off, playing the front nine in about an hour and 15 minutes. Then two groups were in front of me on No. 10, but I played through them both and finished the back in a little under an hour for a 2:11 total POP. Ideal weather day; just gorgeous and perfect temps.

Conditions are okay, but it appears the storm damage from 2023 caused lasting problems in some spots. The 12th green is nearly all dirt, but still rolled pretty smooth. Most of the greens seem to be semi-dormant bermuda rolling about medium speed and smooth, despite not being super pure. Full shots stopped quickly. Fairways were nice with good coverage of light green bermuda. The rough is deeper bermuda that is penal when the ball sinks down in. Some holes had some bare spots and trouble spots on both the fairways and the rough, but luckily I avoided those. Very few bunkers on the course, it seemed, but the one I was in was pretty good. Blue tee boxes were fine.

This was my first time here and I found it to be a very charming course. I reminded me a lot of the Legends Course at Tahquitz Creek Resort (formerly Palm Springs Muni). It also reminded me a little bit of Soboba Springs in spots. I think that nostalgia for those two courses added to the charm. It's a much more difficult course than you'd think looking at the yardage. For one thing, the ball notoriously flies shorter at such low elevation, and then on top of that, there aren't many "mid-length" par 4s. They mostly seem to be 400+ or less than 330, so those longer ones play long.

There's currently a Golf Moose voucher to play here anytime for $50. Keep in mind, though, that there's a $30 per car entry fee to Death Valley National Park that gets you access for an 8-day span, I think. Definitely glad I played here once and I would like to play here again sometime.
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Played here Tuesday with a 12:21 TeeOff.com "Deal" time. Starter was great and despite a frost delay that pushed everyon... » More

Played here Tuesday with a 12:21 TeeOff.com "Deal" time. Starter was great and despite a frost delay that pushed everyone back, he fit me into a group with another single and a twosome and we teed off right at 12:00. At 4:00 a message popped up on the GPS that the course closes at 4:30 (sunset time) and all carts need to be in by then. Luckily we finished with just about five minutes to spare. Busy course and windy weather probably didn't help pace of play, but no complaints with 4:25.

Conditions are mixed, especially the greens, which are inconsistent. It seemed like some were in really nice shape, and others were a step or two down. Overall, they rolled pretty decent, though, and held full shots well. Medium speed, I'd say. Fairways were dormant bermuda that I couldn't tell if they were actually light green or had a colorant added a while ago. They were very tight and didn't provide much cushion under the ball. The rough was also dormant bermuda, but yellow and a couple inches deep. Gold (white equivalent) tee boxes were okay (although I'll get back to this in a minute) and the bunkers I was in were pretty hard packed. Overall conditions are mediocre but very playable.

This was my first time playing here. I had always heard about how quirky the course was, but I guess I misinterpreted in what way it's quirky. It's expected a target golf course but it's much more straightforward than I imagined, and surprisingly for a Vegas "housing tract" course, there are a handful of holes that don't have houses on them. Where I found quirk was in some of the tee box placements that feel like they don't fit the hole. On at least one hole, we were all wondering where the hole went. Some serious tree trimming on a few holes might help that. It reminded me a bit of nearby Legacy and Stallion Mountain, but I think I'd prefer to return to one of those before riding "the Horse" again. Happy to have checked it off the list!
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I played here twice recently, last Friday, November 8, and last Monday, November 11. Course conditions are really nice a... » More

I played here twice recently, last Friday, November 8, and last Monday, November 11. Course conditions are really nice at this time. Greens were running fast and smooth with just a few ball marks here and there that were easily repaired. The rest of the course has lush grass and level tees. I played the blue tees on Friday and the white tees on Monday, the mornings can get chilly out here and there is a possibility of a frost delay during the colder winter months. Friday we had the first group out at 7:30 AM. There was about a 45 minute frost delay for the first group. I was in a bunker on hole too, and the sand was frozen. It did warm up quickly and by 9 you could be wearing shorts.

Monday’s weather was a little warmer. There was no frost delay. It would have been a warmer day, but the wind came up before noon and was blowing pretty steady and kept things on the cooler side.

Greens: medium fast, smooth.

Fairways and rough: great coverage and mostly good lies.

Bunkers: Mostly good (if raked) with good sand.

Tees: Level and not beat up.

Range: Hitting off mats to a small valley with a handful of targets.

Pro shop: Friendly service and a decent selection of balls, hats, jackets , shoes, etc.

Clubhouse: Good selection of food and beverages.
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Got to the course this AM only to find the fairways being aerated. No mention of it from anyone in the shop. I mentioned... » More

Got to the course this AM only to find the fairways being aerated. No mention of it from anyone in the shop. I mentioned this last review that this might be coming and sure enough. First two holes looked like a mess. Got to the back 9 and at least they had them cleaned up but they still don't play very well. Tee boxes, greens and traps are all in good shape. So hopefully we get some nice days ahead for healing.
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With things becoming much more crowded, I can already see the POP changing from low season to high season levels. Still ... » More

With things becoming much more crowded, I can already see the POP changing from low season to high season levels. Still got around in 3H, 45M on Veterans Day as a 2some. CPO for another week+, which slows things down considerably when many of the players are Seniors.

Lush and well maintained throughout. Greens smooth, firm and quick.

Two things about a course coming out of overseeding that was closed several weeks for maintenance. 1-Fairways still cut higher than normal, which cuts down about 20-30 yards of normal roll on many drives and makes the course play long. 2-Recently added sand to the traps has not had time to settle yet. And it is almost too fluffy/deep in many spots.

Those are really nit picking and about the worst things I could say about course conditions. Highly recommended.
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