There was a slight break in the weather today (meaning just a steady drizzle instead of pouring rain), so I headed up to Salmon Run. I thought I might only play nine holes, so they charged $34 for tha... Continue »

There was a slight break in the weather today (meaning just a steady drizzle instead of pouring rain), so I headed up to Salmon Run. I thought I might only play nine holes, so they charged $34 for that. Then, I decided to keep going and it was another $15 for the rest. I became accustomed to paying like $20-25 for this place in the winter so paying $49 seemed rather unpleasant. They should take whatever business they can get this winter. I did play through a twosome on the back nine, but otherwise I was the only one out there and I zipped through as quickly as I could. It was cart-path-only, which I expected. No way to drive the carts on the grass here right now. It was a sloppy wet mess out there. There was plenty of green grass, which looked nice from afar, but most shots were like hitting out of clam chowder. There's no way they can really maintain and mow the fairways or rough right now, so it is what it is. There are only a handful of sand traps left on this course and they are best avoided. They looked like crap. However, the greens were in surprisingly nice shape. They were very soft, but rolling rather smooth and quicker than I would have expected. This was a very pleasant surprise on an otherwise dreary day. I always enjoy Salmon Run for the nice setting and fun target layout. I feel like it keeps going downhill, though. Unfortunately, this area doesn't have the economy or serious golfer base to maintain the championship-level course this was meant to be. I'm glad it's still around, though, because I usually have fun there. Each time I play, there seems to be at least one new design alteration. Previously, I noted they permanently changed the signature "Lombard Street" hole #4 so that the upper/elevated tee box is no longer in use. The zig-zagging path the hole was named for is all grown over now, which is very sad, but it's still worth the hike for that iconic view. Now, they have altered the 2nd hole. It used to be a short and very funky little lay-up par-4. It is now a mid-length par-3 and I actually like this change. The new tee box area currently looks like a war zone as it takes shape amidst the heavy rains, but I think it was a good alteration in the long run because it wasn't a great hole before.