Played Chester Washington this past week with a buddy - $60 to ride which is right on the cusp of pushing it but I'll allow it since the POP wasn't the awful disaster that's often anticipated when one... Continue »

Played Chester Washington this past week with a buddy - $60 to ride which is right on the cusp of pushing it but I'll allow it since the POP wasn't the awful disaster that's often anticipated when one plays here. We had a 12:52pm tee time, took off on time with a single, and generally moved pretty well.

Course conditions are as follows: Greens were a bit bumpy and slow but not as bumpy and slow as past visits, so I guess that was a win. The tee boxes (we played the blues) were mostly fine - flat, level and decent coverage. The fairways were good in some parts, mostly thin and dry in others but okay overall. The rough? Crazy, out of control and about as penal as you will find anywhere right now. It's a true disaster missing the fairways right now. Bunkers are in pretty good shape - not the white, fluffy stuff but they play better than they look.

Our cart started making some weird jerky moves around the 9th hole and then completely died in the middle of the 12th fairway. Kudos to the team though as they brought us out a new one before finishing the hole. Our single also had to leave early so we were joined by the twosome that had been behind us all day. Then, on the 17th hole, one of those guys I watched actually pick up my ball in the rough midway down the hole. What's going on here? He apologized profusely and put it back but I just don't get it.

Anyway, decent day out at the Chester and it got the job done for a late week round.

I would advise NOT to play here. The greens are bumpy and slow. But what is worse is the lack of compassion the maintenance staff has for us public course golfers. THE ROUGH IS RIDICULOUS!! I was just... Continue »

I would advise NOT to play here. The greens are bumpy and slow. But what is worse is the lack of compassion the maintenance staff has for us public course golfers. THE ROUGH IS RIDICULOUS!! I was just off the fairway, in fact standing on it, trying to hack out of a nasty lie. What makes everything even more frustrating is if you miss a green you often find yourself in thick rough taking all the fun out of the game! The lie is anyone’s guess as how the ball will come out. Come on Chester Washington!!!! This is not the US Open!!! CUT the grass to make things playable for us not on the PGA Tour!!!!! It saddens me to be this negative because the fairways where in great shape. I will not play here for a loooong time.

Do not play here until greens heal!

Do not play here until greens heal!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy ... quite a day at C Dubs this past week when three friends and I booked a foursome with a 12:56 tee time on Friday. When we arrived, we were told that they were running about ten... Continue »

Oh boy oh boy oh boy ... quite a day at C Dubs this past week when three friends and I booked a foursome with a 12:56 tee time on Friday. When we arrived, we were told that they were running about ten minutes late. No problem. While warming up we then saw chaos emerge as no carts were ready and empty tee boxes remained as our wait time then blew up to around 40 minutes. Now finishing was going to be in jeopardy. At some point one group of Asian seniors took it upon themselves to 'jump the line' and it basically turned into the Kevin Hart scene in 'The 40 Year Old Virgin.' Yes, you know the one. Same vernacular and everything. It got ugly. It was uncomfortable. It was unprofessional, but also weirdly justified? Just an an all-around mess before we finally got going (although I have to say the poor girl in the pro shop dealing with all of this was fantastic!). Once on the course, despite the delays, conditions were better than normal here, as highlighted in the last review. Greens were actually rolling pretty nicely and medium-fast, while also holding shots well and not being too bumpy. Fairways had decent to good coverage in most areas (with a few exceptions), while the bunkers had heavy but playable sand. Tee boxes were probably the most in-need areas on the course. We did indeed barely finish as we came in on 18 with the last light of the day. There was no cart service throughout so make sure you give yourself a little time at the turn as the snack shop is wildly inconvenient and needs addressing as well. Carts are basic but fine, except for the fact that one of them in our group died on the 11th hole, so they brought out a replacement. Quite a day indeed.

Played 10/29 7:30am tee time. Driving range is closed on Tuesday mornings for maintenance. The course is in good shape now. The tee boxes are fairly level with moderate divots. The fairways and rough ... Continue »

Played 10/29 7:30am tee time. Driving range is closed on Tuesday mornings for maintenance. The course is in good shape now. The tee boxes are fairly level with moderate divots. The fairways and rough have good grass coverage. Only a few thin spots. The greens are good right now. Almost completely healed from aeration. The speed was pretty consistent at medium speed. The par 3 second hole has a temporary green.

Played Thursday 7/25 7:52 tee time. They were 10 minutes behind. Teed off at 8:05 and got around in 4.5 hours.
The fairways, tee boxes, rough and bunkers are all in good shape. I would give it a 6.5/... Continue »

Played Thursday 7/25 7:52 tee time. They were 10 minutes behind. Teed off at 8:05 and got around in 4.5 hours.
The fairways, tee boxes, rough and bunkers are all in good shape. I would give it a 6.5/7 out of 10. Very playable, nice and green too. But the greens!! Of the 18 greens maybe 5 of them are in normal condition but the rest have dead spots all over the place. Look like some kind of fungus/disease. The dead spots are punched and sanded. It was not fun to put on, green speed was inconsistent and bumpy. I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon until they get this under control.

Played Thursday 6/27 9:30am tee time. Pace of play 4 hours. Overall conditions are good. Tee boxes are ok, flat for most part with good coverage. Fairways are nice, typical muni, mixed grass but good ... Continue »

Played Thursday 6/27 9:30am tee time. Pace of play 4 hours. Overall conditions are good. Tee boxes are ok, flat for most part with good coverage. Fairways are nice, typical muni, mixed grass but good coverage with only minor bare areas, no complaints. The rough is similar condotion, thick in some areas that are not cut, no complaints. The bunkers are hit and miss, some have decent amount of sand and some are thin. The greens... I remember Chester having pretty nice green but at the moment the greens are very bumpy and the speed is very inconsistent from green to green. It looks green and healthy but not nice to put on.

Played the blues on Saturday 6/22. Had a 1pm tee time so prepared for a slow round but it wound up pushing the very limits of acceptability. Not sure what's happened to the greens here but it's been a... Continue »

Played the blues on Saturday 6/22. Had a 1pm tee time so prepared for a slow round but it wound up pushing the very limits of acceptability. Not sure what's happened to the greens here but it's been a month since their second punching of the season and they're still not rolling well. Putts do not hold their lines and bobble quite a bit. There is also some variance in green speeds as some are not cut as low as others. Extremely frustrating. Other parts of the course are good, though some of the tee positions are pushed way back into areas that weren't level. Fairway conditions are good, rough can be thick and penal. Was in a couple of bunkers and one had no sand and one had excellent sand.

Pace of place was brutal at 5.5 hours with 2-3 group back ups on par 3s common. Folks need to learn to play tees commensurate with their ability but part of why it was taking groups so long to finish holes was due to the greens being hard to putt on.

Hope Chester can get their greens back in good shape because I enjoy this track a lot but I'd avoid for a while.

Piggybacking off yesterday's review of Chester Washington, the greens are indeed currently punched and sanded and an absolute travesty. I've putted on aerated greens before that still held lines or ro... Continue »

Piggybacking off yesterday's review of Chester Washington, the greens are indeed currently punched and sanded and an absolute travesty. I've putted on aerated greens before that still held lines or rolled somewhat true, but the current greens at CW are nigh unplayable and just plain awful. Sure would have been nice to have been informed in advance.

Aside from the green issues, the only bunker that actually had great sand in it was 'Ground Under Repair,' while all the other ones were thin, had rocks in them and weren't very pleasant to play from. I don't understand why the one good one was 'closed.'

Some good things? The course is more green than usual and the fairways are actually in pretty nice shape all around. The rough is thick and can be very penal if you find yourself in an extra thick patch or underneath some of the mowed shavings that can be find in a lot of areas. The tee boxes were mostly good but not all completely level so you had to find a good spot.

POP was not great with big lines at every single par 3 that often went three groups deep. It's somewhat maddening to get into a flow and then be constantly held up and lose all sense of rhythm and timing. There was no cart service at all during the afternoon and the snack shop is sadly in a very inconvenient spot going away from the 9th green in the opposite direction of the 10th tee box.

Luckily though, for all the course's current inadequacies, the cost is reasonable for a walking fee of around $43. The driving range is dated and kind of small, but it's functional and conveniently located near the first tee. But at the end of the day, why are they punching greens again in May when it was already done in April like everywhere else?