Headed back out to Diamond Bar this week with two friends including my buddy who is a member at Hacienda and had never played DB before. I was very curious what his thoughts would be after the round a... Continue »

Headed back out to Diamond Bar this week with two friends including my buddy who is a member at Hacienda and had never played DB before. I was very curious what his thoughts would be after the round and he was quite impressed - calling it even better than another one or two local private clubs he plays regularly.

I definitely enjoy the course as well, especially with all of the new improvements and layout changes, but there are still some needs that should be addressed. First off, the freeway work is still ongoing and it's a real challenge on some of the holes in terms of noise and just distraction. I can't wait for all the road work to be truly finished to see this course at its best.

There were also no marshals at all on the course and at one point, while on the green at the 12th hole, we noticed two entire holes (15 and 16) were empty as a group of drunk guys casually rode down the fairway. They were literally holding up all the groups behind and my friend let them have it, but in truth, he shouldn't have to if the course is being properly marshaled. As the new Diamond Bar grows in popularity, this needs to be addressed to avoid what turned out to be a five-hour round.

On the positive side, the recently punched greens are looking quite well but I fear that the message about fixing ball marks is not being stressed enough. The greens are all in great shape if weren't for so many little pock marks everywhere from lazy golfers simply not bothered enough to fix their damage. I think I fixed at least two or three on each hole (and I played so poorly that I know none of them were mine!). It's a shame because they could really be top notch with just the slightest amount of attention from the clientele.

Fairways are in good shape with a few thin/dry areas, but for the most part you're getting plenty of good lies. When you're off with your shots though, there are a lot of mulch and wood chip areas between holes that are going to give you a hard time. Tee boxes were all in good shape (played the blue tees) and the rough was very playable and fun. The bad? The bunkers are very thin. I tried to play a standard bunker shot on the second green and my club bounced on the surface just underneath to rocket out fifty yards. I played all subsequent bunkers as chip shots instead to keep my sanity. This needs to improve.

We had great cart service all afternoon and that was quite nice, while the carts themselves are very basic with no GPS or any other specialty items. The snack shop across from the starter is pretty good but had a limited selection on this day because the cook called in sick. Whatcha gonna do?

So definitely a few wrinkles that need ironing out but still Diamond Bar is a much-improved facility that was more than worth the $65 greens fee. A very good value still for the nice golf experience overall that was provided.