Are you kidding me? For $22 to walk on a Friday afternoon? Like stealing candy from a baby.

Made it out to Rio Hondo in the late afternoon today with Kassper7 for jaunt around this almost always en... Continue »

Are you kidding me? For $22 to walk on a Friday afternoon? Like stealing candy from a baby.

Made it out to Rio Hondo in the late afternoon today with Kassper7 for jaunt around this almost always enjoyable course. Today was no different as the conditions, despite showing some late summer wear and tear, continue to be above average.

Rio Hondo remains a challenge due to its narrow, tree-lined fairways and intimidating set of par 3s (with the exception of 17). There is any amount of trouble to get into if you're off your game as tree trouble and ricochet balls will force plenty of punch-outs to bring down your scores. But it's still a fun track to play.

Current conditions are good, even quite good in some areas, but that summer heat is definitely starting to force its will, especially on some of the fairways. But don't be alarmed - they're mostly very playable with a few thin spots here and there, and the rough is actually very well maintained.

Sand traps looked and played pretty good as far as I could tell only having spent time in one of them, and of course the tee boxes can always be upgraded at Rio Hondo but nothing too terrible - they just get a lot of traffic and maybe don't rotate too often.

The greens were pretty good, rolling just slightly faster than medium and not too many tricky or gimmicky breaks to deal with throughout the round. However, there are some burned out spots and a few too many ball marks for my liking. Perry was hitting the ball very well today and those greens did seem quite receptive to his good approaches.

Not sure what maintenance is coming up at Rio Hondo, but for now it remains a very solid option for a day out hitting the sticks.