Played Mount Si yesterday (7/10/16) for the first time in many years, and found that the experience hasn't changed too much. Teed off at about 6:55 am, 5 minutes ahead of our 7:00 am tee time and esse... Continue »

Played Mount Si yesterday (7/10/16) for the first time in many years, and found that the experience hasn't changed too much. Teed off at about 6:55 am, 5 minutes ahead of our 7:00 am tee time and essentially had no one in front of our foursome for the entire round, walking the blues in just about exactly 4 hours for a decent pace. Greens were ok, a few bumps here and there but not too bad, and not too many unrepaired ball marks. They were a tad slow, but very receptive. Fairways were very nice in spots, yet very bad in others. The rough was lush, but not too long, therefore not much of a penalty. Tee boxes ranged from good to awful, #15 had almost no grass on it, and it seemed like about half of them had the markers in spots that were not level at all. There's almost no sand on the course, so I can't remark about bunkers, but several holes have these weird grass bunkers guarding the greens, and while thankfully I didn't find any of them, they really must be avoided.

I feel like this place has a lot of potential, but it just doesn't quite make it. The setting is gorgeous, but there almost always seems to be something just a little bit wrong. We were a walking foursome, with no one in front of us, a threesome in carts behind us with foursomes behind them. As we're hitting our tee shots, there was always the sound of the gas carts approaching the green which was a major distraction as this course has tee boxes right next to the previous greens. We actually wanted to let that threesome go in front of us, but the marshall said don't do that, just play faster (we weren't slow to begin with) which really didn't help our games at all. I think he told that three to not push us, so the lawnmower style racket mellowed out a bit, but I think things would have been much better all around if we'd been able to let them through.

Another issue I have with the place is that the layout is just a little bit weird. It's pleasant to walk, and has some really strong holes, but there's also a few that just don't work for me. The second hole used to be slightly goofy par 5, but now they've moved the tee box to accomodate their short course, and have made it a an even goofier hole. Many of the tee boxes and greens are very close to each other, making for a nice walk, but in some areas they're so close to each other that you essentially have a gallery watching your shots, and someone having a quiet conversation becomes a distraction to another group. The place really should feel peaceful, as you're basically out in the middle of nowhere, there's no development around at all, yet it still manages to feel crowded. It had been some time since I'd played here, and while it isn't too bad, I still think I'll only come here when I can't find something better. The combination of conditions not quite matching the price, plus the general weirdness that seems to bother me makes it just not worth it.