TST NorCal Golfers Outing

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Mr Smell Good

I've never played at a country club before.  Also never played at Haggin Oaks.  I hear only great things about Turkey Creek.  Is that a very nice course?

I played Turkey Creek for the first time about a month ago.  Nice course, and somewhat difficult.  I can't say anything bad about it, but it also didn't jump out at me as a course I had to go play again soon.  Some of my favorites are (in no particular order, and for varying reasons):

1) Ancil Hoffman (because of the variety of holes and wildlife.  Some months it's in better shape than others.  Can be extremely difficult because the woods are on every hole and are dense.  Big numbers abound if you're not straight off the tee).

2) Teal Bend (solid quality, good care and variety of holes)

3) Morgan Creek (tough track, especially the back 9. more fairway bunkers than other courses.  Semi-private)

4) Wildhorse (mentioned earlier)

5) Timber Creek (excellently maintained, albeit a bit shorter course)

I've heard great things about 12 Bridges aka Catta Verdera, and Yocha Dehe aka Cache Creek, but I haven't played either of them and I believe they are a bit pricier.  I'm not completely sure how my new home course compares because I've only played the front 9 once.  But I gotta say I loved the layout.  Lots of trees and nice views.  It plays somewhat shorter and perhaps a bit easier than other courses, or at least the front 9 does.  I've heard the back 9 is tougher.  But the maintenance is excellent, as are the greens and bunkers.

[Mr Smell Good]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

I played Turkey Creek for the first time about a month ago.  Nice course, and somewhat difficult.  I can't say anything bad about it, but it also didn't jump out at me as a course I had to go play again soon.  Some of my favorites are (in no particular order, and for varying reasons):

1) Ancil Hoffman (because of the variety of holes and wildlife.  Some months it's in better shape than others.  Can be extremely difficult because the woods are on every hole and are dense.  Big numbers abound if you're not straight off the tee).

2) Teal Bend (solid quality, good care and variety of holes)

3) Morgan Creek (tough track, especially the back 9. more fairway bunkers than other courses.  Semi-private)

4) Wildhorse (mentioned earlier)

5) Timber Creek (excellently maintained, albeit a bit shorter course)

I've heard great things about 12 Bridges aka Catta Verdera, and Yocha Dehe aka Cache Creek, but I haven't played either of them and I believe they are a bit pricier.  I'm not completely sure how my new home course compares because I've only played the front 9 once.  But I gotta say I loved the layout.  Lots of trees and nice views.  It plays somewhat shorter and perhaps a bit easier than other courses, or at least the front 9 does.  I've heard the back 9 is tougher.  But the maintenance is excellent, as are the greens and bunkers.

Interesting!  I actually haven't played any of those 5 you listed or Turkey Creek yet.  I am sure being more of an experienced golfer you tend to play at places that are a little nicer and more challenging than I do.  The only courses I've played that I would put on par with those in terms of difficulty and quality are Whitney Oaks and Apple Mountain.  Both were fun, but too expensive for me to want to play regularly and a little too challenging for me.

My favorites that I've played around here in no order:

-Empire Ranch

-Diamond Oaks

-Woodcreek

-Wildhawk

-Cherry Island

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Mr Smell Good

Interesting!  I actually haven't played any of those 5 you listed or Turkey Creek yet.  I am sure being more of an experienced golfer you tend to play at places that are a little nicer and more challenging than I do.  The only courses I've played that I would put on par with those in terms of difficulty and quality are Whitney Oaks and Apple Mountain.  Both were fun, but too expensive for me to want to play regularly and a little too challenging for me.

My favorites that I've played around here in no order:

-Empire Ranch

-Diamond Oaks

-Woodcreek

-Wildhawk

-Cherry Island

-I play Wildhawk often.  The bunkers can be crap sometimes, but other than that it's a nice course to play.  Greens are usually in good shape, and it's a wide open layout.

-Empire Ranch I don't like to play because it's just about the only public, 18-hole course in Folsom and as a result it's usually packed.  One time I had to walk off the course.  Other than that it's a solid course.

-Cherry Island I finally got to play earlier this year a couple times.  I actually do like that course.  I want to get back there at some point.

The other two I haven't played.  I will admit that I don't like Apple Mountain.  Apple Mountain was the NCGA qualifier for the net-amateur stroke play competition and it broke my heart that I had to quality at a course where I can only pull driver on 3 holes because it plays so short.  On top of that, it requires a lot of accuracy with your iron shots, which is not a strength of mine.  Needless to say I didn't qualify.

I played Whitney Oaks once and didn't like some of the holes which required blind tee shots and discouraged hitting driver because of the proximity to the housing developments.  I tend to not like courses that have a lot of houses on them .

I forgot to add Orchard Hills as a nice course.  It has houses in play, but still pretty nice.

[Mr Smell Good]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

-I play Wildhawk often.  The bunkers can be crap sometimes, but other than that it's a nice course to play.  Greens are usually in good shape, and it's a wide open layout.

-Empire Ranch I don't like to play because it's just about the only public, 18-hole course in Folsom and as a result it's usually packed.  One time I had to walk off the course.  Other than that it's a solid course.

-Cherry Island I finally got to play earlier this year a couple times.  I actually do like that course.  I want to get back there at some point.

The other two I haven't played.  I will admit that I don't like Apple Mountain.  Apple Mountain was the NCGA qualifier for the net-amateur stroke play competition and it broke my heart that I had to quality at a course where I can only pull driver on 3 holes because it plays so short.  On top of that, it requires a lot of accuracy with your iron shots, which is not a strength of mine.  Needless to say I didn't qualify.

I played Whitney Oaks once and didn't like some of the holes which required blind tee shots and discouraged hitting driver because of the proximity to the housing developments.  I tend to not like courses that have a lot of houses on them .

I forgot to add Orchard Hills as a nice course.  It has houses in play, but still pretty nice.

I've only played Empire twice but haven't had that problem at all.  Maybe i've been lucky because I was playing in the hot summer afternoon.  I enjoy it because it's a good combination of nice layout but not too challenging.  It could use some more trees though!

Cherry Island is great for the price IMO.  Agreed on Apple Mountain.  I would be doing great to shoot under 100 there.  I paid like $70 to play there too... we thought we were getting a coupon but the guy I went with didn't realize it had expired or something.

Whitney Oaks does have those blind tee shots and it's another one that breaking 100 would be my goal on.  You might not like Diamond Oaks because there are also a lot of houses there.

I have the CBS Sacramento golf pass which gets me 9 courses for $75 but I have to pay for the cart when I go.  The only problem is it only works after 12 or 1 on weekends so I have only used 1 of my 9 cards.  I used Mather but I still have one for Teal Bend, The Ridge, Turkey Creek, Empire, etc.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Mr Smell Good

I have the CBS Sacramento golf pass which gets me 9 courses for $75 but I have to pay for the cart when I go.  The only problem is it only works after 12 or 1 on weekends so I have only used 1 of my 9 cards.  I used Mather but I still have one for Teal Bend, The Ridge, Turkey Creek, Empire, etc.

Mather is definitely a good course for the price.  I like playing there.  Reminds me of Haggin Oaks, but better (still wide open a lot of holes, but more variety and better price).  The Ridge is a great course, but it is very difficult.  Maybe not as difficult as Apple Mountain, but boy does it have some tough and fast greens.  I think you will like Teal Bend.

[Mr Smell Good]

I almost played Teal Bend on Monday. I happened to have the day off. I ended up just running errands and going out to Haggin Oaks to look at shoes and everything they have in their shop.

[mchepp]

North Ridge CC looks very nice. You had better get comfortable with the lay of the land though before inviting guests. My club allows 3 guests after 10:30 on the weekend. Though now that I have been there for 10+ years I could probably bring more guys. The other thing is to make some friends with some of the members and they can be the host in one group so then you can bring 6.

[sacm3bill]

Hi all, nice to be part of the group (thanks for the invite Brandon). I'm up for an outing any time. I'm in Sacramento and concur with most of the reviews of the area courses, and will add a couple things:

Turkey Creek has always been glacially slow. I haven't played there in a couple years but it still has that reputation.

Haggin Oaks is one of my favorite courses. (They have two courses there - I'm referring to the Alister Mackenzie, not Arcade Creek. The latter is cheaper but very boring.)  The Mackenzie course has IMO a really good variety of holes, and prices are much more reasonable now that they've unbundled the cart and provide walking rates.  They've also recently instituted a pace of play policy where they actually have workers stationed at a couple holes to monitor things.

Darkhorse is my favorite course in the area. It's up near Auburn, another 50 minutes north of the downtown Sac, but everything about it is top notch: Design, condition, pace, value ($30 deals including cart are readily available), and customer service. Difficult but fair if you play the correct tees.

[Big C]

Hey all, I'm chiming in, as I played a round at Wildhorse with Brandon a few months prior. I really enjoyed the experience - its a tough track, but I found there to be plenty of birdie opportunities if you could keep the ball in play off the tee (never a guarantee for me, unfortunately!). The course was well maintained and although i remember the greens being a bit slower than i expected, they usually rolled very true. As for the setting, I thought it was top notch. The course was set back into the end of a residential tract, so there were no roads or traffic to distract. It was so quiet that I commented to brandon on one hole that we could actually hear the conversations of one I the groups who was playing a hole behind us. If any of you have played in Southern California, I would compare it to Oak Creek - which is pretty high praise. Granted, it's a bit more modest than Oak Creek, but I found it to be a pretty awesome value. I headed to Santa rosa afterward, which took me about 75 minutes. I imagine if I were heading to SFO or east bay, the commute would be a bit less. It was a great value for the quality of course.

[MrSinister]

Thanks for the add guys, My schedule is pretty tight the rest of the year but if I can I'd be up for an outing.

[Mr Smell Good]

Anytime you guys are looking to play on a weekend near Sacramento I'm most likely in unless something comes up.  Can't play on weekdays.  I could probably learn a lot from playing with some better players, but i'll warn you guys it was only 6 months ago that I broke 100 for the first time and it's not out of the realm of possibility that I shoot around that still.  Usually I'm a mid 90s average

[Mr Smell Good]

Sacramento guys - I'm going in for a driver fitting at Haggin Oaks tomorrow morning.  Very excited.

Do you guys know if I decide to buy a driver (I probably will) and they have to modify it at all by shortening it or changing the angle (or whatever it is they do) will I get the club immediately or have to wait a few days?

[RPMPIRE]

Originally Posted by Mr Smell Good

Sacramento guys - I'm going in for a driver fitting at Haggin Oaks tomorrow morning.  Very excited.

Do you guys know if I decide to buy a driver (I probably will) and they have to modify it at all by shortening it or changing the angle (or whatever it is they do) will I get the club immediately or have to wait a few days?

Normally, it would require you to wait a few days if it goes beyond the stock offerings. I know Haggin Oaks is one of the best known for clubfitting, so you could just get it in the day.

[Mr Smell Good]

Originally Posted by RPMPIRE

Normally, it would require you to wait a few days if it goes beyond the stock offerings. I know Haggin Oaks is one of the best known for clubfitting, so you could just get it in the day.

I plan to play golf the same day.  My club fitting appointment is at 10:00.  Think I should make a tee time for about 1:00 just to be safe?

[RPMPIRE]

Originally Posted by Mr Smell Good

I plan to play golf the same day.  My club fitting appointment is at 10:00.  Think I should make a tee time for about 1:00 just to be safe?

That should be enough time. I mean you probably don't really need to go to the range since you'll be warming up during your club fitting. Any drivers you already have planned on testing?

[Mr Smell Good]

Originally Posted by RPMPIRE

That should be enough time. I mean you probably don't really need to go to the range since you'll be warming up during your club fitting. Any drivers you already have planned on testing?

There's a few I have thought about:

Ping G20 - down to $200 and it would match my irons.  Also heard it was a very forgiving and solid driver

Cobra Amp Cell - down to $200 now and i like the look of Cobra drivers and I have swung this before and liked it but I bought the Amp because it was half the price

Titliest 913D2 - I know this one is like $400 but I've heard so many people love it.

[bplewis24]

I haven't done it myself, but if any shop could get the shaft cut down the same day, it would be Haggin Oaks.

[RPMPIRE]

Originally Posted by Mr Smell Good

There's a few I have thought about:

Ping G20 - down to $200 and it would match my irons.  Also heard it was a very forgiving and solid driver

Cobra Amp Cell - down to $200 now and i like the look of Cobra drivers and I have swung this before and liked it but I bought the Amp because it was half the price

Titliest 913D2 - I know this one is like $400 but I've heard so many people love it.

I would also consider the Nike Covert. I outhit both the Titleist 913D2 and D3 models and they also dropped the price a couple weeks ago.