I can attest to Wilderness and Deacon’s. Absolutely love those courses. I did not enjoy the very short time I lived in Plymouth, but I did love getting away to some of the great courses in MN.
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The sub-100 fee is for Residents only, FWIW. https://www.houstonmunigolf.com/memorial-park-golf-course
I agree though, it’s an amazing course. If you’re in the Houston area, and can’t get on Memorial, Gus Wortham (believe it or not) is well worth your time, and surprisingly challenging and fast despite it’s short length. Plus it’s a third of the rate of Memorial.
In central coastal California, while you take out a second mortgage to play Pebble (you’ll need to also get a room at either the Inn or Lodge too), why not go play Pacific Grove, by the same designer? Looks like 55 bucks a head, and you’ll have a good time. You’ll certainly have a faster round.
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I’m a fan of the 36 hole facility with the Bayonet and Black Horse courses in Seaside/Monterey - they usually have some kind of a 36 hole deal or a few cheaper tee times on GolfNow. About 5-6 years ago, I played 36 holes with cart and lunch for about $135. Good tests of golf !
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I didn’t bother looking those up, because I assumed that no way would they be under a 100 a go.
It’s nice to hear that I was wrong. I’ve never played them—not good enough, when I lived out there—but I understand they’re very challenging.
Honestly, I’d play them over Spanish Bay, if I had the opportunity again, and had to choose. (Whoever heard of a links course where you couldn’t even try to find your ball in the scrub?)
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Lots of price points at BBHgolf.com but their local rate for NCGA members is still below $100 and they do offer discounted tee times online.
I used to go to the area for work and always tried to squeeze in an extra day to play 36 but haven’t been back for 5 years
I played these way back in the day but have fond memories.
Yes, i heard gus wortham was “saved” by a group who put private money together?
I think the city actually transferred operations of the course to the non-profit?
I have only played wortham when it was a complete dog track.
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I’m on the Bayonet/Black Horse mailing list but haven’t gotten out there. I definitely need to play them and Pacific Grove. It’s really not that big a hike from the bay area but the last couple times have been down that way I played Poppy Hills and Spanish Bay which during Covid, had pretty great rates for NCGA members.
I’m a big fan of Corica Park in Alameda. Corica is a delightful Australian Links course and they are building a second 18 that should open up by next year.
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I’m sure that others who have played Bayonet and Black Horse may say something different but I’m a 1-2 handicap and like tough golf courses (and I think these two are pretty tough from the tips and also from the one-ups). At 52 years old, I don’t make a ton of birdies and love grinding out pars - these courses (especially Bayonet) require you to hit well positioned tee shots and smart approaches that avoid a ton of deep bunkers.
People refer to Pacific Grove as “poor man’s Pebble” and that probably makes more sense given its location but I first heard that said about Bayonet/Black Horse around 10-15 years ago.
I do not get to the bay area much anymore but that Corica sounds great too.
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IMHO there is not a harder course than Bayonet. And combined I would put it up against any 36 hole facility in the country as far as difficulty. It will test you on every single shot.
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Nice!!! I expected discounts for playing Poppy as a NCGA member, but I didn’t know Spanish Bay was doing it too. Much better deal it sounds like, than the at-the-time still ridiculous public green fees when I was working at the Inn 20 some odd years ago. And despite my complaining in the earlier post, I do recommend it to people. Just know what you’re getting into, and bring a LOT of balls. It’s really, really pretty.
Spyglass, OTOH… I like it too, but you need to be good. Even from the Whites. It’s an incredibly frustrating course if you’re a typical bogey-double bogey golfer. I friggin’ sounded like Woody Woodpecker on the back 9. My slightly better uncle who I was taking out, also was hating life. Which is silly, but such is golf.
I think now, after reading a bit of Shoemaker, and trying to put his tenets into practice, I’d have a much better time. It’s a really pretty course too, after all. Just balls-in-vise hard.
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It appears that way. You can join their Assoc. for discounted fees. The math doesn’t make sense for me, but I’d play it a lot more if I had time to.
And on that note…when did 4’30" become the standard for a round? I’m not a fast-play Nazi, but I just don’t have the time to burn what, with warming up, getting the day’s greens speed in my head, and the rest…can turn into 5-6 hours.
I was shocked this past winter when I marshaled at a course in San Diego - they didn’t bat an eye at 4:45 on a Sunday afternoon. Took me a couple weeks to recalibrate and not get on folks for slow play…
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My belief is this is the result of the 4 hour round being normalized… if 4 hours is “standard” then a 4.5 hour round is what you expect when the course is crowded…
People need to learn to play quickly. Not fast. Quickly. Be ready to hit, don’t spend a ton of time looking for balls and always be moving forward.
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It’s a combination of a bunch of different things; sometimes golf course design is it’s own enemy where you have a quick playing par 3 right before a reachable par 5 - no faster way to have 3 groups pile up on a tee box. Additionally, people often play a set of tees that is not appropriate for them; they’ll look at the yardage from those tees but not always the slope/course rating.
Agree that not being ready to hit (or playing ready golf) is the biggest culprit in turning 4 hours into 4.5+
At my club, if you tee off before 10am on the weekend the standard pace of play is 3:45 and after that it’s slides to 4 hrs up to about 4:20ish later in the day as juniors, families and people just out for a few beers outnumber the avid golfers who know how to maintain pace.
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I think that’s the best way to do it… you want an early tee time? Play fast. You want to have some beers and hang out with your buddies? Tee off late.
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That’s the one thing I’ve drilled into my teenage daughter who is a beginner. Be ready to hit when it’s your turn and start doing the prep work as you walk down the fairway to your ball. Put your bag between the green and the next tee, and when you finish a hole, respect the group behind by promptly moving to the next tee box before you futz around with your clubs or score card.
It doesn’t matter if you shoot 70 or 120 – everyone is capable of playing a 4hr or less round.
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