Let's be completely honest here, one would expect a lot more from this golf course seeing as though non-member patrons (read: out-of-towners) are expected to fork over a lofty $100 weekend green fee. Had it not been for the LiveCard Discount Vouchers from Costco, we would probably never even have considered gracing this course with our presence.
Case in point, from the moment my foursome and I arrived at this establishment after a two-hour trek from whence we came, we were greeted by THE RUDEST pro shop staff one should ever have to meet in their entire golf career. One of our players had to book a separate tee time online, on account of not having the aforementioned Costco Voucher. The lady at the counter was adamant on charging him the full-priced green fee after it had been explicitly established at the beginning of the transaction that he had in fact booked online for the reduced online rate. It was a good thing the other pro shop attendant was there to quickly remind her that he had in fact booked online. When asked if there was a Military Discount, this same lady smugly replied, "No, but we can throw in a bucket of balls." Ironically, we find out after the fact that our player was actually charged for the supposedly "free" bucket of range balls. A nominal fee, yes, but it's the principle dammit!
Also worth mentioning is that the entryway into this course from HWY 46 is not what one might consider your typical premium golf course entrance (i.e. rock fascias, maybe a fountain), but what one might see at a cattle ranch. Yes, we realize that this course is named Hunter RANCH, but a little bit of exterior aesthetics goes a long way to set the tone and one's first impression of this place. One might completely miss the entrance to this establishment had you not been looking for it. In fact a few of us have driven this road on the way to the coast before, not even noticing this golf course ever existed.
Which brings me to my next point: SIGNAGE. This place could use a FEW SIGNS to steer (see what I did there, ranch hands) someone who has never played here before in the correct direction throughout this golf course. There were several instances during our round where we legitimately got lost and could not figure out how to get to the next hole. Hell, we couldn't even find hole number 1 due to LACK OF SIGNAGE. Holes 10 and 17 were clearly identified, but that's as far as they went. (Not sure if that even warrants a golf clap.)
Prior to our round, we managed to spend some time at their driving range. I'll have to say, this is probably one of the better practice facilities out there. You get pristine short game practice area(s), and the main all-grass driving range is nothing to complain about either. The practice bunker however was completely water-saturated and you can pretty much forget about practicing for a sandy par save. The loudspeaker was even audible from the driving range and we could clearly hear them calling out groups to the number one tee box. However, when it was time for our round our foursome was never called up. We had to physically check with the pro shop to see if we could start our round. We find out (AGAIN, RUDELY) that we are free to begin on the number one tee.
Round underway, we were left wondering, "Where was the on-course cart service?" My foursome and I saw the cart girl maybe once at the very beginning of our round, but even then, didn't really acknowledge if we needed anything. The rest of the round, she was NOWHERE to be found. Absolutely terrible service!
On to the positives. The fairways were in excellent condition. Greens are fast-paced and true. Bunkers have excellent sand. The rough was typically challenging. We all had complaints with areas just off the FW that could have been cared for better (i.e. rocks, weeds, hard pan, read: shit lies). Tee boxes are a little chewed up and somewhat sloping on certain holes but overall decent at best. The golf carts seemed to be in good repair/operation. It would have been nice for them to include ice in the ice buckets and perhaps a couple of free water bottles on such a hot day, but I guess we might be spoiled by our "non-premium" courses back home that DO include that. The restaurant has great Kobe Burgers, and the wait staff, for the most part, was attentive to our needs (One shouldn't have to ask for ketchup! We were eating burgers!)
In conclusion, this is a really good course, but for the price one would have to pay, and the travel time to get out here you would really expect a lot more for bang for your buck. Weather-wise you're nowhere near getting coast weather. ( IT WAS FRIGGIN HOT TODAY! Thank GOD for the gale-force breeze on the back 9!) Lastly, the pro shop really needs to check their attitude if they want to attract more customers, That said, it would honestly take an act of God (or maybe even a free round) to convince me to come back out here with my hard-earned $$$. read more