lcbgolf

Gateway National is really a nice course and conditions are generally good. Only bent grass tees & fairways in the area. However, it is plagued by slow play. We waited over 5 minutes on every shot. On the par 5, 13th hole, there were 4 groups on the hole. There was no marshall on the course which is desperately needed.

They had a extremely unfair pin placement on hole 13. In the upper left, a foot from the tier in the upper left. If you continue to do this - you get slow play.

The senior rate of $53 is higher than most in the area. Especially, considering the greens were recently aerated. They use the smaller plugs and the greens putted better than you would have expected.

Conditioning issues are on the par 3 tees. Really beat up and hole 17 is the worst.

Annbriar is the best course in the St. Louis metro area. The design, conditioning, friendliness is what makes Annbriar so great.

For March, you could not find any better greens. They they were fast, firm and you hardly left a ball mark on the greens. This really tells you the root system on thier greens is outstsanding.

There has been a large amount of rain recently. Some of the fairways had some wash areas where the water flowed down the fairways.

The service in the restaurant was impressive too. Annbriar is a great place to visit. Great conditions for March!

For early March, the course is in fine shape. The clearing of the brush and trees on hole 12 - really makes the hole much better. Hole 17 fairway had a trench going across the fairway. They have always been working on that hole because of drainage issues. The $37 weekend senior rate continues to be one of the best in the area.

We played 3 courses in the Fort Lauderale area:

Pembroke Lakes. Thursday, $106
Boca Lago CC. Saturday, $94
Coral Springs CC. Monday, $78

I've played this course once before. The course does not impress on the first few holes, however, the back nine has some good design.

The greens had some really small aeration holes, were a bit sandy but they played just fine.

They have some sandy waste areas. The bunkers were in great shape. The are very organized in the cart area and with the starter. Nice bar area and great service from the bartender.

We played 3 courses in Fort Lauderdale area:

Pembroke Lakes. Thursday, $106
Boca Lago CC, Saturday, $94
Coral Springs CC. Monday, $78

Of the 3 courses, this was in the best shape and had the best greens. Really fast greens. Also, for a country club, the price of $94 on a weekend, seemed very attractive. We were able to play the course through reciprocity of our home town course.

When you here country club, I expected the tees and fairways to be better, however, the best we played. The staff was very friendly. Excellent bar area.

We played 3 courses while in the Fort Lauderdale area:

Prembroke Lakes. Thursday, $106
Boca Lago CC. Saturday, $94
Coral Springs CC. Monday, $78

Of the 3, Prembroke Lakes was in the worst shape and cost the most. The greens and bunkers are very good, tees and fairways were a bit rough. Lot of weeds where the course is putting granular weed killer on the weeds. The fairways were very thin of any grass.

The course does have some hidden water but their GPS helps with this.

Their driving range is hitting into a lake, only rake is located on your cart, many of the cart paths are transitition sandy areas. Never played a course with so many iguanas on the course.

Except for the greens and bunkers, there is nothing special about this course. Price was the most expensive.

Stonewolf has made a turnaround as far as course conditions. They have some of the best greens in the area now. For November golf, the course is worth playing. For miminal rain overnight, the course was extremely wet. The 7th hole is always the hole with the most issues - drainage and green does not get enough air. Place of play was no issue. Never saw the group in front or back of us. The $38 senior weekday rate is exceptional.

With all the rain 20 days ago, a sinkhole developed under the cart path on the par 5, 6th hole. They detour you around the collapsed cart path an dit is not an issue when playing.

We had around 9 inches of rain on November 4-5 and 10 days later the course was way more wet than I would have expected. They had a little rain the night before but balls were plugging in some fairways. The course does not drain well. I played the Missouri Bluffs the day after the 9 inch rain and it was much less wet than Annbriar was today.

Overall, the course is in great shape for November. The $45 senior weekday rate is excellent. The only thing that needed attention is the right side of the #1 fairway, closer to the green. No grass.

They did have newly laid sod in bad areas on the white tees on #1 & #16, which was needed.

The hole location on hole #9 was unfair, just over the ridge. Unfair locations just slow down play. They need to have different colored flags for front, middle & back. Annbriar uses a small flag on the pin to show the location of the hole. You can barely see this. No other course I play does this. Annbriar is an upscale course and they need to get with the program with the different colored flag system.

Issues in the restaurant continue. We were the only people seated at a table and 3 employees were talking behind the bar. We had to go up and ask for menus and get some service. After we got this all fixed, the waitress was terrific.

Annbrair is a great course to play (best in the area) but they still continue to have some issues they need to attend to.

For November golf, there is very little to complain about at Spencer T. Olin. One of the better upscale courses in the St. Louis metro area. They always have the best pricing in the area for the quality of the course you are playing. The weekday senior rate was $32.

The conditions of the course for November were terrific.
Place of play was outstanding too.

The 2 days before we golfed at the Missouri Bluffs, the course took on nearly 9 inches of rain. The course drains well and there were very few "really wet" areas. The bunkers were full with water but that was expected.

The greens were aerated 3-4 weeks ago. They were very green and in good condition. The starter was pleasant which is not the norm at this course. The weekday senior rate was $46. Excellent value for this quality course.

FYI. The course is carts on path from November 1 - April 1. Something to think about if you like taking the carts in the fairway in the off-season period.

Far Oaks is one of my favorite courses in the St. Louis metro. The senior weekday rate of $48 is favorable. However, these issues prevent them from getting a 4 or 5 star rating.

There was no leaf removal on holes 14 & 15. There were no issues on any other holes. Very difficult to for us to find our balls. This results in slow play. Our round was over 5 hours. Waited on every shot.

Another thing that slows down play, you can't tell the colors of the tee markers. They are all white with a thin line of the color for the tee on the edge of the marker. We had to get out of our carts numerous times to determine if we have the right tees.

Overall, the course was in good shape for November. I still recommend Far Oaks but you will have to put up with the items I mentioned above.

Stonewolf has made some significant improvements to the course. The number one improvement are the greens. They were in good shape and extremely fast. Numerous three-putts and one four-putt in our group.
The tees are in great shape and they placed sod in the poor drainage areas on hole 1.

The senior weekday rate of $43 is very attractive.

We have not had any significant rain in the area for over a month. Some fairways were extremely dry and others had wet areas where the water drains. Not sure how this can be.

They do have some areas that need improvement...

The 7th green is in rough shape because the green does not get much air flow. The 8th green had a bad section that was nothing but sand. On the 14th hole tee, no water in the cooler and only one rake by the large 14th fairway bunker. The GPS on our cart do not work.

Get out and play Stonewolf, you will love the improvements and the greens.

Overall, the conditions of the course were good. They aerated the greens back in August (most courses do this in September/October) and the greens were really fast. Some putts felt like you were putting on a tabletop. Lot of ball mark smudges on the greens though.

The only issues I saw were to the right of the 9th green, the hillside was dirt. The 17th tee was in rough shape.

Our senior weekday rate was $59. I will only play this course during the week because it can get pricey on the weekends. Over $100.

The course did NOT have a course ranger which ruined the day for us. There were 2 groups in front of us playing a scramble. We waited 5 minutes on every shot. On the par 3, 7th hole, one group was on the green, two groups on the tee box. On the 18th green, all 8 players were on the green. There was a celebration on the green and the green was all scuffed up from their golf cleats.

Until Gateway National gets a course ranger to address the slow play, I will not recommend this course. The greens fee of over $100 on the weekend is not worth it. You can play the best public course in the area (Annbriar) for $77 on the weekend.

Let me start with the issues of the golf course.

We spent our entire round trying to find the tee markers we were playing. All tee markers are painted white on the ends of a small tree limb, with only a narrow ring of color to show each tee color. You must get out of your cart and walk on the tee to see if you have the correct tee box. It is totally ridiculous and so frustrating.

The weekend green fees of $87 is way too high. The best course in the area is Annbriar and their weekend fee is $77.

On the par 14, the trees & brush are overgrown in the ravine, ruining the view of the green.

They have signs were new sod has been laid and telling every one not to walk on the sod. You need stakes and rope to mark these areas to keep golfers off these areas. Signs do not work.

The good things about the course.

The carts have a new GPS. It gives you yardage to the pin. The arrows and colors of the greens, is too much information and you can't understand it.

They have placed new sod on the 12th tee, to the right of the 14th green and at the end the 15th fairway. However, there are numerous other areas on the 15th
fairway that still need attention.

The greens have not been aerated yet. Overall, the course is in decent shape.

I would not play Far Oaks on the weekend. Main reasons are it is too expensive and the tee marker fiasco.

Spencer T. Olin just opened up again in mid-August, after a large sinkhole developed on a soccer field, just west of the 10th hole. It has been closed since late June (nearly 2 1/2 months), as they investigated the area to ensure it was safe to play.

Spencer T. Olin is one of my favorite courses to play in the St. Louis metro area. The weekday senior rate of $38 is the best you can get on this upscale golf course.

Overall, the condition of the course was very good. Only exceptions were the greens were on the slow side. The 4th and 13th greens had some bad areas. The pace of play was slow - a 5-hour round. The rough was really high, which slowed play because it was difficult to find your ball.

The course has decided to change the nines to their original layout. So, the first hole is the par 5, on the north side of the parking lot

I love Annbriar but here are some things that show they are not paying attention to the small things.

On the front nine, the tee markers were not placed back on the tees after mowing. On the very 1st tee, there is a patch of no grass and it was a mud puddle from the watering. The mowing staff ran right through it and left tracks on the first tee. The fairways have a weed problem in spots and some places have dirt areas. Fairways 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15. 16th tee is in bad shape.

The greens were excellent. Only issue was the back right of green #2 looked burnt.

They do not have enough workers in the restuarant. It used to be a pleasure to have a bite to eat after the round in their restaurant - but this is no longer the case.

Annbriar is still worth playing, however, it is no longer a 5-star golf course.

Stonewolf was made some changes and the course is worth playing again. The first thing you will notice is how nice the tees are. The second thing is the overall improvement of the greens. They are not perfect but are much improved.

The weekday senior rate of $40 is one of the best. The last time I played, the fairway on hole 12 was not good. The fairway on hole 14, was mostly dirt by the large fairway bunker. They have made significant changes to both fairways with laying sod in the bad areas.

They still have drainage issues in the fairways on holes 1 & 5. The greens are overwatered and make muddy ball marks on the greens. The greens tend to have a lot of smudge marks on them and show foot traffic with the soft greens. The green on hole 7 is the most stressed. It sits down in a valley and doesn't get much air.

Give Stonewolf a try if you haven't played there in a while.

Here is what is GOOD about the Missouri Bluffs.

Excellent course and layout. Greens are good. Fairways are generally good. $52 senior rate on a weekday. Fairways of 15 & 16, were the best I've ever seen them.

Here is what is BAD about the Missouri Bluffs.

A new starter. Same military style personality. Need more of a friendlier disposition. The white tees are AWFUL. Some of the worse you will play this year. Weeds, clumps of other grasses, some mostly dirt. The worse ones were 3, 8, 11, 15 & 16. On the 15 tee, we could not get a tee in the ground. Some fairways had rough areas. Holes 4, 5, 12, 13. Bunker on 6 had rocks in it. Greens are good but overwatered. Your ball mark makes quite a muddy mess. Lot of old repaired ball mark smudges on the green surface.

I would still recommend the Missouri Bluffs at a weekday senior rate of $52. Not the higher weekend rate. I think the design, course layout and greens, make it a place you want to play.

I have not played Annbriar in 5 months. Usually Annbriar is a automatic 5-star course but not this time. I was slightly disappointed in what I experienced. The course has an issue with a weed (I think it might be goosegrass). It has invaded many of the tee boxes and is in some of the fairways. Looks like they are trying to kill it on some of the tee boxes but it really ruins the aesthetics of the course. They also mowed the taller grass behind the 18th green and the dried, brown cut grass looks awful. The service in the restuarant has slipped too. We had to get someone's attention to be waited on.

As far as the greens - they are perfect. For the quality and design of the course, the $77 weekend rate is good also. The course has new rakes which have bristle hairs on the end to them, that really helps smooth out the sand. The staff at Annbriar are always friendly.

There is now a memorial bench and picture of William Noble (original owner) near the clubhouse, who passed away last year.

On the 11th hole, it appears the tree which was just left of the creek off the tee, has been cut down. Really opens up the hole even more. On right side of hole 17, another 4 trees cut down. I guess to help with airflow.

I've always thought the Woodlands 9 holes is one of the most picturesque nines in the area. The Prairie is a much harder nine with the wind becoming more of a factor. However, with a weekend rate of nearly $81, there are much better choices to play. Especially, after I detail the issues with the conditions of Tapawingo.

You can play the the best course in the St. Louis metro area for $77 (Annbriar). You can play another outstanding course, Gateway National for $6 more. The conditions of Gateway National are so much better than Tapawingo. Other courses that have a better weekend price and better conditions are Stonewolf & Spencer T. Olin.

Place of play was horrendous. Close to a 5:15 hour round. Two groups on most tees. No ranger on the course to improve this.

Conditions of the course. Some of the tee boxes are awful. Woodlands 6 & 9 were the worst. There were others that weren't used during our round because they were even worse. Woodlands 3 & 7.

There were many bunkers with large rocks in the bunkers. Some with many weeds in them. Prairie holes 4, 7 & 9.

The greens were overwatered. Making huge ball marks. The greens actually looked a little fuzzy from all the footprints but putted fine.

Several fringes were in rough shape and many had crabgrass taking over.

Like I said, there are better conditioned courses to play at a better price.