Grayson Valley Country Club

I have been critical of GVCC in the past, but this is the best it has been since I’ve been playing it. They have finally figured out the green height and putting here is now fun.

Beyond the greens, the fairways, tee boxes and rough (though sticky, thick Bermuda) were all terrific. They’ve made an amazing transformation with the conditioning of the course and I can only hope they continue to groom the course as it played today.

Greens were extremely quick. You will pay the price for being above the hole here now.

Fantastic job GVCC staff.

Greens have improved since my last visit. Verticutting them has been a plus and the speed of the greens have improved. Rest of the course was immaculate. Fairways were superb.

Grayson Valley continues to make great strides visually.

The course was in immaculate shape. Fairways were excellent and rough was super thick. Balls sank right to the bottom of the Bermuda rough.

It is a fun layout as well, with some unique and challenging holes.

The greens, however, continue to hamstring any momentum the club has. The Bermuda greens are not cut to a proper height. They are too long for the graininess of the greens. Speed is a continuous issue putting here. They are extremely slow and the exaggerated putting stroke it takes to get the ball to the hole interferes with keeping the ball on line. I would seriously have to experiment with different lofted putters in order to find one that agrees with the greens if I were a member.

That is my only constructive criticism. Everything else is very pleasant about the club.

It's been roughly five months since my last visit here, and the club is continuing to migrate in the right direction. The poa in the greens is gone. Major difference from last time! Also, the fairways were lush, much better than last time. Greens still a little slow for my taste, but didn't detract from the round. I really liked the tree/brush clearing occurring throughout, particularly on holes 5 and 6. It changed the holes aesthetically, as well as visually, and I like it better. There is a buzz around the membership here. They effuse positivity with the club's direction moving forward. The bunker renovation is complete. A new sprinkler system is being implemented and various tee boxes are being redone. As I have said before, the bones of this course are very good. Now the infrastructure and conditioning is starting to get a similar level. I think this could be the makings for a very good mid-range private club.

Grayson Valley is a club that is trying to find its identity. This has been an old-line country club northeast of town that has historically catered to the old-line membership. Today, however, those members are increasingly departing and the club is trying to cater to a younger membership. The problem is that it is in a bit of limbo between the two. As a result, the course's conditioning has suffered. The knock on GVCC for years is that the greens were not cut to the correct height, resulting in hairy, molasses-slow greens. While it appears, after today, that the club has decided to keep the Bermuda greens at a good, playable speed, poa annua has crept in on several of the greens. More on that in a moment. What GVCC has going for it is that the course has great bones. The routing is excellent and the holes have old-school, parkland character. There is an abundance of elevation change. The Club recently renovated all of the bunkers and the sod that borders them. This is an excellent upgrade and may be a sign of things to come in the future here. The fairways were a bit thin and showed signs of a lot of standing water from recent rains. As for the greens, the aforementioned poa annua that had inundated the practice green and the 18th green had me concerned. The first and second holes were equally as bad. However, from there on, the poa patches were sporadic and it wasn't much of an issue. The Club also houses an excellent range and practice area. Bottom line, though, the course was a bit lacking for the $50 guest fee. This has the makings of an excellent course, and excellent club. They appear to be going in the right direction and hopefully will continue to identify what kind of course the membership desires.