DarkHorse Golf Club

Greens a bit choppy. Lots of ball marks. Course is clearly undergoing new management and it's looking and playing great.

Excellent layout that is very challenging. Pace of play was a bit slow (rookies playing a hard course). Greens were very wet and I don’t understand why. Had 2 balls plug on the greens. Still enjoyed my time out there though.

There’s no denying that Darkhorse is one of the best public courses in the area. There’s a sheltered and outdoor range with top tracer tech to help you dial in your game which, besides Haggin oaks, is the only course boasting such technology. From tee box to pin, the course conditions are regularly 8/10 or 9/10. The white sanded bunkers are the real treat, though you might find it unfortunate to be in a bunker, these are heavenly soft and well manicured bunkers. The only thing keeping this course from a 5 star is the lack of a clubhouse, the parking lot and the inability to bring the carts to your car… all of which have little to do with golf. Getting started may be a little clumsy, but once your out there, it’s quickly forgotten.

This was a fun course. Its location makes it a bit of a slog to reach- it is near Lake of the Pines outside of Auburn, and is probably an hour's drive from North Suburban Sacramento. But because the course was so fun, I could see coming to play it again, as an occasional part of my rotation.

The carts are necessary, as the course is hilly and the distance between greens and tees is somewhat long in many cases. The carts do have a system that prevents the carts from entering restricted areas. This was a little too zealously applied, and I too frequently had to back out of restricted areas. That said, the gps locator and course screen helped know how to play some holes.

I would do this again!

This is one of my favorite courses in the Tri-County area.

The course is always in good condition and the layout is challenging, especially from the black tees.

A few issues I have with the current staff and policies are as follows,

- Upon checking my female companion was required to allow Dark Horse staff to inspect (view contents) of her purse. My golf bag did not require an inspection nor did other golfers upon check in.

- GPS on golf carts are extremely restrictive. I routinely found my cart in 'restricted zones' which cause the cart to move at a snails pace until you've left the zone. This happened in several locations while wheels of the cart are in the fairway. Carts are also not allowed near the parking lot. I am older and have a disability and was not allowed to take cart to the parking lot to get or return my golf bag. I chose not disclose my disability as it's personal information and I don't believe I should be required to.

Again, the course has a great layout and is well kept year round. Pace of play was pretty good. My group finished 18 holes 10 min behind the recommended pace of play.

This was the worst experience at a golf course to date. Prior to teeing off the the course staff was rude to people checking in for their tee times. When I booked online our rate was $69/per golfer but at the course they charged us $79/per golfer and they wouldn’t honor the online rate.

It was a hot day so I had a mini cooler with water and Gatorade to help stay hydrated throughout the round. The owner of the golf course yelled at me for trying to bring the mini cooler on the course even though I showed him there was no alcohol in the cooler. To make things worse they didn’t have a cart girl working during our who round to be able to purchase drinks from. They did have 2 holes that had water jugs on them but there was spiders floating around in there so drink at your own risk.

They recently got new golf carts that you can’t drive in the parking lot so you will need to carry your golf to and from the cart check-in/drop off area. The carts have screens in them which seemed pretty cool except they send you approximately 10 notifications per hole which can be pretty distracting.

The greens and tee boxes were in pretty bad shape and the fairways were flooded from overwatering. Almost all the greens haven’t been manicured so most putts are bouncing on the way to the hole.

Even after all that my group was in pretty good spirits until the owner of the course starting yelling at my group from the tee box while we were putting on the green to let the group behind us hit up on us. I’ve never seen anything like it at any course. We pulled up to a par 3 while the group in front of us was teeing off and had to wait approximately 5-7 minutes for them to finish the hole before we could tee off. After we tee’d off and went to the green to putt, in the meantime the group behind us pulled up as well as the owner of the course. The owner began yelling at us “let this group hit up on you to help speed up play”. We looked over at the next tee box and the group in front of us hadn’t even tee’d off yet so we told him no that cannot hit up on us. There was nowhere for us to go and we had to wait at every hole for the group in front of us before we could continue play. There was also a group in front of them so it looked like it was just jammed up due to the course overbooking tee times. We spoke with another group on the course that said the owner was pressuring them to skip holes so it wouldn’t be backed up.

Overall the only thing I liked about our experience was the course layout. The owners rudeness and unprofessionalism as well as overcharging from what the online rate was is enough for me to never return to this course again.

If you like to be yelled by the owner to have people hit up on you or pressure you into skipping holes because they overbooked then this course is for you. Also, if you can go the whole round without hydration or eating because there is only a hotdog stand at the turn then you’ll have a great experience at Darkhorse.

There is a longer story here - but from our experience, the staff was rude. Won’t be going back and will tell everyone i know. It was not good:

The GPS restrictions on the carts are horrible. We would get stopped in the middle of the fairway, no where near “restricted zones”. Mentioned it to the staff and he could have cared less. It took at least 25 extra minutes to play the course because of the stopping and starting of the carts. I would not go back and play the course until this is resolved. Oh, and a trash can or two on the golf course wouldn’t hurt either.

Irrigation a little uneven....some very wet spots, some araes around greens dying....otherwise beatiful!

Great practice facilities, new carts, fabulous hot dogs!!!!

The course has consistently improved over the last few years. Staff was great.

This course used to be great back in 2004-2008. The owner and GM aren’t friendly at all. Greens are beat up, fairways are wet. Used to enjoy this course but the lack of amenities, unwelcoming staff, and course conditions will keep me from coming back. The Ridge in Auburn is a much nicer course.

Overall average course with great surroundings but could have been better informed on no clubhouse and little drinks and no food until hotdogs stand showed up tee boxes very spongee

The staff at the check in was rude, inconsiderate, and refused to help us. We went to the check in as we were making the turn and looking for something to drink and I walked up and another player in my party was having difficulty with the staff, and I just walked up and I was told by the person that "he's frustrated because we aren't making up our mind". Remember, I just walked up - this was my first impression. I looked at the guy - and said, that was rude as I just walked up. I grabbed my drink and left. Apparently, this went on more with my other party and when we were leaving I said to the GM(apparently this person was the GM???) that he was rude to me and I won't be coming back. I later heard from my party that he told them that it "wasn't his job" - so the GM of the course tells clients that it's not his job to help provide them drinks? Really. Won't be going back which is unfortunate as the course is fun to play.

Having played this course periodically since 2004 it has definitely seen its ups and downs. The layout has always been fantastic but the pace of play is poor with no marshall. Amenities are limited due to the lack of a clubhouse. Another small pet peeve is that they won’t let you take a cart to the parking lot. Therefore if you’ve got some physical limitations (bad knees) it makes schlepping your own clubs a little annoying.