Monarch Bay Golf Club - Tony Lema Course

The fairways are in horrible condition. If you hit a shot to the middle of the fairway, don’t expect to find your ball on grass. If I ever play this course again, I’ll bring a small 2X2 hitting mat. To be fair, the greens are in good condition, if only players would bother to fix their ball marks. Pace of play was 5 hours +.

I wished the greens were as smooth and fast as the practice green. I didn’t get my wish. The actual greens were softer and slower.

The bunkers were very good. The tee boxes were patchy and uneven.

Not a bad golf course. The only complaint I have is the group behind us that did not have patience and would play right at us. Even when waiting for the group in front of us to finish on the green or leave their approach shot we were told by the group behind us to "hurry up". Had another group ahead of us that picked up my golf ball and never put it back in the same spot and stole it. I do not knownif thats how the regular's play at this golf course but after those incidents my attitude towards the rest of the round killed my game as all I was thinking about is hurrying up and hoping I don't get my golf balls stolen. Anyway, greens are challenging and the ammentities from the range to the clubhouse are excellent.

Played during lull in rain. Sloppy in fairways was expected. Overall enjoyed round with only 1 lost ball due to rabbit hole. Not inclined to reach down under. Putting pretty good as all were firm.

Course is in decent shape. Need work on fairways. There are too many bald spots with dirt/mud. They have cut back some. “Trouble” rough area which makes the course easier to play.

Greens are in decent shape and shots will hold the green if hit properly.

Tee boxes also need work. Brown spots as well as uneven lies. The tee boxes should be flat and have grass

A couple tee boxes were uneven. Fairways and rough have seen better days but the greens were fantastic. Pace was slow. I think they set people up 8 minutes apart so the round lasted almost five hours. Don’t play this course after 3, the wind can be brutal

Low handicaper. Like this course as they take good care of their greens. Fun layout open and not a lot of trouble. Lots of holes on the water with awesome views of sf. Always lots of people on the course so expect a 4:30 round fun public course what is expected. Staff is friendly. Tee boxes fairways and bunkers need more put into them but definitely worth playing if a hot deal is ever available.

Real fun course with some beautiful views. Although it had rained the night before the course was still in good shape and greens were well kept. Can’t wait to play in better weather.

I use to play a lot of golf, with a lot of connections that got me on a lot of really good courses (private and public), mostly when I lived in Southern California; but, then I got a corporate job 😳 which really cut into that playing time (from 2-3 times a week to maybe 8-10 times in the past 10+ yrs, if even that). Of course, I went from shooting in the mid to high 80s, to, right now hovering around 100. But man, I love playing golf, and I am hoping to start playing a lot more again.

And what does that have to do with the price of eggs, you ask? Well in reviewing this course, I just want to make it clear that it would be hard for me to give a perfect rating with the experiences I've had, however, that said, I am not a golf snob and this course is a really fun course to play on, it just doesn't look like the pictures (as is the case for many).

I played at this course probably 15 years ago, I'm guessing, and I don't know if it was brand new or remodeled, or just the right time of year, but it was in immaculate shape, and really did look like the pictures.

We had a 2:15 tee time which gave us about 3 hours of playing time before it would be too dark, we only made it to 13th hole, it was a Sunday and it was crowded, sucks, but to be expected. I am usually a fast golfer and play with others alike, so getting in 18 in 3 hours is/was the norm for me/us, although I know you probably need to consider 4 hours in most cases (I still don't think that would have been enough for us to complete the round).

The greens seemed in good shape, fairways were a little beat up, just a little; but aside from the condition and the traffic on the course, I'd still wholeheartedly recommend it.