Monarch Bay Golf Club - Tony Lema Course

Monarch Bay is an excellent course. The greens were in excellent condition, rolling smooth and fairly quick, the fairways and rough were in great shape and the tee boxes were level throughout. The sand-traps were fairly hard but that was the only part of course not in great condition.

The afternoon became windy, normal being the location is right on the San Francisco Bay. Enjoyed the round and the Fox that came up to us at the 12th tee box was very cool as well.

Holes #12-17 constitute one of the finer stretches of public golf found anywhere, but the pace of play at Monarch is glacial, even early in the morning. Greens roll well, conditions are good, staff is consistently helpful and good-natured, and they've cut down what used to be knee high rough (probably to speed up play but it hasn't helped), but too many of the clientele are clueless about keeping up and the course does very little to facilitate steady movement. A shame, because it's otherwise a great value. I've taken to playing Metro a mile up Doolittle instead, where they have rangers and golfers who get it.

In a good weather this course is exellent place to play specially in the morning until 11 AM .When the winds kick in is not a very good place to play anymore or you have to make a lots of adjustment.

Weather was great and the course was generally in good shape, some damage from the frost a couple of weeks ago on the fairways. Most holes are on the long side and you need to hit your drives over 200 yards to have a good chance at par on most holes. As with all links courses there were lots of bunkers around the greens.

One unique feature of this course is that several red foxes are present on the course and will sample your food if you leave it out on the cart while putting.

They are reseeding the rough area(why I don't know) but there areas where they do not want you to drive cart in rough area. Course was exceptionally wet in areas(again why I don't know) with no rain recently. I would wait to play this course any time soon.

This is a decent course. The greens are fairly well maintained, but the condition of the fairways can be hit or miss. The course is not too difficult, but can prove challenging when the wind really picks up. The pace of play isn't too bad during the week. There are some nice views of the Bay on a few holes. Beware, this course is a goose poo minefield. If you're careful, you can avoid most of it. But, if you don't watch where you walk, expect it to be caked onto your shoes.

Pros: Reasonably Priced, Proximity to SF
Cons: Inconsistent course conditions, Goose Poo Everywhere

Stay away from Monarch Bay for the time being. Demoralizing to play decent and miss 10-12 putts solely because of aerated greens - something they failed to mention when booking a tee-time. I realize it's late in the golf season but still... would have been nice to know what we were getting ourselves into.

Fantastic first experience, though I only had one birdie.

First off this course is very long, so club selection is very important. for people who tend to slice off of the tee I would recommend playing it safe on this course because you can and will lose balls out here. I would also call this course intermediate because while there are almost no elevation changes or blind shots, it is a very long course and requires you to hit the ball straight. Awesome view of the city as well as the bay, and the weather here is almost always cool and brisk. It can get a bit windy, but it is manageable. For the price it can't be beat.

Great 360 degree views. Greens in great shape. But, tee box markers were not in place a some holes and some of the course maintenance staff are clueless relative to getting out of the way and being respectful (quiet) when someone is preparing to hit. This is third time this has been an issue so I mention it in hopes course management will address it.

We had perfect weather with a slight wind off the bay. The course is well bunkered and very challenging from all of the teeing areas. It just was a lot of fun.

I have been playing this course for years and you could always count on seeing a fox or two during a round. Over the years these foxes have been becoming less afraid of people as they are constantly being fed. Today the course is over taken by the foxes! I must have seen at least 10+ over the round. They try and steal your food, cell phone etc. and do not fear humans. Worse is that they are now running in small packs - this is going to equate to a dangerous situation soon. Trap them and get them out of there - I will probably never play there again because of this.

The instructors of junior players should be instructed to show
qolf etiquette to other golfers on the course. They blocked us for
quite long.

Fun layout, kind of links like.. but the pace of play is AWFUL. So slow it took 3 hours to play 9 holes before I gave up. 3-4 groups on every hole, hacking up the place like they've never touched a club before. First time I played here it was cold and windy so it was pretty empty and still took almost 5 hours. If you can get the first tee time of the day you'll love it otherwise STAY AWAY!

always play this one one tee forward the first time. White tees are a challenge for any level of play, blues and blacks require top level skills. Great shape always

I have only played here twice, but in general I like the course. It is basically two completely different layouts. Five holes are more common: tree-lined and flat, but once you get over the creek, the course changes to something like a links course. I say something like, because it is not really built to allow rolling balls onto the green and the fairways do not run. In fact, most of our drives just sat where they landed. The nearly constant wind also makes this a challenge. You will need to club up one or two clubs on several holes. Some of the greens are in poor shape due to some mixed grass issues, but they are a minority. No bev carts on weekdays, no coolers on carts, and food service is a bit slow if you are trying to keep your place at the turn. I heard there was a phone to call-in, but never saw it.

It took 5 hours to finish 18 holes. Course is well maintained but delay and backup was the worst I have ever had. The group before us was full of beginners and barely hit the ball but used champion tee!! Nobody came up to keep the pace of play to acceptable level. It really needs serious attentions to the pace of play. Otherwise, the course itself was great.

starter and pro shop staff are unorganized. Course was well taken care of, but play was slow

I always look forward to playing Monarch (Tony Lema - 18 hole). The course challenges your long ball ability and the greens are always in great shape. Wind will always play a factor, being on the coast and all. Usually do not get caught up in slow play here and staff is always friendly. Range and pitching area are great as well.

The only trouble - Watch out for the resident family of foxes. They are sly (as a fox). They are quite accustomed to people, will walk right up to you, and then your cart searching for snack, keys, wallets - whatever them deem interesting and run off with it. TIP; keep things in your bag/pockets and otherwise enjoy the beautiful surroundings!!!

The course is in nice shape for July. Fairways are more green than other local couses, green are nice.