Monarch Bay Golf Club - Tony Lema Course

Plays harder than the slope would indicate, great views of San Francisco and bay area. Saw a skate that got caught in the channel when the tide went out, don't think it survived the sun.
Good double deck driving range with good mats, no grass to hit off. Good place to play on hot days, breezy. Gets alot of play ,so it can be a little slow. Marshalls patrol.

Played early (6:30 am) and the weather was calm and warm. Always enjoy this links course as I live nearby and have played it since it days as Tony Lima. The greens were punched a couple of weeks back but were still running quick. Nice thing is M.B. has been aerating half their greens at a time for a number of years so you play a round and the flags are placed on the non-aerated portion of the greens.
Overall the course was in good condition and I think in a few months it will be excellent.

This course was a total challenge, but if you know the architect, then you know what to expect. Loved it, even though it kicked our behinds. Not for the beginner or hack. You will be leaving a ball or two behind, so expect to come with extras.

Played in a Sat afternoon. Take two clubs extra once the wind picks up. Well maintained course w friendly staff. No cart girl, even on weekend?,,, fairways in great shape, greens had been punched a few weeks prior, still a bit bumby. Pace of play was good. Would recommend.

I booked a tee time on Saturday morning for $60 w/ Cart. I felt this was a good deal for a premium morning tee time. The course is well maintained and the staff was very affable. The greens were punched earlier in the month and have filled out beautifully. They are soft and straight in the morning, hard and fast in the afternoon. Monarch Bay Tony Lema is not quite a scottish style links course although there are many deep greenside bunkers and most holes have fairway bunkers. The rough is tall grass & fescu and is not forgiving. I prefer Monarch Bay over Metropolitan Links, which is a similar course & right down the street.

Excellent round of golf at Tony Lema/Monarch Bay...the course was playing well with good bounce and roll on the fairways. We experienced little wait times, with no pressure from other groups behind our group. They have done an excellent job punching the greens...only half the green was punched...with the pin in the 'un-punched' half of the green, with firm and fast play. Hey, respect the sand traps...they can offer a lesson if not played correctly.

I love this golf course...I will go back a million times.

Rich
15 handicap

My golf buddy and I selected the Tony Lema course at Monarch Bay as our club is playing a tournament there later this year.
The early morning start was gorgeous and with the San Francisco Bay lapping nearby, it is quite pretty.

Overall, the course was in good shape with some bald spots in the fairways. The greens were in decent shape with 50% of each green having been recently aerified. The portion that had grown in was in very good condition. Bunkers had nice sand in them and the rough was rough... In some cases, links style rough.

As long as you can hit the ball straight and know how to play in the wind, this course can be fun. As the starter advised, "take an extra club." That advice held us in good stead all round long.... Moist air, winds of soft conditions, you need more distance here.

Men's club tournament held up play. Marshal acknowledged the problem and issued warnings, but nothing seemed to help. Our round was about 5:15. Course conditions: front half of each green had been punched the week prior, and there were several noticeable bare spots which needed attendtion. GM did not offer any discount or raincheck.

Great location and for less than $30 you can't beat the price. Course was well maintained, true greens, nice tee boxes and fairways in good shape. I got paired up with 3 awesome local guys which made my experience that much better. I would play here again when I am in the area and would recommend this course especially when it is less then $30 to play!

Monarch Bay is a fun course and has excellent views of San Francisco because the course borders the San Francisco Bay. Prices are very good. Condition of the course is good and consistent. They only aerate half of the greens at a time so you playing time on punched greens is limited. Practice facilities are good because they have a good bunker and good chipping green. Also the putting green is very nice and is speed is very close to the greens on the course. Range is mats.

The course is links style course with lots of bunkers and deep rough if you don't keep it in play. The course's main defense is the wind. The wind is usually present and can get up to 20-30 mph because of the exposure to San Francisco Bay. When the wind is up, the course plays 200-300 yards longer than scorecard so keeping the ball under the wind is definitely valued. The course plays significantly easier when the wind is down.

A fun, grip-it-n-rip-it course that allows for some mistakes off the tee. Still challenging in parts, good number of bunkers to protect hole locations. Greens were recently punched but still decent. Overall a good course to get out with some buddies and have a good time.

A lot of good points, namely fairly wide open, interesting holes, wind challenging in the afternoon, and plays long. Great value on Sunday afternoon, pace of play was very good considering.

A few holes in Back 9 can be really windy, and say 2 or 3 nearly unplayable if it whips out there and turns your ball into a frizbee. Ball won't hold on greens and moves in the wind.

Those holes also have section on fairway and esp on greens that if the ball falls off you will hardly ever find it again.

The grass could be in better condition.

Beautiful views.

A nice and enjoyable golf course, right amount of challenges, good greens.

It should not take 5:15 minutes to play a round of golf that starts at 8:45AM, period.

This course would benefit more than just about any other in the Bay Area from the new-ish "Tee It Forward" program. Most of the people there have no business playing from any tee box further back than the white (middle) tees, including the 3-some I was paired with that hit about 5 fairways between them all day and never drove the ball over 220 yds. Dear course operator - PUT THE BLACK, BLUE & GOLD TEE MARKERS AWAY ! Sincerely, a grateful customer.

Course was in pretty good condition, lots of dormant grass this time of year, greens were pretty stellar.

Several of the holes are link-style, not too penalizing and fun to play. Nice variety of holes.

Monarch is always a fun play. Even though the course struggles to keep tees/fairways in the greatest of shapes, the features that matter always seem to be stellar, namely greens and bunkers. For the money, I don't know that there is a better value in the bay area. My golfnow rate of $25 dollars for an afternoon round was spectacular considering the pristine weather and the fact that you'll be hardpressed to find anywhere in the bay area where you can have a view like you do from the course and pay such a pittance. All in all, Monarch Bay on a sunny day guarantees you 3 things: True greens, great views, and an overall fun day.

The course was in horrible condition.ten dollars would have been a fair price.

Good links course, decently well maintained (one fairway was a bit shaggy when I played), and really good bang for your buck here compared to other places. I don't actively seek Monarch Bay tee times, but would be happy to play here as the price is always right.

I've played this course number of times in many years. Expect 5+hr/round. Our tee time was noon but have to play the front 9 twice to get 18 holes in. When it rains, avoid this course. Overall maintenance is poor. Marshall doesn't do their job. Avoid if you can.