Monarch Bay Golf Club - Tony Lema Course

Going from the front 9 to the back 9, I stopped in to get a quick bite to go, and was told (@ 12:28 pm, mind you), they were out of HOT DOGS .. Really? I asked for any pre-made sandwiches, and was told there wasn't any ... Needless to say, I was disappointed! And hungry .. hmmm

This course is a lot of fun. I’ve played here a lot and I always enjoy playing here. Not many obstacles to deal like mountainous hills and excessive trees yet still challenging with tricky greens and long par 3s. The lack of obstacles allows me to relax because I’m not worried to much about a horrific lie but the rough affects your shot enough to strive for a fairway. Finally, there is a consistent wind from the sea that will either help or hurt you but this comes from a picturesque location next to the Pacific Ocean and on a clear day, you can get a spectacular view of the San Francisco skyline from a majority of the course. It is a fantastic golf course I highly recommend to everyone. (Side note for local golfers close enough to here, becoming a member at this course comes with nice perks like a free bucket of balls everyday and a free beer for your round before 2pm and it’s very inexpensive to be a club member. I think it’s worth it.)

Great value- senior walking $36- course conditions were good- a few wet spots but nothing too bad- great greens- smooth and

fast-played from all the way back- a

challenge for sure- will be back

Course was in great shape considering all the rain. Will look forward to playing there again.

Between the 11th green & the 12th tee box, the golf carts stopped running .. I was able to get mine running and to continue playing .. This also happened between the 12th green & the 13th tee box .. Other golfers experienced the same issues .. I brought this up to the front desk in the club house ...

Pace of play was a little slow ..Staff is AWESOME! Course was beautiful ...

This is a challenging course that could be great with a few simple fixes. First, the tee boxes need significant work. They are very uneven making it difficult to find a firm stance or hit a clean drive. Second, signage giving direction to the next hole or, at times, identifying the hole, is sorely lacking. Third, the carts have been ‘upgraded’ with GPS in such a way that assists course management but interferes with the game. The upgrade does not include a screen to show you course layout and distance to the flag. Instead, it locks the cart up at random distances from the green requiring you to back the cart up beyond a line marked by two yellow stakes, one or both of which you may not be able to see from your current position. A screen giving course layout, distance to flag and a warning of approach to the lock-up point would serve management’s purpose while providing a benefit to players instead of aggravation!

Other than that, as I said earlier, it is a challenging course. The greens and fairways are in great shape. I indicated that I would recommend the course but only with a warning about the issues noted above.