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Rating Index Rating
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3.7
301 Reviews (301)
5 Stars
72
4 Stars
107
3 Stars
58
2 Stars
36
1 Stars
28
Conditions
3.4
Value
3.6
Layout
4.2
Friendliness
4.5
Pace
4.3
Amenities
3.6
70.4%
Recommend this course
193 out of 301 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.4
12 Reviews (12)
5 Stars
5
4 Stars
7
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.4
Value
4.4
Layout
4.7
Pace
4.7
Amenities
4.2
StaffFriendliness
4.9
100.0%
Recommend this course
12 out of 12 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.0
29 Reviews (29)
5 Stars
10
4 Stars
13
3 Stars
3
2 Stars
2
1 Stars
1
Conditions
3.8
Value
3.9
Layout
4.6
Pace
4.6
Amenities
3.9
StaffFriendliness
4.6
86.2%
Recommend this course
25 out of 29 reviews
Read Reviews
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AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
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Course Highlights
The accommodating staff consistently impresses golfers, from flexible booking changes to patient, helpful service throughout the round. The course layout stands out, with a notably challenging forest-lined back nine that rewards experienced players.

About

Holes 18
Type Resort
Style Links
Par 72
Length 6820 yards
Slope 140
Rating 73.0

Northstar California Golf Course has a unique layout that was seamlessly integrated with the rugged, wooded terrain of Tahoe. The front nine plays through a scenic, rolling valley while the back nine plays through the towering pines of the forest. The first nine holes have a classic links layout and the back nine demands precision with its tree-lined fairways and small greens. Native vegetation and scenic water hazards are scattered throughout the golf course. Strategically placed sand bunkers add another challenging element. The signature hole at Northstar California Golf Course is the par-3 15th, which requires a shot over a creek to a small green.

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Northstar California Golf Course
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Course Details

Year Built 1974
Fairways Blue Grass
Greens Blue Grass
Golf Season May - October
Architect Robert Muir Graves (1974)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - $25
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Discover Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No

Food & Beverage

Food & Beverage

Lodging

Lodging Available

Available Activities

Swimming, Billiards
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Reviews

3.7
301 Reviews (301)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 12
Patio Dining 9
19th Hole Scenic Views 6
Course Challenges Include:
Narrow Fairways 19
Forced Carries 18
Elevation Changes 16
This course/club is great for:
Wildlife/ Scenic Views 14
Advanced Golfers 11
Locals 8
This Course's Location is:
At a Resort 18
Worth the Drive 15
Near Local Attractions 11

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 16
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

ESCAPE THE HEAT

nice course-good condition--played it to escape valley heat--back 9 more difficult--greens a little slow and hard to read but overall well worth playing--nice patio too

Conditions Good
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather

TWO DISTINCT NINES

Front nine more open than the claustrophic back nine. Trees and elevation changes are challenging on the back nine. Great, friendly staff. Would play again but from the white tees.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Average weather
Used cart

Great course not so on the managment

They must have over booked, I felt like I was being pushed , We finished the 18 in 3:15 hrs but were constantly being rushed by the management. They need to forget about the money and make it a more fun time.

Conditions Good
Value Poor
Friendliness Poor
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Default User Avatar
Commented on 05/14/2015

Golfers should disregard this review. oldmandave, if you played in 3:15 ? there is no reason you were pushed. I don't think that would happen. Were people waiting behind you? Sounds like sour grapes- no one likes to be told they are slow-especially the SLOW players. In my experience the staff is very friendly.

Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

Joevcal

This is a fun course, but the back nine has several holes that require local knowledge.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Poor weather
Used cart

Northstar is a great venue!

Played a rain shortened 18 holes. Had to stop after 8 and go to club house. Waited over an hour to finish 9 and call it a day. Staff was excellent, friendly, and very helpful. They put our clubs in out of the rain while we had hot chocolate and coffee waiting out the storm. Great place and great staff.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Fun round

This was my first time playing this course and I was very surprised. The course was in great shape and greens were rolling nicely. Would even put it up there close to a Greys Crossing/Greenwood quality course. 45$ twilight round is a great deal

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

CAUTION! VERY SLOW GREENS AHEAD

I live in Reno and have played Northstar before. Never before were the greens so slow. It made putting a drag and nothing to look forward to. Usually on most sloped greens you want to be below the hole with your approach shot. After a few holes of blasting putts we figured better to be above the hole and use the gravity assist. Even then putts were left short of the hole. Laughable!

Conditions Good
Value Poor
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Nice fun track

I enjoyed the elevation changes. The back nine is where it's at. I like the way the ball carries up here. Good time.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Average weather
Used cart

A tale of two nines

Great course esp. Because front and back nine are completely different. Front is open meadow; back is through the forest. Only issue was that greens were silly slow. Played 36 it was so much fun.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

course was in great shape

Only complaint was the greens were very slow. They said they had rain recently. However the ground was not soft and the sand in the bunkers was fine. Is a fun course , with the distinct changes between the front and back 9's.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Fun course and good value

Can't beat the value especially for a twilight round.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 25+
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

Northstar

Course was in excellent shape, better than most courses in the bay area. tight fairways 2nd nine with trees kept things quite interesting. many holes can't see green from tee box, hence need to play course to get the drift of where to land the ball. Quite challenging but great fun.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Poor weather
Used cart

Rain made it a challenge

Nice course. It rained most of our round and made play slow. Still enjoyed the course, it has plenty of challenges. If you don't hit them straight, bring plenty of balls.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 3
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Walked

Excellent Time

I usually play this course three times on my summer visits to Tahoe and did so last week. If anything, the course was in the best shape I can remember. Don't believe all the talk about the back side being more challenging, however. The meadow front nine plays longer, has more rough and is more open to the elements. It scores about two strokes tougher for me.

The back side is a wonderful trek through the forest with very gettable holes if you can keep the ball in front of you. The last six holes are the best string of holes on any course in California in my opinion. Instead of forking over $250 for Edgewood or $200 for Coyote Moon, go pay $70 at Northstar and have a nice dinner on the lake. You will feel a lot better about yourself. The clubhouse is very cool at Northstar too with some nice selection of draft beers after the round.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 25+
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

Beautiful and Friendly

We played 27 holes on a beautiful day. The staff was great (one of the cart guys gave us an egg carton of found balls) and the course was in beautiful shape. Be aware this is like playing two different courses; the front 9 is wide open and easy. The back 9 is in the woods, narrow and there are blind shots. We got a $39 rate on golf now so I rated the value as excellant. At the standard rate it's still a pretty good deal comapred to ANYTHING at Lake Tahoe.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once every three months
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great Buy. Just be prepared for a narrow back nine b

Very enjoyable round of golf. Back nine much more challenging. A bit slow on back nine. Marshall could speed things up

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Good weather
Used cart

Good course; unique front and back nines

Friendly staff. Challenging, but interesting to play. front nines plays in meadows whereas back nine please in forest.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great day at Northstar

Course us in very good shape. Price cannot be beat for the value. Pace if play varies but even though our twosome had to wait on a few holes, we still got done with 18 in about 3 and a half hours. Front nine is mostly flat and open, almost links like, back nine is in the trees / more mountain golf requiring precise shots with long irons / hybrids vs driver. Greens are in good shape as well. Overall, would highly recommend especially during the week.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

Northstar

This a beautiful and we'll maintained mountain course. A great value. The staff is very helpful and friendly.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

2 different golf experiences

Love playing here, it's like playing two different golf courses. Front nine is wide open, the back nine is more narrow and challenging. The course is in great shape, the staff are super friendly.... What more could you ask for?

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
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