St. Marlo Country Club

I purchased a prepaid hot deal on Tuesday by Friday it was clear that the weather wouldn’t be suitable for play. It rained all night Thursday, and day and night Friday through the morning on Saturday in near freezing temps.

I called Friday afternoon to ask them to cancel the reservation because GolfNow would only refund payment in unplayable conditions. The pro shop told me Friday it would be a decision they make Saturday morning. Fair enough.

I called Saturday morning and met a very unfriendly representative of St. Marlo that basically said he would not cancel and that it was up to GolfNow to refund me. He told me if we wanted to play in this weather he’d welcome us. We decided to strap up in some rain gear and head out there.

The course was completely unplayable and it was clear that everyone there knew this was ridiculous except the pro shop manager. We were the only

group to go off that day and everyone left as soon as we went off, including the bar which was responsible for food.

No drinks, no food, unplayable course with no possibility of a refund offered. We made the best of the situation, but I wouldn’t recommend this course to anyone based on the ridiculous customer experience they offered me and my group.

I not a person who normally leaves a review especially a bad one but this one is a must!

This is what $90 at St Marlos gets you-

Course conditions:

Let me just tell you, when you read all the reviews here about the cart path situation, they are all true! It is the worst cart paths that I have ever seen. Its not just in some areas, its about 90% of the whole path. Probably 5 years overdue for replacement.

The fairways and areas around the greens were slushy and in bad shape. It almost was like it rained heavy 3 days in a row before we played but It only rained 1 day earlier that week Course drainage is very poor. Fairways are tore up. There were maybe 4 holes in good shape, all others were in need of some work including the tee boxes. The only 2 areas that were consistently good were the greens and bunkers.

This course may look good on their website but its a joke. Course needs work, cart path needs a complete makeover and some of the staff, especially upper management needs to be shown the door. These people are so disrespectful and unprofessional.

Our experience:

Started off with a 2 hour delay due to frost. The driving range was also closed for the same reason. We had a 9am tee time and was told to check back at 10:30am. When the range opened, you could only hit off mats. When we started the round there was nobody on the 1st hole and nobody in line behind us. Cart path only as well. As we were walking off the 3rd hole, I could see the group behind us just pulling up to the tee box. The very next hole we were in the fairway with nobody behind us and the marshal pulls up to us. 1st words out of his mouth was, "you guys are 2 holes behind, your playing too slow and need to speed up". Tried to tell him we were on pace but he just continued to talk over us with a poor tone. We played a few more holes with nobody behind us, no one standing on the tee and nobody waiting for us to clear the green, then the marshal shows up again. He proceeds not to ask, but to tell us that we need to skip the next hole. I disagreed with him and he told me that he will get security out there. We skipped the next hole in protest. Played the rest of the front 9 without seeing the marshal. When we finished teeing of on the 1st hole of the back 9, a group of golfers just pulled up to the tee box. We proceed to our second shots around 225-260 yards from the tee box. As we walked into the fairway, the group behind decided to tee off and a ball rolled past us. We let that go and moved onto the next hole without finishing that one. On our second shot of the next hole, the group behind us tees off again while we were in the fairway, again a ball rolls past us. We finished the hole and the very next hole the marshal rolls up. He tells us again that we need to hurry up. We told him that he need to address the people behind us hitting balls at us. He says that's besides the point and we need to either hurry up or leave. At this point we lost total interest in playing anymore and just headed back to the clubhouse.

FYI We were a group of 3 and we are always aware of players behind us. We play for fun and if we think we are holding anyone up we pick up our ball and move to the next hole.

So we get to the shack were you unload your cart and an employee took my golf bag while I was getting my other things together. I start to walk toward the shack to pick up my bag but can't find it. One of the employees asked if I was looking for it and he went to get it for me. I didn't even get the bag around my shoulders when he said "what, nothing for the effort?" I guess he was expecting me to tip him but he wasn't even the person who unloaded my bag from my cart. He actually took care of my friends bag, I guess to clean the clubs, which were still dirty and mud was still on a few of them. We started loading the bags in our cars when this same employee pulls up in his golf cart and says again "nothing for the effort guys?" My friend explained to him that there was no effort because his clubs were not cleaned. He said "have a good day and don't come back here"

Normally I would have went straight to management to report the issue but why bother. This was my first and last time I will ever play here.

Since it had rained couple days ago it would be unfair to rate the fairway conditions because of the weather. But nice to see the sand bunkers are all being taken care of. Enjoyed playing with a four some. Pace was ok. Ranger was out checking to make sure the pace was good. Could not finish the last hole due to some delays on some holes. But nice experience and very friendly staff.

Look forward tp playing in Spring now that the sand bunkers are also fixed along with cart paths. Always enjoy playing here.

Because of frost delay there was an extended delay and when the course opened it was a very confusing situation for the starter

People with later times were going off before those with earlier times

They need to get this straightened out with cold weather here for a while

We knew course conditions were likely to be trying as it was in the 30s following 24 hours of rain. So it was wet and freezing! But we needed the exercise. It would be unfair to criticise the course under those circumstances. Except for the ubiquitous South East Asian fourball in front of us who seem to relish 5 hour rounds.

The course is so muddy which surprised me knowing ut’s a country club. Also 2 ladies ahead of me played very slow, & the marshall didn’t even talked to them to speed up.

Agreed with other reviews that cart paths were n terrible shape!! But the management has taken into consideration and have recently repaired most of the broken up cart paths that literally threw you out of your cart. Not only the cart paths have been fixed, the Greens have recently been repaired and painted to resemble some of the finer golf courses in the area. Now, if players can do their part and repair the ball marks on the Greens, this could be a fun course to play year round. There are many scenic holes and is a tough and challenging course compared to the surrounding Club Corp courses.

The sand bunkers were also being raked while I was playing but some of the bunkers and Tee boxes need attention. You can see the fabric on some of the bunkers. Not good. I say if the players repair their own ball marks and sand the divots and the management addresses the sand bunkers and Tee boxes, this could be one of the most sought after golf course.

I read recent reviews commenting about the condition of the c art paths and they were accurate - there were some really rough spots. The good news is a number of bad spots have already been addressed and many more are underway. This resulted in some rerouting of carts through the grass during the round, but it did not hold up play at all. The course itself was in great shape and the greens were firm, smooth, and fast. We had a beautiful day for December and enjoyed our round. We will be back!