Castle Oaks Golf Club
About
Castle Oaks Golf Club is situated on the historic Preston Farmlands. The Preston Castle, built in 1894 overlooks the rolling, oak-studded hills of the course. The course opened a century later but it blends in beautifully with the existing terrain, utilizing the Sutter and Mule Creeks and mature trees as natural hazards. When the golf course opened it was acclaimed as the best public course in northern California and it has remained one of the area's premier courses. The layout has an interesting mix of holes with some that are wide and forgiving and others that are narrow and play alongside environmental hazards. The meandering creeks and several lakes come into play throughout. There are many risk/reward opportunities and golfers will encounter several hazards and out-of-bounds off the tee, but overall the course is player-friendly enough to appeal to any skill level.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 71 | 6739 yards | 72.3 | 128 |
| Blue | 71 | 6356 yards | 70.6 | 125 |
| White | 71 | 5948 yards | 68.6 | 122 |
| White (W) | 72 | 5948 yards | 74.9 | 124 |
| Gold | 71 | 5447 yards | 66.2 | 119 |
| Gold (W) | 72 | 5447 yards | 72.2 | 119 |
| Red (W) | 72 | 5015 yards | 69.7 | 113 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 72.5/132 | 577 | 215 | 420 | 370 | 529 | 369 | 424 | 195 | 394 | 3493 | 416 | 173 | 355 | 535 | 342 | 410 | 155 | 422 | 438 | 3246 | 6739 |
| Blue M: 70.6/128 W: 76.4/135 | 554 | 178 | 400 | 352 | 500 | 355 | 402 | 181 | 373 | 3295 | 387 | 157 | 332 | 521 | 321 | 382 | 145 | 400 | 416 | 3061 | 6356 |
| Blue/White M: 69.9/126 W: 75.3/131 | 537 | 158 | 380 | 352 | 500 | 355 | 385 | 167 | 373 | 3207 | 361 | 157 | 332 | 521 | 321 | 342 | 145 | 374 | 395 | 2948 | 6155 |
| White M: 68.8/125 W: 74.3/128 | 537 | 158 | 380 | 337 | 479 | 339 | 385 | 167 | 355 | 3137 | 361 | 124 | 313 | 488 | 304 | 342 | 110 | 374 | 395 | 2811 | 5948 |
| Gold M: 66.6/114 W: 71.4/122 | 495 | 131 | 347 | 322 | 437 | 308 | 350 | 145 | 325 | 2860 | 331 | 99 | 290 | 459 | 270 | 316 | 103 | 350 | 369 | 2587 | 5447 |
| Red M: 64.7/108 W: 69.2/116 | 452 | 121 | 319 | 286 | 410 | 279 | 324 | 125 | 293 | 2609 | 300 | 76 | 253 | 424 | 243 | 292 | 94 | 400 | 324 | 2406 | 5015 |
| Handicap | 3 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 6 | 2 | |||
| Par | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 71 |
| Handicap (W) | 1 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 18 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 4 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Snacks, RestaurantAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Banquet FacilitiesAccolades
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Golf Advisor: Top Courses in California (2015 #16)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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Garbage Cans Overflowing Photo submitted by hmatlack on 04/22/2024
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Group in front of us Photo submitted by hmatlack on 04/22/2024
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“Mulligans” Photo submitted by StevieDVD on 05/06/2023
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Photo submitted by linz4ucla on 09/13/2022
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#18 Photo submitted by linz4ucla on 09/13/2022
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Photo submitted by u000004367964 on 06/26/2022
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at #12 tee Photo submitted by 3sevens on 01/22/2022
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Photo submitted by gzweigle on 04/18/2021
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Hole 1 Photo submitted by u4114979 on 04/10/2021
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10th tee box Photo submitted by u314161183678 on 02/22/2021
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Photo submitted by Gremlingolfer on 08/01/2019
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1st hole tee shot Photo submitted by Gremlingolfer on 08/01/2019
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Photo submitted by Gremlingolfer on 08/01/2019
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Photo submitted by GREGCGOLFER on 03/19/2019
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Sure beats snow! Photo submitted by tahoerider1 on 02/25/2019
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1st Tee, water on the left and OB on the right Photo submitted by Cops1998 on 07/28/2018
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A little deferred maintenance, the sign got hot and buckled so you can't use the ball washer Photo submitted by Cops1998 on 07/28/2018
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Water to the left, short and to the right Photo submitted by Cops1998 on 07/28/2018
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Several wide fairways will hills to cause the ball to run Photo submitted by Cops1998 on 07/28/2018
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Most of the greens are kidney shaped, designed perpendicular to the fairway, so you don't want to go long, but plenty of run left/right Photo submitted by Cops1998 on 07/28/2018
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Castle Oaks comes from the old castle-looking build seen from the 16th fairway, that was the 1st juvenile detention facility in CA built in the the early 1900s. It was closed in the 1970s. Photo submitted by Cops1998 on 07/28/2018
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18th at sunset Photo submitted by snowboardin1 on 05/23/2013
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Can see a fox if you look closely. Photo submitted by snowboardin1 on 05/23/2013
New Mgmt
Course under new ownership,appears course will updated.will go back in month to see improvements.My outing was fine concerning conditions,Give a try when .
Back to Normal
We played here over the Memorial Day weekend and were sad to see the condition of the course. I left an unfavorable review at that time. We played it again on July 6th and were so glad to see the course conditions had returned to their normal, good state. We played as a twosome. Two groups let us play through that allowed us to play the round in 3 and a half hours. It was a very enjoyable round.
Skip This Course
Tons of hazards. Poorly maintained on all fronts. Greens have leprosy. Bunkers are wet concrete. Fairways are full of terrible lies due to grass conditions. Tee boxes overgrown. Cart paths full of debris. Water hazards are algae infested. Will not be back unless they change management and dramatically improve.
Woefully condition amidst uncertainty
First, the guy in the shop was great and I feel bad for everyone there that has been working while this course straddles the line between being in operation or closing. Nothing in the pro shop, etc. Feels dreadful. To the course, which has one of my favorite layouts around. It’s a tough and demanding test, even if many of the holes aren’t quite lengthy. Greens were ok, for once. Fairways were awful. There’s grass but they’re not cutting it very well, or at all. Thick and no runout. And you’d find better tee boxes at just about any other golf course around. Thick, uneven grass. Horrible. The rough was crazy deep, too. Way too deep in many spots right off the fairway. This isn’t supposed to emulate Oakmont. We’ll see what happens with the sale, but I’ll not be back until I hear they’ve decided to operate this course with the right attention to important characteristics.
Pretty good shape after almost closing
Course was in pretty good shape after almost closing two months ago when it was in terrible condition. Fairways and rough are still green. Haven’t been affected by high temps yet. Rough was cut to a manageable length. Only complaint would be some rough spots on some of the greens. Really happy this course stayed open and is now in better shape.
Arethey going out of business?
I played this course many times over the last couple of years. And it's always been beautiful fun to play Love the layout, and I went on May 29th, with my son and it was awful pro. Shop had nothing in it. The fairways were dry and dark, hardly any. Grass, it was just awful. Sad to see, I really enjoyed this course.
Dry as a bone
City of Ione has taken over the management of this course. No water avaiable so course is very dry
Course is not well maintained.
Course is not well maintained. Grass is mostly yellow and lots of bear spots on fairway.
Loss of a Nice Course
This used to be a nice course. It is not at this time.
The tee boxes and most of the fairways are dried-out, dead grass. The greens are throughly pitted up with ballmarks.
The rumors that we were told amounted to the course had been firr sale and the buyer backed out. Whether the rumors are true or not, the place appears to not be loved by those that should be taking care of it.
Dry
Fairways very dry it looks like only the greens are being watered right now.