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 |
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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
Poor Condition
Having played this course many times over the years, but not in the past 5 years or so, I was excited, but found myself very disappointed with the course conditions. It's obvious the owners or management company are doing the very least possible to keep this once nice course, operational now. The pro shop is bare, with no merchandise what so ever. The course is brown the the greens are at best, average. I wouldn't play this course again in it's current state. Sad, especially with green fees being overpriced outside of Golfnow.com purchase.
Closing
It was brought to my attention that the close is on the verge of closing if it doesn’t find a buyer soon. That’s not good for the area, potentially losing their home course.
Love Castle Oaks..hav been going out there for years….first time giving comment..greens r in ok condition @ best..fairways need water..!..even driving range is bone dry to hit off of..course personnel are great..
Course condition degrading
I was disappointed by the dried out tee boxes and fairways on several holes. Some of the greens have some bad spots - dead / bare spots.
I got a deal price on TeeOff, so I can’t complain on the cost.
I hope the course turns things around for the summer time.
Proshop has no more merchandise. Empty
No course Marshall. Need more clean course restroom
All greens has perfect condition.
Maintenance
Cut the grass,clips of grass everywhere,balls were extremely hard to.find
Course closing
Rally like playing this course.Sad to hear that the course is closing. Will miss playing this course.
Course is in bad shape
The fairways were spotty and had to play winter rules. The rough had not been cut and it was hard to find balls. The greens had a lot of bare spots.
I was told Troon Golf recently acquired the course. Perhaps the maintenance crew had been fired and not yet replaced, but the course was in a very poor condition.
Go Elsewhere!
Agree with previous reviewers comments about the rough being WAAAYYY too long. Golf is supposed to be relaxing, but playing this course made for a very frustrating/non-enjoyable experience. Even if you manage to find your ball, it is impossible to hit out of.
The rough ate my ball
the course played fairly straight up with teh fairways in good condition. but the rough was ROUGH! the long grass was so deep that if you hit it into the rough that ball was GONE. or you spent 5-10 mins looking for it. so much grass clippings as well. the Tee boxes were alright not poor not amazing. long course, lots of drivers and long irons (from the blues).
They just don’t care anymore
This once great course has fallen into a terrible state of disrepair. Pro shop is barren, carts are worn but the worst part is they just quit mowing! When your approach shot rolls through the green to 1 foot off and you literally can not find your ball, you know it’s bad. When you can’t find your drive that went 2’ off the fairway but you find 4 others in 30 seconds, you know it’s bad! I get that you are closing the course on 4/30/25, but if you are not going to maintain it, shut it down and quit taking people’s money!
The grass was very tall and the grass they dios mow wasn't bagged. I lost 9 balls...all great shots. The man who checked us in was rude. They ran out of beer. Not my best golf experience.
Owner Selling the course
I was told by a resident that the owner is selling the course. Which would explain by the greens were very hard and the rough was very high. This course is usually is great condition this experience will not have me again this year.
The course is in rough Shape
Greens are in terrible shape, fairways are ok except the standing water in the low areas and some of the sand traps under water.
The rough grass is really high so don’t go off the fairways.
This course is going through ownership issues and is for sale. Hopefully it gets sold and things improve. I am a local to this course and want it to improve.
Overall only fine. Pricey for the conditions.
Greens were yellow, spotty and firm.
Rough was us open length and in no way cut to the skills of the regular golfers who play this course the rough length easily added 30 minutes or more to the round. A lot of ground that should’ve been marked as GUR but wasn’t.
Trashes were all full with trash all over the ground.
Course could use some extra help and local supper to make it great.
Considering the amount of rain lately, the course was in very good shape.