Far Oaks Golf Club

Some repairs ongoing on course, otherwise in nice shape. Greens rolled nicely. Pace of play came to a screeching halt on the back 9. No course Marshall to be seen after #4.

Excellent pace of play, in general course was in good condition.

Even better this time around. Greens were excellent. Bunkers were great. Love the course layout. Every hole has a unique feel so you don’t get bored with the same thing.

I always love playing here. A few challenging holes, but for the most part very playable for anyone. Everything was in great shape.

Overall, I thought the course looked great, it was in great condition and they are still making improvements. I thought the fairways and greens were outstanding. Just a few tee boxes were a bit beat up. The greens had a nice pace to them. The price of $69 was in-line with courses of this quality. A different look now, the starter is just left of the clubhouse now, near where the carts are parked.

The course had plenty of water on the course and the beverage cart was out. It seemed they were growing the high fescue more, just off the rough areas on the course. There is plenty of room off the tee, but if you really hit a stray shot – you will probably not find your ball. The holes that I noticed this on were 7, 10, 13, 14 & 15.

Improvements are on-going at Far Oaks. They are still fixing the drainage issues on hole 17. Looks like they are doing something to the back bunker on hole 16 – just not sure what. Maybe eventually eliminating it. The right side of hole 1 is looking much better too. Working on the bunkers on hole 2.

However, improvements still need to be made. No yardage marker on hole 6. The plaque on the 7th tee still mentions yardages over bunkers. There are no longer any fairway bunkers on the hole anymore. I know they were cutting down some trees on the course but there is still a dead one next to the 15th tee. There is a lot of erosion/dirt areas near the cart paths when you’re coming off the fairways. Maybe alternate the exit points throughout the week will help. Noticed this on holes 11 & 12. Our ball/club washer on the cart was missing its plug, therefore, unable to use. I also noticed some residue (sand) on the greens that appeared it was coming from the mowers. It was really noticeable on hole 1. Not sure where this is coming from because aeration season is over.

Lastly, I would like to see a few more smiles at Far Oaks. All the people I dealt with: check-in, starter, snack bar, beverage cart, kitchen help – never smiled. A smile and just being more friendly, goes a long way!

Overall, you will not be disappointed in playing at Far Oaks. One of my favorites that is in great shape!

The course was in great shape and they now have sand in the bunkers as opposed to the hard pan and weeds.

Course has a fantastic layout. Enjoyable for solid ball-strikers!

Far Oaks is one of my favorite golf courses in the St. Louis metro area. Great design, challenging and an enjoyable course to play. The staff is friendly and the price was outstanding at $33. They have made some significant changes to the grounds like a new drainage system, paved parking lot, starting to fix some of the bunkers, however, there is a lot more that needs to be done to get this course up to the standards of an Annbriar, Gateway National or Spencer T. Olin.

Overall, the condition of the course was in good shape for late March. The greens were aerated about 2 weeks ago and they are healing nicely. They putted really well. The fairways were in great shape also. Some of the tees do need some attention with some bare spots on them. They have fixed the large, left-side, fairway bunker on hole #3. They also have worked on the left-side, greenside bunker on 12, with newly laid sod around it. Overall, the bunkers are not in good shape. They look rough around the edges; they are not raked on a regular basis and the sand seems to be a mixture of sand and dirt. Your club generally gets stuck in the sand, not sliding under the ball. The fairway bunkers on hole #12 had grass and weeds growing in them. This is totally unacceptable.

They have been cutting trees down and trimming branches around the par 3, 8th hole. I think mainly to improve airflow to the green. I think this was also done because some limbs were overhanging, blocking your shot to a back right pin. They are doing some excavating in the fairway, in front of the 17th green. Seems very unusual, but they leave the excavator machinery right in the middle of the fairway, when it is not in use. I would move it to the side. The right side of the #1 green is still a quagmire. Just a pile of dirt which is unsightly. They are also having an erosion problem off the left fairway bunker of hole #10. Dirt and mud spreading down into the fairway.

They also need to improve their yardage markers. I would paint the cart paths with a blue, white and red stripe. To help speed up the pace of play, especially if it is cart path only. They do not have any yardage markers on the par 3, 6th hole. I don’t understand why courses don’t fix this. Just common sense.