Far Oaks Golf Club

Let’s start with the good news. The bunker restoration is continuing. On holes 2 & 3, they have put in the new WHITE sand. It looks phenomenal. The senior weekday rate of $38 on this course, it can’t be beat. Overall, the greens were good and putted at a good speed.

However, there is too much bad news to give this course an above average rating. I can be a 5-star course someday, if they only add a little extra care to the course.

The number one issue of this course is the excessive vegetation/small trees in front of the 12th tee. You cannot see the fairway now and several tee shots in my group hit the small trees in front of the green.

It absolutely looks terrible. Also, in the creek in front of the par 3, 6th hole, has too much vegetation in the creek. To tell you how bad it is, my friend hit a hole-in-one on that hole and I could not see it go into the hole from the side of the tee. What a disgrace!

Need to start working on some of the fairways. The second part of the fairway on hole 3 is bad. Holes 4 & 5, the fairways are rough too. The end of the fairway on hole 15 is weeds and dirt.

On one of the hottest weeks, they did not have fans on the greens, except for hole 17. Overall, without the fans, the greens were in surprising, good shape. But, why would you only have the fans on one green? The 12th & 13th greens had some small blemishes and the green on hole 14 is showing some stress.

After the bunker restoration and some effort on some of the fairways and removing some excess vegetation/small trees, this course will be one of the best in the St. Louis metro area. However, it is not there yet.

Course is in great shape and once the bunker project is down it will be one of if not best public courses in the Metro East.

Bunkers are still under repair but the course is gorgeous and is really enjoyable to play. I also shot the best round i have in the last 2 years. #17 and a par 4 a couple holes before are totally drivable as well. Just gotta hit blindly over the trees

Far Oaks is one of my favorite courses in the St. Louis metro area, mostly because of the design of the golf course. When you walk into the front doors of the club, you see a large sign that says, “Attention golfers – bunker restoration in progress”. This may take 6-8 weeks depending on the weather. Always good to see a course making improvements to the course. The big change so far is the 2 bunkers to the left of the green on hole 2 – have been made into grass bunkers. We played on a Monday, at a senior rate of $38. Great price for this course. We also had the cart attendant bring a cart out to our car, which was a nice touch.

The greens were in good shape. Putted a little on the slow side. The only green showing any stress was hole 14.

This course still has plenty of issues after the bunker restoration is completed. Here is the list:

Improve Beauty of Course: They are letting high weeds, small trees, vegetation ruin the views of the holes. Views from the tee box would be spectacular if these areas were maintained. Holes 6, 12, 15 & 17. The views are what make this course special.

Improve Fairways: The course has many bad spots in the fairways, mostly due to poor drainage. Holes 3, 4, 5 & 15. They have always had issues with drainage on hole 17. Looks like they have decided to grow high grass in the 3 areas of the fairway where the drainage areas are. I just looks strange. Also, near the left fairway bunker on hole 10 is just dirt.

Improve Tee Boxes: The tee box on the par 3 – 6th hole is really chewed up. When you walk up to the 12th tee, it is mostly dirt. The 12th tee box is awful – bare spots and weeds.

Improve Fringes: Some of the fringes on some holes have a crabgrass issue. Holes 2 & 8.

I would recommend playing this course during the week. The weekend price of $79-82 is too high for a course going through a bunker restoration and all the concerns listed above.

Don’t go play between 7-11 at that $90 rate and deal with slow play, wait for the afternoon and pay between $45-$55 and it’s a great value at a faster pace. Greens are the best in the area and they’re always improving.

Far Oaks is a nice course in pretty good shape except for the slow greens and bunker reconstruction. The pace of play was around 5 hours, which is very high but unfortunately every course in the St. Louis area is that way as no one wants to enforce pace.

The thing that got me, is while this course is fairly nice, it’s not $83 green fee nice. At that price one would expect perfect condition, pace, and generally just a higher tier course with more robust design and ameninities.

The staff was very nice.

I always enjoy playing here. Everything was in great shape, especially the fairways. Greens rolled true. Plus I played really well for once! I'll be back.

4-some always waited for a 2-some all holes. Could only tolerate 9 holes at this poor pace.

Great layout, greens recovering from aeration but held iron shots very well, some tee boxes a little rough, many sand traps were “muddy”…could have been from previous days rains (don’t know how much they got).

Staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful. Lots of rough and “void” areas along cart paths. Lots of maintenance staff out and working the grounds so I’ll assume they’re doing their best to make the course the best it can be over time. Would have liked to see the beverage cart a few more times.

Overall a darn good day and a darn good course…well worth the price unlike many area courses.