Oak Valley Golf Course & Resort

Everything at this course is changing for the better. While it is a bit of a drive, it is well worth the time to get there. We were glad to see maintenance people actively working the course. The price for Seniors is very attractive & will be a big draw.

We played Oak Valley today for the first time since the changeover from Union Hills. We were hoping for better. It was not a good experience. Some parts of the fairway were OK, but for the most part just some clumps of grass surrounded by hard tack dirt. The tee boxes were in poor condition and often not level. The most annoying parts, however, were the four-group backups through the back nine and the maintenance workers and mowers on just about every other hole who would stand their ground in the fairway and not yield for you to play. The most you could hope for was for them to stop working and then stand in the fairway and stare at you while you tried to avoid hitting them. Lastly, the greens looked good and rolled pretty true, but were literally hard as concrete. I hit a PW from 100 yards out -- beautiful, high majestic shot. Watched it land on the green 3' in front of the pin, bounce two times (the first one at least 8-10' high) and roll 25 feet from the pin. This happened more than once. All in all a really bad round of golf, even at the discounted price.

We enjoyed our round although the weather was hot and the gnats were bothersome. The greens were in very good shape, the fairways were in ok condition.

I played this course last year and it was in decent shape. I figured that with the new owners and the changes being made this year would be even better. Unfortunately it has gotten worse the fairways were very poor with crunchy dirt and weeds. Some were only dirt, greens do play very nice those seem to be in great shape. I just hope they continue to work on the course and don’t give up. For now it’s not in great shape and not worth to playing.

Great layout and potential to be great but right now the course is not good. Tee boxes and fairways have hardly any grass so you are basically playing off bare dirt or thinly spaced weeds. Bunkers are not playable. It is obvious that owners are spending money to improve the overall complex but the course conditions are very disappointing.

Paid $45 for 18, this course should be $25 at the most for 18. At oak valley you pay premium price for golf but the condition of the course is ridiculous.. I literally felt like they tricked me paying what I did for what was the worst condition course I’ve played this year.

They are renovating clubhouse which will be fabulous.

Course is challenging but fiun to play. If you like the beach you’ll enjoy the strategically placed sand traps

I heard the course was improved but we weren’t impressed and probably won’t be back. When we were there the “clubhouse” was like a junk room with a counter and that was basically foreshadowing how the course was going to be. Could be a fun course but needs quite a bit of work.

My Sunday group decided to give Oak Valley a try since we love to play new tracks and recent reviews were pretty good

Overall we really enjoyed the course layout. Gary Kern is one of my favorite Midwest golf course designers. We were not disappointed. It is a hilly course with many drastic elevation changes, but you can almost always see the flag from the tees. Very few totally blind shots. The greens have quit a bit of undulation, so if the greens were really fast they could be quite challenging. And a little course knowledge could go a long way.

Pace of play was excellent, but it was a NFL Sunday, so the going crowd was lower as expected.

As far as the condition go, I think it's quite evident that the new owners are spending some money to try and improve the conditions, I know this based on reviews from earlier this season (soon after the new owners took the course public) and then recent reviews. The greens had recently been aireated (about a week ago), but except for the sand on the greens they were rolling at an acceptable speed and we all really enjoyed the challenge of reading new greens (to us.

Overall I would recommend this course and we look forward to playing it again soon.

To the management; keep up the good work!

Dave A.

The new owners are really doing a good job getting the course and facilities back up to speed. Nice course and better and better shape each time I play it.

I last played when it was Union Hills 2 years ago and haven't been back because back then the greens were full of Poa Annua, I'm happy to say the greens have made a complete 360 and are in excellent shape. The tee boxes were also in great shape. Fairways were 80-90 % . The sand traps were mostly ground under repair but it certainly looks like the new ownership is working hard to improve everything. Brand new beautiful Yamaha golf carts and new bar and restaurant.

For those like me who haven't been here for awhile you should give it a try, also helped that I shot 77 so it was a fun round

Overall a good experience. This course and adminities will continue to get better over time... We had a Foursome and the pro shop only gave us 2 paid receipts. Apparently every player is supposed to get their own receipt. It wasn’t our fault and didn’t know that. The Marshall wasn’t exactly friendly about the situation at first. He wanted to deny us tee off or make us go all the way back to the pro shop to get 2 more receipts instead of just radioing the pro shop to confirm. Which ended up happening because the course GM happened to be teeing off ahead of us and had to direct the direct the Marshall to do so.

Seeing the maintenance being done to improve the playability of the course Removing trees and improving the greens has been a noticeable effort. Seeing the investment in new carts and facilities shows the commitment the new ownership has in making this a top course in then area.

The tee boxes were in great shape, and the greens were good. Not as fast as back home though. Most of the fairways were fine, however you could see they are a work in progress. My biggest concern was that the woman's tee boxes were too far back on some of the holes. I don't have the strength to get over the ones where you had to hit over the wide caverns. Back home they are at least where I have a chance to make it over.

?A friend & I played there after work on June 27. We will not be back. While the greens are in great shape, the fairways are in poor condition and will take a lot of work to get then playable. I don't like hitting off hardpan dirt or clumps of crabgrass - if you do then this place is amazing. I know this is now under Walters Golf Management and in a year or 2 will be a nice place to play - and with a price of 18 holes for $20 with a cart this was a good deal. However, the heat was oppressive and with no wind we quit after 9 holes. Because the course is still being renovated there was no real clubhouse and no place to get a drink and relax. By the end of the season it will be more functional - and the renovation is entirely necessary - but I will not be back until they are finished with the upgrade. This could be a really nice course, but needs a lot of care and rebuilding the holes. Fairways are non-existent, but the greens are very nice.