Pacific Springs Golf Club

Short but well taken care of COuld be a better value

This course provided me the opportunity for another great introduction to this wonderful sport. I had fun, though I am really just beginning my golfing adventure.

I would have liked an onsite driving range (maybe I did not look hard enough, but I did not notice one), but the beer cart was convenient--about $4 per beer at the time of this writing, if I recall. Sporting a nicely-trimmed minigolf course just outside the clubhouse, this course is definitely family friendly; although my group encountered only a couple of mischevious kids driving amok on the path while mommy & daddy played their game. What little staff I actually needed to interact with were quite nice & helpful; although I had the feeling that should I have needed anything, they would have been more than happy to assist me. On the whole course of 18 holes, we found a few water stations (sheltered, cool water and disposable cups), and I recall seeing two port-o-potties, both of which were in decent condition.

Regarding difficulty, the front nine seems to be more challenging than the back. I had trouble with narrow openings in treelines over a large gulch for the first few holes, but after that, the course seemed to open up a bit. I found the back nine to be a much more relaxed pace. The holes do not seem to need the driver very often; I was comfortable teeing several with my irons or woods. My midgame was generally either spent on rolling hills with a wedge (this course has several very short holes), or at the edges of the somewhat narrow fairways. The rough was trimmed well enough not to be too much of a hassle from which to hit, so I would assert that this course is beginner-friendly. Balls are generally easy to find, unless you are on the first few holes with those hit-over-the-gully shots where the ball can hook or slice behind some trees. Only a few holes were uphill, making it difficult to see where the ball landed when hit from a low-opint on a fairway or rough. The green's break was a little steep on a couple of holes, but we enjoyed the challenge. Though present, the bunkers did not really add to the challenge of the game.

The course was maintained quite well. The grass was green & trimmed evenly with exception to some out of bounds spots which were ridden with brown dying grass; not much you can do about that, though. All facilities worked well with an exception to one watering station being without a disposable cups dispenser (obviously broken off). The cart path usually had appropriate repairs at highly traveled corners, though ocassioanlly we had to watch for some small side holes, lest our beers become jostled & fizzy. The greens were very nicely rolled & trimmed--only a few bumps from ball-impact & lazy divot repair, but that is to be expected. Overall it seemed to be in fairly good condition.

The scenery was nice, though terribly open--remember to bring suntan lotion & a hat, as usual. Trees were present, though it seemed that trees were mainly being used to either compartmentalize the holes, or to make the course challenging (f.ex. big tree in the way of a dogleg shot). I had only seen about two small waterhazards on the course of which did not really play into the game--more compartmentalization. The neighborhood was generally typical cookie-cutter residences of a McMansion architecture-style built in the early 2000's, and the course subjected you to cross several neighborhood streets--no problems there, except fizzy beer, though everything was clearly marked, and easy to follow. Something of note was the a very young entrepreneur who had set up a "pre-owned" golf ball stand on one of the public sidewalks on which we had to cross to get to another hole (3 balls for a dollar, at the time of this writing).

I paid just shy of $50 for 18 holes with a cart on a Saturday afternoon and a couple of beers. My group spent about 4 hours playing, and we did not feel very rushed at all; especially on the back nine. On the other hand, it was a "game-day" for the Nebraska Huskers, so perhaps a regular outing should expect slightly more traffic.

For one of my first full 18 holes of golf, I am very happy with the whole experience this course was able to give me. I, personally, was challenged, and yet, the pace of the course allowed us to relax a bit & sip our booze while socializing a bit. In short, we all had a fun time, and I suppose that is what it really all boils down to. I will definitely be happy to come back to this course for another round.