Spring Valley Golf Course, Milpitas, CA

I have been playing golf at Spring Valley since 1976. I've been there when the fairways and rough were indistinguishable and during the good times since the course was upgraded. I've always enjoyed playing there and have used the facilities along with taking lessons from Mark Dorcak, the resident pro.

I recently purchased a coupon from one of the Deal sites for a significant bunch of goodies from Spring Valley which included, group lessons from Mark, 2 lunches, buckets of range balls and the one reason I bought the deal - 2 rounds of golf at the evening rate. So much to my chagrin, when I made a tee time and tried to use the coupon, I was informed that the rounds of golf had to be played after 5 PM. Who in their right mind, would buy a coupon to play golf after 5 when the chances of getting 18 holes in are highly unlikely. Plus I did this so I could play with my son who is unavailable at 5 on any day. So in the course of the conversation about this I was told Spring Valley would not honor the tee times portion of the coupon at 9AM on a Sunday. When I brought it to the attention of the dude at the front desk that the coupon I printed out for redemption said only evening rates and nothing about a 5 PM tee time, he said he'd have to refer me to the GM, a Jeff Rockwood.

I called Jeff Rockwood the following morning to see what he would do to remedy the situation and he basically told me to get lost. He blamed it on the website I bought the coupon from and told me to take it up with them. Made some remark about the Mercury News coupon, which isn't what I bought. So I contacted Daily Deals and in the process, I was able to return to the webpage from which I purchased the coupon - again no mention of a 5 PM tee time. Odd that the webpage copy went out like that -didn't Rockwood proof read it? Anyone getting the thought of a "bait and switch" move?

To say the least I was extremely aggravated. I've tried to contact Rockwood's boss to no avail, so I'm left with spreading the word that Spring Valley is run by a moron.In any business class you ever took, did they explain what Goodwill meant? Apparently at the U of A that Rockwood went to they didn't. This guy has the business acumen of a gnat. I can't believe that the $delta between the evening rate and the Sunday rate I had to pay is worth the loss of business that they will now experience. By that I mean, friends, anyone who reads this review, and everyone I play with everywhere who will listen - I will make it a point to encourage them to avoid Spring Valley as long as Rockwood is there.

I would not recommend playing this course to anyone - I've been a patron at Spring Valley for 35 years and this is how they treated me. Don't think they will treat you any better. Avoid it at all costs.

My favorite course in the world, fantastic greens and a great overall place to play, especially early morning.

A bit expensive fee for weekend considering difficulty and scenery.