B-Man’s Review of Emerald Lake Golf Club on 8/29/21

Emerald Lake Golf Club

Date: 8/29/21 Sun Afternoon
Overall Rating:

"Worth playing"
Conditions: Average - isolated issues
Pace: 4 1/2 Hours
Cost: $72
Username: B-Man
Profile: Avid Golfer (about once a week)
Handicap: 8
Today's Score: 84
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Back at Emerald Lake for the first time since Memorial Day weekend. The greens are starting to get their late summer softness, which leads to many, many ballmarks and sometimes bumpy putts. So they are not as good as they were in early summer. However, I’d say they are in much better shape for this time of year than in years’ past. The speed was decent but not fast at all. The tees and fairways were fine, no issues to note. The disappointing aspect of the course conditions right now are the bunkers. Several — especially the ones on the par 5 5th hole — were overgrown with grass and weeds. I was shocked. My playing partner lost a ball in a fairway bunker on that hole due to the overgrowth. Just a severe lack of attention and care to a basic aspect of course maintenance. There were a few more bunkers on other holes with grass (e.g. par 3 16th greenside bunker) and some that just had not been raked or maintained. Given the price ($72) and the condition of the rest of the course, I don’t understand why these bunkers were neglected. I did see the GM and the superintendent riding around the course but did not get a chance to ask them about the bunkers. While Emerald Lake has made great strides from previous seasons with their Bent grass greens and course improvements, I was disappointed with this round.