It is very apparent when you are driving around Roseville, California that civic pride abounds. Many of the homes, subdivisions and businesses are displayed with that extra touch of cleanliness and polish and this transcends to the city owned golf courses like Diamond Oaks GC which we played on Valentine’s Day. Although it was a little overcast when we awoke, we decided that we needed to add color to this spe
Looking back down the 1st fairway over the 1st green
Myra and I make a point of reviewing a broad mixture of golf courses styles and we feel it is important to promote what municipal golf courses have to offer. So, on back to back days we dedicated time to play and review Diamond Oaks and tomorrow its sister course Wood Creek.
A great little Par 3 5th.
We arrived our typical one hour before tee off and headed in to introduce ourselves. We were greeted very warmly by Kyle Butterfield one of the PGA members of site. Not soon after his colleague Nick, wearing Valentine’s red slacks too, was behind the counter. Both of these guys couldn’t have been more easy going and helpful and I said to Myra outside, “Now there’s a couple of great guys”.
I grew up on public golf, coming from a blue collar middle income family and there isn’t anything country club about me. I knew what to expect knowing that municipal courses work within very strict and limiting budgets. More than one person we met and spoke to before our game said the greens were great at Diamond Oaks. I have often told Myra a course with great greens will always be popular and busy which Diamond Oaks was. It’s evident this course with its very interesting and classical 1960’s design has had some major upgrades over the years and I would think it would be those very greens as well some very rewarding bunker improvements.
A great look down the fairway towards the 9th green.
The meandering, rolling lay out was really interesting and putting for eagle on the two tiered number 6 hole was one of my highlights. Myra treated herself to a Valentine’s gift with a solid chip in on the Par 4 10th, popping over the fringe and uphill straight in, barely hitting the flag.
Although the fairways in places haven’t fully grown in yet this year, you can see why Diamond Oaks is a popular local course. The course has a very natural flowing look to it, many of the holes tree lined and with a mixture of level and side hill lies.
Nice , plain and simple, good shots are rewarded on holes like this.
We played in just over 4 hours and while there met a lovely local gentlemen named Jim who playing two groups behind caught up to us at one point to say hello. By the midway point of our round the sun as beaming and it was a warm plus 20C – 68F.
We really enjoyed our round and thanked Nick at the end. He informed me that the course just gets better as it moves from winter into spring and then summer when the over seeding and the fertilizing program kicks in.
Diamond Oaks has what any golfer requires, a decent practice area right next to the spacious Pro Shop, driving range, chipping green and putting green as well as a spot to get a cold one and a tasty snack during your day.
Blue sky, beautiful greens and a great layout, a great recipe for success.
The power carts possess a handy little GPS system mounted out of the way and the course guide is what it should be – straight forward and simplistic, but effective. Playing here fits into the budget well too, freeing up a few extra bucks to put towards that driver or new putter we all think we need or at least want. They have early bird specials; twilight deals as well as a season long discount preferred player program. Whether you are travelling to this beautiful part of California for a short golf getaway or wintering here for a few months – come and check out Diamond Oaks, old fashioned golf the way it should be.
A great Valentines Day for the two golfing lovebirds.
