Teal Bend Golf Club

Photo taken from Golfnow.com

Welcome to Teal Bend Golf Course. Located roughly 15 minutes northwest of Sacramento, and right next to the Sacramento International Airport. It is a par 72, 7,061-yard course with a slope of 134. Designed by former PGA, European Tour player, and Sacramento native, Brad Bell. The course opened in 1997.

The clubhouse is small and modern. Granted it was built in 1997. The restrooms separate the pro shop from restaurant and bar via a covered walkway. The pro shop is small and is manned by several nice and approachable employees. You can snag a small bucket of balls for $6 or a medium bucket for $11. Of course, the pro shop has what one may need from polos to golf balls to clubs, just do not expect to comb through a massive collection of stuff.

The restaurant and bar are a little dated. It definitely falls into that stereotypical look for a golf course restaurant and bar. You can close your eyes and see it even without ever being there. One cool feature that the course has, since they are all about pace of play, learned about this the hard way, they offer a number to call once the group is at the 8th hole, along with a menu. So that once the group is at the turn, instead of waiting, just pop in, pay, collect, and head to the 10th hole.

The course is in really good shape after it had rained the day before, and on and off the days leading up. The ground keepers did a great job getting the course ready. The greens were quick and a little spongy around the hole. Felt like the hole was on top of a small mound once the ball got within a foot of it. Not saying that an average or above average putter wouldn’t be able to make long putts. Several greens have crests and valleys designed in them. Making them challenging, especially for people who suck at reading greens. There were a lot of misreads, and a lot of putts that went further than they should have.

There are about 50 bunkers on the course, 22 green side bunkers, at last count. Most were in good condition even after the rain that came through. There are a couple of fairway sand traps that were hard and compact, located on holes 2 and 18 for sure. The 2 bunkers that were landed in around the greens were nice and soft but did have some firmness to them to not sink down too much, but to have just a little sand get kicked up and land inside the players shoe when they approached their ball.

Let us discuss water. Let us face it, that’s the one place that golf balls are highly attracted to. Are they attracted to trees and sand? Yes, but most times, well sometimes, they come back, aka can be found. Water, you can usually kiss them goodbye. At Teal Bend, there are only 3 holes in which water comes into play. Holes 9, 16, and 17. Hole 9 is a par 3 with water protecting the front right side of the green. Hole 16, the water protects the left side of the green. Hole 17, a dog leg right, the water comes into play on the tee box if trying to clear the water and land in the fairway of the last portion of the dog leg. If there is a natural draw to the balls flight path during 90% of drives. A normal swing and aiming is highly recommended.

There is not much elevation change on the course. Some slight down or uphill plays, but nothing too drastic. There were not many times when the idea of clubbing up or clubbing down came into play because of the terrain. The course is pretty flat with trees running along the sides of every hole minus the 3 with water. The trees rarely come into play unless the ball flies straight left or right directly into them, but for the most part, on the straight holes, trees are not really in play. At a lot of the dog legs, there will be trees at the turn.

There are roughly 6 holes when the pin is blind to the tee box. If the drive is placed in a solid location, it is pretty easy to find the pin and gauge the approach shot. The most fun hole is a blind pin hole. It is hole 17 where the water is in between the tee box and the bottom of the dog leg. The pin is hidden behind some trees. Just swing normally and hope the ball clears the water and the fairway bunkers which separate the fairway and the water. By some chance the ball does make it over both obstacles. Hope it doesn’t roll into the rough.

Teal Bend is a nice course. Some holes are challenging, but not challenging enough to want to quit the game of golf and sell one’s clubs. The course is away from the city and most civilization minus some homes, and the airport. The airport noise was rarely noticed minus one hole where the airport was visible. Surprisingly, the course is very quiet. It is nice to go hit some balls at the range, and it just be quiet around.

Challenge Score- 5 balls, 4 net.

Layout- Wide open with trees along the side, and water coming into play on 3 holes. Several blind dog leg holes.

Factors- Mosquitoes, noise, and pace of play.

The course is very much a stickler for pace of play. Not complaining over here about it. We just got yelled at for being slow. It is hard to play at a good pace when someone in the group spends 5 minutes looking for their ball. Granted balls are expensive now a days.

The noise was very minimal even though the course is right next to an active airport. Maybe it is because the airport is not super busy most days?

Play again- Yes!

My score- a solid 118 with no birdies and only 2 pars. Playing with a torn rotator.

Places to stay- Even though it is near the airport, the nearest places are roughly 10 minutes away from the course, but there are several hotels to choose from

Price- $76 on the weekends, $56 Monday- Thursday, and $66 on Friday. There are also discounts for seniors and twilight hours.