Played on Friday, 3/9, with a 10:40a tee time. I had very little interaction with the staff outside of the bag drop/cart barn guys, who were great. Probably the best cleaning my clubs have received at the end of the round (always a little disappointed with other cleaning the clubs). Due to it being the 2nd round of the day, our 3rd took care of paying ($70) and John_T took care of the food and drinks prior. I will say, on a very busy day (thanks for everyone visiting for the 4 basketball tourneys this week), it was incredibly smooth. On the 1st tee a couple of minutes early, and finished a shade under 4.5, waiting on a few with the 4some behind right up on us.
If you haven’t read a Paiute review ever, I will paraphrase almost everyone: (1) tee boxes mostly level with some divots on par 3s (2) Fairways like CARPET! Lush but with some run out
(3) Rough was about 1-2 inches, just enough to know you’re in it (4) Fantastic bunkers! Semi fluffy and easy to hit out (5) Firm and smooth greens, almost fast Tip: Remember where the highway is from where you are, putts are faster running away from the mountain behind it (6) it’s always breezy
Another fantastic day at Paiute. A great recommendation if looking for a great Vegas experience.
If you’re into golf, one venue on your bucket list should be the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, FL. There’s plenty to do there, for example, you could spend all day at the World Golf Hall of Fame, taking in all the exhibits, viewing movies in the IMAX theater and testing your stroke on the Challenge Hole – reminiscent of Number 17 at Sawgrass. Or, if you’re looking to play a round of golf designed by a couple of legends, you can book a round on the Slammer and Squire Golf Course, one of two courses connected with the World Golf Village.
What to Expect
The Slammer & Squire Golf Course is the property’s original course and is located just a wedge shot away from the World Golf Hall of Fame. It was designed by noted golf course architect Bobby Weed with considerable input from the course’s namesakes: Sam “The Slammer” Snead and Gene “The Squire” Sarazen.
Five sets of tees plus a blended set – a combination of the Blues and Whites – makes The Slammer & Squire enjoyable for any golfer – provided you play from the set that best suits your game. From the back (Stone) tees, the course plays 6,939 yards with a course rating of 72.7 and a slope of 127. The Blue tees at 6,132 yards (69.2/121) will challenge most golfers and still enable them to leave with a little dignity. Ladies will find the Green Tees at 4,996 (68.0/115) an enjoyable test.
The History
The Slammer & Squire opened to the public in May 1998 and features two distinct nines. The outward nine traverses through fairways lined with giant Loblolly pines, while wooden pathways and bridges guide you through traditional Florida wetlands. On the back nine you will find generous fairways, contoured greens, and plenty of water hazards. You’ll also be treated to impressive views of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Just behind the pro shop is a full length driving range with plenty of targets, a large practice putting green as well as a short game area that includes a sand trap. The Clubhouse has a fully stocked pro shop with lots of logoed gear from a number of top apparel companies as well as Men’s and Women’s locker rooms complete with showers. Inside the clubhouse you’ll also find the Legends Grille where both breakfast and lunch are served. The food is reasonably priced and very delicious. I highly recommend the Philly Cheesesteak Sliders or the Caribbean Fish Tacos after a round of golf. The bar has all of your favorite libations as well as several domestic and craft beers on tap.
The Highlights
Memorable Holes (All Yardage is From the Blue Tees)
Most Memorable Hole: Number 18, Par 4, 371 yards. The distant bunker is a good line for your tee shot. With water running down the entire left side, there is ample room right of the green to bailout. The subtle undulations of the green will make your last putts quite memorable and the view of the Hall of Fame across the water is quite spectacular and definitely camera worthy.
Favorite Par 3:
Number 7, 143 yards. This hole is truly a shotmaker’s delight. Fashioned after The Redan, the famous 15th at North Berwick, the flag can be attacked either by carrying the bunkers straightaway, or better yet, by fading a tee shot. This allows the ball to feed down to the hole. Miss the green and you’re most likely staring a big number right in the face. No wonder The Redan is the most copied par 3 in all of golf.
Favorite Par 4:
Number 1, 358 yards. The wind will dictate how difficult this hole plays. Keep your tee shot left of the right-side fairway bunkers on this dogleg right. Make it to the dogleg off the tee and you’ll have a short approach to the slightly crowned green. Par – or better – is a good way to jump start your round.
Favorite Par 5:
Number 16, 527yards. The last three holes are a daunting task and feature the longest par 5 and the longest par 4 on the course. Shot placement off tee is essential on #16. If you’re feeling good about your game thus far, you may want to take an aggressive line over the fairway bunkers in an attempt to get home in two. Should you choose to layup, you must avoid the left hazard as well as the trees on the right side. The green’s false front slopes heavily back towards the fairway.
Last Word:
The Slammer and the Squire provides a challenge regardless of which tees you play from or how good you are. Low handicappers will be challenged by a number of risk/reward opportunities; playing these holes smartly will yield a low score. High handicappers will be glad to know that the greens are pretty straight forward with not a lot of hidden breaks and subtle undulations. They are quick, running about 11 or 12 on the stimpmeter. There’s a full length driving range as well as a large practice putting green and short game area to hone your skills. Should you arrive hungry or get so during your round, the Legends Grille is a great place to grab breakfast or lunch. The food is very good as are the portions. You won’t leave hungry.
Taking advantage of the time change I decided to take off early and hit the links. Got right out sandwiched between twosomes so I just joined up one of them after about 4 holes. Pace seemed slow but actually ended up being a 4 hour 15 morning round. Never saw a marshal so maybe that could have improved the pace a little.
Greens are just OK. To me they seemed slow but I’ve been playing Torrey so I’m not sure if I just got accustomed to the speed. A lot of bumps on the greens especially in the afternoon. Areas around the green have some patchy grass so I tried a hybrid and that didn’t work out so well.
Fairways are OK too, there was standing water in the fairway on 1 but I didn’t seen any other water in any other fairways. Quite a few divots out there and some questionable areas but generally decent t hit from.
Wasn’t in the sand but it looked ok. They looked like they could be raked however.
Rough was nonexistent so no penalty from being in it. It could be hard pan thou and that may make for a more difficult shot.
A few tee boxes need some leveling. 10 comes to mind off the top of my head.
Rate was 29 to walk it so still pretty decent value.
I played a second round here last Saturday morning.
What a difference with the lack of strong winds. The course is a nice mix of reachable par 5’s, medium to lengthy par 3’s and 4’s. Stay out of the trees on the front nine to score well. A couple of holes there have lush forests of pines along the right side. It might look somewhat open, but it is thick.
Holes 10, 11, and 12 take you across the street from the clubhouse and up across a high ridge. The drop shot on the medium par 3 12th hole was a punch 4-iron in the wind and an easy 7 iron without the wind.
Again, the course is lush and nicely conditioned from tee to green on every hole. The only area that looked somewhat dormant is the large drainage area that runs between some holes on the back nine. You really can’t see it and it doesn’t normally come in to play unless you hit way right of your target. Part of it is used for their maintenance and practice facilities.
We ate dinner in the clubhouse Friday night. The food was just okay and the drinks were sub-par; however, everything I got was covered by my hosts so I’m really not complaining. The Bunker Burrito I had on Saturday morning was just okay. The course personnel and members here are all friendly and everybody seems to know everybody.
Played Sunday 3/11/18. Pace of Play (POP) 4 1/2 with a lunch stop playing as a five-some. Good news.
They now have grass on the fairways and some clover. Big improvement grass coverage wise. Except for the greens nothing had been mowed for awhile. probably due to the rain. Tees long and uneven, but playable. Fairways have a few thin spots, but have the clumps of grass that grow faster than the other grasses, hate those things. Rough is fine not penal at all, slightly longer than the fairway. Bunkers were wet packed down sand with puddles in low spots. Greens were outstanding. Very fast and smooth. It is in good enough shape to go back to occasionally. Will put back into the rotation.
Played the Blues (6751/72.7/138) in 3 Hours and 40 Minutes as a single early morning. Started off in the 50’s and was in the mid 60’s by the end of the round under partly cloudy skies.
The tees were semi lush and some could use leveling, but most were well maintained for divots.
The rough is not high, but it’s challenging. Uneven lies between clumps of grass was a common theme the entire round when I missed the fairway. Miss the rough and reach the oak trees and you are on hardpan.
Most fairways are generous in size. They have large patches of dormant grass sprinkled with lush green areas. They play better than they look, not great but decent.
The sand was very well maintained. Soft, fluffy, nice to play from.
The large, undulating greens were the best part of the course. Medium fast and firm, but they held irons very well.
This would be a challenging course to walk with all the hills. Tough course to play, hilly with sloping fairways framed by oak trees. Few level lies anywhere on this course. The customer service was good, quick, efficient check-in. No dink cart, no one cleaning up your clubs after the round. Very challenging layout in decent playing condition. Recommended.
6:30am tee time, which meant it was pitch black outside! I thought we had the first time, but when we checked in, was told we were third off?? We waited on the tee behind a bunch of people, until it was 6:30, then since nobody was willing to hit it, off we went. (If you make the tee time, you have to be willing to tee off regardless of conditions!)
Greens were the highlight of the course. They rolled very nicely, and were reasonably quick.. Bunkers were also excellent. Fairways/rough were iffy, some good, some not so good.
Being first out, great pace for the first 11 holes, then we hit the back nine play. Took 1 1/2 hours to play the first 11 holes, and 2 hours to play the next 7 holes. But it was a beautiful morning, so we didn’t mind all that much. Santa Anita is probably my favorite LA County course, and for $16.50, what’s not to like!
Santa Anita Golf Course Arcadia California Eat & Play GK Coupon
Hot off the press!!! Dragonfly is finally doing some major maintenance on the sand traps! It looks like they are following suit with other courses in the valley and overhauling the bunkers. I can’t wait! Not that it will help my pathetic sand play but that’s another story. I was in 6 bunkers today which ranged from poor to OK at best. The good news is that within a few weeks the bunkers should all be very nice.
As for the rest of the course, it’s still in great shape. Greens roll smooth and true. I will say that I’m curious about their mowing procedure. The speeds were all over the place on the front nine. They were consistently on the medium/slow side on the back nine.
Fairways are still dormant but very playable. Beverage cart was out making the rounds as well.
