San Juan Oaks Golf Club

Hollister, CA

Reviewed by: Alex326, Monterey, Ca

I can’t believe it’s been 6 months since I’ve played here. SJO is always a blast to play and the conditions never disappoint. The wind was up this afternoon making club selection a challenge on the already difficult (but fun) back 9. Greens rolled true and as I’ve said before seem to be the perfect blend between manageable yet challenging. They were rolling a little slower than usual (especially the front 9). I only encountered one un-repaired pitch mark.

The Review

Fairways were near perfect An easy 9/10. Just a perfect dark green lush playing surface that always presented a great lie. There were a couple of small areas that the wild boars had dug up. This course runs into that every so often. The two fairways that had been hit by the pigs were already under repair. The only dry thin area I found on the entire course was a patch on the 18th fairway near the dogleg bend, and it was about the size of a dining room table.

Tee boxes were excellent as well. Most were super lush and all were level. A couple of the par 3’s had some divots but still no issues finding a clean hitting surface.

I avoided sand traps all day so I can’t really comment, but usually they are the weak link of the track. Service is always friendly. I walked up without a reservation and the gal at the pro shop told me if I didn’t want to hit any range balls, I could quickly get out before a foursome was going to tee off in about 5 minutes. Talk about having your wits about you! It was nice to see that she was aware that the course was wide open and encouraged me to “rush” out to get in front of a foursome.

Parting Thoughts

I had clear sailing with a wide open course until I ran into a twosome on the 16th.

With so many great courses only 20-30 minutes away SJO is easily overlooked, but absent views of the ocean, it is right up there with the best of them.