Baylands Golf Links — Attraction in Palo Alto

Fun layout (links style, open fairways), decent conditions, interesting greens that run quick. Wish I could say I loved it but I couldn’t finish 18 holes at a 12:10PM tee time… no Marshall in sight even with multiple calls to the pro shop.

The pace of play is absurd. We averaged over 20 minutes per hole which was over a 6 hour round. In all my years of golf I’ve never had that lengthy of a non finished round.

I’ve played Troon managed courses in multiple states. My favorite being Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa in Arizona. The longest round I have ever played there was 4 hours 24 minutes.

At tee box #2 today, I noticed the group in front of us was still waiting to tee off. I called the pro shop to inform them and nothing was done. Notice my photos of said backup.

I’d expected a tee time of 12:10PM to be able to finish by latest 5:10PM to get a full 18 in with the sun setting at 4:50PM.

For the price of this course and rate I played, it’s ridiculous. I will never be back and plan on informing others. I expect more from Troon.

My advice if you want to play 18: Tee off latest 11AM.

I’d be more than willing to give them another shot if they offered me a discounted round given I never finished the...

This is Palo Alto muni that was redone several years ago. They changed the name and added $75 to the green fee. It is ridiculously expensive, +/- $100. for a "decent" course is absurd. In the winter the fairways are barely "fair"ways, with the emphasis on bare. Literally, any other course within a 75-mile radius is a much better value/choice than this one. Just to be fair, the greens are very nice, but boy you will pay through the nose for the privilege of playing on them. The Links card used to be an ok value but this year they stopped giving others in the foursome the Links card rate without making it clear in their misleading ad. If you want to play a wonderfully redesigned muni treat yourself to Corica Park for much better value and venue. I would post a photo but after paying the green fee I can't afford my phone bill, just kidding, mostly...

2/10/22 This is a response to the golf course response: I agree that having a drought tolerant grass is good however this actually reinforces my main point about the course being overpriced. Since the course requires less water and especially less maintenance this means the overhead is much less than other courses, therefore the expensive green fees are less...

This course has really gone downhill. On the first hole, the fairways are lush and very nice, but as you go through the course, you see that the course has become troubled with the gopher holes, inconsistent bunkers filled with either mud or sand dunes, which are deep and difficult to get out of, and huge patches of bear dirt. The tee boxes are also very inconsistent some of which the grass is very long and very far from smooth. The greens were consistent. But here's the worst part, Palo Alto, which is a liberal bastion has deemed that anywhere off the fairway is a sensitive environmental area. The starter takes it upon themselves to threaten you before you round. If you go in this sensitive environmental area you're subject to being kicked off the course. The only other interaction I had with course staff was on the back nine at a par five where I pulled the cart off the cart path onto the grass. I was chastised for being too close to the Green. The cart was actually parked 5 yards from the green, and 2 feet from the car path. I do this so others can drive by if they need. The round cost $120 for 18 holes, a cart, and a small bucket of balls. Really not even close...