Hunters Ridge Golf Course — Local services in Marion

This is a pretty nice course for the most part. The pro shop is really nice and the dining area is a great place, especially when holding tournaments. People seemed genuinely happy to be working there, except for the ranger, which I will get to later. I liked the course setup and the holes were challenging, perhaps too challenging for some. Grounds keeping was ok but there were a few things that need addressed, like large, completely dead areas of greens and sand traps that were really just hard packed dirt with a dusting of sand on top. There were a few greens with an amazing amount of ant hills, which I found odd for a high caliber course.

Now, the ranger. My first experience with him was a situation where there were a number of people backed up at a hole, so I drove the cart into the shade since it was 95+ degrees out. The ranger came speeding over and pointed out that carts have to remain on the paths at tees and greens. Ok, that's a fair point, but there should be some cases where there can be some leniency on this. I don't need to be talked to in such a patronizing manner. The rest of the day, it seemed like the ranger was lurking in the distance, seemingly waiting for someone to do something wrong. He just doesn't make you feel welcome on his course. I read the reviews here prior to visiting the course, so I knew what to expect and, well, it's true. Good or bad, people always remember the way you made them feel.

The concession cart was beyond outstanding. It was a hot day and I was approached by the cart at least 6 times during my 18 holes and it was a welcome sight when we were in need of a cold drink. I have never been to a course where there was such nice access to concessions during a round. Maybe it was something special for the tournament, but if it is a regular thing, that's great for the course. The people driving the carts are very pleasant people.

Will I play here again? Maybe. I will call to see which ranger is patrolling the grounds...

The golf course is an excellent layout and the check in staff and bar staff were very helpful. The 1 star review is due to the behavior of the ranger towards our group.

Our group has 5 golfers in it so we always check ahead to make sure that is acceptable at the courses we paly at. We called a couple days ahead to make sure this was going to fine at Hunter's Ridge and they said for this time of year (we played on 9/18/2021) that is was acceptable and gave us a tee time.

On the first tee a couple pulled up behind us and we immediately told them to go ahead before us because we had 5 and they had 2. They mentioned that they were a part of a very large group (a group of 2, and two groups of 4) and that they wanted to play in proximity to each other.

After completing the first hole, the ranger pulled up and accused us of 'putting together' after the first tee. We explained to him that the tee time was made and accepted with 5. For the remainder of the round, he would constantly watch us play and accuse us of playing slow. We finished the first 9 in 1 hour and 50 minutes and the completed 18 holes in right at 4 hours. We offered the only group that waited on us during the first 9 to play through but they politely declined because they were a part of the fore mentioned group. We saw no one in front of us or behind us on the back nine.

In review, the behavior of the ranger was very unprofessional which is a shame because it is such a great layout for a course in Iowa. I will not be playing here again for...

I called on a Monday morning (7/31) about signing up for a pretty high number of golf lessons, and was told I would receive a call in an hour or so to get those scheduled, because their pro was currently in a lesson. Fine by me! Wasn’t in a rush, per se, and at least received confirmation that the pro was providing lessons and seemingly taking on new clients. But I didn’t receive a return call, even by the end of the business day. Whatever, not a huge deal. I decided to give them the week to return the call, knowing they might have been busy in anticipation of the CR City Am tournament coming up that weekend or something. Who knows? I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. I called again the following Monday morning (8/7) and iterated that I had been told I’d receive a return call the previous Monday, but hadn’t heard anything at all. I did receive an apology from Doug, who noted they were setting up for an event that morning and could get someone on the phone with me later that day in order to schedule lessons. I said that’d be great - or, even if the call needed to happen the following day (Tuesday), no problem. Again, I was trying to assume positive intent and show flexibility on my part. Unfortunately, here I am at the end of the business day on Thursday, still without a return call. I was referred to Hunters and its pro by a few people. I was fully committed to taking not just one or two lessons but multiple, and was also considering joining as a member. What a...