The weather Friday, 2/26/2021, was beautiful and we needed to get out and play golf. So we went to Timberlane Golf and Recreation. Established in 1959 Timberlane is not a long golf course by today's standards but is a good, tight, tree-lined layout with a good mix of holes.
The staff was super friendly. Having not been on the property in years the assistant in the pro shop was very helpful. She pointed us in the right direction as the front and back nine have switched sides since our last visit. Every person we came in contact with from either the cart staff, restaurant staff, and maintenance staff either asked how we were doing or greeted us with a smile. Very courteous and professional all around.
After a few very cold and frigid couple weeks recently the grass was what you'd expect and typical of this time of year. There were a few holes that had areas where the grass had died, however, we think that may have been a long-time issue in those areas and not from recent weather. Overall the golf course was in pretty decent shape.
The greens were very nice. Consistent from hole to hole and the ball was rolling true. They had a really good speed to them, not fast but not too slow. Only one or two greens had some minor blemishes but even those were mostly around the edges and had no effect on playability. The only bad thing about the greens is of no fault of Timberlane or Mother Nature. It was from golfers themselves not repairing ball marks on the greens. Some greens only had one or two but some had seven or eight. Golfers, please repair your ball marks on the greens and help maintain good playing conditions.
We have only two negatives about the golf course at this time. Neither is a deal-breaker at the rate we were charged either, just a disappointment to see. One is the tee boxes. They had a great deal of crabgrass growing all over them making the grass different lengths. They were also very unlevel making it difficult to find a good spot to tee up the golf ball. Just about every spot either had one foot lower than the other or the ball above your feet. It is our hope when the growing season comes they will address this and level the tee boxes off with some good grass.
The other negative is with the fairways. Not with the grass. There was plenty of grass and it was cut to a good length for this time of year. The problem is the fairways are very bumpy. There were a lot of ruts that cut across every fairway. This is usually something that happens as a course ages and as water drains to different areas of the golf course the ruts appear. This is not just a bumpy ride in a golf cart. This makes for some awkward stances for your approach shots and if you play the ball down as we do sometimes this made contacting the golf ball a challenge. The other problem with these is how it can cause your golf ball to bounce. Many shots we hit right down the middle of the fairway would kick a good thirty yards to the left or right off of some of these ruts. As with the tee boxes, we hope this is something that will be addressed soon.
With all that said for a round of golf under $35 everything was pretty good. The conditions of the greens and the staff alone are reasons enough to return. Timberlane also has a lighted driving range for those wanting to hit balls late in the evening.
Kudos to the residents of the Timberlane area. They were in real danger of having to sell the club and shut it down and the residents banded together to keep it, hiring Arnold Palmer Golf Management to run the place. It is far from a finished product, but the results are already improving the place. Greens aren't great yet, but so much better than before. Bunkers have sand now. Yes, tee boxes are terrible still, but if you're spending money, get your greens in order before the tees. And the carts with Bluetooth technology are fun too. Not a finished product, but the improvements are well received.