Livingston Golf Course

Review of Livingston Golf Course

Livingston Golf Course is a city owned and operated 9 hole course that opened for play in the 60’s.  Most of the holes are side by side with a tree line separating them, so keep an eye out for fellow golfers who may be hitting into or from your fairway.  The terrain is flat to gently rolling and on some holes if you spray the ball you’re lost in some dense brush and trees. 

Livingston Golf Course has three sets of tee boxes but is short by today’s standards at 3086 yards from the tips and par is 35 – three par 3s, four par 4’s, and  two 500+ yard par 5s.  To score well here you need to favor accuracy over distance – the fairways are a little tight, there are 3 dog legs that you need  a precise tee shot to be in position to go for the pin, and the greens are small requiring an accurate approach shot to hit and hold them.   You also need to watch out for a drainage creek that crosses the fairway and will take your ball for a swim. 

On most of the holes you can see the pin and what you’re up against.  Our favorite hole, and it’s a beauty, is #4  which is the #1 handicap hole – it’s a 389 yard par 4 dog leg right with a two tier fairway split by a knurly tree.  Both fairways are very tight with the right side providing the shortest route but most risky thanks to the creek, brush, and trees on the right with no room for error and if you’re short off the tee box you have to lay up to make the turn to the pin.  The left side is safer but requires a really accurate shot to hold the fairway and position you to carry the creek to the green on your second shot.  A great hole!

When we played in mid March, the fairways were transitioning from dormant to a mixture of various grasses.  It was hard to tell what conditions would be like during the season – my guess is around a 7 out of 10.   The fairways are generally flat except for one uphill par 3 and a fun #9 that goes up and back down to the green and has a sloping fairway that can take your ball where you don’t want to go.

The greens at Livingston Golf Course are mostly oval and most are very small.   They are also raised and have some significant slope along the edges – in a couple cases we hit on the green and rolled back down to the fairway.  The greens were soft but bumpy and slow in preparation for an upcoming aeration.  Most of the Livingston Golf Course greens also had some slope and challenging breaks. 

There are only 5 bunkers on the course that you have to worry about and all of them are guarding the greens on three holes – my ball seemed attracted to them on all three holes.  The sand was soft and fluffy but the bunkers need some TLC to get rid of the grass and weeds.

Bottom line – worth stopping by for round if you’re in the area.