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It was not a pretty picture for The Fountaingrove Club when images emerged of driving range mats being used on tee boxes after the private course served as host for U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifying on Monday. The reactions on social media to the highly regarded Northern California club’s apparently sub-par tees were less than considerate, even comparing the conditions unfavorably to the cartoonish 3 Jack National of Club Pro Guy fame. But the truth behind the unfortunate circumstances is even more messy than the makeshift tees. The short answer: Blame city hall.
Fountaingrove’s par-4 13th and par-5 14th holes were seen to be set up with driving range mats in the sandy area of tee boxes clearly in a state of mid-renovation. The images, which surfaced Tuesday morning, sparked a mix of embarrassment laced with comedy and USGA-directed derision. Originally posted by golf stat expert and performance coach Lou Stagner, his take was disappointment more than diatribe.
“This was an actual tee box at a USGA Men’s Mid-am qualifier yesterday.
There were two tee boxes like this. And yes, this is real.
Looks like @ClubProGuy set up the course! 😀
How you feeling if you show up to your mid-am qualifier and see this? 😂”
This was an actual tee box at a USGA Men’s Mid-am qualifier yesterday.
There were two tee boxes like this. And yes, this is real.
Looks like @ClubProGuy setup the course! 😀
How you feeling if you show up to your mid-am qualifier and see this? 😂 pic.twitter.com/u6d9fIFIO0
— Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) (@LouStagner) July 22, 2025
But the replies got increasingly spicier, if decidedly light on the facts. “The $100+ million they [presumably the USGA] make each year off the US Open must not be enough” offered one, “Rent a set of clubs to hit off of that” said another. The best may have been the clear thinker who posted on X: “I’d be ecstatic. I flush it at the range.”
Fountaingrove head professional Jesse Halstad said it’s unfortunate for his members and the competitions the club is hosting that two tee boxes have not been able to be fixed on an otherwise pristine course.
The matter was under review, said Julia Pine, the USGA’s director of championship communications. The vast majority of USGA qualifiers are conducted by the state and local golf association in the area, in this case the Northern California Golf Association. “Two teeing areas were not in the condition anticipated, resulting in the images now circulating,” Pine said. “While many variables can affect course conditions across such a large number of qualifying sites, our goal is always to identify and address potential issues in advance, and in this instance, the conditions were unfortunately not up to our standards. We are working with our partners to identify how to avoid similar situations in the future.”
While it might seem curious that a USGA qualifier would be held on a course in the middle of a construction project, the truth is more complicated than that. According to Fountaingrove’s head professional Jesse Halstad, the club’s plans for the renovations to those tee boxes had been scheduled to be finished by April. Multiple delays with the planning commission for the City of Santa Rosa, 55 miles north of San Francisco, left the project stalled. The club members have been using the mats on those tee boxes for the whole year. In fact, the Northern California Golf Association held its qualifier for the NCGA Stroke Play Championship at Fountaingrove in June and all the competitors used those same mats that were in place for this week’s U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier, which also was conducted by the NCGA.
“It’s just unfortunate,” Halstad said. “I wish I knew why it was taking so long. They’ve said we’re really close. I’m just sorry for our members who’ve been so good through all of this. They don’t deserve any negativity that’s come out of this because we’ve got an outstanding golf course. We’ve got about 100 acres of perfectly maintained turf, and the only thing people are seeing is the .01 percent that we can’t fix, and it’s not even our fault.”
Officials at the City of Santa Rosa planning commission were contacted by email but did not offer an immediate reply. A story in March in Sonoma County’s Press Democrat detailed that construction was halted in February on the tee boxes because the plans were in violation of city grading and stormwater guidances. The city planning commission said the club had not filed the proper permitting paperwork prior to the start of the construction project. But the club’s general manager Don Zauner told the Press Democrat in March that it was “committed to completing the project in full compliance with all regulations and appreciates the city’s guidance throughout this process.” That was some four months ago for a project that began last October and has been largely inactive for now more than five months.
Halstad noted that the mats were likely not a surprise to the field since dozens of players had been to the club for practice rounds in the days leading up to the qualifier. Both holes were driver holes and the mats could accommodate a tee. While each played over par, they weren’t the hardest holes and the tight 401-yard 13th wouldn’t be a picnic if the tee box were constructed of fresh sod from Augusta National.
The fact is Fountaingrove, which also was the site that same day for qualifying for the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, is one of the tougher qualifying sites. At the NCGA qualifier last month only one player was under par, and the same was true at the U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier on Monday, when Derek Ackerman shot one under and 40 of the 66 players in the field shot in the 80s on the 6,860-yard layout. The Senior Women’s Amateur qualifier was just as tough, where nine over advanced.
“Honestly, that’s why the guys from the NCGA like having qualifiers here,” Halstad said. “It’s not like you need to shoot eight under to get into a playoff. You have to hit it pretty solid all the way around. They know if someone qualifies from here they’re hitting it good.”
That quality got lost in some of the social images and mocking commentary, of course, And that hurts, Halstad said.
“Our staff has been working hard on this for a long time,” he said. “We just want to get behind this and get back focused on this great golf course and club.”
Maybe the social media outcry will spur the city planners to greenlight that permitting pronto.
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Main Image: Supplied
