Joined Johnny and a familiar cast of characters to resurrect (hopefully) GK Plays outings at Mountain View on Saturday morning, 12/20/25, in perfect golf weather – warm, sunny, and almost no wind, playing on a course in wonderful condition. Tee times ranged from 9:30 to 10:30am and we went out on time with few groups in front of us and without anyone close enough behind the fin... » More

Joined Johnny and a familiar cast of characters to resurrect (hopefully) GK Plays outings at Mountain View on Saturday morning, 12/20/25, in perfect golf weather – warm, sunny, and almost no wind, playing on a course in wonderful condition. Tee times ranged from 9:30 to 10:30am and we went out on time with few groups in front of us and without anyone close enough behind the final group to cause any waiting.

Conditions were very good throughout the course, which presented as a shimmering green against the muted tones of the surrounding desert environment. Fairways had wall-to-wall coverage of firm turf that gave excellent lies. Coverage in the rough adjacent to fairways was 1-2 inches deep and somewhat wet at the start of the round, but was very playable; if you got too wide there were scraped dirt areas and scattered rock fields to navigate. I was not in any bunkers, but playing partners looked like they had good lies with sand having a fairly shallow playing layer of firm sand. Tees were well-marked and all level and provided good peg opportunities. I hit from the turf on the par-3s and had perfect lies available.

Greens were challenging from the standpoint of firmness and quickness. Most ballmarks were very small and full shots released significantly. Downhill putts had significant rollout and all greens have many subtle small breaks that surprised all of us through the day. Coverage on the greens was excellent and speeds were consistent throughout the day.

Saw the cart girl once on the front and several times on the back side. Restrooms are well-marked and clean and all have water/ice stations. Carts with good-quality GPS, comfortable with ice chest and ball/club washer. Staff was very helpful from bag drop to coordinating the start to receiving golfers after the round.

Great to see old friends again and meet new GKers. I’m hopeful that the GK Plays can take off and be well-received by the SoCal GK community. Playing fun, well-conditioned courses like Mountain View helps to enhance the experience and increase anticipation for future events. Thanks to Johnny for all he does.
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Played yesterday. Course is getting better by the week. It looks like they got new equipment and started cutting. All fairways cut and cleaned and now good lies and decent rollout.

Traps all have new sand and their great but we still have many who do not know what a rake is there for.

Rough all cut down and no issues.

Tee boxes all clean and playab... » More

Played yesterday. Course is getting better by the week. It looks like they got new equipment and started cutting. All fairways cut and cleaned and now good lies and decent rollout.

Traps all have new sand and their great but we still have many who do not know what a rake is there for.

Rough all cut down and no issues.

Tee boxes all clean and playable.

Greens are getting better and faster each week. Still some issues on some but they are working on them each day.

Still great customer service in the shop and from all employees.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
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Played in an RPGC tournament yesterday and just want to leave a quick review about the current green conditions - and it's not great. I played here a few weeks back and the greens were in terrific shape, but something has gone amiss.

There are patchy dirt sections, something that looks like mold on a lot of them, and far too many ball marks to count. I'm not sure what... » More

Played in an RPGC tournament yesterday and just want to leave a quick review about the current green conditions - and it's not great. I played here a few weeks back and the greens were in terrific shape, but something has gone amiss.

There are patchy dirt sections, something that looks like mold on a lot of them, and far too many ball marks to count. I'm not sure what happened but putting right now is a true adventure, and not the good kind. Speeds are inconsistent, lines are inconsequential and frustrations will be high.

The rest of the course? Not bad at all. Fairways and rough are good for the most part, bunkers had decent sand in them and most of the tee boxes were flat, level and had some coverage, but a few of the par 3s are thin and don't really have grass but moss instead.

POP was great since it was a tournament and we finished in just over four hours. But the overriding message here is that the greens are currently very, very disappointing.
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Played the North after some time off. Course is in fantastic shape. Greens are immaculate although a bit on the firm side. Makes it extremely difficult to hold especially if pins are in front locations. Nothing like downhill 50' putts with 10' break at a 15 stimp. Almost better to miss green short but every green is elevated above fairway. Almost have to play away from pins a... » More

Played the North after some time off. Course is in fantastic shape. Greens are immaculate although a bit on the firm side. Makes it extremely difficult to hold especially if pins are in front locations. Nothing like downhill 50' putts with 10' break at a 15 stimp. Almost better to miss green short but every green is elevated above fairway. Almost have to play away from pins and use contours to get the ball close. Course is playing about 4-5 shots harder than normal. Tees are nice and fairways are solid with some runout. Rough has turned dormant brown and we get a lot of flyers. Bunkers have ample sand, maybe a bit too much in the fairway traps. Hopefully some rain will soften up the green complexes.
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Awesome day playing with rgm2525, kviser and jerry64 on Monday at Valencia CC. I was very impressed with Valencia CC winter playing conditions. In the past, there used to be a drop-off in turf conditions compared to the summer. Not this time. It appears the course has cleared the waiting hump for its new turf to mature providing year a around lush, beautiful, playing surface. T... » More

Awesome day playing with rgm2525, kviser and jerry64 on Monday at Valencia CC. I was very impressed with Valencia CC winter playing conditions. In the past, there used to be a drop-off in turf conditions compared to the summer. Not this time. It appears the course has cleared the waiting hump for its new turf to mature providing year a around lush, beautiful, playing surface. The greens were in outstanding shape. Medium/Fast, Smooth and holding shots. The bunkers are very well maintained and groomed with high quality sand. Be aware of where the bunkers are on your tee shots. I found 6 fairway bunkers all with high challenging lips surrounded by thick, rough. Tee Boxes were lush, level and groomed.

From a golf event organizer perspective, Valencia CC was a true treat. This was my 5th event here and each time our group of 100 plus players are very satisfied. With the clubhouse, practice putting, golf cart staging area and snack bar conveniently located to go along with a straightforward beautifully conditioned challenging layout (that hosts major college events and qualifiers), this place delivers. Their outside services, proshop and tournament director, Pamela, are fantastic work with making sure the event is fully prepped long before players arrive. I have already booked a June 2026 event.

Big thanks to rgm2525, mark_6m, GDR23 and barkydog1 for doing a super job helping out. This was a packed event that included a Vivid Golf Putting Skill Challenge. It ran very smoothly.

Huge thanks to everyone that came out to play and to Valencia CC, for once again, hosting our group and providing an exceptional experience.
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