Played yesterday at 2:22 for $32 w/cart, just under 4 hour round. The last review a week ago stated conditions were OK...now they are less than OK in my opinion. The greens were not good, with inconsistent speeds, dead spots, and way more unrepaired ball marks than usual (which is saying something, because there are usually a lot!). Patchy fairways, lots of piles of grass clippings all over, and plenty of straight dirt lies. The bunkers I was in had plenty of soft sand over a decent base, so there's the bright spot. Needs some work.

TPC Santa Ana is in halfway decent shape! Played after work, $28 to ride, just over 3 hour round. Tees are typical, hit and miss, but no problem finding a decent area to hit from. Fairways are pretty ok, mostly good lies with some bare and burned out spots. The rough is semi diabolical, some areas will eat your ball and not spit it out. Bunkers are average, some with weeds, but playable. Greens were fairly smooth, plenty receptive, and a touch faster than normal Wick speeds. Fun round today.

Played today, 8:52 tee time but they were running a few minutes behind. Pace was just over 5 hours, typical Sunday round. It was very hot and humid, I'm surprised so many golfers were out there today.

Conditions have changed a bit from the most recent review, and for the better. The greens showed a slight remnant of recent small tine punching but ran fast, smooth and true. Fairways were cut tight so there was plenty of roll, but the ball always sat up nicely. The rough has grown a bit, mostly just lush but some very penal areas. Tees were level and lush. I wasn't in any sand, but a playing partner complained of rocks in one.

Overall the course is lush and green, with few dried out areas. For a Muni that gets this much play, Rio Hondo is just top notch in my opinion as far as conditions go. The uneven fairways and subtle elevation changes take this from what would be a flat, "up and back" course to a really fun layout.

Teed off at 8:27, finished just before 2. The round didn't feel that long, but we did wait on every shot.

This was my first time here, and it was very fun. This course is right at the base of the foothills, and as such has many uneven lies and elevation changes. The conditions are overall quite average, but the setting makes up for that. Not a dog track by any means, but definitely no Goose Creek either.

A word to other first time players: You will not score well. You will three-putt. Often. You may even four-putt; I did on #5. Missed the hole, rolled back, rinse, repeat. The greens are unreadable your first time out. With a few more rounds I'm sure I'll learn the nuances, and I will be back. Bonus points for all the deer hanging out and watching you bomb your tee shots!

A quick review...played yesterday, Father's Day, a very long round as expected so can't complain about that. I can complain about the greens though. They were quick and receptive, but whoever is cutting the hole locations is insane! There are 15-20 unhealed old hole locations per green easy, and most putts have at least one or two in your line. Kind of a bummer.

The rest of the course was shaggy, not mowed in a few days so no roll in the fairways but fluffy lies everywhere. The bunkers were very wet and difficult to escape. I'm writing this off to the heat wave this week and hope it's a one off.

What happened to Birch Hills?

I hate, hate, hate leaving bad reviews, but there's nothing good going on golf-wise at Birch right now. I wonder if they are just out of funding? Or if the nearby home construction is affecting course operations? There was only one pro shop employee today, and he was trying to check people in and run food from the kitchen at the same time...I didn't want to bother him with questions after the round.

Tee boxes are hardpan with almost no grass, and I'm guessing at least a week's worth of broken tee litter. Fairways are hardpan with dirt and weeds. The rough is weeds. Bunkers look ok from afar, but many have a bunch of black gravel hidden throughout the sand. And lastly, the greens did not heal correctly from being punched. Bumpy, dead spots, and inconsistent slow speeds. The whole course kind of looks like they never turned on the water after the rainy season ended.

Sorry Birch, I can't recommend that anyone play here. I truly hope whatever is going on gets sorted out soon.

Day two of my Borrego trip. The guys in my group were burned out from Rams Hill yesterday, so I called the pro shop here and they were able to get me right out as a single. Made it through 14 holes before a shotgun started, the round lasted just over two hours with the last four holes taking almost as long as the previous 14.

I really enjoyed this course. It's got a very old school resort vibe and layout, with excellent conditioning throughout. A couple greenside bunkers were too firm, and the greens could have been a little faster, but overall I was very happy with the track. Just about everything is out in front of you with no surprises, and the greens don't have many undulations...so there are plenty of scoring opportunities. This is a great course to go low on, which I feel is a hallmark of resort style courses. The $49 rate I got as a walk on was a great value. Recommended if you're in the area for sure.

Played 4/21 at 10:00 AM. I'd run out of superlatives trying to describe my experience, so I'll just leave it at "the best course I've ever played". Perfect throughout. This should be on every golfer's bucket list.

Had a great time with the guru group today. We went out in two groups, with nobody ahead when we began and a single behind us that never really pressed us at all. Nice, low stress golf.

I found the course to be in pretty good shape overall. The tee boxes were mostly level with good coverage, I never had a bad lie in the fairways, and the rough ranged from just above fairway height to pretty deep and difficult. There are several areas that have been filled in with bark/mulch in an effort to conserve water. I found a few bunkers and they all had adequate sand in them, but my playing partners did mention that the pot bunkers on 16 need to be filled up a bit.

The greens were unfortunately the low point of the round. They were inconsistent in both speed and firmness from one green to the next, and still showed signs of recovery from aeration last month. There were also some chewed-up areas on a few of the collars that could use some attention. I found my putts didn't want to hold the line, even very short putts.

Overall I had a lot of fun, and I'm sure the greens will be taken care of in the near future. Los Serranos is a great facility and I enjoy playing either course every chance I get.

Quick review. Played today at 9:30, $60 rack rate. Got out on time, slightly over 4 hour round. The course is very green and lush. Everything is good to very good...the fairways need to be mowed and then they will be great. Nice quick greens. Play this week before they punch.

Played today with a 31.99 rate, finished in 3.5 hours so good pace for this place. The first hole is temporarily changed to a par 3, and many holes are CPO. Unlike most area courses, the rain was not kind to this place. Every surface from tee to green is very hard. The coverage on the tee boxes, fairways and rough was very spotty overall. Tough to get tees in the ground as well. Most bunkers were hard beneath maybe an inch of soft sand. The greens were surprisingly nice as far as ball damage and roll goes.

The service in the pro shop was excellent. However, we had a ground crew fellow just ahead of us for most of the round. He was dousing every green with so much water it was causing pooling, and would take his time doing it so we waited on most approach shots while he soaked everything. Pretty much ruined the round. Hopefully this was an anomaly and doesn't happen to the next gk'er that plays here.

Final impression: Needs to soften up and green up everywhere. It's still golf so it's still fun, but don't expect good lies.

Public service announcement: Go here now if you can! Even with the jacked-up winter rate of $60 and the swarm of denim-wearing snowbirds, it's still worth it. Best condition I have ever seen this course in.

Points have been removed for the tee boxes, they are not all level. The markers were on downslopes a few times which was annoying. Other than that, conditions are near pristine throughout. The greens are faster and smoother than ever, my guess for a stimp reading would be around 12 or 13. And absolutely pure in regard to reading break. Best greens I've ever had the pleasure of putting on.

I could go on about the perfect mower lines in the green fairways, the amazing views at every turn, and the great customer service from the starter to the lady that cleans your clubs on 18, but I'll just say this: Go now for the greens!

Disclaimer: I did NOT play well, so this isn't a happy review based upon a stellar round. I'm just in awe of how well the crew maintains this gem in the desert.