Not going lie, and will start this out with it...I will be back to the course despite the following review simply because I grew up playing this course and it's 5 minutes from my house.

Played monday 6/21, had an 0600 tee time. Got there a little early and the nice lady in the pro-shop said we could go out whenever we were ready (we were a 2-some). We headed out around 545 or so, with the intent of flying around. On hole 6, the sprinklers were on over the entire back half of the hole (from about 225 and in), and given that this is one of the shorter holes on the course it pretty much rendered the hole unplayable. On hole 7, there was a full maintenance crew working on the green, so we decided to skip it thinking we could get ahead of the workers and stay out of their way. Right after teeing off on hole 8, the maintenance guy speeds past us and goes for the green. He waited until I hit into the green and then proceeded to move the cup (after I had hit into the green) and do a hand punch (aerification) of about half the green while we're standing there waiting to finish out the hole. Move on to 9 - no problem because the maintenance guy jumped us and went to 10. We did see a crew doing some major work on 13 at this point, figured it'd be done by the time we get there (we were first out for the day). Catch up to him again on 11 and he's moving the flag on the green, again. We play out the hole hoping it gives him enough time to go hit number 12. Tee on on 12 (par 5) and by the time we get to the 2nd shot, there is no flag on the green, they're mowing and moving the pin again. Get to 13 and it plays as normal hole with the sole exception that the green had been fully punched. Couldn't even finish the rest of the course because every hole was covered in plugs from being punched (which btw there was zero notification on the course website when I booked it last week, and I don't believe there was any price reduction as a result either) and did not have a flag. The grounds crew was on hole 14 - and there were many people behind us. Couple groups were catching up quick too, so I can only imagine that they weren't able to finish either.

Course conditions themselves were mediocre at best. Have seen it in much better shape and have seen it in worse shape. Fairways were thin (esp. no. 1 and 16). Bunkers were either soft and fluffy (no 10 was very nice) or hardpan concrete like...just depended which one you were in. Like I said at the beginning, I'll definitely be back but they definitely need to work on course management and maintenance management here.

2nd time I've played this course, and it might be the last. Played 10 holes in just over 3 hours here on Friday afternoon. I know that this is a resort course and that Friday PM is a busy time, but there is zero reason it should take this long. They made a point to tell us that they had 404 golfers going out AFTER 12pm that day. When you're waiting 10-15 minutes on EVERY shot...you know you're overbooked. For what they charge ($90 for socal resident), you could easily space the tee times out further. I think the other downgrading factor here - being that Legoland is so close - people who shouldn't be playing this course are out here. People who shoot 100+ shouldn't be playing the tough up/down courses with high slope ratings, OR, should have a standard "if I lose it, i'll drop from up ahead" mentality instead of climbing through bushes and spending so much time searching for the balls. When we decided to bail, we drove through 11-18 in hopes we'd find an empty hole or two and play a few more, but it was packed and people were waiting at every hole. Like traffic on the 405, i'd avoid this every time I can going forward.

Course itself was in decent shape - boxes were pristine. Fairways were awful (maybe just dormant?) but the greens were immaculate. Would play on these greens anytime. Just not with the god awful pace of play.

Played friday early AM. We were the third group off, and we didn't catch anyone the whole time. Boxes were hit or miss - guessing that a lot of people don't play from the backs there so they tend to focus their maintenance efforts on the whites/reds. Fairways were spotty. Some had good coverage, some were very thin, and on a couple had some significant dead spots on them. Greens were in great shape. If not for the grounds crew soaking them on every hole as we came up on them (turning sprinklers on, standing there with the hoses, etc.) they would have been fantastic. This course is not a hard course, but does feature one of my favorite walks in all of san diego - from the fairway to the green on number 16, where you see the canal in the background - so pretty. Little pricey for what you get, but given that tee times are so hard to come by now, I would gladly go back. This course isn't going to wow you with views or difficult holes, but it's a fun little track to get a round in and hang with some buddies.

Played 7/27...course is in great shape. Was able to get out an hour early and didn't really spend any time waiting except on number 10. Another resort course, so expectations should be high here. Looked like they were doing some heavy maintenance on a few holes, but didn't really affect the playability of the course at all.

Greens - 9/10. Greens were in great shape. Rolled quick but were still soft and receptive. Little unforgiving on the speed side...would say they were probably a 13 on the stimp.

Tees - 7/10...few places had to work to find a flat lie or tee off a little farther back. Other than that they were in great shape. Didn't come across any boxes that had too many divots or were damaged in any way.

Fairways...8/10. Few places were a little thin but mostly playable no matter where you were.

Rough...6/10. This is one place that they need to spend a little time and work on. Rough was thin in many areas and needs water. Had to move the ball to little patches here and there else you were hitting off dirt patches.

Bunkers...was lucky enough not to find any bunkers myself, but watched the guys I was playing with hit. Looked like there was soft, fluffy sand that played well.

Overall I would highly recommend this course. If you go on a weekend, be prepared to wait as the PoP here is very bad during high traffic times. If you go during the week though, you can get around in about 4 hours.

Played 07/27 at 0812...first tee time. Interesting start to the day...the guy in the pro-shop told us we were first and could go out early (got there about 0730) since the range is closed on mondays for maintenance. Standing on the first tee waiting for the grounds crew to finish blowing the first fairway the starter rolls up around 0745 and proceeds to say "there's 30 minutes before you can tee off". After telling him what the pro shop rep said, his answer was "I don't give a d%mn what they said in there" and he drove off. We did end up getting out a little early (0805 or so), but an interesting start to the day.

Course itself is undergoing maintenance. Only the back 9 is playable right now as they replace all the bridges on the front. Not sure what the normal rack rate is there, but we paid $115 for our experience. If they didn't, they for sure should have discounted the rate. What we played of the course was a fun enough layout, but would have liked to play the front 9 too for sure.

Greens - 9/10. Greens rolled true, nice and smooth, were very receptive and you could spin the ball as well. Easily the best part of the course.

Fairways - LOVE the fairways here. Lush, full, green...everything a resort course should be and more. Would rate these a 9/10 ONLY due to a few spots that were a little dried out and could use a little extra water.

Tees - 9/10...could be because we played so early, but they were full, flat and not too many divots.

Bunkers - 3/10...for a course that paid attention to everything else, the sand was awful. Wish I would have got a picture, but it was like a thin layer of sand on top of a mud pit.

Rough - 7/10...some thin spots and some that were extremely long. Could find your ball and hit out of it so definitely playable.

Played here yesterday 7/24. Before I go into the review, want to give a shout out to Gary (GDR23)...he fit me in for a quick lesson this week and got me back to normal which definitely helped today. Ended up shooting a 79...3 wood let me down a few times and had to scramble to save par where I should have been going for birds.

Ok time to review - not the best I've seen it in the last few years. Seems COVID has really brought out just about anyone who has ever thought about playing golf. Pace of play was okay at best. Had a 2:30 tee time and had to wait until 5 minutes before to get a cart. Range machine was empty, so after walking down the hill that was a disappointment. Luckily someone left a full bucket so was able to grab a few of those while they picked the range to refill the machine. Ended up finishing just before 730 (so about a 5 hour range). Was waiting on pretty much every shot.

Tees - beat up and broken. They had set them up on flat ground, but it was pretty much all divots and dirt by the time we got around. Very few had grass to hit from. would rate them a 5/10 at best for their attempt to at least put them on flat ground.

Fairways - thin. Lot of work on several holes (1, 8, 12) so happy to see they're trying here. Still spongy and able to take a nice divot, but thin nonetheless. Would rate these a 6/10.

Greens - pretty much is always the best part of this course. Rolled nice and smooth. Would give these a 9/10. Held long, high and low shots...just perfect. Only thing I wish is that they were a little bit faster. Would say they were rolling around a 10 on the stimp.

Bunkers - most awful part of this course. Wish they would just go to home depot and buy a bunch of kids play sand for $5 bucks a bag (on sale it's $2.50 a bag) and pour them in the bunkers. That'd be better than the cement that they have there now. For a couple thousand dollars they could at least make them playable. Would rate these a 0/10 and I know I'm not the only one since someone wrote a message to the greenskeeper on the sign telling people not to take sand canisters on number 10.

Overall - wouldn't recommend this course right now. They are adjusting their prices, but even $60 for a friday afternoon is a little steep for a course that plays like a dirthill.

Played 3/6 with a buddy at 120 for 26 bucks walking. Hard to beat that rate. Will say though, it was a prime reminder why, with so many other local options, I do not enjoy going to this course at all. Every few years I head back here and get my reminder on why I don't like playing here.

I'll start with the good - the fairways were in great shape. Nice and green; easy to hit from. Love the condition that these were in. Rough was also in great shape. Dark green grass, and very few patchy areas. Greens were also in great shape...little slow, kinda shaggy, but rolled true and easy enough to putt on. Didn't find any bunkers, so I don't have any input here.

Now to the bad...the pace of play here was god awful. In 4.5 hours we only got through 12 holes before we quit. It was so bad here, that on number 6, there were 3 foursomes playing together when we finished up on 5 so that they could all get through the hole (all groups hit to the green at the same time, then the appropriate 4 somes putted out).

To me, there are two key indicators as to whether or not I would recommend a course...pace of play and greens. In this case, the pace of play outweighs any positives that the greens would bring. I cannot recommend this course when Moorpark Country Club and Tierra Rejada are both less than 10 minutes away.

Played Friday 2/7...had to be the second group out. Joined up with a couple of singles to make a 4-some.

Started off a little cold but turned out to be a beautiful day by the 5th hole. Pace of play was great, finished in just about 4 hours with all 4 of us taking a few extra shots here and there. Tees were in great shape. Greens were the highlight of the round...smooth, rolled true and were quick. Fairways were a little thin and tight in a lot of spots but I guess that's to be expected given the weather we've had around here lately. The only downside is that the bunkers are absolutely awful. They played like cement and had standing water in a more than one of them. Would highly recommend this course to anyone, but would tell them to pull the ball out of the sand if they happen to find themselves on a beach...as long as we are all paying for our own clubs...no reason to risk damage or injury.

Played here on a Thursday morning...for the first time ever. This course has a fun layout. Back to back par 5s then a par 3 make for an interesting way to start the day. Hole 1 is reachable so that always helps, hole 2 is a very long par 5. Then, a few holes later you have almost a 500 yard par 4 (from the tips). Everyone in the pro shop , outside services department and the snack shop are SUPER nice...definitely good on a golf course.

Tees - some were hard to find a flat part to hit from, but all were blessed with good grass coverage. Would give these a 7 out of 10 here.

Fairways - some had some visible signs where it was still recovering from a big flood last year (apparently some of the holes were completely under water), but most were in good enough condition to play from any day of the week. Would give these a 7 out of 10 as well.

Rough - same as the fairways...I guess that's to be expected though. 7 out of 10 rating for me.

Sand - there was a big rain the night before, so most had a lot of standing water our first time around. We just played as GUR and pulled and placed. no rating on these since I didn't actually play out of them.

Greens - few had visible bumps, fungus spots, etc...but it didn't really affect play at all. Ran a little slow though...maybe a 7 on the stimp.

Pace of play - this part was awesome. We were behind a 4 some who told us they were within one shot of the group in front of them....but we could see the next 3 holes and there was no one on them. After the marshal came around and realized what was happening, he stayed with the group in front of us until they caught back up. Then, on 11 they fell behind again...waived us up and told us they were within one shot of the group in front of them again. When we passed them, we didn't catch anyone until hole 15, so I guess we have very different interpretations of "within 1 shot of the group in front". Regardless though - the marshal was awesome here to keep things moving. When we played our second round, there was no one out there and we flew around in just under 3 hours.

Will definitely be back to this course...fun layout, nice people, well worth the trip.

Played here for the first time in a couple years. Haven't been able to get out nearly as much in years past, but the annual trip to mesquite is one that I won't miss. This course has been my long time favorite of all the places I've ever played....but it might actually be dropping down the list after this last time.

Had an 0800 tee time on a Wednesday morning...should be no problem, right? Yea well that's where we were wrong...we got there early, checked in and told the guy we planned to play 36 that day. His response is what shook us..."you'll be right on the line if we can let you out again, our last tee time is at 1pm". We looked at each other in disbelief..."uhhhh what?" We play in 3 hours when it's just the two of us usually, so we have plenty of time to finish, go eat in the restaurant and get out again no problem. Not anymore. Apparently they had the USGA out here earlier this year and they set the pace of play at 5 hours & 10 minutes. And the pro shop is proud of that. People stopping, taking pictures all over the place...I get it. It's a beautiful course, but it's not a 5 hour round course. But....they were right. We were stuck behind a 4 some who wouldn't let us play through despite us asking a couple times, until we finally jumped them at number 10. We finished in 4.75 hours, but took 3 just to get through the front. Once we passed them on 10, we didn't catch another group until number 16 who immediately let us go through. Pace of play here gets a measly 3 out of 10. They need a marshal out here to keep things moving and making sure people are playing from the right tees. Some have some pretty long carries and playing from the wrong tees could make it very difficult to make it over.

The fairways were in great shape...as they almost always are. Would give these a 9 out of 10.

The tee boxes were pretty good...few patchy lies and a few which weren't quite flat. Would give these a 7 out of 10.

The rough was hit or miss...some holes it was lush and punishing, and some it was barely there. Would say this would be more of a 6 out of 10. I'm a fan of consistency on the course so it would have been great to see it thick and dark green throughout the whole course.

The greens were fantastic - as you'd expect. They were fast and rolled true. Would give these a 9 out of 10.

The bunkers are hit and miss...some are coarse white sand which looks and plays beautiful...some are darker with a bunch of rocks in them. Would give these a 6 out of 10.

Played yesterday (saturday) 7/21 for the first time ever here. Gotta say, there are some major positives and some negatives here for me.

Pace of Play - this was the biggest, single most frustrating thing on the course for me the whole time. It seems as though the layout drives a lot of this as the front nine took forever (almost 3.5 hours) and the back nine was WAYYYY faster (2 hours). The nines are dramatically different so the only thing I could chalk it up to was the layout. Having the first 5 holes all be reachable (at least for me) in 1 to 2 shots kills PoP. Even though I didn't go for them being the first time playing there, if I ever go back you can bet I will be going for them all trying to rack up Eagles - and that will kill PoP as I'll have to wait for people to clear the green.

Boxes - pretty nice. Overall I easily found a flat spot to hit from on every hole. No issues with lack of coverage either. Definitely some of the better tee boxes i've seen in SoCal.

Greens - little inconsistent here. First one was fast, second was slow as a slug. Same thing throughout the rest of the round. Also they needed to be rolled. Coverage was nice and greens were receptive to well placed shots.

Fairways - definitely some of the better ones I've played on in socal this year. Where everyone in LA is going brown and looking to make more desert-scape, this place didn't have an issue at all. Loved these fairways.

Bunkers - found a couple, but easily able to get up and down. Sand was soft in greenside bunks and firm in the fairway traps. Definitely playable all around.

Rough - not to thin but not too punishing either. Nice to be able to visually see the difference between the fairway and the rough and be able to play out of it too.

Feeling a little conflicted as I sit here and write this one....for a couple reasons. (1) this is one of my favorite courses, (2) we have not experienced anything like what we got this year and (3) we usually play this every other year but played 2 years in a row because of other local aerification activities on-going.

First let me say that when my cousin and I play by ourselves, we play in about 2.5 hours if we don't have to wait for anyone else (in our group or in front of us). We were first off on 07/02, and told that we'd be able to go right at our tee time so that the maintenance guys could get their work in - no problem with that that mentality. Here is why I'm conflicted:

Playing right along had no issues until hole 11. We pulled up to the green with the sprinklers going right off the green (no problem here), when putting, we looked over and saw that the sprinkler had rotated and was going directly on our cart, soaking all of our stuff. My cousin ran up and hopped in and reversed the cart and a wall of water shot off the front. Next hole (par 3) we teed off and proceeded to drive up - sprinklers were going off ON THE GREEN while we were on it. My cousin asked one of the maintenance guys to turn them off and he barely acknowledged him. Apparently the maintenance guys are supposed to radio ahead so the other team of guys can turn the sprinklers off when golfers are coming, but that didn't happen. Get to the next hole - more sprinklers, and the marshall comes up. My cousin made some comment to him (I wasn't there so I didn't hear it first hand), but by the time I got there I heard the marshall say "probably feels good if its 110 out" - which would be true, but for the fact that it was around 0800 in the morning, and not 110 degrees. Get through with the round and go to inquire about playing again and tell Karl, and it was clear he wasn't listening...just said "yea, yep" when I told him that we skipped a few holes because of the sprinklers. Was a little surprised at that response given that we've always experienced first class service here - and I even mentioned to him that I was bummed I couldn't make the Greenskeeper outing there a few weeks before.

Anyways - about the course - greens were a little shaggy but rolled true. Got WAYYYY faster the 2nd round (after they dried out from the sprinklers). Rough and fairways were nice and clean...no complaints there, or ever at this course. Boxes were a little rough and hard to find flat spots on a couple but certainly doable (probably didn't help that we were playing from the blacks either). Highly recommend this course generally and I'm sure nothing there will change. Look forward to coming back in a few years, but definitely need a year off after this year.