La Mirada Golf Course - Greens punched 03/25/2018

Played La Mirada Golf Course Tuesday 03/27/2018 as a foursome. My friend Bob and I who were scheduled with an 8:57 am tee time, joined a twosome set to go out at 8am. Dick and Steve were a very nice couple of guys, good strikers. Dick 91 walked the first 9 holes, which created a slight issue for us, and Steve rode in a cart. The guys were great except Dick had who was playing from the whites (the rest of us from the blues) had a habit of going first, then heading off into the line of play. We could get him to look back and move a little, but he seemed far more confident of our skills than we were.

The course has a nice parking lot, with plenty of spaces, and looks freshly paved. The club house and restaurant show the age of the facility but were clean neat, and everything functioned, and was stocked. Bathrooms strategically places around the course were clean, neat and stocked. Carts were basic, clean and in good repair.
Driving Range- La Mirada’s driving range is brand new and is the nicest I have seen at a Sothern California public course. They have adopted water conservation by creating island greens, with fake sand traps, sloped greens multiple pins, surrounded by waste area. Balls hit into the range will naturally roll down the hill to the bottom to be collected by the tractor which features a red and white bullseye target on top of the cab. There is an area for hitting off of grass but looks like most stations will be hitting off of mats. Putting and chipping areas are very nice, and in line with Skylinks.

The pro shop was very nice, they have a sense of humor when calling groups to the first tee, either friendly moving them along Kim foursome balls in the air, or calling the group to the tee as tournament champions. They provide course maps free if you request one. They are very helpful.
We signed up for round on American Golf Players Club at $41 with cart. Greenskeeper course listing showed the aeration date as 4/2 and 4/3, however there is a warning to call the course and verify. I did not do this and the result was a unhappy playing partner as he was paying for the round and putting is both his favorite thing and his strength. We were charged the $31 play all day rate. Lesson learned if greens are important during maintenance season, call and verify.

This is a very hilly course, with the green out of sight from most tee boxes. Trees have been thinned to provide the golfer a better experience. Hills are shaggy, lined with leaves and pine straw so errant balls may be hard to find, or in bad lies. Don’t depend on the slope of the hills to help you.

There were at least three marshals on course and they were very proactive moving people along, and encouraging groups to wave up those on the tee when they got to the greens on Par 3’s.
The tee boxes were in very good shape overall with very little divot damage. Hole 17 was playing from a temporary tee box that was across the cart path from the regular box, extending the hole from 133 yards to 165 yards over tall tree, or under the tree towards a greenside bunker requiring a draw. May tee boxes on this morning were playing back towards the tips.
With the exception of 16 the I felt the fairways had very good coverage, there was little or no standing water, mud or bare spots. 16 runs down a deep valley and was the lone exception featuring all the above, mud, standing water, and bare spots. I dislike the 16th hole as it is blatantly unsafe, and should require a marshal to advise players when the green is clear. After teeing off on a high tee box down into the valley the golfer is faced with a hard dog leg left to an elevated blind green. Most drives are short of the turn, and golfers are tempted to loft the ball up cutting the corner again into a completely blind green. We did have a marshal in the fairway at the dog leg but he was engaged in putting back the cart path guides not controlling on course traffic.

Bunkers were full of new sand and were in fair condition footprint wise. There are a lot of fairway and green side bunkers on this course.
Greens are small, many are elevated and long shots will go down to a valley or the next tee box depending on angle. Long is seldom good here. All greens were punched and sanded, and there were crews out adding sand, blowing sand off the fringe and out of the greenside rough which was thick, and dragging sand. Hardware on course was an issue, but they were observant and did the best they could not to be an issue. The punch job, rolling and sanding were among the best I have seen, but all puts were a crap shoot regardless of length.

We started the round off as a foursome, with one walker. At the turn our walker picked up a cart, on the twelfth we picked up another walker whose twosome had left. He waited for the fivesome of ladies that were in front of us to go past. These ladies can play and we were never held up by them until apparently the 15th hole. I am not sure if what happened was a result of the marshals pushing pace of ply or just bad etiquette, however my partner had pushed his tee shot and was at the bottom of the hill to the right of green 165 yards out. All we could really see from his ball was the tops of the golf carts of the group in front of us, and the ladies when they were on the green. As we approached the ball, the carts weren’t moving to the next tee which was behind us. My playing partner was getting annoyed. About three to five minutes into waiting I took the cart and drove up to the green to see what was going on so my partner could play. As I approached it looked like there was a large dog curled up in the left bunker, with all the ladies around it. As I got close it turned out to be one of the ladies. One of the other three members of our group had hit into them, beaned and dropped this lady. I asked if they wanted me to call 911 they did not. After listening to them complain about our rudeness the three gentlemen we were playing with arrived and the conversation / argument went all Korean and I retreated to explain the hold up to my partner. The lady eventually got up and the fivesome somehow resumed play. We did as well. Due to the language differences we didn’t have a lot of conversation other than good shot. Given the way the lady was when I approached I am amazed she continued on, and hope she sees a doctor just to be safe. On the next hole the walker who had joined us, and the older guy Dick, again decided to walk in front of my place on the tee as I hit driver. Needless to say my mind was not on the last three holes.

Like many L.A. county municipals this course is high volume. It is well maintained, but high volume. Most of the golfers I saw in the morning groups were good, there were more riding carts than walking but almost every group had a walker on this very challenging course.

This course is a bit of a drive from my house, my playing partner is moving to Palm Springs so I don’t think I will be back anytime soon.

Played David L. Baker Monday 03/12/2018, with a scheduled tee time of 11:30. We ended up getting out at 11 as a twosome behind a twosome behind a pair of foursomes.
My last experience with the course a regular on my rota had been horrible, as it was a swamp, and mud pit, despite the absence of any recent rain. Today found the course in good winter condition. Pro shop staff were friendly and helpful.
The course seems to showing signs of financial weakness. I would say that at full 3/4ths of the mats on the driving range feature rips and tears. I was fortunate enough to find one of the few intact, but with a slight divot from use. Restroom needed attention, as did the porta johns on the back nine (at my age you notice this stuff). The practice green was in very good shape, however not representative of those on course in terms of cut. The practice green was cut tight, the greens on course that will punched in two weeks were a little shaggy.
The course did provide filled sand bottles at the turn for those of us that care about fixing divots.
The starter offered to get us out early which was appreciated as we were playing on a $24 Golf Now round with cart, and the time seven minutes before us had listed at $31. The round still took about 3.5 hours to play.
The cart is basic, and clean with comfortable seats., and the sand bottles were full.
My friend and I played from the blues. Most tees with the exception of #3 played back, a couple were at the tips, something I have seen at this course before. It was a very different look.
Weather was overcast, and around 70 degrees, little breeze on the front nine, slightly stronger on the back nine. Just a really nice day to get a round in before a predicted week of rain. Squirrels and ducks are in abundance, and happy to come up to you and beg. I didn’t have anything and actually had one squirrel try to block my way a couple of times well putting a paw out. If you bring food, don’t leave it lying around the cart or in an open pocket.
Tee boxes were slightly unlevel with some signs of wear, and unrepaired divots. Still very playable. Fairways were winter grass conditions with excellent coverage. Fairway rough was largely nonexistent. About three to four inches around the greens and bunkers. Bunkers looked in good condition, I wasn’t in one so can’t speak from immediate experience.
Greens were my issue for the round. Nothing wrong with greens themselves, there were a couple with minor bare spots, and most featured molted grass, but rolled well. The main issue was that they were shaggy. The practice green had been mown, but the greens on course had not, likely due to the weekends rain, and the pending punching. As mentioned the ball rolled well, but I couldn’t bring myself to hit it firm enough leaving a number of puts short.

Where my last round left me unhappy, upset, and not wanting to come back to a course I play dozens of times per year, today’s round put the course back on my map. That alone makes me happy I played here.

Played Skylinks in Long Beach with an 11:24 tee time on a Golf Now hot deal $35 dollars per player including cart. Weather was perfect 85, sunny with little to no wind.
Upon arrival the parking lot was full, the driving range was full, the putting green was full as was the course. Check in was easy, and we were given a very nicely equipped cart featuring a very nice GPS with map of the course which gave distances to key hazards, and displayed the location of other carts as well as pace of play. The course features a number of dog legs and knowing where the other players carts where was helpful.
We teed off five minutes behind schedule following a fivesome that was following a fivesome, in fact the marshal noted they had been launching mostly fivesomes since 6:30 am. Needless to say, pace of play was slow, but not horribly so. The round would take five hours and twenty minutes. It could have been faster but the fivesome in front of us were slow enough to allow the fivesome in front of them get a full hole ahead. They became J.B. Homes like on the greens.
My buddy and I were paired with a twosome of very capable single digit handicap player who had a skins game and closet to the pin game running between them the whole round. Despite playing for money and being very good, they were fun and a joy to play with. The single who made up our fivesome could best be described as someone who felt they were better than that are and an ass on top of that. After getting frustrated over bad bunker play he proceeded to wreck the best front nine I had ever had at Skylinks by walking in my line of sight as I started my stoke on a downhill put among a couple of such occurrences, as well as being on his phone. Fortunately, he left at the turn.
The club house is nice, and the bar make an efficient snack bar. The driving range is grass, the practice green is very representative of the greens on the course, and there is a nice if not leaf strewn bunker and chipping area.

Golf carts are clean, feature a basket that will hold a small ice chest, and feature an excellent GPS that displays yardage to hazards as well as the position of all other carts in front and behind your group. Your position relative to expected playing time is also shown. The golf cart position is important at this course is defended by numerous doglegs and sightline obscuring fairway bunkers.

A marshal controls groups from the first tee. We tee’d off about five minutes late, and for the most part managed to play with a group on the green, a group in the fairway and a group on the tee on all but the par threes where we naturally bunched up. Tee boxes were uniformly level and lush. Some of the better tee boxes I have played from recently. We would not see another marshal the rest of the round.
Fairways were winter grass with very good coverage all the way to out of bounds. Rough was mostly cut short, where it wasn’t, it was an inch to two-inch Bermuda grass which is hard enough on its own. I felt the fairways were well kept and reasonably repaired across the board. The winter conditions provided for excellent rollout resulting in some really long drives.
Rough was relatively short, and out of bounds and thorn bushes line the fairways. Fairways are lined with a heavy growth of tall trees, keeping the ball in the fairway is imperative for good score.
Bunkers – This course has more fairway bunkers designed to play into multiple depths off the tee than any other local course I can think of. Most bunkers be they fairway or greenside featured steep sloping cliffs that had to be dealt with. Of the half dozen bunkers I tested on Greenskeepers behalf, all were filled with clean deep fluffy sand. If your sand game is off even a little bit there are numerous stokes to be lost here. Most of the golfers in front of us that landed in the bunkers were doing a good job of raking them before moving on.

Greens – the greens were fun, fast, curved, sloped, challenging and in very good condition. Many of the greens feature tall swales surrounding the green impacting sightlines, to complicate shot placement as you try to negotiate the large number of greenside bunkers. Grass coverage was excellent, and most ball marks were being repaired.

We saw the cart girl twice, neither time did she stop for us, but we didn’t try to flag her over either. There were plenty of water stations on course, as well as adequate relief facilities. With the exception of one hole where a sharp dogleg left creates visual trouble for me, where I am unable to establish a distance or see where the fairway is going to open up to the hole, I like this course. The course has length, the blues play 6343, the whites 6060, but the myriad of dog legs and bends mean you have to be able to hit to targets, shape shots especially from the tee, and or carry tall trees. All staff were met were friendly, and helpful. Look forward to playing again soon.

Tuesday 1/30/2018 – Played Los Amigos in Downey using the GK Coupon. Round, cart, and lunch for $27, after 12:30 pm Monday through Friday. Los Amigo’s seems to be one of the most popular courses in LA County, especially with walkers.

Arrived about an hour early to stretch and warm up. Parking is almost always an issue at this course as it was today, but I found a space.
The pro shop is clean and efficient and well stocked in the event your forgot something. The starter was very friendly and helpful. I was playing with my friend Bob, we picked up a large bucket of range balls to split, cost was $10. The driving range is very nice, with a host of good targets, all hitting bays were off the grass. The only amenity that was lacking were bag stands for cart bags.

The café was efficient, the hot dog good, and the medium drink of reasonable size.

There are a number strategically placed relief stations on the course, all were clean.
The course was busy, our tee time was 12:50 and we got off on time as a foursome paired with a very nice and very good elderly couple. They are just about to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We were behind a foursome, fivesome that somehow because a six some (slow) and a threesome. As might be guessed every par three was a backup. As a collective group everyone was friendly. My only complaint was that the six some had four very good players, that did not appear to know how to fix a ball mark.

The putting and chipping practice areas are really good, spacious enough to accommodate the number of players lined up to get out on course. When we were called up to the tee, there was a fivesome on the tee, a threesome waiting to get off, us, and a foursome immediately behind us, most of us were practicing waiting our turn.

That is really the extent of the good part of the round. I like the layout of this course a lot. Some water, dog legs that require accuracy but not extreme distance, and sloped greens that if they had been in good condition might have been fun.

All of the tee boxes were beat up, and unlevel. With the volume of play this makes sense for the par threes, however the par 4’s and 5’s was no different. Most of the tee boxes were either rock hard, so much so that I had to use my foot to push down a tee peg (I was working on techniques playing only irons for this round so tee’ing it up low). The conditions of the tee boxes were very different from my past rounds here. Hopefully they will be aerated soon.

Fairways were rock hard, and populated mostly with crab grass. Very few areas were covered in what I would call grass. This wasn’t typical hardpan, it was dirt, crab grass, occasional grass and very dry. On the positive side I hit a five iron thin off the tee, and out drove all three of my playing partners going out 230 yards. The roll was unbelievable on all the fairways. Areas to either side of the fairway centerline where for the most part exposed dirt, and crab grass.

Rough, there was very little of what I would call rough, you know the 3-5 inch tall grass that makes shots harder. Today that would have been welcome vs. the spidery weeds that passed as rough. It’s one thing to have the grain of the grass go against you, but hitting into a weed surrounded by bare dirt barely covered by another spidery weed joining tentacles made basic chip and bump and run shots a crap shoot. This is primarily what was passing for greenside rough.

Bunkers are challenging, most have excellent sand, a few have virtually no sand at all. Overall they are very good.

An earlier review said the greens were bumpy. They were, and they are. There is a complete coverage of grass on most greens, they are pretty and greener than the rest of the course, and they were challenging with some wicked ball placements, and slopes. The pin on 15 was on top of a pyramid that broke in three different directions at the pin. But ultimately getting the ball in the hole was as much a matter of luck as skill with the number of bumps.

Because the coupon is good for rounds after 12:30 and pace of play is slow, at a little over 5 ¼ hours completing the round is a challenge. We just made it the 18th green before full darkness perhaps helped by a bright full moon. This will likely improve as the coupon is good through March.

Downey is a longish drive for me, I live in Mission Viejo. My friend however lives in Lakewood so this is a decent drive for him. Our playing partners and the layout of the course worked together to make this an enjoyable day, on a course that clearly needs to be aerated, seeded and watered. Did I enjoy myself yes, was it worth the money yes, am I going to rush back between now and March, not likely.

Played Casta del Sol Friday 01/12/2018 with a 9:06 tee time. Played in a foursome made up of a pair of friends, and another single, all of us are retired, all were good golfers.
Check in was easy as usual. Cart was clean but lacked a score card which I had to go back in for. Practice green was in excellent shape but was still dew covered at 8:45am.
We tee’d off on time behind a foursome trailing a pair of foursomes and a group of five that were together. We were out ahead of a women’s league. The quality of the company the foursome in front of us, and the three guys I was with made play enjoyable despite waiting on every tee. Well I have played this course as a single in as little as two hours and fifteen minutes todays round took right at five hours.

Cart’s were restricted to cart paths due to water on the course. This seldom presented a problem in terms of footing, there were a couple of soppy areas, the major impact was on the softness of the fairway and the collar of the greens which reduced roll out and made hitting a bump and run a crap shoot. Balls that caught the collar of the greens stopped.

The condition of the tee boxes where good. Most were playing up, and narrow as they appear to have recently punched and leveled the tee boxes and are re-growing the grass. The exception was 18 where the rarely used par 4 blues were in play.
The condition of the fairways was good, mostly green some winter brown with good coverage and mostly dry. There are a lot of geese and ducks with the expected hazards they create. This applies to hazards on some greens as well.
Rough was where most of the moisture seemed to be trapped, making it more penal than usual, and creeks were full and flowing.

Bunkers were in excellent shape with nice coverage. The groups ahead of us were doing a good job of raking the bunkers when they were in them.

Greens were excellent, great coverage, playing a bit slow, greens are absolutely beautiful. The groups in front of us were doing and excellent job of repairing ball marks.
The course was fun to play, marshals were out assuring best possible pace of play. The tee side grill at the 10th was serving up good hot dogs, there was closest to the pin competition on the par 3 12th hole to benefit a juvenile brain cancer center. Weather was perfect.

Casta del Sol is in excellent condition a fun play, just a little on the slow side.

Played David L. Baker Friday as a foursome, teeing off at 8:07 am. Rate $30 per player with cart. The staff in the pro shop was wonderful as usual, and carts were ready to go. I love David L. Baker but unfortunately the first two sentences of this review cover all the good for this visit.


Unless the course was washed over by a fog so thick that it simulated a monsoon rain, someone let the sprinklers run all night. Hitting practice balls on the range, the mats were soaking wet, and the ball trays had to have standing water emptied from them. I actually had a hitting station that was in a small drainage channel, giving me an uneven lie on the practice range.


Playing from the blues the tee boxes were terrible, uneven, rutted, muddy. The areas around the tee boxes, along the cart path had standing water, mud, and because of standing water on the cart path, mud tracks to the side. It looked like Patton's eighth army had traversed the course near the tee boxes. Fairways were damp and to sopping, requiring lift clean and place on most shots. Rough was in good shape, and might have been the highlight of the course. The western section of the course was worse than the eastern section. The greens on the front nine looked like they had been shelled, with numerous un-repaired or wounded from previous poor repairs. The greens on the back nine were better but not great, and covered with a fair amount of gifts from the coots and geese.

We were observing an unique set of injuries to the greens and it took awhile to realize that on the guys in the twosome in front of us, liked to press his foot into his wedge on the green to lift it, not realizing he was cutting an arch into the surface.

Bunkers were raked and in excellent condition, surprisingly not too wet, with generous coverage.


The cafe was polite and efficient, and the restroom clean, very different from the restroom serving the range and the crossover which had trash in the entrance, the bin was overflowing, and the paper towels empty.

Fortunately my playing companions were so good as to make the above a non issue, but this course has played so much better this year, it was a shame to see it suffering.


Perhaps the last in dignity was the American flag our front, it was faded, the stripes were torn length wise and tattered and missing fabric at the ends. She was flying, but a new flag is desperately needed.

I really can't recommend the course at this time. I did not have a clean or level lie off the tee in 18 holes.

Los Amigos Golf Course

Played Los Amigos with my friend using the GK discount coupon, [12-2pm Monday through Friday] for $27, round, cart and lunch. Check in was easy, but not as expected. I arrived about 45 minutes before our 12:20 tee time so that I could hit the range and warm up. On check in rather than charging us $27 per person, they charged us $22 per person, gave each of us a sleeve of Noodle Long & Soft balls, and the cart key. They told us to ask for the $5 special at the snack bar. Range balls were $5 for a small bucket. I had made my tee time reservation online at the course website, Sunday night at 9pm for a Monday match at 12:20am. Despite the online price showing $30 waking they gave me no hassle when we showed up with our GK coupon. As for lunch we were told just to ask for the $5 hot dog and soda special which we did at the turn, fast service, good dog, and Dr. Pepper.

We were sent out to the tee, and paired with a wonderful retired couple who were walking. As we waited on the tee it looked like it was going to be a very long round. There was a foursome of walkers on the green, a foursome of walkers around 200 yards out waiting for the group on the green, and another foursome that had just tee’d off on the tee #2. There was another foursome forming just behind us as we waited to tee off. Surprisingly by the time we hit the third hole, we were spreading out nicely, and by the time we hit the sixth hole we were moving along like a well-oiled machine. The group in front of us was gone, and the group behind us was a hole behind. We completed the round in exactly four and half hours, on beautiful 73 degree day with a light breeze.

With perhaps one exception the tee boxes were in very good condition despite the volume of players. There was divot damage, but a clean lie, or tee spot was easily found. Driver is used on so many holes that the tee’s don’t see much in the way of damage. Most tee’s were level, and lush, with a touch of brown.

Fairways were uniformly in good condition, good coverage no bare spots, a hit of brown in some spots but with good coverage. Roll out was generous. Most fairways are large, however poor shots placement is penalized by tall mature trees. You have to know which side of the fairway to play on many holes to make par.

Rough on this course is very penal. The rough is spidery, sticky, often among tall trees, with low hanging branches. I had more trouble hitting out of the fairway rough on this course than any I can remember recently. Warning the rough can hide roots that are further away from the tree than one might expect. I am going to be nursing a sore wrist for a couple of days. The rough along the fairways is often four or more inches tall, similarly the second cut around the greens are very deep. On the 18th hole my playing partners saw my ball land in line with the pin at the back of the green and roll through. With all four of us looking we could not find it. My partner had almost the same thing happen on 16 with a shot just 10 yards off the green to the right of the fairway. After taking a drop and walking back to the cart we just saw the ball below the grass in a fried egg lie that we had missed even with all four of us looking. He played his ball, but the deep lie made for a tough shot, and poor result.

Bunkers are in excellent shape, albeit some groups before us did better jobs of raking than others. Greenside bunkers tend to be deep with steep faces. Sand is medium heavy, with good depth. Well in excellent conditions these are not friendly bunkers, and layups are likely better than challenging the bunkers.
Greens were in overall good condition playing fast but fair. Some greens are terraced, and some slope back to front or right to left. The roll on a number of holes was bumpy, but straight. The greens are very (rock) firm, leaving indentations more than pitch marks, and were very difficult to stop or back spin the ball unless it dropped straight down. The coverage on the greens is excellent, with very few damage areas, none affecting play.
The course is largely flat, trees, bunkers, doglegs, are the key defenses, until the back nine where water adds to the pucker factor. Perhaps the hardest is 16 which is a dogleg left, that has a twenty yard lading area just short of the cart bridge. Land it short of this area and trees block the approach, of about 150 yards. Go long and you’re in the water the bridge crosses, a very tough par four. Seventeen plays long over water into the wind and severely sloped green, 182 yards from the whites.
Service in the pro shop and snack bar were fast and friendly. We did not see a refreshment cart on the course at all, did not see an ambassador or marshal. Relief stations were strategically placed. There is construction on a new starter stand and what looks like an outdoor grill going on.

The driving range is very nice, the fencing has been repaired since the last time I was here. The range boarders the 18th hole which made locating my yellow golf ball a pain well playing the 18th as that is the color used for range balls. One of the nice features are a USC, and UCLA shield about 100 yards out that you can hit to.
At the rack rate of $30 walking and $40 with cart I find this course a good value. For $27 dollars with cart on the GK coupon it’s a great deal. Given they threw in a sleeve of balls, all the better. I hope to get back and play the course again before the coupon expires at the end of the month.

Marine Corp Memorial Golf Course

Played Marine Memorial Thursday 09/28/2017 teeing off at 9:20 am, playing as a twosome.
Started our day off with breakfast at Mulligan’s. Prices are very reasonable, and quality and quantity were very good. Atmosphere is on the patio, the inside is simple. Unfortunately the marine layer had left the patio to damp to use and enjoy the view.
The pro shop staff was very helpful. We were sent to the 10th tee to open on the back nine, giving me a different perspective of the course than starting on the first hole. Since I booked by phone, was not really aware of the price. The round ended up costing us $50 per player with a cart which is extra.
Breakfast took us a little longer than I expected, as such did not get a warm up on the range. Tee’ing off on number 10 a slight dogleg right up hill, I took the drive down the right side into the second cut of rough and trees. These boarders the driving range which also uses yellow balls. I found my ball easily enough, but will need to add a mental note.
We did not see any foursomes on course, most of the other players were twosomes, with a couple of threesomes. Pace of play overall was quick at 3.5 hours.
Tee’s. Last week when I played the GM told us that they will be releveling the tee boxes shortly. I didn’t find the tee’s an issue, however this round playing from the whites which we located very differently than last week, I seemed to find a depression or poor footing on about half the tee boxes. The coverage was still lush, very little divot damage, but the lack of level and the softness of the ground where a problem.

Whereas last week I didn’t find any wet lies, and mud that I saw was limited to the end of the cart path on a few holes, today’s round had more mud, and every fairway was wet. Clearly the course had been heavily watered. This made the thick rough extremely difficult. The fairways consistently showed a much more pronounced brown cart trail down the middle of the fairways than I recall as well. Grass coverage was still excellent, just brown, and damp.
Rough was thick, penal, with no thin spots. The fairways are generous on this course so if you are in the rough it’s on you. The second cut is often surrounded by mature tree’s making the pain all the greater.
Bunkers both fairway and greenside are in excellent shape consistent bright white sand providing fluffy lies. Only a couple of bunkers early in the round show signs of being damp, there rest were very dry in contrast to the fairways.
Greens were in excellent shape, and played extremely fast. Pins were on ridges, false fronts, and edge of terraces making for an extremely challenging day on the greens. Unlike the fairways the greens were green, tightly mown, hard, dry and fast. Even lightly struck 15-20 uphill puts could run six feet by the hole. The comebacker was a white knuckle experience. Very few ball marks, excellent shape.
Teeing off at 9:20 am with a heavy marine layer along the coast, I was not expecting much wind. The Marine layer was not visible on the course, however by 11 am as we finished the back nine the wind was rising. The front nine are a completely different experience playing into a strengthening wind then what I had previously experienced. The downhill par three guarded by bunkers presented a special test. Eighteen required a long drive into the teeth of the wind.

I really like the layout of this course, and look forward to playing it again after the greens are punched and the tee boxes leveled. Until then however I am likely to pick Big Rec over Marine Memorial, based on both drive and cost, as I live in Mission Viejo, and my regular playing partner lives in Long Beach. If I were playing San Diego courses Marine Memorial would be higher on my list of regular plays.

Recreation Park 18

Recreation Park 18 isn’t a layout that scares the golfer, there are no water or wasteland carries, there is very little out of bounds, unless you hit it over the fence to the highways that boarder the course. Rather the course is comprised of long holes featuring wide fairways bordered by mature trees, moderate rough, fairway and greenside bunkers. Many holes feature elevation changes and doglegs, but nothing hidden. The course is fun, fair, affordable, and friendly.

Played Tuesday with my best friend on a Golf Now Hot Deal. Two players with cart for $66 1:22pm tee time. The course was virtually empty and we were able to get out more than 45 minutes early. The round took just over 3:15 minutes.
The starter was friendly and got us out early. The temperature was a very pleasant 84 degrees at 12:40 when we tee’d off light 5 knot wind providing comfort and some challenges. We were chasing a single that was playing behind a twosome. We wouldn’t have anyone behind us until after the turn.

Carts feature GPS, and provided very good yardages from most locations.

Tee boxes were lush with some divot damage, minor soft and unleveled areas. Overall footing was good, and a number of tee’s had divot mix boxes available. We played the whites. Most tee locations were honest and did not set the golfer up for a bad angle or make use of visual tricks.

The fairways have a mix of grasses, color of turf, but all areas I was in were in very good condition with lush coverage. The recent dry conditions provided for some truly remarkable rollout on downhill drives. I did not have a bad fairway lie the entire round.

Rough – Fairway rough was a mix of length almost as if it had not been mown in the last week. This presented some significant issues, as much of the rough is found under the mature trees, with a mix of pine needles to add to the complexity of the shot and stance. The fairway rough ranged from spidery weed at two inches to tall grass of five to six inches. Rough around the greens were immaculately groomed, with the second cut less than two inches to three inches.

Bunkers are in excellent condition with most being reasonable. Sand is generous and well settled.

Greens were fast to medium fast, with excellent coverage, with an unfortunate number of unrepaired pitch marks, and damage from prior pitch mark repair. On this day there was an overabundance of forward pin placements three to six paces on.
The barbeque was going at the turn for a good hot dog or burger just feet from the tee box. The course features a more than adequate number of relief stations. Each hole had working ball washers, and trash cans. During the round we say an ambassador observing play on almost every hole. We wouldn’t run into traffic until the fourteenth hole where we joined the single that had joined with another single after the twosome between them dropped out. Couldn’t have been much better.

This is my second time playing “Big Rec” and as with the first time I found it completely enjoyable, in better condition than my last round, and well worth the price.

Usually when I play a course I look forward to sharing the conditions, service, and experience with the GK community. I played the Marine Memorial Golf Course on Thursday afternoon teeing off at 1:30pm with Johnny GK and a fellow Guru Evan, and I really, really do not want to post this review. It may have been the early morning rain that was dissipating as I arrived an hour before my round, or this might be normal for this course, but we virtually had the course to ourselves. This gem is virtually unknown to the public, and the greedy side of me would like it to stay that way.

Marine Memorial is located on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base, behind the armed entry. The drive to course is down a nice winding road, which is lightly traveled. It is worth remembering that the base is federal property and any traffic offense will be contended in federal court. (Something I learned when I worked at Edwards Air Force Base). The course is ensconced in the base away from distractions common on other courses open to public play, the exception being the occasional sound of machine gun fire, and Cobra attack helicopters off at the distance.


The club house is very nice, the pro shop is well stocked, and items purchased at the store are tax free. The restaurant and patio area are very nice, simple, pleasant with new awnings being added. The bar is basic, but again this is an active duty military base. They are about halfway through with the new awnings. Everything is very clean, neat and in working order. I found the pro shop staff very helpful, and friendly, I even found a new head cover for my dirver. Check in was simple and straight forward, golf carts are assigned by number. Rack rate for civilians is $40, with a $20 twilight rate starting at 1:30pm.

I will save the suspense, I love this course, and in fact I have a tee time booked for next Thursday with my best friend who has never played the course. By the third hole, my threesome was playing virtually alone. I know there was a twosome, single and the other Guru foursome ahead of us and through eighteen holes no one behind us.

The tee boxes are lush, level, with very little divot damage. The course GM told us the tee boxes will be releveled soon, making very good tees outstanding. Well my playing partners played from the blues, I played from the whites. In a number of cases these tees are on different levels and in some cases not even adjacent providing different looks and requiring different shot shapes. The course opens with a 508 (from the whites) yard downhill slight dogleg right off the first tee. The view of the fairway is really beautiful, green, and lush, with inviting fairways, bounded by strategically places fairway bunkers. On our way to the first hole we were greeted by a very handsome well feed coyote.

I usually cover the fairways after the tee box, however since I found the rough on my first and second shots; I feel it’s appropriate to mention this component of the course first. Rough is deep, don’t go there. If you do, other than a few wet areas, whether from watering or the rain the course had gotten over night and in the morning, it was dry, lush, and made it hard to get the club face on the ball. I was in the rough more than I would like to admit, and in almost every case my ball sank into the rough making contact that much harder. (What rough is supposed to be/do).
I did manage to find the fairway quite a bit, and each time had a perfect lie. There were unbelievably few divots on the fairways. At the divide between the paved cart paths and dirt cart paths there were some mud bogs, but nothing that should come into play. Well there are some patches of different types of grasses, and colors, I would rate the fairways perfect and the best I have played on this year. My typical drive is a 198 yard carry, as such I am sensitive to rollout for the extra distance. I was fortunate to get excellent roll on most fairways. There are four holes on this course that play over 500 yards from the whites, two more over 400 yards, leaving me long irons, hybrids and then a wedge into a number of holes. The shortest hole on the course is 148 yards, and I used an iron off the tee a total of three times. Fairways are for the most part wide, tree lined, with scrub bush out of bounds.

The main defense of the course is its fairway and greenside bunkers, combined with wind, elevation change, subtle ridges in the greens, and a couple of tiered greens. The bunkers have recently been replaced, and feature the same sand used at Augusta National, home of the masters. They can best be described as blindingly white. As part of the bunker and greens team at the Farmers Insurance Open I have had what good bunkers should be like explained, and as such I tend to be hard on bunker condition, and maintenance. The bunkers at MMGC are every bit as good as those on the north course as Torrey. Essentially they are as good as they get, perhaps a little fluffy. Sounds sick I know, but I enjoyed playing out of them, and on a couple of holes where I was concerned with going long, I used the bunker as a target knowing I would have a chance to get up and down.
Greens are the sparkling jewel of this course. They are nothing short of beautiful. Pretty sure that you would need to put down Astroturf to have greener, smoother cover. There were some bumpy spots, that were hard to see, but the ball could find, overall rolls were true, smooth and quick. There was a moderate amount of variation between the greens on roll speed from medium to medium fast. The greens that appear flat tend to have spines, and hidden ridges. There is also a hill effect in play when reading the breaks. There are at least two, maybe three greens that feature distinct tiers, and right to left slope.

It’s worth mentioning here that the course features a large number of eucalyptus trees especially around the greens. It’s notable that despite being the beginning of fall, there was very little detritus on the greens, virtually no leaves. Combined the near perfect cover with the very low number of ball marks, and you have country club greens on what is now a public course playing under $50.
The driving range has better cover than most muni’s in Orange County. The distance marked are pretty close to accurate from a range of stations, and the simulated pins have an elevated green so you can clearly see how close you get. There are two practice bunkers, and they are every bit as good as the ones on the course. The putting green is spacious, and well represents what you will find on course. Range balls are $2 per 20 balls.
There is a restroom about every four holes, all very well maintained. There are frequent water stations along the way, those I tested were full. There are clean, well maintained ball washers at each tee with a clean towel. The carts had full divot mix bottles, and some tee’s had divot mix boxes as well. There are also plaques at each tee commemorating a Marine Corp mission, from the liberation of Soul South Korea, to the liberation of Kuwait. This is a Memorial Golf Course.

From my house in Mission Viejo it took right around an hour to get to the course. You basically are coming in the back entrance of the base, not the entrance visible form the freeway, so it takes a little effort to get there.
As I mentioned at the opening of the review, I really want to keep this course for myself, it’s a wonderful, affordable layout, and has for now replaced the Golf Club of California as my favorite. It avoids the forced carries of California, and the Crossings, doesn’t ask the high fees of Riverwalk, and I could rattle off more than a dozen courses in Orange County that cost more and can’t touch the condition. Isolated in a canyon, it seems a world apart; there are no houses, with music or dog noise, you don’t have to worry about a slice hitting the house. There are no roads, other than the road to course which is very lightly traveled. Being a stone’s throw from the ocean the temperatures are moderated.
The one negative if there is one, would be the old style reservation system. To book a tee time you have to call the pro shop, and that means getting a busy signal, or being put on hold, the way it used to be before the internet. I can live with that, and I look forward to teeing up Thursday at 9;24 am.

Conditions couldn’t be better, yet based on the conversation we had with the general manager the course is going to get better, with planned tee box and green work. I want the course to be successful in reaching enough of the public so that it can continue to offer our military an excellent venue to relax when home, but not so successful that it gets chewed up like the Destroyer and Cruiser course have gotten in Los Alamitos.

Casta del Sol
Played Casta del Sol Wednesday 09/13/2017, with a 9:24am tee time. Played as a foursome with a group of great guys, Jim, Greg, and Mark. Rate was $18 including cart and drink using the American Golf Players Club.

At check in, I received sad news that long time starter Doug Houston is leaving, his business is keeping him fully occupied. Doug has been the starter I have seen most often over the last couple of years, and always makes you feel welcome, wanted and a friend. I am really going to miss having him there in the morning.

Teeing off at 9:24 the course was full. We were chasing a number of foursomes, well-being politely followed by a twosome. The course was in excellent condition aside from being very damp on the first four holes. The first fairway had been heavily watered, and was walking only in some areas, and the first green was being watered as we tee’d off. Funny the first was my only par of the day.
The tee boxes were mostly level with the exception of #11. The grass was lush, and there were very few divots. The divots that were present, my one playing partner was diligent to fill well we waited on the tee for the group in front of us to move out of range. It is worth mentioning that these three guys were the best I have ever played with about fixing ball marks and fairway divots.
Aside from the first three holes the fairways were dry, lush and easily playable. The tone was green and brown, but the coverage was excellent.
Bunkers were in very good condition and the groups in front of us did a good job of restoring the bunkers after playing out of them. Greenside bunkers were fluffy, fairway bunker was clean and compacted. The two I played from were very good condition, although I did find one rock on entry to the greenside bunker on #3.

Fairway rough was lush, and difficult perhaps because the situations I was in, the rough was damp. I find damp rough harder to play out of than dry rough.

Pin locations were challenging. Greens were in good condition, with fewer unrepaired ball marks than recent rounds, however a number of pins seem to have been placed in recently used locations that showed a lot of wear. I wasn’t putting particularly well, but had four three putts, and missed nine putts inside four feet, a number of which were moved by the lumpy surface of recently repaired ball marks. This was more prevalent on the back nine than the front nine. The par three 12th hole was again playing host to a charity challenge, this time to benefit hurricane relief, all four of us participated.
Casta del Sol is a fun, challenging par 61 layout featuring elevation changes, trees, creeks, ponds and bunkers at a reasonable price. Length is 3670 yards from the blues.

Lake Forest Golf & Practice Center
Played Lake Forest Golf & Practice Center 09/11/2017 teeing off at sunrise 6:25am, behind a single, followed by a single. Pace of play was one hour fifteen minutes. Played at the American Golf Players Club rate of $5 for nine holes walking with a drink included.
Check in was easy, and pleasant, took about two minutes, and I was headed out to the first tee.
Tee boxes were chewed up, but playable spots were available, boxes were mostly level with good footing. The exception was the ninth tee which was soaking wet. As I teed off on the ninth the sprinklers were still on in the landing zone.
Rough is about 3” high, but largely doesn’t come into play except around the greens. Overall condition of the rough was good.
Bunkers were neat, playable, and a mix of thin, and soft. I did find one large rock in the bunker protecting the third green; otherwise the bunkers on course looked good. Bunkers on course were much better than those in the practice area.
Fairways, are a patchwork of green, brown, various types of grasses. The coverage is good, playable, and a reasonable challenge.
Greens, were in very good condition overall with the exception of the green on the eighth hole which was damaged by water drainage during last winter’s storm. The grass has filled in, but is rough, and there is a channel that runs across the mid to front of the green from left middle to right front. Otherwise they rolled true, looked good. The only real complaint is that some very good (close to the pin) golfers should be ashamed of themselves for not fixing ball marks. I was fixing three to four marks per green just to assure a good putt on some greens.

For the price this is a good short game practice session, but now that I have played Ironwoods in Norwalk, I know how good a par three course can be.
By the time I completed the ninth hole, the course was full, the practice green was full, and more there was a line in the pro shop. This is a very busy course.