I played on Friday, 7-22, 3:00 tee time, high in the upper 80's. The course is starting to show some wear as we get deeper into summer. Fairways, tee boxes, and greens were all in pretty good shape though, but quite a few ball marks on the green. The fairways were punched a while ago but it doesn't generally affect play. It's in about the same condition as Encinitas Ranch, which I played earlier in the week. The heat scared away some folks so POP was pretty good. With the weather this hot I like to stay near the coast, and this is about as far inland as you can go and not fry on the hottest days. Almost always a breeze here, which makes hitting over the water on 18 a tough shot. Don't be tempted, as I was, to go for it when the pin is up.

I gotta agree with D-Con about #13. They're making a waste area right where you want to land the ball. Not much chance to reach in two if you come up short of it. Once it's finished there's probably not much chance of rolling through it, and if you can fly it, well, you're probably playing from the wrong set of tees. Management should either suck it up and fix the drainage problem, or take out those bunkers on the right to give us a place to hit our shots.

I played here on Tuesday, July 19, 3:18 tee time. We played from the green tees, which is the whites on the long holes, and the blues on the shorter ones. Conditions were pretty typical, with management holding back on water due to the drought. I didn't see any bare spots on the fairways, but there was a lot of thin grass. The greens were in terrific shape, a little spongy so held shots pretty well. The bunkers were fine with plenty of sand. The course is not long, and aside from the par 5s and short par 4s, I rarely used my woods, and I think I used a hybrid only once. Although I took a cart to be sociable, the course is walkable, with only the walk between 9 and 10 being lengthy. All in all, a good day.

This is a nice course to play on your next golf trip to central Oregon because it's on the way to Bend from PDX. I met up and played with three locals and had a really nice round. You will not find a better setting for a golf course. It's carved out of the forest with virtually nothing around it. It's a bit rustic, with gravel cart paths--but the course is very walkable and it's far more pleasurable to walk than ride. The course doesn't get much play and they probably can't afford pristine conditions. The bunkers are a little ragged but certainly playable, and don't expect just one type of grass, although if you're in the fairway you'll have a very playable lie. The greens are nearly all in great shape, although I remember one that didn't get quite enough light to grow plush grass. And it's easy on the budget. Greens fees are far lower than in So Cal. And a beer and a bag of nuts at the turn was $4. Tryin finding that in So Cal. POP was not an issue, as the four ladies playing ahead of us without a care in the world let us play through. Just a great golf experience.

I played the Meadows course in the afternoon on Tuesday, July 12. Course are a lot more plush up here than in So Cal. Plenty of water so they must irrigate to the hilt. Great conditions for this resort course. Not too difficult, although the greens have grain, which I didn't figure out until the 9th hole. Not much room to get in trouble, although many of the holes are lined by trees and houses in the forest. The narrower of these were not as long, so just use your head and hit an iron or fairway wood off the tee and you can still reach with a mid iron. The altitude adds some distance, so I was long on many holes on the front nine. The greens are hard, and even short irons coming in high tend to roll out. With all of these factors to consider that I don't see much in So Cal--altitude, grain, hard greens--it's no wonder why I didn't score well, even though I was happy with the ball striking. POP was fine, even though there was no marshal and the course was crowded. All in all, another good day of golf in Oregon.

I played on a Sunday morning with iffy weather. We had light rain for 4 holes and it was in the upper 50s most of the round. The course was in great shape because, well, it rains in Oregon. Lush fairways, terrific greens that rolled nicely with no unrepaired ball marks. It was also refreshing to play a courses where most of the people walk. I wish we had more of those in So Cal.

Bunkers were wet...it was raining, but had plenty of sand and were well maintained. It had a nice layout, with 3 par 3s and 3 par 5s on the front 9. A few required an iron, hybrid, or fairway wood off the tee, so you had to think your way around the course. The par 3s were on the medium to short side, and it would have been nice to have one or two a little longer. No reachable par 4s for me, but at least several where I was within 75 yards, so decent birdie opportunities.

Overall, a pleasant experience. POP not an issue with the rain. Fair price for the area. I'd play it again, and will when I'm in the area.

I've played here quite a few times over the years, but the conditions seem to be slowly deteriorating. The greens were in great shape yesterday, but the rough had lots of bare spots. They switched the fairways to bermuda, I assume for drought resistance, and for the most part they were in decent shape, although still a little dormant. Overall, though, I'd wait to see if conditions improve before playing there again.

A buddy and I played about 33 holes here yesterday, 1/18, with an all-you-can play deal. The layout is very nice, winding through native vegetation, and when houses are present they are quite a ways off the course. Conditions were about average for this time of year--a little ragged and worn. Bunkers were pretty fluffy and easy to hit out of.

My only complaint about the course is the attitude, and I've felt it every time I've played there. This opened as a private course, but it's now semi-private. It has separate carts for members, which look identical except for different colored roofs and parked in a different area. Woe to those who accidentally put their golf bag on a member cart! Non-members are treated with, well, contempt, even though without us they probably would go belly up. After the first round there was no one anywhere near the #1 tee, and I went into the pro shop to tell them about the coupon and that we'd like to go out again. He corrected me with "...may I go out?" Really? They are certainly doing nothing to entice me to join, and given the proximity to my house and how nice the layout and conditions usually are, I've actually considered joining, but first they gotta lose that attitude.

Talega is a nice course that I've played many times, but today it was in the poorest condition I've ever seen. The fairways had lots of bare spots, and the rough was even worse. Some very large portions had hardly any grass at all. The bunkers need some serious work, as the sand is hard packed and wet, even though we've had no rain, and by the look of the fairways it's not from sprinklers. The greens were in decent shape, but a little lumpy, and looked like they haven't been sanded in ages. Lots of GUR, but they look abandoned, like the grounds crew isn't working on it. Overall, it has the look of a course that can't afford to be maintained properly. While this is the time of year when courses are not in the best condition, other course I regularly play are not in anywhere near this bad of shape. We saw the snack cart only at the turn, and never saw a marshal, although POP was OK. Certainly not worth the $70 I paid to play. On the plus side, the roast beef sandwich was quite good.

We played 36 holes on July 25th. It's a long drive from Orange County, so it won't be in my regular rotation, but nice enough to visit every now and then. Course is in very good condition. Greens were nice, medium speed, and tricky. I must have had at least four three putts. Steady wind on a lot holes made club selection a challenge, and lots of uneven lies required you to think through every shot. I enjoyed the layout, and none of the holes had a similar look. The beverage cart made regular rounds. I didn't see much of the marshal, but it didn't matter because it was a good steady pace. Not a high service golf course, but the starter and pro shop guys were efficient. It took forever to get our grilled sandwiches made between rounds, so instead of a restful lunch in the clubhouse we had to eat on the run.

Played 36 over Memorial Day weekend as part of a four-day golf trip. Course was in good shape and POP was great. Very windy all day, but particularly in the afternoon. It made a tough course too tough for our group, but we had fun nonetheless. We rode, but walking this course would wear out a mountain goat. We were told that the place is in escrow, and that the new owners plan to fix it up a bit, like paving the cart paths.

Played here on April 1. Course is in typical shape. Nice greens, decent fairways, a little uneven in the traps, but not bad. It kinda bugs me that they have no starter, beverage cart, or marshal, but the one service I don't really want/need--club cleaning guys--they do have. POP was fine, although I wouldn't want to be the group behind the group behind us. On the back nine they were at least three holes behind us. Will play it again next week.

I played here yesterday after having played the South course(see that review for general review) in th emorning. Conditions were pristine everywhere. This course is generally inland, only coming down to the water a few times, so you don't get the killer views like on the South course. But it's pretty. It winds through lava fields and the contrast with the black lava, green grass, white sand traps, and bright blue sky is very pleasing. There are houses lining a number of holes, but they are not a distraction because they are set far enough back, and most seemed to be vacant vacation homes so no one was around (it must be nice to own a multi million dollar home on a golf course in Hawaii and be able to afford leaving in empty). The layout is more challenging than the South course and plays quite a bit longer. The long par fours are a challenge to reach in two with the light breeze we had. If I played here all the time I would probably play this one about as much as the South course, but if I was on vacation and only played one, it would definitely be the South course.