Played here for the first time in a tournament (played the canyon and ranch 9's) on 5/27 and was very impressed, this is easily one of the best courses in so cal. The course conditions are absolutely perfect at the moment. This is not, however, an easy golf course. The greens according to starter are running at an 11 (tour speed), and he was definitely right. Make sure you hit some putts on the practice greens to get used to speed. All approach shots, even wedges, need to be landed short of the flag otherwise you will face some very long, fast putts. The course layout is very scenic, with lots of elevated tees and sloping fairways. In short, this course is a great challenge with perfect conditions and is very enoyable, if you haven't played here do so!

I played in a tournament on Sunday April 29. Having never played here before I was very impressed with the Oak Glen course at Sycuan. The fairways were in perfect shape, the greens rolled true although were perhaps a little slow due to some moisture, the tee boxes were level and in good condition and the rough was penalizing without being ridiculous. The layout is a good mix of holes which will test your shotmaking ability. Some holes are tree lined and really penalize you if you miss the fairway while others allow you hit driver with freedom. The only par 5 on the front 9, hole #7 is a very interesting hole. The tee shot is played completely blind from an elevated tee (hint: you don't need driver distance off the tee here, just hit something that is going to be straight) and the lay up shot is very narrow, 5 is good here. This course will hold your interest for multiple rounds and is definitely a challenge from the tips. Pace of play was good, with the rough being fairly long and with leaves scattered through the rough, looking for balls can cause a bit of a delay. All in all I would play this course again and it is in great shape at the moment.

Played 11-5-06. The greens are in their best shape for quite a while, they have decent speed and are rolling smoothly. Unfortunately, it seems many players don't care about fixing their ball marks because I was able to fix at least 5 or 6 on every hole. I am not sure why some players ignorantly refuse to fix their ball marks, and ironically, they are often the same people who complain about the condition of the greens. Several of the tee boxes are under repair at the moment so the course is playing short. The fairways are getting better, although still thin in some spots. Pace of play was terrible, despite not that many players being on the course, our group had to wait 10 minutes on each tee box because the players in the group in front of us seemed intent on shooting 150+. The marshall did absolutely nothing about this and was very rude when we questioned him about the pace of play. Overall this course is decent value, but they need to fix the pace of play, golfers of any ability should be able to play this course in 4 hours, not 5 and half.

Played 10-28 at 12:00 p.m. As the previous reviewer said, this place is in very poor shape. All of the greens have dozens of ball marks, burnt-out patches and in some cases, random spots of sand which I'm fairly sure are not helping the aeration process. The fairways are very thin and it felt like you need to "dig out" every iron shot, the rough was easier to hit off than the fairway. Many of the tee boxes were crowned or lopsided. The pin positions on many holes were ridiculous, often cut only 3 or 4 paces onto the green, presumably because so many other parts of the green were so messed up. The best aspect of the course was probably the bunkers which I found 3 times. Lastly, many of the yardages on this course are inaccurate and I'm not saying this because I played poorly, I shot a 78, but I paced off a number of yardages and found them 8-15 yards off the mark. I am not sure how this happens unless the people doing the yardages cannot calculate properly.

Overall, the course has a decent mix of holes, although some of them appear overly contrived to give homeowners a better view rather than to actually enhance the golf course's playability, accuracy off the tee is an absolute must otherwise bring plenty of balls. My view: Don't waste your money here until they fix the greens and the fairways, there are much better quality and value courses in the area.

The course is in good condition now and will only get better in the coming weeks. The greens are rolling very well and the fairways are green and lush. There are plenty of dog-legs here and you need to think your way around the course, especially off the tee. This course really is a great deal, especially if you live in Oceanside, it has a good mix of holes for all players.

Played here the on 2-20-06 for the first time and enjoyed the course tremedously. The greens are exceptionally fast and really require close attention and soft putting. It's easy to 3 putt from 4 feet here. If you are coming from a course with only moderate speed greens, these will feel like Augusta. Accuracy off the tee is more important than length here and this course has some of best designed par 4's I've ever played. The pace of play was terrific and the only downside from a scenic view is that there are houses everywhere you look. A great course though. Temecula/Murrieta is one of the best areas in the whole country for great golf courses.

I've played the course a number of times recently. It is certainly not in the best shape it could be. The main problem is the fairways, they are extremely thin at the moment and it is very difficult to control iron shots from such tight lies. Not good to hit the ball down the middle and have a bad lie. The greens are rolling pretty well and are the main reason to play here at the moment. They need to fix the fairways ASAP. Still good value, especially if you live in Oceanside.

I have played Oceanside GC the last three weekends and I have to say I think it has gotten a bad rap in some reviews. It has some of the best greens in San Diego, they roll true with good speed and are great to putt on. The rough can be a little tough to hit out of and it is not well maintained or particulalrly lush, but really, the rough is supposed to penalize bad shots so I don't think there is much to complain about there. If you keep the ball in the fairways you will be set, I haven't had a bad lie on these fairways and they are firm enough to give some good roll, and the sand in the bunkers is top notch. As for the layout, the front nine is easier than the back, it has a few dog-leg holes which aren't long but place a premium on putting your ball in the right spot. The back nine has an interesting mix of holes, on 12 make sure you aren't short with your approach and on 13 have a good look at the pin so you know where to aim, the view from the 13th tee is great. Holes 15 and 16 are long and par is a very good score on them. Don't take the par threes at this course for granted, they are very difficult holes with plenty of distance from the back tees. This is a great course to walk and if you live in Oceanside you can't beat the price. I have heard pace of play can be very slow but I haven't had any problems so far and I can think of a number of courses in North County which are slower. I hope this was helpful.

Castle Creek is a quality golf course and a good test for all players. It has several sets of tees to accomodate players of every level. The greens as of this date (4-25-05) are not perfect, a few have some bumps from recent aeration, but they are rolling pretty true and will be perfect in 2-3 weeks time. The fairways are in terrific condition and great to hit off. Hit one extra club into the 9th and 18th greens and make sure you keep it in the fairway on 10,11 and 12 as they are very tight.
Pace of play was excellent (4 hours total) and the after 12pm rate is $30 to walk and $37 to ride, very good value for a quality course.