Golf Course Review – Casta del Sol Mission Viejo. Played Casta del Sol 09/06/2017, teeing off at 9:08am as a twosome trailing a foursome, followed by a threesome. The course was full, and there was some wait to tee off on most holes as the weekly men’s league had tee’d off in the morning. Pace of play was just over four hours. Rate was $18 with cart and drink using the American Golf Players Club.
Weather at tee time was mid to upper 70’s, with a wisp of a breeze. As always Doug in the clubhouse was friendly and efficient. By the conclusion of our round it was in the upper 80’s and slightly uncomfortable due to the humidity.
Course plays to a Par of 61, @ 3,670 yards. The course features six par 4, and twelve par 3 holes, with a number of water hazards and elevation changes to keep things interesting.
Casta del Sol is my favorite local course. Largely because of the recent heat wave and the impact it has on my medical conditions I haven’t been playing as much as I would like, so I hadn’t seen the course in about four weeks. Because of the prolonged heat I was expecting to find heavily browned out fairways, dry thin tee boxes, and nonexistent rough. What I found surprised me.

I was paired with a really great guy named Gilbert. He was a lot of fun, and a very good golfer. Because of the league play the course was busy, but the feel was laid back.
Carts are basic, no frills, comfortable but lacking things such as ice chests or GPS, however they were clean and the divot mix bottles were full.
Tee’s were in excellent shape. Grass coverage was lush, green and groomed. Very little divot damage even on par threes. With the exception of the 11th tee, all tee boxes were level. Tee boxes have always been this courses week point, on this day they were a gem, really happy to see the turn around.
The fairways I expected to see browned out were green lush, with virtually no divot damage. Lies were as good as I have ever seen them on this course. We were playing in the late morning but there were no damp spots on the course. All of the ground under repair areas that were present when I last played the course in August were gone.
Rough was green, lush, and deep at approximately 4” aside the fairways. Rough around the greens were around 2”. The grass is healthy and provided good lies for the most part. Creeks were running full.
Bunkers as usual were in very good condition, good base, soft sand, perhaps a bit too much sand in a couple. The three I was in played well. I was in one bunker where someone left huge foot prints and didn’t rake the bunker, but this fortunately did not affect my lie or stance.
Greens were in excellent condition, playing medium fast on the front nine and then downshifting gears to run medium slow on the back nine. Pin placements were challenging, featuring either extreme front placements or tucked behind bunkers. Lots of fun.

I have been playing this course regularly for the last two plus years, and have never seen it in better shape. I have a tee time scheduled for this coming Wednesday.

Black Gold Yorba Linda

Played Black Gold Tuesday 8/29/2017 – Tee Time 12:32pm with fellow GK Guru larryq2001. This is truly a beautiful club. Access to the club house, pro shop, and driving range from the parking lot is excellent. Carts are staged near the front doors.
Service – is top tier. Shout out to Brian in the pro shop. He and the other two pro shop staff members made checking in fun, he definitely has a future career as a cruise director. The pro shop itself is well stocked, Nike shoes, and gear from all the major brands. Trying not to tell my Mack Daddy wedge that I was looking at the new Cleveland offering in the pro shop.
Carts as mentioned are staged near the front door. They are new, very comfortable seats, excellent color GPS, and ice chest pre filled with ice. They have a very comfortable ride as well.

The driving range offers mats and grass at each hitting station, is very well laid out with targets ranging from 30 yards to more than 250 yards, and offering bunkers to be hit over so you align your mind before going on course.

Playing partner. If any of you have the chance to play with Larry, jump on it, he was great to play with, very encouraging, interesting, and a shot maker.

Conditions, from tee to green were pristine, despite the unseasonably weather. There were no wet spots, damp areas or mud, yet the grass everywhere was perfect, and mostly deep green.

The tee boxes were level and lush, with no divot damage. Some locations were soft putting the tee peg in, but held the tee well. Footing was excellent. There are blind tee shots on this course, with fairway bunkers looming, and it’s worth buying the course guide if you haven’t played here before.

Rough - was thick, approximately four inches at the second cut, neat and clean. The course uses wilderness and bramble more than rough to penalize errant shots, to either side of the fairway, and behind and to the sides of greens.

Bunkers - are in excellent shape, and players who were in the ones I sampled had done a nice job of raking leaving me a good lie. The bunkers were full of good quality sand over a firm base that made achieving a good stance very doable. I was in both fairway bunkers and green side bunkers and can say both types were in excellent shape. The course uses a number of fairway bunkers to challenge the golfer off the tee.

Fairways - The fairways were surprisingly green, and lush. I was expecting a more dried out appearance and fearing an over watered or muddy course after my recent disappointment with Rancho San Juaquin, but I had nothing to fear. The fairways were perfect, with virtually no ground under repair, there was no mud, and all of my shots in the fairway had perfect lies. The evil side of the fairways at Black Gold is virtually none are level. They feature a rolling contour that rolls left and right, up and down. I personally loved the challenge.

Greens – are in excellent condition, few ball marks, very green, well groomed, medium speed. The hole placements were evil, many on ridge lines, false fronts, or in locations where shots in any direction could go downhill. I think this was because we were being followed by what appeared to be a junior’s or high school tournament. The ball rolled true, very satisfying greens to play on.

Due to the extreme heat I only played the front nine with Larry. Despite hydration, sodium, and a cooling towel, the heat was kicking my butt, and my blood pressure was acting up, making it uncomfortable to bend over to tee up a ball, so my review reflects only the warm up, and front nine.

There is a relief station and water station that is enroute to a number of the holes the way the front nine cart path crosses itself. We did not see a beverage cart on the front nine.

Black Gold rates as one of my three favorite courses in Southern California, and depending on weather can be in first place on any given day. It is a very attractive course, surrounded by beautiful homes, nature areas, and city views. It long without requiring PGA tour card, and it’s fun to play. I look forward to playing here again in the fall when the weather is cooler.

Rancho San Joaquin - Played RSJ on Thursday 08/24/2017 – 7:22 am Tee Time at the American Golf Players Club rate of $29. Went out with my best friend were paired up with a couple of RSJ regulars who were great company. The overall layout of the course is open and inviting, with a passive aggressive tendency exposed by a number of blind tee shots that often play into either a sloping fairway, dogleg or water.

Located in Irvine the facility is attractive, inviting, with a country club feel. It is bordered along some holes by homes. During our round we saw the marshal on several occasions, he stopped to talk with our regulars, however there was no cart service, just adds at 7 and 16 to call ahead to the grill. The staff was friendly, from the pro shop to the starter. The course offers same day $21 replays.

I really wanted to like this course, and I think somewhere in the future I will, but right now it’s is what could best be called a hot mess. They are working hard to make the course better that is clear by the massive number of areas in the fairways that have been re-sodded, the amount of pink foam spots and the tractor going up and down the fairways spraying something. (We discovered him below the line of sight on a blind tee). The fifth hole had a river running across the green, crossing about ten feet behind the hole. The course from tee to green was soaking wet, making even good lies hard to play consistently and impacting footing.

People who are familiar with my reviews know I run to the positive side, and this course is a fun, challenging layout, but not as it played Thursday.

Tee boxes are a mix of sort of level, to nope can find a spot where my feet and ball are on the same level. Mostly lush, with some divot damage but not terrible.

Fairway’s are a hot mess, mud just beyond the tee’s, in landing zones, along the first cut, with tractor tire, and cart tire tracts running through. There are large tracts of good brown and green grass that is lush, but was still damp. Fairways that should have given yardage on the run, really needed lift clean and place rules. We were playing the ball as it lies, and mud cost me more than few strokes. There are few worse feelings than hitting a really good drive, then hitting a ball from the middle of the fairway that goes squirrel because it’s covered in mud.

Rough – The first cut of rough is very playable aside from the wet ground, and spots of mud. The second cut is thick enough to lose a ball in, and juicy enough to make you work to avoid it. The rough around the greens especially on the down slope side of the greens was very wet, and made chipping a crap shoot from as close as foot off the green. Bump and runs were difficult to attempt, challenging me to chip onto the putting surface.

Bunkers are superb, good base, great sand, and the only consistently dry spot on this course. These are among the best quality bunkers I have seen this season.

Greens are the strength of this course, they are rich green carpets that run true, show little damage from unrepaired ball marks and are extremely challenging, featuring false fronts, tiers, ridges, and back to front slope. The greens played medium slow from the side or uphill, but showed serious speed on the downhill slopes that had held less moisture.

Ball Washers – This isn’t something I normally review, I will comment if they are lacking such as at the Golf Club of California, where they are on the members carts, but not really an item I feel the need to review. With the amount of water, and mud in play at RSJ on Thursday I was a frequent visitor to the ball washers. Not one had clean water; all were as muddy as the course. Not good when you ball comes out looking like it’s been rinsed in Ovaltine. We tee’d off at 7:22, I have to believe they had not been serviced in a while.

I will play this course again, but will wait until fall in hopes that it will present a more enjoyable experience. I really like the layout, and can imagine how fun it could be. I am just not sure if it’s so busy that It’s beat up, of if the course is missing a course superintendent. I have never recommended passing on a course, but with as much ground under repair as there is, at a normal rack rate approaching $50, there are better choices at this time, I would recommend waiting a little to play RSJ.

Played the Golf Club of California Friday 8/12/2017 on GK Guru outing. Arrived at 10:15am for an 11:30am tee time. Applied sun screen on a beautiful sunny 84 degree afternoon. Checked in at the pro shop, very welcoming, picked up my cart key, range ball number, and was given a copy of the guide book. The guide book, essentially a yardage book with playing tips for each hole, it was very helpful.

The Golf Club of California was originally built as a member’s only club and it shows in the elegant design of the club house, pro shop and cozy parking lot. In addition to members guests, the club now allows a limited number of non-member players the opportunity to enjoy this visually appealing layout. The carts for the visiting golfer are very basic; they are equipped with ice chests which were pre-filled with ice. The carts are not equipped with GPS or ball washers. Member carts feature great seating, trash container, ice chests, ball washers. This is apparently why there is no ball washers on the course, and few trash cans.

The driving range is out near the entrance to the club on the way from the second to the third hole. The range features grass hitting areas that were a little drier and sandier than the tee boxes I found on the course. However the grass in the range has dried out much like some areas of the course, and provided a good feel for roll-out.

The practice green is next to the starter for the first tee, and at first I was surprised to see the surface of the practice green with some burned out, and dry areas. The green features a number of contours, levels, and are ringed by deep rough on undulating hills very representative of what you will find around the greens. Despite featuring dry spots and brown patches, the greens roll true and quick.

The starter and I talked for a while well I waited to see if any other Guru’s would join me. Wonderful guy, so much so that I teed off 10 minutes late going off at 11:40, as a single following a threesome that had tee’s off at 11:10. Course was very quiet although I was told there would be a large group arriving at 2pm and the course would be full.

Having been struggling with my game as I learn the distances of my new clubs out of different lies I chose to play the white tee’s. From the whites the course plays 6082 (6256 adjusted) vs. 6502 yards (6668 adjusted) from the blues. Built on a hillside and canyon complex the course features numerous elevation changes, often from a high tee box, to a low sloping fairways back to an elevated green, often with a false front, tiered surface, at times into gusting winds.

Tee boxes were lush, level, but appear to have been recently aerated, which was noticeable only when placing my tee into the ground. There was very little divot damage. Many of the tees feature narrow chutes that have to be negotiated, well carrying waste areas. OB in some directions and protected wild life areas in others. There are numerous fairway bunkers looking to gobble up errant drives. I found my laser range finder invaluable off the tee. The view of the surrounding hillsides, orchards, and vineyards from the 7th tee are beautiful.

Fairways were a mixture of various hues of brown and gold grass, almost as they were reflecting the adjacent hill sides, along with deep green. The greens crew was active around the course spot watering and hand trimming. They were very good at making way for me as I played. Well I was not told of any cart restrictions on the fairways, entry and exit areas were well marked and large sections roped off to minimize impact of carts on the fairways. I had cart access in every area where my ball was so this was not an issue. The fairways were dry leading to better than average rollout on shots, and I took advantage to scare several bunkers I thought were out of range. The golfer has to account for clubbing up or down for slope, as well as run out from the dry fairways. The exception was hole 6 which featured a very swampy section of fairway. As noted earlier many fairways slope from one direction to the other. Trees and terrain make the second shot from a misplaced tee shot even in the fairway difficult. This is where the tips in the guide book are very helpful. [The guide book is free, ask for one].

The fairway on #9 is a perfect example of the complexities of the course. The tee faces an area out of bounds in range to most golfers off the tee, turning right the fairway narrows, and then widens. For a second shot to the hole, the ball needs to be dead center between 100 and 150 out. There is a small narrow corridor between very tall trees right and left that guard the green. The hole is on an elevated green which requires an extra club, shots hit short will roll off the green down to the valley requiring as much as 35 yard pitch up hill. Shots that aren’t in line with the opening will be blind, and need to be highly elevated, low shots will disappear in the trees and bramble.

Fairway bunkers play a big role on this course, and vary in design from flat with low lips that offer a chance to recover, to deep bunkers with steep faces, blocked by trees or hill from advancing the ball, or that require a wedge to get out of. Sand was firm, good quality, well raked, and very playable.

Rough. The first cut was of rough was very uniform, I would estimate 1 inch, and lush, green frequently even where the fairway was not. The second cut was far deeper, and invariably growing against me whenever I was there especially if downhill.

Greenside bunkers were dry, fluffy, frequently steep faces filled with quality sand. Overall prior golfers had left the bunkers well raked. Greenside bunkers are the courses second layer of defense after the unusual angles and narrowness of the greens with some pin placements. The exception is the par 3 seventh hole which after greeting the golfer with a beautiful hill top view give him/her a steep downhill shot into a green protected with a tree and brush lined hill immediately behind, and a large pot bunker dead in the middle of the green. Pucker factor is high on this one if the wind is blowing.

Greens look like they are struggling, however they are playing pure and true. Roll is excellent. The greens feature irregular shapes, narrow constrictions, tiers, false fronts, and edges that will send a ball into the rough. For my round there were a number of forward or tucked flag locations that made going for the flag or slightly past necessary to have a chance to putt out.

The greens on the front nine played fast, the back nine was medium fast. As has been noted by other reviews at different courses there seems to be a dearth of green care by our fellow golfers. The 5th hole and 16th seemed to have suffered a little more than the rest. It’s a shame that anyone would treat a course in this way.

Pace of play was right around 4.5 hours. I caught the threesome I was playing behind by the 8th hole; they were playing behind a foursome. I ended up joining them on the 12th hole, as I was being chased by twosome behind me from the 10th hole on. Well I had waited to tee off on several holes; I never felt the pace was slow. This may have been a factor of the heat, that required pacing myself.

Amenities - The club house features a water and ice dispenser, with large Styrofoam cups for the golfer before heading out. The on course comfort stations were well placed, clean and featured drinking fountains. I saw one drink jug with cups. The beverage cart came by three times during my round, each time personally stopping to see if there was anything I wanted, very pleasant, very course aware.

The snack bar (Grill) is available at the turn as would be expected. I chose to have a hot dog. My server was very nice. Price was $6 for a dog and chips. The Dog was OK; I typically take onions and relish. There was no onion available.

As my round concluded the starter who was now preparing to go out and play inquired about my round, again really enjoyed talking with him.

As is common for a private club, there were attendants at the conclusion of play to clean your clubs and take your bag if you wanted. This is a truly fun course to play, and everyone I encountered was gracious.

Despite the drive from Mission Viejo, I love playing this course. Given a choice between the three San Diego area courses I have played recently this would be my first choice, nestled in a residential area there is very little highway noise, little aircraft noise, though there was the occasional music emanating from the homes surrounding the course. I played 3 and 4 to a praise and worship song, 11 and 12 to soft jazz, 17 and 18 to an instrumental version of Sounds of Silence.

Fortunately there are often coupons in the GK Store for this course. Look forward to bring my best friend out here play. I very much hope you will give it a chance as well.

Riverwalk Golf Course – San Diego
Played Riverwalk on Thursday morning with the Greenskeeper.org Golf Guru’s. Riverwalk San Diego’s most played course consists of three unique nine hole tracts. Presidio, Mission, and Friars. For our round we played Presidio followed by Mission. Presido+Mission represents a Par 72 tract, with a rating from the white tee’s of 70.0, but a slope of 123. As the high handicap member of the review team, the 123 was the red flag that this was going to be a harder than average round.

Riverwalk is a visually pleasing layout in the midst of San Diego’s hotel circle. Located in a valley open towards the ocean on one end the wind comes off the ocean beginning around 10:30 and makes the tract through Mission with its various water hazards a test.

Upon arriving the golfer is welcomed by a large parking lot, easy clubhouse access, and very well maintained and organized facility. The pro shop is well stocked for last minute needs, as well as souvenir shirts, and hats. There is a bar / restaurant which has a nice menu if not a bit pricey. There is a snack bar I did not sample.

The driving range is large well lit, with targets within a 5-10 yard range of the posted distance. There is hitting off of mats. The adjacent putting green is large, well maintained and adequately represents the very fast greens the golfer will find once out on course. The cart staging area is well organized, groups such as ours are preset with cards identifying the courses to be played and in which order. Each cart is equipped with GPS however the one in my cart would not turn on. As I wear a wrist GPS, and have a range finder this was not an issue. Each cart is equipped with an ice chest, however it is the responsibility of the golfer to fill the ice chest. We saw the snack cart several times during the round, however there are no water stations on the course, if you miss your opportunity. The snack cart did not have hot dogs during our round, it wasn’t clear if this was an ops, or normal.

John the starter may be sufficient reason to visit the course. His combination of charm, wit, efficiency is second to none. I arrived very early having gotten up early and decided to drive down from Mission Viejo with the light 4am traffic. John welcomed me, made me feel comfortable, and it was fun to watch him prepare for the two major tournament groups that would be arriving as well as welcome each of the regulars as warm friends. They obviously enjoyed his company as well.

We kicked off on the Presidio course with a warm welcome from the course starters border collie, and a clear course in front of us. John had told me in advance, stay left on Presidio, stay to the right on Mission. With one exception this proved to be sage advice, and I tried to follow it. Presidio opens with a long 379 yard par 4. This hole is straight forward, and portends none of the pain you can find later on the course. The tree line somewhat hides the metro rail line that divides the Presidio course from the Friars course. There are no fairway bunkers or water on this hole. Hole two is a 156 yard par 3 over water and is a more honest depiction of what the golfer has in store. The San Diego River bisects both the Mission and to a greater degree the Presidio course. There are three ponds that come into play during the 18 holes impacting every hole on the course except Presidio hole 1.
Tee boxes on both tracts were in very good shape, offering level lies. I would rate them as mostly lush. I did not notice divot mix boxes on the white tees. Both courses make use of a number of elevated tee boxes as well as elevated greens. With the exception of the first tee on the Mission course which was very uncomfortable for me as the target zone at the limit of my driver, and was completely obscured by over grown reeds (we were told by the GM are taking bids to have them trimmed) the tee’s were honest and the architect did not work very hard trying to lead the golfer to drive into trouble. (That apparently is the winds job).
The fairways were in good to average condition for a muni. I very much like the design of the fairways, however there was a large amount of GUR, and early there were several damp areas in my range. Most of the standing water was restricted to cart paths. It’s obvious with the current heat wave, and the volume of traffic the course gets the crew is doing the best they can to maintain a course worthy of the popularity and green fee. They were actively working to re-sod a large area of hole 3 on the mission tract.
The first cut of rough was almost indistinguishable from the fairway, the second cut was three to four inches deep, and my balls that found their way into the second cut often settled down. Rough seemed deeper around those greens where there was no water to protect the ball from. Areas under trees were thin.
Bunkers were mixed. Greenside bunkers appeared to have good sand coverage and vary between soft and crunchy. The two fairway bunkers I visited were opposites. The first was soft well filled sand, with a high face. The second was a long low fairway bunker on Presidio 6 that I was able to walk in, hit my shot into the water without leaving foot prints, and barely able to see the divot where the ball was. Overall from what I saw I would rate the bunkers as good.

It is said the greens are the highlight of the Riverwalk experience. The shape, architectural features of the greens from waterfalls, ponds, slope, to bunkers and exposure to the wind, make the greens visually appealing, as well as a test to reach. They are receptive to shots airmailed in, fast and slick a low approach may well run through. They are beautifully shaped, the use of hills, and ridges makes shot placement and course knowledge an advantage. Having played my last to rounds on courses with medium fast shaggy greens, it took me more than half the round to come to terms with the fast speed of the Riverwalk greens. I would rate the greens good, not through any fault of their own, but rather the people who play this course don’t seem to care about the prize they have, as there were numerous unrepaired ball marks even on the par fives. It is clear the agronomists, and grounds crew work hard to make this an exceptional place to play.

This is a thinking golfer’s course. Presidio 3 and 8 require the golfer to cross the river, on 3 this is likely a layup, and the hole is blocked form view by overgrown reeds in the river. The San Diego river runs the length of Presidio 9, with the tee’s facing the river, favoring a draw. Holes such as Mission 1 require the player to know his/her distance, and to decide the best way to get in play based on their dominant shot shape. Mission 3 requires most players to lay up. Mission 18 requires a layup on a downhill slope even for long hitters, and a wedge into a green where a miss to the front falls down a steep slope to the water.

If the air was still and cool, this course would be a challenge for a high handicapper such as myself. Bring in the wind which runs left to right on many of the holes on Mission and the level of difficulty can rise an order of magnitude. This is definitely a course worth the money if your going to be in the area, and one I look forward to coming back to after I sharpen my game.

Iron-Wood 9 hole Golf Course
This course is a GEM. I have never played a more beautiful nine hole course anywhere, and few municipal courses I have played can compare in condition, or visual appeal. Despite the long drive up from Mission Viejo to Cerritos I will play this course again.

This is a nine hole executive course with two par 4’s of 272 over water and 316 down a narrow tree lined fairway. The par 3’s range from 100 to 151 yards with water, bunkers, and trees used as defense. As of today overall conditions are excellent.

The course staff from clubhouse to greens keepers were active, friendly and carrying of the both the course and golfer. The starter was friendly, efficient, and I must be getting older looking as he insisted on giving me the senior rate, despite the fact I am 58, and the rate applies at 60. $9, can’t beat it.

Maintenance was going on around the course. Bunkers being raked, Turf on the tee box of # 2 being replaced, and the base leveled. We saw Marshals filling fairway and tee box divots. No one was in the way.

Parking lot is cozy but convenient. The driving range is spacious, and offers both grass and mats apparently without additional fee. Turf condition on the grass side was lush, though damp in some spots. The range itself looks better than many courses. A small bucket 51 balls was $5.50.

Restrooms at the club house are clean, as are all the facilities. Something I have not seen before, when leaving a compressed air hose is provide to blow the grass of your push cart (this is a walking course) and shoes.

We tee’d off at 10:30 am, on a very humid 85 degree day, no breeze. The women’s club had already been out, and finished, so the parking lot and club house were full, as was the range, but the course was nearly empty. We would have no one in front of us, and wouldn’t have any one behind us for more than three holes.

Visually this course is spectacular for a par 3 muni. There are rock walled ponds with turtles, carp, mosquito fish, ducks that come into play on several holes. Tall mature trees line the fairways, even the bridges over the ponds, creeks have the classic big private course feel.

Tee boxes were overall lush, a narrow area about two club lengths wide was assigned on most holes, and thus divot damage at the front of the box was significant. Most were filled. There was divot mix on each tee, and it was being used, either by players or staff. Lies were often slanted. Level areas were available on each tee box, but were selectively not used on several obviously to add complexity, not out of poor maintenance.

Fairways were trimmed tight, with excellent grass coverage throughout the course. Admittedly other than the par fours you shouldn’t be in the fairway, it was nice that they were perfect if you did end up in them.

Bunkers were deep, often steep faces, and created challenges for creating birdie opportunities getting close to the flag on most holes as they had to be challenged to avoid long putts due to the shapes of the greens, and the relationship to the tee box. Neither I nor my playing partner was in any bunkers, but they appeared to be filled, soft, and uniformly well maintained. Those that showed signs of having been played in were raked showing golfers who respect the course and other golfers that will come behind them.

Rough was penal. There are large expanses of rough on this course, all of it, every square foot possessed a manicured appearance, and uniform depth which I would estimate between two and three inches. If you ended up under one of the many mature trees with low hanging branches you would have to punch out from the deep rough. Despite the fullness of the tree’s I did not notice any bare or thin spots in the rough.

Greens with one exception were immaculate, with few ball marks. One hole did have a pair of damaged brown spots each about two feet square. That was the only noticeable flaw on any of the greens. I would describe the speed on the greens as medium. Rolls were true, although under the shade of the greenside trees some breaks were harder than others to read. The fourth green featured an upper and lower tear, guess where the pin was.
Special merit goes to the fifth hole, which requires the golfer to get the ball up and over a substantial tree to have any shot at the green. Playing only 100 yards there is virtually no way unless you only hit worm burners to get on this green off the tee without flighting the ball up an over the tree. The 9th hole requires the golfer to carry the ball between 120 yards, to 140 yards over water, short faces a strong slope back to the water. This is a visually appealing closing hole.
I can’t think of a muni that I have played that is in better condition, has the visual appeal of this little course. Yes it’s bordered by a freeway which I didn’t find objectionable, under high tension power lines, and along a river bed (drainage funnel) none of which really intrude on this little gem.

I personally feel it’s the best nine dollars I have spent on a course. Just wish it was in Orange County and not a 50 mile drive. My best friend lives close to the course so I suspect I will be back soon.

Recreation Park 18 (Big Rec)
Played Big Rec Thursday afternoon 3:04 pm tee time on a Golf Now Hot Deal at $25 with cart. My buddy and I were matched with a twosome and sent out approximate 2:40 pm. Course was full, men’s club was out. We played behind a five some, and threesome that moved along very well, and a twosome behind us that was only an issue once when one of the guys pure’d a drive into the par four thirteenth splitting the hole and my buddy who was trying to sink his birdie. (They did call four).
The staff in the pro-shop was cordial if not overworked at the moment. The snack cart made an appearance on the 7th hole. The clubhouse, snack bar/restaurant are old school, and very nice. The driving range is split into two sections and small, but the targets are nicely laid out. The practice green is a bit of a walk from the first tee, but also nice, good size.
For me this course plays very long. As I get acclimated to my new clubs, especially the 3 & 4 hybrid, I am not using my driver or my fairway woods. This was not a great disadvantage as I carry a driver 198, with 208 / 220 being normal after roll out. My 3 wood is close to the same, and my 5 wood is around 180. Even if I had used these clubs, my second shot on many holes would approach 160/200+ yards. The course features only two par threes, both over 130 yards. There are two par fives, one at 522 yards, the other 511 yards. Par fours range between 295 yards and 460 yards with plenty of elevation change on every hole.

This course reinforced the contention of the recent community conversation on the importance of the GIR statistic. In eighteen holes I have two three putts, and two one puts. Overall my putting was very good, on moderately slow, slightly shaggy greens. One of my playing partners had a colorful description but it was somewhat X rated. I managed only one par, on a par four hole.
The carts feature basic GPS. The GPS gives the distance from the cart to the front, center and back of the green, as well as an advertisement for the snack bar on the way in from the ninth hole.

The tee boxes were lush, level, and overall in very good shape, especially given the volume of players on the course, and the late hour we tee’d off. This course uses doglegs, tree lines, and blind greens to challenge the golfer.

The fairways are in excellent condition, overall lush, with careful attention, even using hoses and manually placed sprinklers to assure first class coverage. I found good lies in the fairway regardless of whether it was on the top of a mound, down in a valley or a side hill lie.

Rough wasn’t really penal. There was a first cut along most fairways and around the greens and bunkers cut an inch or so, but very well kept. The collars around the green and in the rough along the fairway near the greens seemed a little deeper but more than fair.

Trees, this course makes use of trees as a defense, and to shape shots. Tall tree’s prevent cutting corners, and low hanging branches make hitting out from underneath or from behind difficult for a tall golfer such as myself.

Bunkers looked very good, deep, steep faces on those around the green. Those in my party that visited the beach got up and down cleanly, none complained of the conditions. I was fortunate enough not to test the quality of the sand or base.
Greens were variety of sizes, most flat, uniformly cut (a little shaggy) and in excellent condition, with only the two par three’s showing damage from ball marks. The greens were receptive to shots airmailed in, but would allow a run shot to roll through. Generous collars around the greens prevented minor miscues from becoming blow up holes. This created the paradox. For someone hitting a 3 hybrid 190 yards, second shots on many of these fourteen par fours required a hybrid or long iron to reach the green, rather than a wedge. Given my length off the tee, or lack thereof, I was unable to reach very many of these greens in regulation, and managed one par on a par four.

I really enjoyed the layout of Recreation Park 18, this was the first time I have played it, and absolutely enjoyed myself because of the length of the course. At $25 it was a steal. This course is also a part of the American Golf Players Club circuit, and as such I should be able to get deals through my membership. Look forward to playing this course again soon.

Parking at peak hours is a little tight.

Played this morning 7:48 tee time as a twosome, following a twosome, chased by a foursome. Pace of play 3:45 minutes. Twosome in front played efficiently, and the foursome behind fell back, leaving Joe my playing partner and I with the feeling we had the course pretty much to ourselves.

Played on the Players Club rate of $18 with cart, and a beverage. The staff was friendly as always. Being a regular here the starter knows me which is a nice feeling. There were two Marshall’s working the course and I saw them frequently throughout the round. Temperatures were in the low 70’s at tee time, rising to 82 by the completion of the round.
Tee boxes were more level and lusher than I have seen them in a while. They were in better condition across the board than they were last week. There were some soft areas, and some divot damage, but on whole they were good.
Fairways were lush, and green. The fairway on the first hole continues to have a large segment roped off as ground under repair. There were a couple of fairways, #4, and #14 that were saturated with water in a couple of spots.
Bunkers were overall good, mostly fluffy, but there were a couple that were compacted and crusty.
Rough was thicker than usual, except in those areas where it could help keep your ball out of a creek or water hazard then it was spotty. Average seemed to be 3” – 4” in the primary rough.

Greens were in excellent condition, smooth, very few ball marks, running medium fast, receptive.
The course is in excellent condition and seems to be improving since they joined the player’s club program. A slight breeze and the round would have been perfect.

Played Monday 7/10/17 - Started at 5:40 AM prior to the course opening to beat the heat. Temp at tee time, temp at completion 76 and very humid. Lake Forest Practice Center's course is a 9 hole, executive featuring two Par 4's, and 7 par 3's. POP 1:15 minutes. Had no one in front of me and three holes clear behind me.

Course was is nice condition overall having just survived a hot weekend. At tee off the greens were dew covered and the fairways wet with dew. Tee boxes had not been moved from Sunday yet so were a bit chewed up.

Tee boxes were relatively level, but chewed up resulting in uneven footing on some tee's. It was still possible to find a good teeing spot.

Fairways were in very nice shape overall, with some brown spots, one area of ground under repair on the fourth hole, but nothing that impacted play.

Bunkers were in surprisingly good condition, a little hard packed from the evening moisture, a little thin, but playable. I found one green side and one fairway bunker and was able to get up and down from each.

Greens were in remarkably good condition with only a couple of ball marks from the previous days play. They were smooth, no bare spots, dew covered, some leaves, rolled surprisingly quickly despite being damp. They were very receptive and I was able to spin the ball to a quick stop or back it up.

Staff was on course by 6:15 raking bunkers, blowing off greens, but I was happy to get the early start. By the time I left the course was filling up as a host of regulars were getting in a early round before the day got too hot.

This is a fun little course during the week. (avoid on weekends, they have foot golf and disc golf mixed in with regular golf). $5 for Players Club members.

1:54 tee time, playing as a foursome of American Golf Players Club players at the late afternoon $10 rate with cart and drink. Typically I get out on time or early at this course, today was not typical. We tee'd off about 15 minutes late to start what would be a four hour and fifteen minute round. As a bench mark I have played the course comfortably in two and half hours, but typically 3 hours is normal. Temp at start 85, temp at conclusion 92. Very little breeze.

The reason for the slow round was our tee time was the first after several foursomes of junior SCGA golfers went out. The foursome directly ahead of us was comprised of kids seemingly between 7 years old, to 10 years old. From last off the tee to off the green took around 18 minutes. They were playing efficiently, one just didn't have the distance to deal with the creek, and the first fairway is largely no cart due to ground under repair, and they didn't take their push carts out to survey shots and thus had to go back for the right club. After the second hole they did pick up speed, however the front 9 took well over two hours.

I thought we were going to have problems as the group behind us (waiting with us, was a mash up of twosomes with one guy wanting to push through), however since he likes to play from the tips, and could drive the green on 1 285 yards out he had to wait for us to get off the green before driving up.

Overall my playing partners Joe, Joe, and Frank made it a great day, we meshed well.

The tee boxes had good cover, even a little lush but they are becoming more uneven. On the 13th tee the greens keeper had actually place the blue tee markers on either side of a pair of sprinkler heads overgrown with grass.

The fairways are in very good condition other than the first hole mentioned earlier which in mostly GUR.

The rough was thicker than usual, not excessively penal, but approached four inches or more in the areas I choose to visit. Rough was a little deeper around the collar of the greens than usual.

The bunkers were in good shape, deep sand, golfers before us had raked them as they went. I visited two to ruin my score despite the bunkers being well kept.

Greens, as always are the highlight of this course. The condition if excellent, respective, smooth rolling, with speed varying from medium slow for front nine greens to medium fast on the back nine greens. The best part of the greens being receptive, with my new 54 and 58 degree Callaway Mac Daddy II Wedges, and my new Adams irons I was able to stick the shots into the green even getting the to spin back with the Mac Daddy's.

Creeks crisscross the course and all are flowing rapidly enough to assure that a ball hit in one gets swept away. This is particularly important on the 8th, 9th and 18th holes. The creek crosses in such a way that a shot hit right on 9, and 18 will find the creek, well a shot hit offline to the left and short on 8 will find the creek.

I really love this course, would like to see them help level the tee boxes, but for the money its a steal.

The back nine was wonderful because the six groups in front of us had been Junior SCGA members who only played the front nine, we had no one in front of us on the back nine, we left the group behind us a hole and half behind, or they choose to fall back, either way it was like playing a private course all to ourselves.

Food - The restaurant is very good, tired the snack bar today for a hot dog with onions and relish. Good not great, at just over $4, but served quick and I didn't have to squeeze packets for the relish.

The Junior SCGA turnout was impressive, the kids were well mannered, well supervised. I shared time on the practice green with a young girl no more than 8, and her brother and they were having fun well seriously working on getting ready for their round.

The last group out had a rules official with them to assure fair play and that they moved along. The course had at least three marshals working the event to handle the traffic snarls and ego's of the non participants. Hats off to these kids, on a hot day they walked the course, carried their clubs or pushed their carts, with two of the holes being pretty significant up hill slogs. Love to see kids playing the game.

Played Friday with a 10:30 tee time. Played as a five some which broke into a threesome and twosome on the back 9. Course was pretty much empty, temperatures were in the upper 80's light to no breeze. $27 with cart.

David L. Baker is largely a flat course, measuring 3802 from the blues. There are no par 5's. Course is made up of 8 par 4's all of which feature water, the longest of which is 306 yards. The course is straight forward and honest, there are no blind tee shots, significant elevation changes, or sever slopes. Trees and bunkers and water provide the defense.

The staff as always is friendly, and the food in the snack bar acceptable. Before the round we had to go to the cart shed to fill our own divot bottles, none of the ready golf carts were equipped. Had to go to the pro shop for a score card and pencil, the box by the first tee was empty, and there were none on the carts. Assume they were down a person today.

Tee boxes were acceptable, lightly chewed up, but very level.

Fairways were in very good condition with full coverage, very little divot damage.

The fairway rough is a couple of inches at most and usually only becomes penal on the few slopes along the trees. (Trees bad, fairway good). The first cut around the greens are about an inch, second cut about two inches but don't depend on it to hold your balls if you come in to low on the greens.

Sand traps - was in a couple and there was adequate stand, neatly raked, very dry and crusty. The bunker on the 16th hole had a large fist sized rock in it, and several smaller pebbles. Not something I have seen here before.

Greens were medium early, medium fast later in the day. In very good condition, firm with few pitch marks. Rolled a little rough and bumpy but not bad for a course that sees this volume. I holed a 30 footer I can't complain.

Overall the playing company was good, but three of the four guys I was with play league against each other, and regular Saturday matches. One is a single digit handicap, the others are 12 and 14 respectively if I remember which makes it a little harder for a double bogey player like me when the single digit handicapper wants to play mind games with everyone else. One of the few times I have had to shut someone down by pulling the USGA rule book.

Won't likely accept an invite to play with this group again, but overall enjoyed my round.

Played Los Amigos in Downey on Golf Now Hot Deal at $33 with cart. Tee time was 11:28 am and we got off on time as a foursome pared with the nicest couple I have ever played with and they were single digit handicappers which made them fun to watch, as well as play with.

The golf course shares a parking lot with a Juvenal hall, and probation center, making parking tight early in the day.

The course is undergoing some upgrades and repairs that has construction going on near the first tee.

The driving range is adjacent to the first tee, expansive, very neat, mat only. The far fence has collapsed and is at 45+ degree angle, but this effects neither driving nor play.

Check in was straight forward, pleasant and quick. The carts are basic no fills muni standard. Clean, ran well, basket, normal stuff.

Tee boxes were mostly level, thin cover but in good shape. There were a number of divots, but most were not bad, not an issue. Some tee boxes had divot mix on hand, it appeared to be used sparingly. I liked the tee boxes, found them easy to find good footing on.

Fairways are well covered with some thin areas, but none that came into play for me or my partners. The fairways are protected by trees that curve creating doglegs, and fairway bunkers most of which have hit embankments preventing a good recover. Tree limbs often compound the penalty of entering a fairway bunker. Several holes feature doglegs, on three occasions bounded the other side by water. Straight is very useful, as is the ability to shape shots left and right. I found myself using 3 wood and 5 wood to lay up more than any round I can remember.

The majority of trees on this course are older mature trees with significant height and breadth. The ability to flight down and or run the ball improves the ability to recover from the occasional errant shot.

In addition to the trees and fairway bunkers, the 16th hole features a creek crossing at around 220 yards depending on tee, and is the break point on the dogleg with another 160 yards in to the green. There is a small goal post size opening for a person who can shape the ball, otherwise it's a layup.

Quick note this course rewards someone who uses a laser rangefinder. My GPS was helpful, but the rangefinder gave me the information to pull different clubs. I ended up using my driver far less, and for the first time in serious play, using my 3,5,7, woods, and 4 and 5 iron.

Bunkers were in good condition. Topcoat of sand was dry and fine, however I was in two bunkers, on of which had a heavy, dense layer of wet sand just below the surface dry sand, and did not allow an effective sand explosion.

Most greens were well covered, no thin spots, several still suffered from having recently been punched offering very bumpy rolls. Add in pine straw, slope, ridges, multilevel greens and proximity to the pin made a big difference in determining par vs. bogey or worse. Unfortunately there had also been a sunflower seed spitting golfer, and butt tossing smoker out playing today.

Pace of play was awful. Our round took a little over 5.5 hours. From the first tee we were backed up. The two foursomes in front of us often met up on the tee. The pace wasn't so much the pace of the players in front of us, rather they were just over stacked, and spacing was too close. Add to this a twosome directly in front of us, that had one player teaching another player, sharing one set of clubs. Well they wanted to believe they could bomb driver this course won't allow it unless your laser straight. In nine holes that we followed them before they quit, the were straight once. On one occassion my partner hit up to what looked to be an empty green, only to find out they had parked their cart by the other foursome on the tee, and were behind the green out of sight taking several minutes to hit back up onto the green. They were annoyed we had hit up to the green, but it was our second shot into the par 4. They had been hidden that long. Behind us we had a group of walkers who first came over onto our tee box and stood in our view well we tee'd off and his party finished putting out. Then the sent their self propelled push carts over the hill toward our tee box. I am usually pretty understanding but had to correct that, though they still would let their bags chase up on us.

If it hadn't been for Paul and his partner whom we had been paired with the slow pace of play, the tractor aerating a section of fairway in our target line would have ruined an otherwise wonderful to play course, but we clicked as a foursome and it wasn't an issue.

Well the starter was efficient, the snack bar which was only partially open was not. They held us up even though they knew we were continuing on. When we stepped in there wasn't a person there, then as we were walking out she came in. We ordered three dogs and soda's which she started then stopped to answer another persons question on soup, even though we explained we had to get moving. There were no onions, a nearly empty bottle of mustard. (not a great experience).

Bathrooms were clean, neat and modern, and available about every four holes.

Long drive for me coming up from Mission Viejo, but would gladly play the course again. If this is how slow it is on a Monday and how stacked up, I definitely would not play a weekend.