We played on Monday, 7/28. Three of us, walking, got right out at about 11:00 and played through in about 4 hours.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the condition of this course. The fairways and rough were in beautiful condition, certainly better than I have come to expect from public courses in the $40-$50 price range (including cart).

The course features a nice layout, with several holes boasting elevated tees, a couple of challenging par 3's over water, and well-placed traps that come into play off many of the tees. Several of the holes also utilize the layout of the course and the local wind conditions to challenge your shot-making abilities (i.e. "Do I fly it high over the trap, into the wind, to that corner pin or run it low to the front of the green for a long putt"). In fact, many of the greens seem to have been designed to take these challenging types of shots into consideration. Additionally, the well-maintained rough provides a definite challenge to play out of, if you happen to miss the fairways.

Speaking of missing the fairways, I should add that the entire course is built in and around the Sierra Lakes housing complex, so many of the holes have houses lining them. If you have a tendency to push or pull badly off the tee, consider bringing some extra balls (my newcomer friend probably went through a good dozen+).

The only real negative to the course was the state of the greens. They were bumpy, dry, and just flat out bare in some areas. It looks as though they are working on fixing it, but quick putts not running true were a thorn in all our sides during the round.

The staff were all very friendly and helpful. For me, feeling welcome at a course is always a big reason for returning, and the young staff members were far more welcoming and professional than at many courses I've played.

A final nit-pick. I've recently gone back to walking exclusively during my rounds, and it's a bit of a downer to have to pay a single Green/Cart fee, especially when the course is such a pleasure to walk. If they would separate it into individual Green and Cart fees, saving me $10-$15, I would make this course my new home.

I was hesitant to embrace my father's suggestion of playing at Santa Anita, yesterday, 7/1, as visions of a packed course and 6-hour golf flooded my mind. I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised.

Total playing time was about 4 hours, 15 minutes, and aside from the last 3-4 holes, when things started backing up, we hardly had to wait to take a shot. I know that this course continues to hold a reputation for slow play, so we may have been lucky in playing in the middle of a weekday.

To the course. The grounds are in excellent shape. The fairways are well taken care of and provided great lies all day. My first impression of them was to say "Wow, they're huge." After consistently playing courses with narrower fairways, lined by trees, the open freeways at Santa Anita were a very welcome and rewarding change of pace.

The greens were very smooth and played very true, though not obscenely fast. Many of the greens boast multiple tiers and some undulating slopes, requiring accurate iron shots into the green, and tricky lag putts.

The layout of the course itself is not overly difficult, but does boast some tricky doglegs and longer par 3's (3 of which can play to around 200 yards or more, depending on the tee box placement). Accurate drives and well-placed iron approaches will have your scoring very well here.

The only real negative to the round was the inconsistent, but often rock hard condition of the bunkers. My first trip to the greenside bunker on 12 had plenty of give and allowed an easy recovery shot, while my trip to the greenside bunker on 17 required 3 attempts, as my wedge ricocheted off the hard dirt, skulling my first two tries.

Additionally, I'll mention that the group we did finally catch up to on 12 was extremely deliberate, and probably would have led us to play a 5 1/2 hour to 6 hour round, had we been stuck behind them the whole way. From my memory, you will run into these groups at Santa Anita.

I give a big "thumbs up" recommendation for this course, and encourage you to give it a try. If you can avoid the crowds, it's a great day of golf and well worth the money.

Decided to brave Diamond Bar last Friday (6/13). I actually have always liked this course, but it tends to really pack in the groups, and 6-hour golf is not an uncommon sight here.

Nevertheless, my father and I gave it a shot, and got right out on the course at about 12:45, with only a couple of groups out on the course ahead of us (must have been too hot for most folks). We finished in a staggering 3 hours, 45 minutes, which is about as good as can be accomplished here on most days.

The course is not overly long or difficult, but is well capable of throwing a few challenges your way. The dogleg holes are well set up, requiring accurate drives and sometimes 200+ yard second shots to reach in regulation (specifically, the par 4 8th and par 4 16th). The par 3 9th volcano, about 180 yards and 30 feet uphill to the pin is not to be missed.

The fairways remain in pretty decent shape, although the 11th hole is in really bad shape with a bare dirt patch probably 10-15 yards in length. Greens are still in real good condition and can sometimes be a little quick depending upon the exact conditions you're playing under.

This is still a nice little public course, but the quality of the grounds themselves seem to have gone backwards a little bit. That being said, the place is still worth the $. Go there expecting to play a 5+ hour round.

This course kicked my butt today. No excuses outside of some poor course management and missed shots. A beautiful day, there were 4 groups just off the first tee when we arrived at 3:00, and only one group on the entire back nine (a women's tournament had just finished). The starter told us to start off an 10 to avoid the crowd, and we finished in about 3-3 1/2 hours.

Course is in solid shape, greens are playing a bit slow but in good condition. This course is not going to dazzle you with its difficulty, but it will find its ways to challenge you. Still probably the best value in the local area, and far preferrable to waiting to play six hour golf down the road at San Dimas Canyon.

Played 4/26/08, a very busy Saturday morning with a tournament taking place on the neighboring Chino Creek course. Fairways and greens were in great shape, with the only real negative about the condition of the course being the hard dirt bunkers. Course played with good flow for a Saturday, and we never felt like we were having to wait excessively long to take shots, despite having groups all around us. First time playing the course, found it to be an enjoyable, though not overly difficult layout.

Couple of negatives to mention.

Our tee time was apparently not taken correctly, though made a week before, but in fairness to the course, they fixed it and got us right out.

The day was hot, high 80's to low 90's, and there was no beverage cart out along the entire course. I'm not sure whether it was due to the tournament being played, or whether they just don't have the carts, but no drinking fountains and no beverages made it rough on my ill-prepared groupmates.

Lastly, 4-5 of the holes have massive amounts of flies as a result of being right up near livestock pens. Nothing to be done about it, but something to watch out for.

Despite the negatives, an enjoyable course and a good day of golf.

Been a regular player at Marshall over the past 3-4 years, and it is still one of my preferred spots to play a round at.

Course is in good shape, and has definitely been improved since the time I first started playing there. Decent fairways, generally slow, but well-kept greens. Be very aware of the fact that the entire course is on a slope (on holes 10 and 18, if you look back toward the clubhouse, you will notice that IT seems to be sloped). This is the cause of the tough-to-read greens, as almost all of them are going to naturally break away from the mountains. This isn't always the case, but a good general rule to keep in mind if you've never played Marshall before.

I am sad to note that over the last six months or so, there seems to have been a very large influx of new players to the course. While my father and I used to get through a round in 2 1/2-3 1/2 hours, it is now generally in the 4+ range.

The staff is friendly, most especially the starter who works on the weekdays. He seems to keep things smoother and more flowing than the kids who work on the weekends. A fun course, and a good alternative to some of the busier and tournament-laden nearby courses.