Played Monday, July 25th - course was in excellent shape for summer (and this course usually is always in good shape - thank you Nick Faldo and Marriott). Used the Red Dot discount booklet and played for $35 - definitely worth it! The greens were aerated on July 5th and 6th and they are super close to being completely recovered. For the most part, the greens were pretty smooth but some putts were thrown offline because of some bumpiness. The fairways were awesome - in great shape. Tee boxes were average. I really like Shadow Ridge - it's a fair test of golf. Fairways are pretty wide (except hole 18). It's the greens that make the tract challenging. Many many undulations, false fronts, and run-offs in the backs and sides of the greens make it difficult to hold the green on some holes. Even though it's challenging, I really like it. The GPSs on the carts are decent and I'm glad they give you yardages to the front, middle, and back of the greens. For $35, this course is a steal! If I'm back in the desert soon, I'd like to visit Shadow Ridge again (probably not for $70 though).

Played Wednesday, July 13th in an SCGA event. Course was in amazing shape. This was my second time playing this course (I played 10 days prior) and it was in even better shape. The greens were absolutely perfect - probably the best ever public greens I've ever putted on...in fact, I went into the pro shop and told the starter and the head pro how good the course and the greens were. One little detail I appreciated too was that the putting green was rolling the same speed as the 18 greens on the course. This course is an IE gem and I will be back many times in the near future.

Played Tuesday, July 12th and teed off at 1pm. Pace of play was very fast as we finished in just about 4 hours. Greens were decent - much better than I thought they would be. I hadn't played here in about 2 years. I played from the tips and shot an 85. In fact, it made me want to play from the back tees more often as those tee boxes were in great shape (I imagine that's the case with most courses). Greens were good - rolled fine in my opinion. Fairways are thin but that's how Arroyo Trabuco's fairways have always been - you get an extra 20-30 yards of roll on these hard fairways but the downside is that you end up with a lie on a hard pan or else sometimes your ball will roll out of play into a hazard. You have to be a pretty straight driver off of the tee to enjoy this track. Even though the fairways are wide, there's not much room to spray your drive on any of the holes. Sand traps were in good shape as well. I played for $55 as I'm on their email list (that's their twilight rate). Was it worth the $55 I paid? Ummm, I guess so.

Played Sunday, July 3rd and teed off at 2pm. It was 100 degrees out but it really didn't feel like it...felt about 90. The course was EMPTY!!! I couldn't believe that no one was there, especially after all the positive reviews this place gets. This was my first time at Goose Creek and it didn't disappoint. In fact, I'm playing there again next week in a tournament they're hosting - can't wait!!! The course, as everyone as already stated, is in beautiful condition. Greens roll great, not too slow but not too fast. Fairways are pure, tee boxes are great, and the bunkers are well kept. We didn't see a single person all day until about hole 13 when a twosome caught up to us. I was also playing in a twosome but we were kind of playing slow and just truly enjoying the round. Couldn't believe that no one was out there with it being Fourth of July weekend...maybe it was the heat. Anyhow, I will be back and I hope they don't change a thing about the course - it's phenomenal and I love hole 18 - great finishing hole!!!

Was back out at Los Serranos South today, June 28th. We teed off at noon and finished at 4:20pm. Round was quick even though we caught up to a SUPER SLOW foursome at the 12th. Wind came up just a little and that made it both challenging and fun (at least when playing downwind) and it cooled us down since it was about 85 degrees out there. Greens were in better condition than when I played a month ago. Still love the layout - it's definitely a power hitter's course...just rip driver on every par 4 or 5 (except #7). Fairways, tee boxes, rough, and bunkers were in good shape too. My next round will be on the North course...dying to give it a try.

Just played the Ike for my first time utilizing their $55 Mega Monday deal. Teed off at 10:50am and finished at 4:20pm - round took 5.5 hrs - YIKES!!! That was about the only negative. I bet that is due to that Mega Monday deal. Anyhow, course is in great shape right now. My only complaint (other than the long round) is the greens. The greens are very very soft - even some 7 and 8 irons that I hit into the green were spinning back a foot or so...be careful with your wedges - I sucked one back about 25 feet - not ideal by any means. Because the greens are so soft, they are kinda slow. If the greenskeeper would just cut and roll the greens they would be absolutely perfect. The fairways were beautiful - like carpet on some holes. The tees boxes were pretty good for the most part. The course is very challenging. I highly recommend a long driver for this course otherwise some of the long par 4s will eat you up. For $55, this course is a steal right now - wish it were closer to my house...but the 50 minute drive is well worth it (especially for $55 on Mondays). The course reminds me a lot of Los Serrano South but with much better fairways and a little tighter off the tee (but there are still some holes on the Ike where you can spray it and recover). I will definitely be back this summer - hopefully they're reading my review right now and will go cut and roll the greens.

Played Saturday, May 28th. This was my first time playing Los Serranos (we played the South) and it was awesome!!! I am a huge fan of "old school" golf courses that are well maintained and Los Serranos did not disappoint. The greens were excellent - rolled smooth on nearly every putt (unless you were putting into the grain) and they held too. Fairways and tee boxes were in good shape. Sand traps were decent. However, I hit one tee shot into a trap but there wasn't any rake near the trap...weird. Lots of footprints in the sandtraps as well...PEOPLE - RAKE YOUR SH*T!!! Now for my thoughts on the course layout and design. We played blue tees and it's almost 7200 yds - YIKES. Don't worry because there are 6 par 5's and it's a par 74 - so it doesn't play as long as you may think. Our round took 4hr40min and we played behind a fivesome - I was pleasantly surprised. There isn't trouble off the tee at this course - you can spray it all over the place and find your ball. This was nice because the wind was really howling and whipping all over the place - hole 15 (par 4 about 390 yds) played uphill and into the wind...made the hole about 475 yds. But on hole 16 (par 5 about 520yds) played with the wind and I had driver, 7 iron into the green...AND WAS LONG!!! Even though it was super windy, I had so much fun playing this course. It's up there with being one of my favorites...and for the price, I'll be back at Los Serranos very soon and very often.

Played Saturday 05/14/11 and teed off at 2:30pm. We finished in 4hr40min (we played pretty slow though – should have finished in 4hr20min). The course in is really good shape right now. The fairways and greens are in AMAZAGIN SHAPE!!! The fairways were lush and the greens were smooth and rolling at about a 10. The tee boxes could use a little work though – a little bare and divot happy but nothing to severely effect this review. The bunkers, however, were borderline AWFUL!!! The maintenance crew needs to groom the bunkers more than once a week (at least that’s what it seemed). If you hit your ball into a bunker, you were pretty much guaranteed a crappy lie. Also, some of the golfers out there need a quick lesson on golf etiquette – YOU AER SUPPOSED TO RAKE THE BUNKER AFTER YOU HIT A BUNKER SHOT. I was shocked by how many footprints and unraked sand divots I saw in the sandtraps – SHOCKED!!! All things being said, the course is truly in great shape and definitely worth the $55 green fee that we paid. If mgmt could take care of business with the bunkers and tidy up the tee boxes, the course would be perfect. The verdict: MAKE A TEE TIME AND GO PLAY TALEGA…YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED.

Played Thursday, 04/21/11 and used the LivingSocial.com coupon (paid $60 for $120 course credit). So the round cost me a total of $65. Fairways, rough, and tee boxes were in great shape. Sand traps were also in good shape but I was surprised at how many bunkers were unraked by some of the players in front of us. Greens were pretty good - rolling about a 9 on the stimp. A little bumpy at times from their recent aerification (I think it happened about 3 weeks ago). Greens should be perfect in another week or two...just need to be mowed and rolled. Other than that, the course wasn't too challenging...good/lengthy par 3s and both par 5s on the front are reachable in two. For the green fee I paid, it's a steal. I wouldn't pay $160 on the weekend to play here...but I might play during the week for $125. All in all, good course and a good golf experience.

Played Sunday 02/13/11. Had a coupon for $69 on Sundays after 11am (since I'm on their emailing list). When I checked in, they told me that me and my three buddies were all set and that the round was on them. We had no idea how this happened or who hooked it up but we were thrilled to play for free (who wouldn't be). Greens were in great shape - very receptive and smooth (don't think there was a single bumpy putt all day). Tee boxes were in great shape. Fairways were dry - almost thatched. Now this provided for a ton of run off the tee but a hardpan for most approach shots - oh well...not that big of a deal. I played from the Black Tees (not the tips...those are the Gold Tees), only hit the driver one time on the front nine and only 3 times on the back nine. It's a very tight and narrow course off the tee with a most par 4's measuring between 325yds and 370yds...hence many hybrid and 5-wood tee shots. Personally I like hitting the big dog off the tee but at Coyote Hills, especially with the narrow landing areas, you don't get a chance to rip driver that often (if you hit an average drive of about 275). The greens were fantastic though - EXCELLENT!!! The course is a little to "Target Golf" centered for me. However, for a price of FREE, you can't beat it. If I had paid the planned $69 green fee, would I consider it worth it? Probably not. Only reason is because of course design...DEFINITELY WORTH PLAYING AT LEAST ONCE THOUGH (this happened to be my 2nd time).

Played here on Sunday, 08/01/10. Used the Red Dot book at played for $45. Was on the putting green before teeing off and heard a PGA West member make some comment about how her group was going to play behind some "outsiders" (some old chick who probably can't even drive the ball 100 yards). I thought nothing of it. Everything but the greens was in awesome shape. Don't get me wrong, the greens were above average for Coachella Valley courses at this time of the year...rolling about an 8 or so (very hard greens - couldn't even make a pitch mark coming into a green with a full wedge). Very challenging course - almost like target golf (at least from the tee boxes). I didn't like the fact that if you missed the fairway you ended up in the waste area or a bunker - there was ZERO ROUGH!!! The fairways were pretty wide but even if you landed in the fairway after a "crooked" drive, the ball would end up in the waste area (sometimes it would roll back into the fairway too). Anyhow, decent course - a good experience. I don't think I'll go back to PGA West for awhile though...I'd rather play SilverRock and I've heard many many good things about Indian Wells these days. Again, not a bad experience, just feel I could get a better bang for my buck in the summer.

Played on Wed 8/4/10, this is my new favorite desert course - and I've played nearly all of them. Best greens I've ever played in the summer in the valley. Played the gold tees...it was about 7100 yards - but it seemed to play much shorter than that. Great layout - challenging but fair. Loved the mountain back-drops on some shots. Used the Red Dot discount - played for $33 bucks...didn't need it though as they're currently offering a CA resident weekday rate of $35. I'm going back to Palm Desert in 2 weeks and I will MOST DEFINITELY be back to SilverRock for another round. Can't wait!!!