This is a really hard review to give. I wanted to like this course. I wanted to so bad. I'm a pretty big hitter, and my buddy has been getting on me about how he wanted to see me play a ridiculously l... Continue »

This is a really hard review to give. I wanted to like this course. I wanted to so bad. I'm a pretty big hitter, and my buddy has been getting on me about how he wanted to see me play a ridiculously long course, and Los Serranos South is definitely the longest around these parts. We played yesterday afternoon, and were very surprised at how nice the facilities are. The pro shop is excellent, and their staff was very helpful. GolfNow charged us more than their regular rate, so (I forget his name, best pro shop attendant I've dealt with) gave us an even better discount. At that point, I was certain this was going to be a memorable experience. They have six (I think) well cared for putting greens, and the range wasn't bad, especially because it was playing off the grass.

Then, we get on the course. I'd been hearing about their famous black tees, but couldn't find it on the first hole. That's because there were no markers. The greens are relatively slow, and the fairways are okay at best. Most of my local munis have better fairways and greens. And rough. Once I found the black placard on the second hole, I felt a little better, but the box is over grown and extremely un-level. On every black tee box. I understand that most players should never play from the tips, so it is a waste of time and money for a course to focus on those, but most of their advertising is about these tees, so I can't cut them much slack for this.

I love the idea of the layout. If you've never played it, it doesn't look intimidating, but you can definitely put yourself in a world of hurt if you pick the wrong shot. I played my six month record high score on the front nine, which I don't hold against them, I'm actually giving them extra credit for the challenge. I used every club in my bag, which hasn't happened in quite a while.

I only hit one bunker, which I'm pretty happy about because they had some truly bunker frenzy holes, and that bunker was in fantastic shape. My buddy complained about a few of them that he was in, and I have to say those were in crummy shape. Bunkers are meant to be hazards, so I don't feel they should be fantastic, but I know most people would be unhappy with the quality of some of them.

So, all that being said, if you want an inexpensive round of golf on a challenging layout, and you can hit a decently long ball, you'll probably enjoy the south course. It's not pretty, and you'll hit off hard pan around the fairway more than should be expected, but when I got off the 18th green knowing I'd just conquered 7600 yards, there was a sense of accomplishment. I have faith they'll get their course back in shape, and when they do, I'll add them to my rotation. Hell, I'd volunteer my services if it would help them any, that's how much I want to like the course.