played here on the players club membership, have been a member for a few months (keep forgetting to cancel every month) but never used the tee times. guy in the pro shop seemed annoyed. i checked in... Continue »

played here on the players club membership, have been a member for a few months (keep forgetting to cancel every month) but never used the tee times. guy in the pro shop seemed annoyed. i checked in as a single about 15 minutes early and he never advised whether i should just go out, wait to be paired up, or if there was a starter (at 11am there was not.) he just took my money and didn't say anything. the players club tee time also comes with a drink, and he did not offer it. when i asked, he seemed annoyed and said i could have a fountain drink, just go to the snack shop and ask for a free one. of course when i went over there the snack shop guy had no idea what i was talking about. so anyway when i went back to the pro shop and asked when i would go out, he said just go to the first tee and pair yourself up with any twosome.

so it didn't start off well, but the course itself was in decent condition. the tees are completely brown and dormant. flat though for the most part. fairways were full with good lies. greens were quick, but bumpy and did not roll true in my opinion. a lot of bumps and unexpected turns close to the hole. i was only in one bunker and it had good sand. POP was good on the front 9 but significantly slowed on the back. interesting mix of par 3s and driveable par 4s.

course experience was alright but the customer service made sure i won't be back.

Played this morning 6:28am tee time in perfect weather as a twosome with my brother in law. Doug at the pro shop was wonderful as always and in good spirits. The usual group that heads out as singles ... Continue »

Played this morning 6:28am tee time in perfect weather as a twosome with my brother in law. Doug at the pro shop was wonderful as always and in good spirits. The usual group that heads out as singles in the dark was there as usual and gone somewhere out front within three holes. We never waited. We did let a single play through at the turn, and were not pressured from behind at anytime. Most groups on course that we could see were twosomes. Tees are level but in the last week have gone brown. Fall has arrived on course, and the complex array of fall colors setting in were beautiful. Tees were uniformly in challenging alignments. Fairways were in very good condition. There appeared to be some over watering and muddy areas, but none came into play for either me or my playing partner. There was running water in all of the creeks, though the bogs that typically would be ponds are still just mud pits. Rough was two to four inches deep, and well cut, but they seem to be allowing it to grow taller than during the summer. Sand traps are still fluffy, and well raked and devastating to rounds. I shot the best round I have ever played on this course but it could have been eight strokes better if I could have stayed out of the beachhead on the 16th hole. All but one green was perfect. they were flat, fast and clean with few ball marks, yet soft enough and receptive enough to hold aggressive shots. With fall have come reduced number of players already, and it makes playing in the early morning great. Total time for the round was 2 hours and 48 minutes of incredibly enjoyable time. By the time we finished the parking lot was full and the course buzzing. Besides the blow up on 16, the only other downer was not seeing Fred the marshal out on course. I won't be playing at all in October due to stacked commitments, but today's magical round leaves a good taste. This is a great little course. I realized last week you get to play driver seven times on this course, and most Par threes exceed 150 yards, many with hills, narrow areas with water or OB around the greens. A great test, a fair test of shot making. I paid players club rate $9.97, I booked my playing partner at the club rate of $19.97.

Played Casta Del Sol, teeing off at sunrise, 6:20 as a twosome, behind three successive singles that apparently have night vision goggles. The singles quickly disappeared into the darkness, and we wer... Continue »

Played Casta Del Sol, teeing off at sunrise, 6:20 as a twosome, behind three successive singles that apparently have night vision goggles. The singles quickly disappeared into the darkness, and we were never pressed from behind.

The course has not been better this year. Tee boxes have become level over the last several weeks, and on this day they were near perfect.

The fairways were lush, but not wet as they have been in the past and played true. The rough was thick, I believe they are letting it grow out a little more, but was not wet and I managed to avoid the really nasty thick stuff.

The course is crisscrossed by creeks, and these were flowing more water than they have recently.

The bunkers were perfect, raked, and fluffy. The rough around the fringe around most of the greens seemed a little bit taller than recent rounds.

Greens were in excellent shape, and it's wonderful to play before there are any ball marks. Greens were receptive and rolling medium fast, which I had trouble not running the ball by the hole. Surprisingly there was virtually no dew on the greens at 6:20am in the morning. Pin placements were mostly friendly even when placed near a bunker.

In all this was the best condition I have seen the course in, all divots on the tee boxes and fairways had been filled, but the location of the tee boxes meant for my brother in law and I we were hitting into pristine fairways. From the 4th hole until the end we seemingly had the course to ourselves, with only Fred the Marshal as the occasional contact and I look forward to seeing Fred. Doug was the starter and as always I enjoy seeing Doug. Between Doug and Fred they have really made me feel like a member of a private club, rather than an American Golf players club member.

My brother in law felt we got a steal at his rate of $19.97, and I know I got a steal at $9.97, we shared a cart.

Weather was balmy and humid. Temperature at tee time was 70 degrees, and it warmed to the low 80s. The humidity was a touch uncomfortable but not a show stopper.

Obviously with no one in front, and no one behind pace of play was what we made it, and we played 18 in about 2 hours 45 minutes.

The more I play other courses the more I come back to this course and feel it's a gem.

9/20 - I have been playing Casta Del Sol the last few tuesdays with a buddy after work. I have been pleasantly surprised by the condition of this course. This place recieves a ton of pressure but rema... Continue »

9/20 - I have been playing Casta Del Sol the last few tuesdays with a buddy after work. I have been pleasantly surprised by the condition of this course. This place recieves a ton of pressure but remains fairly nice. Greens are look gorgeous but play somewhat soft and slow. We play in the afternoons starting around 5:30PM and usually finish about 9 to 12 holes. One thing you need to look out for is errant balls and "course cutters," people tend to jump around hole to hole and play in out of order. The one real negative I have with this course is the older gentleman that works as the starter. He is very rude and short... I saw him turn around a foursome who booked online and had proof. His response was "not my problem and we are booked." Besides that this is a great place to place after work. Great prices and a nice challenging place to hone your skills mid week.

Later afternoon round, which is something I rarely do. As expected, pace of play was slow, so due to time constraints, decided not to finish. However, the course was in rather good condition, particu... Continue »

Later afternoon round, which is something I rarely do. As expected, pace of play was slow, so due to time constraints, decided not to finish. However, the course was in rather good condition, particularly the greens. I did not find any of the bunkers, but they looked decent. Some of the areas around the greens were chewed up, but overall, the course is OK.

I like this course because it offers a number of interesting iron approach shots when played from the tips, but I think that I will return back to only playing first off in the morning when I can get around in a couple hours.

Tee'd off as a single paired with a threesome of close friends, on what would be a magical morning. Tee time was 6:44 am, we had no one in front of us, and would let a lady playing as a single play tr... Continue »

Tee'd off as a single paired with a threesome of close friends, on what would be a magical morning. Tee time was 6:44 am, we had no one in front of us, and would let a lady playing as a single play trough at the 5th hole. Played at the Players Club rate of $9.97 with cart for 18 holes. Ed was running the Pro Shop this morning and was very welcoming. Weather conditions were perfect, opening the round at a nice 65 degrees. The tee boxes continue to improve and were very good today, aside from some deceptive and evil angles that created tough sight lines. Off the tee's the fairways were overall lush, but very soggy in spots. Rough was also lush, however the rough around the fringe of the greens were very soggy, on the third hole this resulted in a ball on the collar of the green, perhaps 12" off being in a plugged lie with the top of the ball below the level of the fairway. This would impact several chips where the area around the green should have slowed a shot, and instead stopped in a pool of mud. It was possible to see where these over watered spots were without walking all the way up to the green. Greens were in excellent shape and looked really pretty as they had been dyed. The greens were receptive but not overly soft. One of the threesome I was playing with hadn't played or been out of the house in the last three or four months. This was his first round back six weeks removed from heart surgery and an pacemaker implant. He played well, and on the 14th hole playing around 148 yards he hit a wood that landed about 10 yards short of the green to a back hole location and holed out for a hole in one on this tough par 3 (OB on one side, water on the other and long). It was a magic moment. It was his first ever hole in one, and his first ever Eagle. Overall a great morning. This is the fourth or fifth round in a row where I could say I would be happy to be paired with any of these guys to play. Pace of play was almost spot on three hours. The over watered fairways and especially the fringe ruined an otherwise good ball striking day, but the company made it a great round. Really enjoyed Raj, Fritz, and the guy with the hole in one. Was really exciting to see a playing partner get a hole in one.

Played Casta del Sol Wednesday morning, 6:28 tee time. Price with cart players club rate $9.97. Tee'd off on time as a single following a foursome, into a fog with less than 100 yard viability. Tee b... Continue »

Played Casta del Sol Wednesday morning, 6:28 tee time. Price with cart players club rate $9.97. Tee'd off on time as a single following a foursome, into a fog with less than 100 yard viability. Tee box was in good condition mostly level as would be the others today. Teeing off into the fog I was playing the course from memory, this would be the case through the first 4 holes. The funny thing was I hit the best drive I have ever hit on this hole, which tends to trick my eye to the right. I was dead down the center leaving 58 yards to get on to the green. On the second hole, I was joined by a second single Mark, well I was waiting for the foursome to clear. Not able to see the hole, I put a 5 iron on to the center of the green. The greens were very good, but in the fog I couldn't read the line to or judge the speed to save my life. Again on the 4th hole that required driver I again drove based on the tree line and striped my best drive on this hole both position and length. Very odd playing in the fog. We played the 5th hole with the foursome that allowed us to play through. By the seventh hole we would be playing with no one in front, and no one behind. Weather was wonderful. Tees, were very good and very lush. The fairways were lush, mostly green, though soggy in areas and we had to avoid working sprinklers on several holes on the back nine. Greens were very good condition, few ball marks, very soft and receptive medium roll. Bunkers were soft, neat, but not yet machine raked. Over all the course is coming back into very nice shape and it seems that the summer crowd was already gone. Doug in the pro shop is great to see in the morning. Didn't see Fred my usual marshal, but the was another guy out making sure everything was in order. All in all a very fun round, if I could have figured out my putter.

Tee'd it up 6:30 am playing in a threesome. Played using my Players Club price of $9.97 for the round with cart. Course was busy, but moved well, we completed 18 in just over 3.5 hours. The foursome i... Continue »

Tee'd it up 6:30 am playing in a threesome. Played using my Players Club price of $9.97 for the round with cart. Course was busy, but moved well, we completed 18 in just over 3.5 hours. The foursome in front of us was a little slow, the groups in front of them had checked out by the 6th green but they were not unreasonable, and the fivesome behind us provided only mild pressure.

Tee's were in good shape, not great, playable with a mix of challenges.

The fairways were in excellent condition, the tee positions meant that most of my shots ended up in clean fairways, without much divot damage.

The rough was gnarly, but the penal element was the fairway clippings plied along the edges of the rough. Balls hit into the rows of clippings were hard to get a clean shot out of.

Greens were in better shape than last week, but showing some signs of the stress of both volume of play and heat. The groups ahead of us were doing a much better job than many recently at repairing ball marks which was much appreciated. In the morning dew the greens were slow, by the time we hit the back nine and the temp was approaching the low 80's they were rolling really fast. They were still receptive to the ball dropping in on a good pitch. Pin locations were in gentle friendly spots, no evil behind the bunker with little green to work type locations.

Sand traps were in very good condition, I sampled a couple and was tested. Deep fluffy sand, no rocks, weeds or bare spots.

Club house and marshal were friendly and helpful as always.

Having played David L. Baker on Monday which is nice but very flat, this morning playing Casta del Sol, I was reminded how visually appealing this course is. The view of the hills, mountains in the background on the back 9, the use of trees, creeks, the elevation changes all make this a challenging course with rewards for good shot making.

Played Casta del Sol on Wednesday morning Aug 10 as a twosome with my brother in law who had never played the course. Paid the players club rate of $9.97 for me and the guest rate of $19.97 for my bro... Continue »

Played Casta del Sol on Wednesday morning Aug 10 as a twosome with my brother in law who had never played the course. Paid the players club rate of $9.97 for me and the guest rate of $19.97 for my brother in-law. (actually he paid it was a belated birthday present for me).
The stater who knows me by name now, held us from joining the threesome we had been scheduled to join, and got us out as a twosome. Much appreciated.

The weather was wonderful. Started the round at 6:28 about 70 degrees, and came off the course three hours and fifteen minutes later to around 73 degrees.

The tee boxes were in pretty good condition. Very good compared to what they were earlier in the year.

The fairways were very good, with the exception of a couple of areas under repair on holes 1 & 2, and some mud areas from being freshly watered in a couple of other spots. Nothing that affected play, just noticed them as we drove around them with the cart.
The rough was lush and penal, but would not cooperate to hold balls that rolled down slopes into the creeks. The crew has cleared a lot of bramble on 4 so balls hit right into the hillside have a chance of returning to the fairway (we didn't test this). The marsh that extends along 4, 5 and 6 has quite an odor at present. Imagine that could get much more intense in the heat of the day.
Bunkers as usual at this course are excellent but very dry. I sampled three bunkers, all were in very good shape.
Greens were a little rougher than I have seen them recently. The lack of ball mark etiquette has had an impact on the greens. In late June they were 10's they are now 8's.
Pace of play was excellent. We never had to wait for the groups in front of us, and we were never pushed by the groups behind. In all a wonderful round of golf.

This continues to be my go to golf course. The price is remarkable, the conditions are very good for public course, the service is friendly and personal, the hole placements, tee alignments, hazards and elevation changes make the course challenging.

The break in the weather made today's round magical.