Was absolutely excited to finally play Oak Creek this past Friday in Irvine. I took some work clients after a nearby appointment and was surprised right from the start that a Friday pre-twilight round... Continue »

Was absolutely excited to finally play Oak Creek this past Friday in Irvine. I took some work clients after a nearby appointment and was surprised right from the start that a Friday pre-twilight round would cost $180 per person, but I figured this was a very high-end club and it would be well worth it in the end. It was not. First though, I'll start with the positives. Carts are very nice but some weird little digital GPS thing attached to the steering column that I could never figure out. Practice area is very solid but they don't provide range balls. $180 greens fee but you have to buy range balls? Okay, whatever. The layout is really fun and challenging. You'll have all variety of par 4 variations from short to super long, from hilly to flat and a good mix of well-placed bunkers and water features that will intimidate. Not too many long carries to worry about though which is nice. And speaking of the bunkers - they're absolute quality. Fluffy to the extreme near the greens, easy to hit and more compacted from the fairway bunkers. Ideal. But alas, something's rotten in Denmark. I can honestly say the current greens at Oak Creek are simply no better than the beat up ones at my local nine-hole in Venice at Penmar. They were spongy to the extreme, so much so that when fixing ball marks, the ground would just disintegrate more or less. Speaking of ball marks - they were EVERYWHERE. Alongside that, you could see all manner of spike marks in the greens from previous players, and there were tons of miscolored and bumpy grass areas throughout the greens. What an utter disappointment for that kind of price. You literally had to pick lines around bumps to try and get putts on target. Awful. The fairways one would expect for that cost were also nowhere to be seen. Sure, they were playable in most areas in the fairways, but they're very dried out and there's an overall yellow hue to the course which is again, for the price, not what one would expect. The rough however is mostly nice and thick and not too penal when you find yourself in it. Tee boxes were also in good shape. On top of that, organization seemed to be a bit of a mess. One would expect staggered tee times and a pretty solid flow at a place like this, but we were sent out to the first tee only to find two groups there on the first hole, waited through most of the front nine until the group in front of us disappeared, then got to the 10th after some smooth sailing only to find another disgruntled foursome on the tee awaiting a group of walking girls that were sent out from the 10th tee and then eventually wrangled back by the marshall. What is going on here? Luckily the back nine moved a bit smoother, but still, overall finishing in five hours at a premium course on a weekday is pretty bad. Would I go back to Oak Creek? Sure, but not at that rate unless I have assurances that the course is in absolutely immaculate condition. And currently, it's far from it. I really enjoyed the variety of holes and I do think that I can add the par 5 18th to the list of best closing holes in SoCal. But again, it would take either a lower rate or some far better reviews than mine before heading back there again. And that's a shame.