Typical early morning round on the South course. Rather cold (45 degrees at 6am) Surprised how busy it was even at that early hour.

Green speeds are up - between 11.5 - 12. Tough if you leave you... Continue »

Typical early morning round on the South course. Rather cold (45 degrees at 6am) Surprised how busy it was even at that early hour.

Green speeds are up - between 11.5 - 12. Tough if you leave yourself above the pin, or short side yourself. Fairways were rather dry, look like they could use some water. Bunkers were just OK. The lakes have all been "cleaned up" to provide better visual approaches to the greens, so no reeds obscure the site lines

Played here in an SCGA Member Outing with a 10am shotgun on a cloudy, warm day with only light breezes on Monday, 3/20/17. I had played the North Course here several times in fundraiser events >20 yea... Continue »

Played here in an SCGA Member Outing with a 10am shotgun on a cloudy, warm day with only light breezes on Monday, 3/20/17. I had played the North Course here several times in fundraiser events >20 years ago, but had never played the South. Many thanks to GK legend weber for giving me his yardage book and letting me do some homework before the round – I really didn’t have any big surprises that I ran into. I was fortunate to be assigned to group 1B, so I got to play the course as designed. Based on my long-ago memory of the North, the South is a little shorter and more narrow, with smaller and fairly simple green complexes (no real significant tiering or crazy greens). The front nine plays south down the Coto canyon but is up on the slope on the east side of the creek, and is generally higher than the back nine, and many holes play downhill. The back plays back to the north along the west side of the creek, and has more holes that play uphill, and is considerably less open than the front, with several holes having narrow aspects off the tee and encroachment by trees, doglegs, and dense vegetation. We played Blue (70.9/130/6,336), and the markers were generally set up right on the blue plates. This is a very nice, fun course in a beautiful, idyllic setting, with homes nearby but not intrusive, and lots of lush vegetation, hazard stakes, and sand. Perhaps because aeration has just occurred last month, or the prevalence of creeks/arroyos/ESAs throughout the course, the overall look of the course was a little scruffy, like the week before a haircut and beard trim to clean things up. Not the “groomed wall-to-wall” look you get at a Pelican Hill, for instance. Red stakes and/or water must be crossed or plays adjacent on almost every hole. The small putting green (reserved for the South course patrons) shows the aftermath of punching 4-5 weeks ago (visual punch-hole outlines, and scattered dry-edged debris), but rolled smoothly at medium to medium-fast speeds. On-course greens are similar – they show varying degrees of the aftermath of punching, some more than others. Many greens have the scattered dry-edge debris, likely a combo of punching aftermath and mower activity. Speeds were fairly consistent over the course, although the green speeds increased as the day went on, and were especially terrifying downhill down the canyon. There was also some variation of green firmness through the course – some greens held shots well, and others were firmer. We saw only a couple unrepaired old ball marks per hole. Fairways were green and pretty lush but did not have a “clean” look, but lies were generally very good. The course uses an entry/exit gate system, which I think contributes to less wear on the fairway margins. There were many unfilled divots – although there was plenty of fill sand containers scattered around the course. Rough was 2-3 inches deep and generally very playable; farther offline the lies could be patchy/clumpy/dense/bare. Sand was damp but generally medium texture and adequate depth, and there’s a lot of it scattered around the course. Tees were level, and very firm - some had been recently punched. The clubhouse is large, very attractive, and luxurious. Locker rooms are nicely appointed. There was no cart girl today, but there’s a snack bar at #7/#13. Adequate water was available. For this outing we were provided with a nice box lunch, including a sizeable turkey wrap. We played in 4.5 hr (surprising for this format and the course challenges); we never really pushed the group ahead of us and never saw the group behind us. The cart was ok – comfortable, with a cooler but no water, no ball washer (I don’t think I saw one all day!), and no GPS. A yardage book is available, and many sprinkler heads are marked. The small putting green was not conducive for large shotgun tourneys, as they can’t be accommodated on the putting green – the driving range is larger. The guests were on mats today, but they were in good condition. Unlimited balls. There was a short-game area adjacent to the range that may be marked “Members Only”. The course uses a front/middle/back flag rotation with no imagination – par-5s are holes #3, 6, 12, and 18, so all 4 of them were the same color flag. Par-3 holes are #4, 8, 10, and 16, so 3 of the 4 are the same color flag. Very nice challenge if you get a chance to play it.

Early morning round at Coto - south. Wanted to get this round in because the course will closed for the next 5 days to allow for punching and heavy sanding of the greens. (The North course still has... Continue »

Early morning round at Coto - south. Wanted to get this round in because the course will closed for the next 5 days to allow for punching and heavy sanding of the greens. (The North course still has not recovered from its punching/sanding on two week ago, so that means both courses will be less than fun to putt on for a while.

Otherwise, the course withstood the recent rains very nicely, other than some flooded bunkers. Still carts of path but actually the fairways were more then dry, but since I walk, didn't affect me.

I had no intention of playing golf today based upon the forecast, but when I awoke, it was hardly even a drizzle, so I knew that the course would be even more empty than usual and I thought I could be... Continue »

I had no intention of playing golf today based upon the forecast, but when I awoke, it was hardly even a drizzle, so I knew that the course would be even more empty than usual and I thought I could beat the heavier rains predicted. As expected, nobody there! I played most of the round in just a misty type drizzle, with about three holes where it actually rained, but I find that walking in the rain, carrying the umbrella at a nice easy pace with nobody around if like heaven.

The course absorbed the rain nicely and was fun to play, with the greens rolling very true, as I often find in the rain. I absolutely love playing in a light rain, so long as it does not become wind-driven, or so heavy you're forced to "rush your shot" to stay dry.

Because of the rains, the course implements a carts on path policy, which allows me to play without any concerns about "singles" in carts trying to get a quick round before work or such, so it is relaxing. Plus living here in So Cal, we seldom have the chance to play in the rain. A nice change of pace!

Fortunately the weather has been somewhat mild, so no frost over the past several days on the South course. Surprisingly there has been very little play early morning. ( I guess nobody wants to play ... Continue »

Fortunately the weather has been somewhat mild, so no frost over the past several days on the South course. Surprisingly there has been very little play early morning. ( I guess nobody wants to play in the cold?) The course was also totally empty except of course for maintenance. Obviously pace of play not an issue.

The greens are running very quickly and true. Fairways are firm, but plenty of grass. As always the greenside bunkers are hit or miss. Same with the rough.

Despite the winter conditions, course still looks good, still green! The pace of the greens is a challenge, very quick when above the hole.

First off Sunday morning teeing off in the dark as usual. (6:15) The greens have not yet healed from the recent maintenance. I would hope that maybe within a week or so, they will be at least decen... Continue »

First off Sunday morning teeing off in the dark as usual. (6:15) The greens have not yet healed from the recent maintenance. I would hope that maybe within a week or so, they will be at least decent. Plus the tee boxes were over-seeded, but have not been mowed, so it was like teeing off in the rough. Otherwise the rest of the course is in very nice shape. I have been trying to restrict my play to the North course for the past week or so, but having a shotgun there today, I was forced to endure the less than ideal conditions on the South course

I guess I should be happy that there are two courses from which to choose, and I am also pleased the course is putting forth the time/effort/expense to continue to improve both courses.

Apparently they are having some sort of ladies championship, which was told to me when I asked why the greens were so fast? The greens are right now near perfect, running well over 12 on the stimp. ... Continue »

Apparently they are having some sort of ladies championship, which was told to me when I asked why the greens were so fast? The greens are right now near perfect, running well over 12 on the stimp. (Good luck ladies!) In fact the entire course is in really nice shape. Which makes sense because in a week or so they will punch all the fairways, greens, tees, etc. Seems like just when the course gets into it's best condition, it's time for maintenance.

Not complaining because I understand it is necessary, but kind of wish we could keep it this way a little longer. However one would think that somebody would figure out how to fix the greenside bunkers? I have been a member here for almost 27 years, and the one constant problem has been the greenside bunkers. I guess maybe I should just avoid them !

I was a guest of a member and really loved the course. I had not played Coto in many years and it was just as I remembered it. This is a very rewarding course with a high degree of risk/reward. The te... Continue »

I was a guest of a member and really loved the course. I had not played Coto in many years and it was just as I remembered it. This is a very rewarding course with a high degree of risk/reward. The tee boxes were perfect with some dry areas in the fairways(to be expected in our drought). The greens were smooth and fast but true to the breaks. I look forward to playing this course again. I want to thank Mike for the day on the course!

I had concerns that with the North course being closed this week, the South course would be busy, but thanks to a morning drizzle, that must have frightened everyone away, because there was nobody aro... Continue »

I had concerns that with the North course being closed this week, the South course would be busy, but thanks to a morning drizzle, that must have frightened everyone away, because there was nobody around. A beautiful morning to play golf, a little rain never hurts anyone. Course is on good condition right now, particularly the fairways. Greens rolled well, very receptive to well struck shots. Still some issues with some of the tee boxes, but they say that will be addressed next year. My only complaint is that it gets light so darn late now. I'm hitting my first shot a few minutes after 6am, which is almost an hour later than I did earlier. The scary part is we have another 40 or so minutes of daylight to lose before the time change.