Overshadowed in many ways by it's extremely long and proud neighbor to the South, the North Course at Los Serranos has long been considered the shorter and more leisurely of the two courses. While I think it's only fair to survey the North course independently of its big brother, I do want to point out that with it's recent renovation/lengthening, I found it to be the better of the two courses, and if given the choice to play either, I would likely choose the North more often than not.
The North course is a great test, and it mixes a nice variety of easy and difficult, tight and wide open, short and long, into a pleasant ~6600 yard layout from the tips. Interesting holes to point out are the reachable par 5 third, which after the benign first and second give you a chance to have a pretty decent score that you can waste away later in the round (as I did…). The short par 4 12th, likely driveable for some big hitters, I thought was a fun and exicting hole, calling for a precision layup followed by an accurate wedge. It will give up birdies, but bogeys and worse are not difficult to find either.
Short gives way to long and difficult as you stand on the 13th tee, where you can enjoy the best view on the course while hitting a tee shot that hangs in the air forever. Unfortunately, even after a well placed drive you are left with a challenging shot to one of the smallest greens on the course. Finally, the 16th, a three-shotter, features re-designed sod-faced bunkers that are completely out of character with the rest of the course, but they look pretty cool (and they are unique for southern California public golf). It's an intimidating approach to this green, and really your last easy chance at stealing a shot back.
Los Serranos is consistently in good condition. The greens, though slow, roll mostly consistently. Though they feel soft under your feet, I was surprised at the lack of receptiveness to all but the most perfectly struck shots. Wedges would land at the flag and bound their way to the back edge of the green. The fairways and rough were about what you would expect from a course that positions itself above the standard municipal layout, but below the "Country Club for a Day" themed facilities. The tee boxes, though probably featuring some of the best turf on the course, were about a week past their last trimming and proved a bit difficult to manage on the par 3s.
Amazingly, a shortcoming for most public, non-CCFAD operations is the North Course's greatest strength - the bunkers. The sand in these bunkers was absolutely immaculate - not only was it well raked and maintained, but it was a wonderful consistency, weight, and the proper amount was in each of the bunkers. Courses charging $300.00 per round should take a page out of this textbook, because Los Serranos got it right here. I challenge anyone to find a finer sand trap on the Southern California public circuit than what I saw on this day. Well done.
Sadly, pace of play was atrocious - playing at 10am on Super Bowl Sunday immediately following a local men's club tournament full of boisterous gentlemen is a recipe for a logjam, and we saw the group in front of us on each and every tee box. My last experience at Los Serranos was much quicker, so I hope that this was merely indicative of bad luck than a general trend.
The North Course at Los Serranos is a solid golf course - I'd like to see it in a little better shape and the greens a touch quicker (watch out for the 18th green - it's different grass than the 17 that came before it) but don't show up at this facility and treat the North as the course you settle for if the South was booked - I'd choose it over the South 6 times out of 10, and I bet you'll have more fun if you give it a shot.
