Played Sterling Hills on 4/26, first time playing this course, we don't make it out to Ventura that often from the South Bay due to traffic.

What a gem we found, conditions are good/not great but... Continue »

Played Sterling Hills on 4/26, first time playing this course, we don't make it out to Ventura that often from the South Bay due to traffic.

What a gem we found, conditions are good/not great but the layout was a lot of fun and challenging.

Loved the 18th finishing hole, par 5 up hill dogleg left, great way to finish.

If the conditions were a little better, we'd be making the trip out here more often but it's a course that we will definitely come back out and play.

Played 4/31; pace of play was 4:30. Course was in generally good condition, though a few tee boxes could use some tidying. Greens were true and running a bit slow. Be prepared that due to coronavir... Continue »

Played 4/31; pace of play was 4:30. Course was in generally good condition, though a few tee boxes could use some tidying. Greens were true and running a bit slow. Be prepared that due to coronavirus restrictions, golf carts are only provided to those demonstrating a physical need. Walking and carrying a bag on this course is a bit of a challenge given its topography. It is great to be back out playing.

Played today with a friend and paired up with a couple local high schoolers who were good players. POP 6:15 because we were stuck behind a some drunk idiots who fell a couple holes behind (not a conve... Continue »

Played today with a friend and paired up with a couple local high schoolers who were good players. POP 6:15 because we were stuck behind a some drunk idiots who fell a couple holes behind (not a convenient course to pass a group).

Course conditions were very good. Tee boxes were level and had very good coverage.

Fairways were very nice to hit from and didn’t find any particularly thin areas.

Rough was healthy and not too long. Just hard enough to be penal.

Greens were very smooth with little evidence of the punching done but were SLOW. Had to hammer putts to get them to the hole.

Bunkers were well stocked and nice to hit out of even without rakes.

Using a Greenskeeper certificate ( Thanks Johnny ! ) What a great deal. Check in was fast, efficient and very friendly. I wish all staff at the pro shops I encounter were as pleasant and accommoda... Continue »

Using a Greenskeeper certificate ( Thanks Johnny ! ) What a great deal. Check in was fast, efficient and very friendly. I wish all staff at the pro shops I encounter were as pleasant and accommodating as they were this morning at Sterling Hills.

First off, so no issues with pace of play. Winter conditions, so fairways at times tended to be thin. Greens were the best part of the course, although saw quite a few unrepaired ball marks. I didn't remember the greens as having so much slope, and coupled with some tough pin positions and firm, and at times fast greens, made for some difficult scoring. In general the course was in good condition.

Enjoyed the course, despite leaving any kind of game back in Orange County. A long drive, but with such a fantastic GK coupon, the warm/friendly staff, and the just a fun track, it was worth thr effort. Recommend playing here.

Played in the GK Cup final here on Sunday with mnielson, JohnnyGK and Nickesquire. First time here and really enjoyed the course.

Conditions are what you'd expect in winter except for the excellen... Continue »

Played in the GK Cup final here on Sunday with mnielson, JohnnyGK and Nickesquire. First time here and really enjoyed the course.

Conditions are what you'd expect in winter except for the excellent greens, which were definitely the high point. They were smooth, fast and accepted full shots well, but shorter shots tended to run out quite a bit. Really fun to putt and I feel like I was just getting a good feel for them toward the very end of the round. Fairways were thin but with decent coverage. Rough was a little spottier; my ball ended up on bare spots once or twice. The bunkers I was in – one fairway and one greenside – were both good, especially the greenside one, which was excellent. Blue tee boxes were a little beat up but not a big deal.

I really enjoyed the layout, which snakes through housing but also has some spots where several holes converge and provide less of a "housing tract" course. Friendly staff and seems like they have great rates, too. Definitely recommended, and I'd like to play it again sometime with lusher conditions. Thanks to Johnny and Nick for setting it up and thanks to the course to having us out!

Finally, big congrats to Mike for capturing the Cup! Fun day!

I played last Sunday with the first group of the GK Cup final. Overall, the course is in great shape. The greens were probably the best part of the course. There are a lot of narrow fairways with some... Continue »

I played last Sunday with the first group of the GK Cup final. Overall, the course is in great shape. The greens were probably the best part of the course. There are a lot of narrow fairways with some severe slopes here and there. I found the angles off the tees to be not in line with my slice and many times I was hitting recovery shots from the right rough and around or under trees. Mostly my fault, as the course is not terribly long and there was substantial run out on many of my poor drives. Hitting less than driver might not be an issue on most of the holes.

I thought the greens were fast and very difficult to read. I'm not sure what was going on, because I played here recently and did not have this kind of difficulty. I missed a few short putts and only one I remember that I pulled it; otherwise, it was just weird breaks that I did not see. I liked the fast greens and they were very soft. Well struck shots would hold but I just was not striking the ball well for the most part. We had plenty of ball marks to fix courtesy of the groups ahead of us.

The tees were good; we played the blues. I don't recall any real issues. Good grass coverage and level.

Fairways and rough were fine. Good turf coverage and great rollout. Like Johnny mentioned, the grass will only get better with warmer weather.

The course has good rates, decent food, and nice conditions. I can recommend playing here and just may try to get this course into my rotation.

Superb fun at the GK Cup final at Sterling Hills this past Sunday. Had never played the course before and it was an absolute treat that I was not expecting based on past heresay and reviews. I enjoyed... Continue »

Superb fun at the GK Cup final at Sterling Hills this past Sunday. Had never played the course before and it was an absolute treat that I was not expecting based on past heresay and reviews. I enjoyed it immensely. Went out with the first foursome along with Matt P, Kevin V and Sal ... what a bunch of characters. And speaking of character, this course has got a lot of it. You're going to experience a lot of different hole types and be challenged and rewarded and frustrated and thrilled. It's kind of all here from my perspective. I found the layout to be incredibly fun and kept me engaged the entire afternoon. Course conditions were pretty darn good all around but the greens were wild and exceptional. Deceptively quick, incredibly difficult to read and there's no shortage of tricky tiers, slopes or long lags to confound you. I four-putted the first hole so I learned quick what was going to be needed to stay on top of these bad boys. Fairways were in mostly good shape with some thin areas, but not too bad at all for this time of year. Rough was definitely varied and some of it was that extremely grabby variety that made chipping quite an adventure. Bunkers looked okay but fresh off the rains I can imagine they would be better dried out. No issues with the tee boxes outside of one or two being a bit chewed up or not level. Overall though, really playable and fun. We had cart service numerous times throughout the day and found the staff to all be very pleasant and even happy to be there. Driving range is pretty small but more than adequate for the round ahead of you. Nice snack shop after the round for the GKers pow-wow. I'm really looking forward to playing here again and fixing some of the mistakes I made on a few holes. The weather, which looked a tad bit windy and cold maybe at the start, turned into a pretty spectacular day with minimal wind and overcast skies but temps that never dipped too low. A great day all around and looking forward to another trip here in summer in optimal conditions.

Good times at Sterling Hills Golf Club Sunday for the GK Cup 14 Final. Please see the Results thread in the forums.

Overall the golf course was in good shape with the greens being in excellent cond... Continue »

Good times at Sterling Hills Golf Club Sunday for the GK Cup 14 Final. Please see the Results thread in the forums.

Overall the golf course was in good shape with the greens being in excellent condition. Fast, semi-firm and smooth. Challenging putting surfaces that can produce some very difficult pin positions. Loved them. I was also impressed with the fairways having hardly any bare spots and provided decent lies throughout. They were firm producing some nice roll out. If you know how bad the fairways were just over a year ago and where they are now, add to that this is January and not Spring/Summer when the fairways are at their best, you would be very impressed with the improvement. Rough had a mixture of grasses and cut just above fairway height. Bunkers had decent sand, not great, not bad, no complaints. Tee boxes mostly lush, sometimes thin, in decent shape.

It’s a fun challenging layout where hitting good approach shots and putting well is essential. Some fun reachable in two Par 5’s combined with challenging Par 3’s and some formidable Par 4’s.

Nice clubhouse that can host outings and weddings. Affordable small bar/grill with tasty food (I got the Philly Steak Sandwich). Good service all day with friendly clubhouse, marshals and on-course food & beverage. Worth the green fee for sure and even more so using the GK Coupon.

Was great fun being in the finals group with Mike, Mark and Nick. Looking forward to my next round here.

Recommended.

Joined the Gk final yesterday and these are my two cents. Tee's- good coverage and a plenty of tee's to choose from. Minimal divot issues only on the par 3's. Fairways- Cut short and firm which pro... Continue »

Joined the Gk final yesterday and these are my two cents. Tee's- good coverage and a plenty of tee's to choose from. Minimal divot issues only on the par 3's. Fairways- Cut short and firm which provided lots of roll out. On hole 4 the layup area had a left to right slope and with the roll we had a few balls land in the center and roll off to the right and into the water. I was very displeased with that one. Greens- Firm and fast! If the superintendent decided to mean they have some very tough hole locations on these greens. With the speed they were tough to keep any down hill putt within 5 feet. Even though they were firm and fast I had many occasions with excess spin which made for an exciting day. Rough- Multiple types of grass and coverage that was mediocre which left for some tough lies all day. Sand- I was in 3 traps and the first two were on hole one. The fairway trap was hard pan and difficult to get under the ball. the two green side bunkers were decent but could use a little more sand. Overall this is a fun course and I do recommend just don't expect immaculate conditions. I think it deserves more of a 6.5 not 5.6