Played sun 8/10, 9am shotgun... 4:45 round. nice, warm day. This is an interesting course with lots of course knowledge needed.. a little gimmicky at times, but I had fun. More generous driving areas than greenwood and gray's. Lots of undulations and elevation changes. Greens nice, running a fast 10. grainy. No driving range, but has a big hitting area into a net. I ha... » More

Played sun 8/10, 9am shotgun... 4:45 round. nice, warm day. This is an interesting course with lots of course knowledge needed.. a little gimmicky at times, but I had fun. More generous driving areas than greenwood and gray's. Lots of undulations and elevation changes. Greens nice, running a fast 10. grainy. No driving range, but has a big hitting area into a net. I had fun, and was my 2nd favorite of the 3 I played.
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played sat 8/9, 8:30 shotgun. 4:45 round. Greens in great shape... tough to decipher. running a fast 10. grainy. course in great shape. tight driving course with some reachable par 4's. More interesting than I remember, and it's a beautiful course. Nice warm day. Had a great time. My 3rd ranked of the 3 I played. but I'd play here again.

played fri 8/8, 1:30, warm day, course in good shape. 4:45 round. Greens running about a 10, a little beat up.. they say they got a ton of play since the barracuda pga event a month ago, and the greens are struggling a little. A fun course with interesting holes... better than I remember the first time I played about 5 years ago. Tight driving course. Rest of the course in... » More

played fri 8/8, 1:30, warm day, course in good shape. 4:45 round. Greens running about a 10, a little beat up.. they say they got a ton of play since the barracuda pga event a month ago, and the greens are struggling a little. A fun course with interesting holes... better than I remember the first time I played about 5 years ago. Tight driving course. Rest of the course in great shape. My favorite of the 3 I played up here this weekend.
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Back out to LWGC on Friday, 8/15/25, for 9 holes joined by local GKer Itslikeimsayin, on a sunny, warm day with a cooling southwest breeze to take the edge off. [Also out last week in 90+ degree temps that reduced me to a barely active pillar of sweat – not conducive to any good golf on my part.] We got to start a little early and had a fun, relaxed round in well less than 2 ho... » More

Back out to LWGC on Friday, 8/15/25, for 9 holes joined by local GKer Itslikeimsayin, on a sunny, warm day with a cooling southwest breeze to take the edge off. [Also out last week in 90+ degree temps that reduced me to a barely active pillar of sweat – not conducive to any good golf on my part.] We got to start a little early and had a fun, relaxed round in well less than 2 hours.

The course was relatively uncrowded for what I’ve seen in the past, as the group ahead was playing fairly quickly, and the group behind us was up close on only a couple holes. Conditions were similar to my previous reviews – smallish greens were receptive and rolling well at medium speed. Lots of unfixed ballmarks today. Fairway coverage was generally good although I wound up in dry/thin spots a couple times. White tee boxes were pretty level and grassed except for the par 3s which have very narrow, small boxes. I was in one greenside trap with a thin sand layer over a firm underbase and I bounced the clubhead into the ball – at least some operator error there. Rough can be variable, from short/dry to deep/juicy where you have to really search for your ball. Both fairway and rough grasses are sticky and cut down roll and swallow offline shots. And in general don’t try to bounce your shots onto the greens.

It was great seeing Mark again and I hope to connect with other GKers as I try to re-find my swing and build back my stamina and enthusiasm.
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Like The A Team's Hannibal Smith always says - "I love it when a plan comes together."

I had some work up in the Solvang area this past Friday afternoon and thought, just on the off chance time frees up, I will take my clubs and some golf clothes just in case. As fate would have it, I was able to finish up and drive over to the River Course at Alisal and not only was the... » More

Like The A Team's Hannibal Smith always says - "I love it when a plan comes together."

I had some work up in the Solvang area this past Friday afternoon and thought, just on the off chance time frees up, I will take my clubs and some golf clothes just in case. As fate would have it, I was able to finish up and drive over to the River Course at Alisal and not only was there a nice 1:30pm tee time available, but the very kind starter even got me a lower twilight rate.

I was paired with a single who turned out to be a great guy and off we went playing from the blue tees and both riding in very nice carts with all the necessary features. The first thing that stood out was how quickly we moved from hole to hole, then we caught up with a group at the 7th hole and they let us play through. When all was said and done, we finished the round in just three hours - amazing! POP was simply perfect all afternoon on a gorgeous summer day.

The course itself is also in great shape. I had only played here once before in a scramble tournament, so I was thrilled to be able to actually play the course myself and had quite a decent round to boot. The layout is very fun while not overpowering. There are not a ton of elevations but there are some elevated tee boxes (not many) and some sneaky water features that are really well hidden. The course is really right out in front of you but it's easy to get lost in the beautiful surroundings in Solvang and just the course's aesthetics alone.

On top of all that goodness, the course was in very fine shape as well! The greens were running really nicely after having been punched about a month ago (as I was told by my playing partner), and speeds were consistent throughout the day which lead to me to a nice 27-putt afternoon. Nothing too tricky or gimmicky about them either, just fun and well-kept. Fairways were also in really good shape with a few late-summer thin areas and some sections were a bit overwatered, but nothing to take away from the goodness.

Tee boxes were all in really good shape - flat and level, and well groomed, while the bunkers were absolutely sublime - some of the best, most fluffy sand that I've played in a long time, which made two sandy pars all the more satisfying. The rough had some deep areas but mostly it was very playable and not too much of a hassle. Overall the course conditions were quite superb.

What more could you ask for? It was really an overall perfect day with a solid golf round, a tremendous course, a great playing partner, outstanding POP and all at a discounted rate thanks to staff who really get their customers. I have nothing but the highest of marks for my first proper round at the Alisal. Can't wait to get back there and play it again.
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