I see the nice white, pristine looking bunkers and think these are a cut above the vast majority of golf courses in Southern California.....until I try to hit a golf ball out of them. I think I'm a pretty decent bunker player. You open the club face and hit an inch or so behind the ball and let the sand pop the ball out of the bunker with a soft landing on the green. Not these ... » More

I see the nice white, pristine looking bunkers and think these are a cut above the vast majority of golf courses in Southern California.....until I try to hit a golf ball out of them. I think I'm a pretty decent bunker player. You open the club face and hit an inch or so behind the ball and let the sand pop the ball out of the bunker with a soft landing on the green. Not these bunkers. What they appear to do is pack the sand down very tight throughout the bunker and then put a thin layer of loose sand in the middle. This would seem appropriate for a fairway bunker. In a greenside bunker the ball will always come to rest in the middle of the bunker, you'll never have a fried egg or be plugged in the face of a bunker. I watched shot after shot of mine and my playing partners being unable to penetrate the packed down sand. There simply was not a deep enough level of loose sand in the middle of the bunker to play a proper sand shot. The leading edge of the sand wedge bounces off of the packed sublevel of sand resulting in a skulled shot time after time. This is the dumbest set up of a greenside bunker I've ever seen.
» Close

Played this AM. When I last played here # 1 now was # 10 and # 10 was # 1. But I actually like this routing better. Now you start on a Par 5 and the flow and pace seems to be much better. Found the course to be in nice shape other than the construction going on. # 1 is a short Par 5 as they work on the green so it plays short with a temp green at present. # 12 is lowering the g... » More

Played this AM. When I last played here # 1 now was # 10 and # 10 was # 1. But I actually like this routing better. Now you start on a Par 5 and the flow and pace seems to be much better. Found the course to be in nice shape other than the construction going on. # 1 is a short Par 5 as they work on the green so it plays short with a temp green at present. # 12 is lowering the green by some 40 yards to improve pace of play and now plays as a short Par 4 with temporary green. And that effects # 13 as it is now playing from the gold tees but it still can be a difficult par 3. But the current playing conditions are just fine. No tee box issues. Fairways though thin will give good lies and roll out. Bunkers are all filled with good sand and playable. Though very little rough there are enough OB, small ravines and some water that one needs to be aware of and deal with. Not to mention the many trees. Greens were just mowed and held high shots and chipped/putted nicely with speed of about 10 IMO. And I had forgotten how small they are so hitting them in regulation is important. I did feel that the $65 rate was a bit high given the work being done. Especially with # 12 that always seemed to me as the signature hole totally a long way off from being back in service and making # 13 play shorter. They do have a Sr card for $65 that will get you a $40 play rate but I live to far away to make regular use of one. But I would invest in it if I lived closer and I do feel the course is one I would enjoy on a regular basis. Nice carts, driving range and putting green to go along with good customer service. They even let you take the carts out to the car to load and unload which I personally like. I would recommend this course w/o any reservations even with the construction going on.
» Close

Super Bowl Sunday round at Roosevelt which is a nine-hole course but takes almost the same amount of time as an 18-hole course on busy weekends. I don't recall this course allowing fivesomes before but every group out there - including ours - turned out to be one. It was definitely slow going as the round took three hours, but it was a nice threesome that joined my buddy and me... » More

Super Bowl Sunday round at Roosevelt which is a nine-hole course but takes almost the same amount of time as an 18-hole course on busy weekends. I don't recall this course allowing fivesomes before but every group out there - including ours - turned out to be one. It was definitely slow going as the round took three hours, but it was a nice threesome that joined my buddy and me, and a beautiful day in picturesque surroundings, so we survived it. Barely.

Course is in good shape right now relatively speaking but it will always have too much tree cover to ever be completely 'lush' in my opinion. But it's so unique and interesting for a nine-hole. Holes 2, 4, 6 and 8 can be real adventures if you're not at your best.

Right now the greens are probably the best part of the course. The fairways have good coverage in the main areas but things can get thin real quick on the fringes. Rough is nice and playable in most areas if it's grass and not mayhem. Tee boxes (played the blacks) are definitely in need of more grass or better-selected areas, while the bunkers looked just okay but I avoided them all day.

Nice little snack shop now at the start and the putting practice green is ample, but there's no range so keep that in mind before your round. And finally, at $23 for the round, it's a steal.
» Close

Played Super Bowl Sunday mid day. Course surprisingly not crowded considering it was clear, calm and in the low 80's.

Lush but not as lush as a month ago. Playing firm and fast from tee to green. Greens smooth and firm. Tee boxes and fairways near immaculate. Sand is immaculate. Rough a mixture of grasses, not tall but the lies will vary greatly within a small area. <... » More

Played Super Bowl Sunday mid day. Course surprisingly not crowded considering it was clear, calm and in the low 80's.

Lush but not as lush as a month ago. Playing firm and fast from tee to green. Greens smooth and firm. Tee boxes and fairways near immaculate. Sand is immaculate. Rough a mixture of grasses, not tall but the lies will vary greatly within a small area.

Excellent practice facility and customer service. Highly recommended.
» Close

Played on Saturday. 1/2" rain made the course CPO. Fairways at this point are hard packed sand, very little in way of grass growing. Rough is dormant, patchy Bermuda, We joke that the club wastes fuel and labor mowing the fairways as there is not much to mow. Overseeded tee boxes have not been mowed for a week so it's like hitting out of the rough. Greens have returned to inco... » More

Played on Saturday. 1/2" rain made the course CPO. Fairways at this point are hard packed sand, very little in way of grass growing. Rough is dormant, patchy Bermuda, We joke that the club wastes fuel and labor mowing the fairways as there is not much to mow. Overseeded tee boxes have not been mowed for a week so it's like hitting out of the rough. Greens have returned to inconsistent conditions. Firm surfaces yet stimp speeds range from 8 to 12 from one hole to the next. Lots of unrepaired ball marks and unfilled divots. Sand traps inconsistent as well as they try to remove gravel from a failed bunker project several years ago.

Staff tries their best under new ownership but billionaire owner is completely MIA and his manager spends money like he is in welfare line. Heard so many promises over the last year, yet conditions have not improved but membership has grown where it is now almost impossible to get an online tee time two weeks in advance (tee times gone within a minute) however 20% of the players no show on playing day. Unfortunately it's the atmosphere the club has created, but they are in denial of situation. A perfect example of a club that is being "taken over".

North fairways really need new type of grass and improved drainage but that costs money of which the new owner is unwilling to provide at this time. Hopefully it gets the Shorecliff makeover in the future.
» Close