Played Morro Bay on Tuesday with some friends on a spectacular afternoon. The course is in great condition and the gree... » More

Played Morro Bay on Tuesday with some friends on a spectacular afternoon. The course is in great condition and the greens were the highlight. The course has views of Morro Bay from at least 12 holes. Although the yardage is short the course is difficult as most fairways are severely sloped and the greens are very difficult as well. Conditions of the tees, fairways and greens were excellent not to mention how reasonable the greens fees are. Enjoy!
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Played a GK Cup match at El Dorado and got a very good midweek (and probably twilight) walking rate of $57. Feels like s... » More

Played a GK Cup match at El Dorado and got a very good midweek (and probably twilight) walking rate of $57. Feels like stealing nowadays in Long Beach! Kramnetto2 and I had a 2pm tee time with Mark playing from the blue tees and I played from the whites. A very hot day!

Course conditions are not as good as I've seen them here before, but by no means poor in any way. The fairways had plenty of nice, lush patches all around, but of course there were also some thinned out and drier areas in case you got unlucky. The rough is completely playable right now though, while the bunkers were not really too great as they had varying degrees of sand - some very thin and frustrating, others pretty decent, but none superb.

Tee boxes that I played were flat and level with mostly good coverage. They're holding up well with all the traffic and hot temperatures of late. And the greens? Well, they held shots well and rolled relatively true, but there were definitely a lot of pitch marks to navigate and the speeds felt a little inconsistent over the round, but nothing too crazy to bring a lot of negative attention.

The layout is always super fun at El Dorado with lots of tree-lined fairways, some dangerous water features on select holes, and strategic bunkers that are a lot more daunting when the sand isn't in great shape. But overall it's a very solid eighteen holes of golf with plenty of variety, but nothing in terms of elevations.

We had cart service come around a few times which was nice for a midweek round. So yes, all in all another good showing from the pick of the Long Beach litter.
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Very busy on Thursday morning. Everyone had the same idea I guess, which was to beat the heat. Course has handled the te... » More

Very busy on Thursday morning. Everyone had the same idea I guess, which was to beat the heat. Course has handled the temperatures very well. Greens not as fast as normal. (Maybe to protect them?) They still roll well and are very receptive. Fairways have great coverage. Bunkers are good but might seem a bit compacted - they are very "heavy". The course will be closed for two weeks beginning 8/5/74 to aerate the fairways. (Seems like an excessive time?)
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Played Thursday 7/25 7:52 tee time. They were 10 minutes behind. Teed off at 8:05 and got around in 4.5 hours.
The f... » More

Played Thursday 7/25 7:52 tee time. They were 10 minutes behind. Teed off at 8:05 and got around in 4.5 hours.
The fairways, tee boxes, rough and bunkers are all in good shape. I would give it a 6.5/7 out of 10. Very playable, nice and green too. But the greens!! Of the 18 greens maybe 5 of them are in normal condition but the rest have dead spots all over the place. Look like some kind of fungus/disease. The dead spots are punched and sanded. It was not fun to put on, green speed was inconsistent and bumpy. I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon until they get this under control.
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Played twilight yesterday, walked in the heat. Conditions are "pretty good for a city muni" - some dry spots in fairways... » More

Played twilight yesterday, walked in the heat. Conditions are "pretty good for a city muni" - some dry spots in fairways, teeboxes a little rough, but the greens here are as good as ever. Soft, receptive and rolled very well, and it seems like people actually fix their pitch marks. The long par 4 9th hole (464 yds from the blue) is playing from the red tees currently due to rain damage to the rear teebox. Par 5 4th hole had a bare blue teebox but it was flat enough to hit from. You cannot go wrong for $16 for 9 holes in the afternoon. They also have carts and pushcarts available. Perfect track for a round after work while the sun sets, good luck with the incredibly narrow tee shot on the 6th..
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Have not played there in two years. Two years ago it was pretty rough. Not any better now.
I think they have the w... » More

Have not played there in two years. Two years ago it was pretty rough. Not any better now.
I think they have the worst bunkers I have ever seen. Rock hard and I don't know what to call the surface, hard pan or packed dirt I guess.

Greens are good. Fairways hit and miss.
Lakes full of algae.

Thought I lost a ball on 16th hole but found it in a gopher hole.

American Golf could care less because the place was packed with golfers on a Tuesday afternoon.

Would I go back again? Probably in another two years during the summer since it was 20 degrees cooler than outside my house in Indio.

It is a really great lay out of fun holes but upkeep is bad.
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Played early AM but still hot. Course is wet from watering. Many wet areas and damp fairways early in the morning. But I... » More

Played early AM but still hot. Course is wet from watering. Many wet areas and damp fairways early in the morning. But I don't think I want to be playing any later with the current temps. Greens are OK but several have not been given enough water and are in bad shape. And with all the water they are terribly slow. Tee boxes were all fine. Traps are terrible due to watering and nothing but mud in most of them (city says sand is coming? I hope sooner rather than later). Shame what hot weather does to our municipal courses in summer. Customer service excellent. And at least Troon has continued to keep the green fees reasonable for everyone. And the POP today was horrible. Lots of new golfers and families playing but no marshal. And they are starting to let 5 somesomes out on the course again.
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I mirror Mark's review of yesterday's fun round!! He's spot on with just about everything except I would include the b... » More

I mirror Mark's review of yesterday's fun round!! He's spot on with just about everything except I would include the bunkers that I found were hard clay about an inch under the soft sand. Furthermore, I was in a couple diabolically deep bunkers which made it impossible to get the ball up in the air quickly, ruining any chance for an up and down. Oh well, just this minor complaint. Otherwise, the course is killer!! Thanks Johnny for organizing another great day. Always great to see you.
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First time out playing the Nicklaus course.

The conditions of the course were above par. The greens though w... » More

First time out playing the Nicklaus course.

The conditions of the course were above par. The greens though were running about an 8, slowest I've ever encountered, which I understand being dead of summer in Palm Springs. While they were slow, they did run true, no bumpiness.

Fairways in great condition, rough was penal and sand was in really good shape.

If I had a gripe it would be that every hole seems very similar. All par 3s were similar, many of the par 4s were straight away. We played Indian Wells the following day and it was agreed that there, every hole is unique, which we loved.

For $100, I would play here again but not worth much more than than in my opinion.
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I’ll make this short and sweet. Peter did a fantastic job describing the course and conditions. I would emphasize tha... » More

I’ll make this short and sweet. Peter did a fantastic job describing the course and conditions. I would emphasize that the greens were definitely on the slow side. The subtle breaks made for a challenge to read. It’s a fun course for sure but certainly a ways off the beaten path. If you are headed to Tahoe or Sacramento, or just taking the super car for a drive on the beautiful backroads, do yourself a favor and take a detour to this track.
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Played here today in group 1A of the Vivid Golf/Golf Moose/GK private club outing. Great times with David and Tom! My da... » More

Played here today in group 1A of the Vivid Golf/Golf Moose/GK private club outing. Great times with David and Tom! My daughter rode along as a non-playing spectator, too, which was super fun. Beautiful day with hot temperatures and very little wind. POP was pretty standard for these events at around 5:00. Food from "Jack's Den" snack bar was very good and affordably priced for a high-end private club. The representative from the club who gave instructions was extremely welcoming and seemed like he was really happy to be able to host the group today, which is nice. Four holes in addition to the par 3s were CPO.

Conditions are quite good. The greens rolled smooth, medium-fast, and accepted full shots very well. They are tricky to read and some have significant slope to contend with, making putting fun. Downhillers could get sneaky fast. (Despite me saying the greens were smooth, both David and Tom had some bumpy putts.) Fairways were mostly very nice, light green bermuda with occasional brown spots here and there. Balls sat up well and the fairways provided nice lies all day. At least one hole (5, maybe others) had GUR areas staked off in the fairway. The rough seemed to be a mix of bermuda and kikuyu; not too deep but it looked like some balls could settle down in, especially in the bermuda. Blue tees were all very nice, level, and well maintained. I think I was in four bunkers and they were mostly good. In one, my ball settled into a poorly raked area that was not quite a footprint but definitely an indentation lower than the rest of the bunker.

I had played here once or twice previously many years ago but really didn't remember much except for a few holes. I really loved it today. The back nine is definitely a step up from the front. The front is good but more residential, while the back explores more natural terrain and brings in more elevation changes. (Still some houses on some holes, though.) The par-3 17th may be one of the "Most Downhill" holes I've ever played... would love to know the elevation change from tee to green. For the inexperienced, the routing seems confusing and signage is a little lacking, but I guess the only people who really need directions are unaccompanied non-members. (Hole numbers on the "Map" feature on the GPS would be helpful. Currently only the hole diagrams are there with no numbers to indicate which hole is which.) GPS was nice with yardage to the pin and the ability to order food.

Overall, an excellent day and highly recommended. Here's hoping they hold another event here soon.
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Played Hidden Valley with some AZ friends on 7/21. Here's the warning - the GK at HV has apparently decided to keep the ... » More

Played Hidden Valley with some AZ friends on 7/21. Here's the warning - the GK at HV has apparently decided to keep the grass higher during the hot summer to keep it healthy. You have been warned.

Kudos to him, because the grass out here is better than I have ever seen it. But it is LONG. Fairways are shaggy, rough is thick and difficult at times. And yes, the greens are brutally slow. The greens are also a bit wobbly due to the high grass, but you need to ram putts anyway. I never adjusted to the slow, left almost everything over 10 feet short.

I know some don't like the layout, but I really enjoy it. Some short par 4s that can be an adventure if you take risks. Elevation changes. Great views if you take the time to look around. Just really a fun track to play.

I much prefer the long and shaggy grass in summer versus the cut it short and die approach. I know the putting is tough, but I suspect come September this place will be in great shape for the winter. I need to get back here more often.
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