Course in good shape, back nine a very different and fun nine. Tee boxes were only down side, fairways, bunkers and gr... » More

Course in good shape, back nine a very different and fun nine. Tee boxes were only down side, fairways, bunkers and greens all very good shape. Course has been improved the last 2 years and is well worth playing when down the Escondido Valley Center way.
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Cart path restrictions have been lifted on both courses. Course is in excellent shape from tee to green. Pace of play wa... » More

Cart path restrictions have been lifted on both courses. Course is in excellent shape from tee to green. Pace of play was slow. One of the few courses in this part of town that isn’t surrounded by houses. Pro shop guys and attendants were friendly and helpful. Recommended.
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Played today. Saved up all my Troon awards and was able to get a great price for the round. Had one of the best rounds e... » More

Played today. Saved up all my Troon awards and was able to get a great price for the round. Had one of the best rounds ever on this course and finally made par on number 18 after all these years. Started the morning with great customer service, a great breakfast, and warm up session. I don't believe I could find anything wrong with this course if I even tried. From tee to green and all in between the course was just great. Being able to play here is IMO one of the great things about golf. The setting is spectacular and so is the course. Hope all who read this had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And yes I am still working on my wife to move us over here. I put it on my bucket list LOL and will write a letter to Santa next month.
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I played DeBell yesterday and it has always been one of my favorite courses. Unfortunately, the course wasn't in the be... » More

I played DeBell yesterday and it has always been one of my favorite courses. Unfortunately, the course wasn't in the best shape. The fairways were choppy,but the greens were their usual fast,pure rolling selves. Overall, the pace of play was terrible due to players not having local knowledge, and being off target. Mostly, slow players. I will be back, because I love the course. I work at Riviera, which DeBell has similar qualities. Riviera is almost always in immaculate conditions being that it's a premier golf course. I enjoyed playing DeBell. Still a personal favorite.
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Out to Falcon Ridge today after traveling to St. George we decided this was the best course to play for the money that h... » More

Out to Falcon Ridge today after traveling to St. George we decided this was the best course to play for the money that had a morning tee time. So we decided that playing at 8:20 AM would be a wise decision. Unfortunately, it was 29 outside and we were under a serious frost delay that lasted about 30-40 minutes. By the time we started it was still in the 40's, which is hard on so many levels. The course is a tail of two nines, with the front supposedly easier than the back, however for our group that was the opposite. I think that all has to with the weather. Falcon Ridge, if you have never been there is a huge piece of property. Definitely cannot tell how big this course is without playing it. Each hole is unique and challenging. The course weaves through homes and across streets and around corners. It has a great clubhouse and restaurant with good bloody mary's and excellent food. The breakfast sandwich was well worth the 12$. The only down side here is no real driving range, just some nets and mats and old balls. The brand new carts are gas powered and can really move, the GPS should be installed sometime soon.

The course right now is in winter conditions with Bermuda dried out as the rough and the fairway/tee boxes are a rye blend that they do everything they can to keep green. The sand is a little rocky but still very good, and the greens when not frozen are rolling straight and held, surprisingly. When we finished about 4 and 1/2 hours later it was in the mid 60's, yes you read that right an almost 30 degrees swing from the morning.

Overall, I absolutely love this place its simply just fun, I highly recommend it and I hope to return in the spring or summer.
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In HI for Thanksgiving. Played here today. Course is in great shape at the moment. One of the best customer service cour... » More

In HI for Thanksgiving. Played here today. Course is in great shape at the moment. One of the best customer service courses I have played. No tee box issues. Fairways very playable with good lies and roll. I was able to avoid the traps but saw no issues and heard no complaints. Had a little issue with the greens to start because of the grass but figured it out very quickly. Having played here before I also felt I had a good feel for the breaks as well. Had a great lunch and a few adult beverages after the round and the prices did not dent my wallet. I always enjoy playing here and will get in a few more rounds before I leave. Wish I could stay here permanently quite honestly.
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Looking to stay reasonably close to home, RSJ fit nicely. Not a whole lot to add to Dave's recent review. I echo what he... » More

Looking to stay reasonably close to home, RSJ fit nicely. Not a whole lot to add to Dave's recent review. I echo what he said about the greens. I have played here a number of times, and the ball did seem to run out more than usual, although they were not all that fast. Overall, the course was in OK condition. Better than the last time I played, so that's a positive. Fairways also had better coverage.

I enjoy playing here occasionally, but don't think I could make a steady diet of this course. If you have not played here recently, I think you would be impressed with the improvement from a couple years ago.
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Got out to Olivas yesterday (11/22) for the first time in several months. It was a beautiful November morning with not ... » More

Got out to Olivas yesterday (11/22) for the first time in several months. It was a beautiful November morning with not really any wind to affect things. A buddy and I got paired with another two-some (a couple of really nice guys and good golfers) and teed off at 6:40am. We finished the 18th at 10:35am, so just under 4 hour pace (and my buddy plays SLOW). Anyhow, the conditions are really good right now for late November. The greens were smooth and pretty fast, showing no signs of punching that earlier reviews had mentioned, so all good there. What I love about Olivas aside from the beautiful layout is that the fairways are just the most inviting type of turf that you'll find in Southern California. Sure, there are bare spots here and there, but for the most part the fairway grass is a beautiful layer of cushioned turf that makes the ball sit up like on a mat. It's my favorite course to hit irons and wedges into greens. Definitely recommend playing Olivas right now -- just check the wind reports before you do, because the course is a different animal when the wind is up.
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Played this AM. Very cool to start. Great check in with staff as always. Tee boxes are playable but still need some fill... » More

Played this AM. Very cool to start. Great check in with staff as always. Tee boxes are playable but still need some filling in from past maintenance. Fairways were damp and gave no roll out. Some fairways are lush while others are not, so lies are spotty at best. Traps were playable. Very little rough but playable. Greens were fine and chipped/putted well but some greens have issues around edges that appear to be a fungus. Course is in typical S CA winter conditions at present.
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I'm not sure if my expectations for this were higher than they should be but a month after the fall maintenance I though... » More

I'm not sure if my expectations for this were higher than they should be but a month after the fall maintenance I thought the conditions were going to be way better than they are.

On the greens I still see evidence of where the punched holes. The greens were actually pretty quick but they were still a little bumpy. Quite a few ball marks too. I repaired quite a few on every green.

The fairways have way too many unfilled divots. Its been a while since I've seen multiple balls in divots in the same round but that streak was broken. There are still parts of the fairway that are still growing back.

Rough is still growing in and not as penalizing as you'd think. I'd actually say the North rough is way tougher than the South. We were still able to hit some high irons out of them.

I'm not sure I've ever given out a 1 rating before but I had to for these bunkers and tee boxes. I think these bunkers are a joke. There is way too much sand on the face of the bunkers and not enough on the bottom/flatter areas. It's perplexing. Quite a few bunkers were very wet on the bottom as well. The tee boxes haven't been moved since the maintenance. They are worn out, bare dirt in some parts and just plain awful. All the tees are bunched and moved up. The funny part is the pros don't even play these tee boxes so I'm not sure why they can't move them.

We were 3rd out and finished in about 3 hours 45 minutes. When we were on 16 group behind us was on the 14th green and the group behind them was on the 11th green. Leave it up to a couple of groups to slow it down for everyone the rest of the day.

I can't say I enjoyed the golf here and will probably wait 3-4 weeks to come back. Sad to say to me the course is only worth playing about 3 months out of the year.
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Played on Saturday and man was the wind howling out there. I ended up hitting a 9 iron 90 yds and an 8 iron 220 yds. I... » More

Played on Saturday and man was the wind howling out there. I ended up hitting a 9 iron 90 yds and an 8 iron 220 yds. It was more of a mental grind.

Greens were very good. They certainly seemed faster than they looked because balls seemed to roll out a bit more than I expected. I think there were one or 2 greens that had some issue on them but I can't remember which hole it was (#11 I think was one).

Fairways were in great shape. A few divots out there but nothing bad. I don't think there were many bare spots or bad areas. Pretty good coverage and a nice roll on well hit shots.

Rough was juicy but I don't think it was too penal. Some areas definitely had more than others and some spots by the greens were pretty thick.

Tees were great no issue with them. All had good coverage and even the par 3s didn't have too much divot damage.

Sand was good. Really white and almost blinding to a point. Consistent throughout the course from fairways to greenside.

Course is in really nice shape and should be on your list to play. Always a pleasure playing the goose.
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Played in the SCGA outing today at the newly renovated Valencia CC. As a first time player of this course, I must say th... » More

Played in the SCGA outing today at the newly renovated Valencia CC. As a first time player of this course, I must say the layout was fair, however the conditions today were tough to say the least. We started on hole 5 after a 20 minute delay due to frost. I broke 5 tees trying to get that first shot off. I knew then that It was gong to be a long and challenging day. The greens today were so incredibly dry and fast they well over a 10 on the stimpmeter. The fairways were in good condition but dry and lots of roll. Without question some of the best sand I have ever played in, very new. The rough was basically none existent as they had removed a whole bunch of trees to completely re-do the course. According to the SCGA proctor of the closest to the pin contest, Valencia is going to put in a bid to potentially hold the Genesis championship when the Olympics are here in a few years. As the Olympics would use the Riv, and there is some clause that says they can only hold 1 large pro tourney a year. Hence Valencia attempting get that tourney for a year. Who knows?

As for Valencia CC as a member club to join, If I lived closer and had the means this would be one I would look into. It is a serious challenge of a course. The clubhouse, and locker room are very nice and very clean. Big lockers and I think I saw a sauna or steam room. The food is good according to the guys who ate. The practice green is large yet the driving range is not that big but suitable. Worth a chance if you get on, especially if you love an old school challenge.

Comparing this to the Oaks Club, I would say this course has more of a classic feel to it while the Oaks has more unique challenges and blind shots. Valencia has some bunkers that are perfectly placed.

Both were well worth the outing fee, and I would do it again if I get the opportunity.
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