After a day of fly fishing, we got back to golf. I have said many times, this is IMO one of the best public courses in C... » More

After a day of fly fishing, we got back to golf. I have said many times, this is IMO one of the best public courses in CO. And I would put it up against many across the country. Its got elevation, deep rough, small canyons and a cactus you want no part of (called walking stick). And the views to the south of the mountains are just beautiful. Today we found the course in its usual great shape. Good tee boxes. Nice fairways with roll and great lies. Rough was deep (2"). Fluffy traps. And fast (about 11/12) greens. All for the cost of 30 big ones. Wonderful course and terrific customer service from everyone. I look forward to many more years of coming to this part of CO.
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Afternoon tee time at The Hills. Check in and first tee were well organized. Quite a few tee boxes under construction an... » More

Afternoon tee time at The Hills. Check in and first tee were well organized. Quite a few tee boxes under construction and tees bunched together and had not been moved for awhile. With tees moved up the course was playing short. Fairways and rough have good coverage, traps were all over the map with many wet compacted sand and even though rakes were out people not raking traps. Greens had good coverage but were very bumpy and inconsistent being on the slow side. POP was very good on the front but slow on the back. Green fees are a little high for the current conditions.
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Just an alert to everyone out there.

The greens on a couple of holes here are on life-support.

Espec... » More

Just an alert to everyone out there.

The greens on a couple of holes here are on life-support.

Especially seven and eight. There’s only nine holes here so take that into consideration.

I want to like this place but I’ve never seen a green so destroyed as number seven is here. Unreal....

The maintenance crew is attempting to address this situation but I don’t know what they could possibly do to turn this situation around.

Greens were punched a couple of months ago as I live in a home surrounding the “back three” ....there is a “front 6 six” holes on the north side of Thousand Oaks Blvd where the greens are still decent. But on the “back three” holes on the south side of Thousand Oaks Blvd ....the greens on seven and eight are borderline destroyed.

Anyways if you decide to play here good luck with your putting on 7 and 8.

Otherwise? I generally like the place.
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Played Shadow Valley today with a tee time of 10:40. Practice facilities are in great shape with grass driving range, mu... » More

Played Shadow Valley today with a tee time of 10:40. Practice facilities are in great shape with grass driving range, multiple putting and chipping greens with sand trap available for practice. Staff were friendly and helpful got our threesome off at 10:30. A few tee boxes, played from the whites today, had some divot damage but did not affect ability to find a good spot to tee from. Fairways were in very good shape only a few divots but soft and rolled well. Rough was lush but a firm stroke gets you out. The sand traps were soft and deep per my two playing partners attested to. The greens rolled smooth and fast to medium fast. Very few greens are flat with multiple undulations, but the pace was most important. The course had ice chests with cold water bottles available on four or five holes, a nice touch for an 88 degree day!

Overall a great day golfing, it helped that I had my best score for Shadow Valley!
Tootall
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Played Monday morning the 14th. $29 to ride. Tough walk in the heat. Course has not been going down hill for a long time... » More

Played Monday morning the 14th. $29 to ride. Tough walk in the heat. Course has not been going down hill for a long time. Good news it looks like they are trying to improve it. They were starting the remodel of the clubhouse the day we arrived. On to the course. Greens best part medium speed a little hairy, but good overall. A few thin parts but overall fine and the best part of the course. Tees were workable, Some thin spots, some needed mowing. Fairways oh boy! Here is the problem. Since they cover the most acreage they were the worst part. They had parts of super wet (first hole had a deep puddle with ducks floating in it) To thin and bare in some areas. All were really long and desperately needed mowing. Which they were doing behind us!!!!!!!. Rough was similar to the fairways. Bunkers.
They have let a lot of them go to grass. The ones that remain are quite hard as they get baked everyday. All the lakes had water in them also. talking to guy in pro shop Cal City is commited to making the course good again. I hope so its a wonderful layout and challenging, becoming really tough when the wind blows.
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Knocking courses off my list and based on Alex326's past review didn't have high expectations. This course is $25 to wal... » More

Knocking courses off my list and based on Alex326's past review didn't have high expectations. This course is $25 to walk after 3PM. I think on Monday and Tue they run a $50 special that includes a cart. This course reminded me a lot of Lake Chabot in Oakland, which I haven't played in 20 years. It even had the eucalyptus trees and their fragrant aroma. Super hilly layout, especially the back nine. Even though it wasn't a muni the course was in very good muni shape. Maybe new ownership? It struck me as a good work in progress. Many of the fairways were super lush, others not so much. Some fairways were both, so if they tweaked their sprinkler system all the fairways might be very good. Fairways were pretty wide, anything off the fairway was hardpan or gopher holes. The course has many deep green side bunkers. Some had lots of fluffy beach sand and others were on the thin side. I don't remember seeing any fairway bunkers.
The greens were immaculate. Glass smooth and medium fast with subtle breaks. Not a lot of contour but with the hilly layout they had slope. I didn't have a straight putt all day and anything above the hole had to be treated with care. It's a stout walk but manageable, not too busy and I was done in 3hr.
With all the great golf in the area and the spotty conditions history I can see this course being overlooked,Spanish Bay it is not. I believe the rack rates are in the $75 range, so that is ridiculous. However as a late afternoon add on to another course or a place to play on the way home from somewhere else I can recommend checking it out.
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Sporty layout in the hills of Watsonville. Par 71, 6005 from the tips.
4PM walking time $20.
The greens were ex... » More

Sporty layout in the hills of Watsonville. Par 71, 6005 from the tips.
4PM walking time $20.
The greens were excellent the fairways good and the sand was crusty but playable.
Never had a bad lie but saw some dry spots, anything outside the fairway was hard pan or gopher holes. Fairways were mostly generous except for the few tight holes. Course has lots of elevation change. I definitely felt the walk but not a deal breaker. However the first time playing this course I think a cart would have helped shave some strokes. Some hidden creeks,with no water in them come into play as well as blind shots and some sloping fairways. If you don't hit it straight walking around looking for your ball on the blind holes could be a pain. The par fives are getable and I was out of position on most of them. The greens were smooth with good pace and subtle breaks. Fun course in a nice setting that is worth checking out.
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When the heat comes, San Clemente is such a wonderful course to play. Truth is, it's great any time of year. (Never an... » More

When the heat comes, San Clemente is such a wonderful course to play. Truth is, it's great any time of year. (Never any frost here either ! ) Course is really in nice condition right now. Greens rolling well, very receptive. Fairways have good coverage. Really the entire course is very good right now. Staff is always friendly and unlike many other courses, they have not inflated their fees. Highly recommend !
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6/14 on a nice slightly overcast day with no wind and a really nice POP of about 345. Fairways generally have sufficie... » More

6/14 on a nice slightly overcast day with no wind and a really nice POP of about 345. Fairways generally have sufficient cover, mowed a little tight for good roll but still soft enough underneath to give good cushion for irons while requiring attention for metals and hybrids. Seemed like people started to lose interest in filling divots on the back. Rough is varied and can be clumpy in spots so the ball can be sitting down behind longer grass. Around the greens it tends to be thicker and today cut down to about 2 inches.
Tees are mostly in good shape overall and it appears they are rotating placement daily. Bunkers have good ample sand, recently groomed and has compacted some to be more playable. Rakes are now present but only put to use about 50% of the time.
Regarding the greens the front was in nice shape smooth quick and consistent. The back however had been micro punched and some punches were not really all that micro. There was not prior info about this and nothing was mentioned at check in. Consequently the back greens had some bumpiness which tended to exacerbate break as the ball slowed.
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Best course you can play for under $50. Greens were amazing, best I have played in a long time, quick and smooth and re... » More

Best course you can play for under $50. Greens were amazing, best I have played in a long time, quick and smooth and receptive. This is one of my favorite courses, a bit of a drive to get there but well worth it, especially price is well under $50 and the pace of play is always moving along pretty quickly, much faster then "down the hill" courses. This is a very old layout with huge trees and most of the holes curve one way or the other which puts a premium on driving the ball, but if you do miss the fairway you can usually find your ball and have a decent 2nd shot. #18 is a beast, one of the toughest finishing holes you will every play. The bar/restaurant has been completely renovated and came out great.
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Played a few times over the last week (Saturday-Tuesday) for various tournaments and events for US Open week.

T... » More

Played a few times over the last week (Saturday-Tuesday) for various tournaments and events for US Open week.

The course still has a few construction projects going, but it's easy to get around. New gigantic tee on #5 being built, right sides of 4 and 15 getting sodded early next week (free drop so fine), 14 Tee getting rebuilt and bunker in front of the 15 green is getting turned into a big pot bunker which is going to be really cool.

All the finished projects like new tees on 1, 2, 3 and 16 look amazing. Just crazy how different it makes the holes. New fairway and turf on #1, 3 and 16 are all grown in and it makes a big difference.

Greens finally got back up to speed over the weekend with them being cut and rolled for the Member Member, but when I played Tuesday they rolled great and held shots, just a tad slower.

It's amazing to me the speed at which the course improvements get done here. For someone who plays here a lot there's always something new happening. Pretty cool to see.
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Played Wed 6/16, 10:50 tee time, 4 some. Warm day, but didn't break 100 like forecast, and breeze made it nice most of ... » More

Played Wed 6/16, 10:50 tee time, 4 some. Warm day, but didn't break 100 like forecast, and breeze made it nice most of the round. Course in average muni summer shape. Very playable. It took me 10 holes to figure out the greens are very grainy, and will play slow into the grain (about 7 or 8 stimp), and 11 down grain. I had a 15 ft downhill birdie putt off a mound that I left 5 ft short, and I couldn't figure out why. Thinking back, it was probably into the grain. Once I figured it out, my putting improved greatly, though I did give up a few 3 putt pars on the par 5s. OVerall, the course is mostly wide open off the tee, with large greens, rolls through the hills. The bunkers are in disrepair. They haven't even tried to maintain them since covid. The regulars don't play out of them. I went into one fairway bunker that was literal beach sand bumpy... So i just gave myself a lie. So, generally a fun course, in average shape, that I would play anytime, but wouldn't go out of my way to get there. Hopefully that changes over time.
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