First time playing here, joining in the GK Plays event on Sat. Friendly greetings at the bag drop and Larry the starter... » More

First time playing here, joining in the GK Plays event on Sat. Friendly greetings at the bag drop and Larry the starter. Both very professional and personable.

Overall, the course was in the best/most lush condition of any course I've played in a long time. Liked the layout, too. A good challenge, lots of bunkers, but fairways were wide enough. Lavender teeboxes were lush green islands in the desert. Fairways were near immaculate, but soft and easy to dig into the turf, as was the rough. Rough was grabby, a club+ penal for me, even though it looked fairly harmless. Needed to decrease angle of attack, I think.

Bunkers were generally good sand and well-groomed, but did see a few unraked entries by negligent golfers. Waste bunkers were not fun to hit from, a bit soft and wavy sand made it hard to get clean contact.

Greens did not seem to hold shots very well, in spite of being a bit soft. No divots to speak of, so putting was pretty darn smooth, mostly at medium-fast speed. Had trouble getting a good read on shorter putts within 5 feet - pretty tricky breaks.

POP was very good, 4hr10mins. A great day overall on the course, playing with Larry, Tim and Brady - thanks guys! Look forward to a return visit.
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Played here after a 5-1/2 year withdrawl from golf.
The course is good shape for once. Greens are nice, fairways ... » More

Played here after a 5-1/2 year withdrawl from golf.
The course is good shape for once. Greens are nice, fairways are decent as well.
The only 2 things that need improvent is: tee boxes and sand traps.
Once those are addressed, things
Would really improve.
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Played in the 5/6 outing with gk.

Drove through quite a bit of rain on my way up to the course from LA and was... » More

Played in the 5/6 outing with gk.

Drove through quite a bit of rain on my way up to the course from LA and was worried about a bit but cleared up nicely as I approached Santa Barbara. The grass at the range and putting green were in excellent shape. The practice green was fast fast fast. Between putting and heading to the first tee e got some decent rainfall. The rain wasn’t enough to make the course a slog but softened up the greens just enough to slow them down and make them more receptive to incoming shots. They rolled very smooth and downhillers were a real test to get close to the hole.

The fairways were excellent as well and were great to hit from.

The rough was thick and with the added moisture was difficult to advance the ball from.

The bunkers, despite the rain, were still relatively fluffy and had great sand in them.

Tee boxes were great, level, and lush.

After my first round at sandpiper I was impressed and look forward to future rounds there.
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Thanks everyone that came out to GK Plays Desert Willow Golf Resort!

I just posted a short recap on the GK Eve... » More

Thanks everyone that came out to GK Plays Desert Willow Golf Resort!

I just posted a short recap on the GK Events page.

I played the Firecliff course back in early April when it was predominantly peak season rye grass course. Place was immaculate. Saturday the golf course was predominantly a bermunda turf course almost fully transitioned and it was in fantastic shape. Greens more firm and faster. Fairways and Rough lush. Tee boxes mostly lush with some thin spots. Bunkers all high quality sand and groomed.

From an organizer perspective the Desert Willow staff is as professional and accommodating as it gets. The practice area is perfectly positioned to the golf cart staging area and first tee of the Firecliff course. The patio and inside facilities are gorgeous. Only disappointment was I thought the restaurant/bar would still be open after our round on Saturday. Guess this time year they close early. I’ll do better research next time. Sorry about that.

Big thanks to our prize sponsors Linksoul and GolfMoose. And a big thanks to Desert Willow Golf Resort for hosting. We’ll for sure be back for another outing!
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I checked and it had been 10 years since I last played here. I had a 6:00am tee time, which was the fourth group off, s... » More

I checked and it had been 10 years since I last played here. I had a 6:00am tee time, which was the fourth group off, so I had some concerns about pace of play, but as it turned out, my fears were not warranted. Out walking threesome played without any waiting in just a touch over three hours. (Nobody behind us so we just maintained a nice easy pace) Check in was efficient and the starter made certain everything went off as scheduled.

Course was in much better condition than expected, in fact the greens were some of the best I've played. Fairways also very good, bunkers had lots of sand and were for the most part well maintained. Rough was just OK.

I enjoyed the course more than I remembered. (Maybe it's because I'm old now and the holes present a greater challenge than they did back when.) Yeah there are a few short par four holes, but there are also some legit par 4 holes as well. $21 was a great price, so I am certain it will not be 10 tens until I return. A very pleasant enjoyable round of golf, which is about all I need nowdays
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Played with Sixpez, Gregholla, and Mike during the GK event on Saturday. Every time I get to play this course I get exci... » More

Played with Sixpez, Gregholla, and Mike during the GK event on Saturday. Every time I get to play this course I get excited as I love the layout and conditions. This weekend was no exception. From tee to green everything was fantastic. I don't have a ton to add to the rest of the reviews from the weekend other than I wasn't a huge fan of the greens this time around. They were multi colored and Firm. The colors made it tough to judge some breaks but I am also not a great putter so Ill split the blame 50/50. Tee, Rough, and Fairways were fantastic as always. San was good not great I was in 3 and 2 of them were great the other was a little hard.

Overall this is a must play.
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Played Friday, 5/17 as a foursome. Teed off around 10 and finished in just under 4.5 hours. Course is in very nice sha... » More

Played Friday, 5/17 as a foursome. Teed off around 10 and finished in just under 4.5 hours. Course is in very nice shape. Greens were a bit slower than normal (per my playing partners), but pretty consistent from green to green. Good coverage in fairways. The few bunkers I was in were well maintained. The rough in some spots was pretty thick, other spots not so much. Some holes are pretty tight, and course knowledge certainly helps here. Not overly long, but several tee shots make you think. Staff was fantastic. Highly recommend.
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Had a great time at Saturday's GK Plays. Thanks to Johnny, LinkSoul, GolfMoose and of course the Desert Willow staff for... » More

Had a great time at Saturday's GK Plays. Thanks to Johnny, LinkSoul, GolfMoose and of course the Desert Willow staff for another fun outing. I was in the second-to-last group out with Gregholla, mpisarki01 and Mike, and we enjoyed a nice relaxed 4:15 pace. Not bad on a Saturday with a good-sized GK group.

The course, as always, was in exceptional condition as others have already noted. Some tee boxes getting a little worn heading into summer. Fairways and rough just about perfect. The bunkers had great sand, but I did notice the lining starting to come up in a few on the back nine. The greens were firm-ish and rolling pretty well at medium speeds. Kind of in transition with the winter rye burning off and the bermuda coming through (maybe 50/50 mix right now), but cut nicely and still rolling pretty consistently.

It's always an excellent experience at Desert Willow, so I look forward to every visit. Two great courses, friendly staff and stellar course conditions almost all the time. Highly recommended!
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Had a 12:15pm tee time on Saturday on the Champions course. They had two tournaments going on but the staff handled it w... » More

Had a 12:15pm tee time on Saturday on the Champions course. They had two tournaments going on but the staff handled it with no problem. Check in was easy and first tee organized and well on point. Tee boxes were level and had good coverage, fairways and rough also had good coverage. Sand traps were very compacted and inconsistent. Green complexes are guarded with some deep bunkers and it was a guessing game on how the ball would come out. Greens were receptive to good shots, were smooth but a little on the slow side.
Usually don't play in the afternoon on weekends and was worried about POP. Took 4.5 hours to get around which I thought was very good with how many golfers were on the course. Got a very good rate on their website.
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Played in the GK event yesterday. First time for us. Dave and Phil were nice to play with.
Thanks to Johnny GK for... » More

Played in the GK event yesterday. First time for us. Dave and Phil were nice to play with.
Thanks to Johnny GK for setting up a nice fun time.

On to the course. For a muni course the course was in good condition especially for the desert in May. No complaints about anything except we played the front nine in less than two hours and then from the 10th tee on we waited on every hole. We were the first GK group off so anybody who played yesterday that is reading this, IT WAS NOT US.


I think the hardest part of the course is the greens on many of the holes. If you are on the wrong side then it is a guaranteed three putt.
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Played the Vineyard course with three friends the morning of May 18th. Had an 8:02 tee time and went off right on time. ... » More

Played the Vineyard course with three friends the morning of May 18th. Had an 8:02 tee time and went off right on time. Played an about 4 hours with a relaxing pace. Didn't have to wait and really wasn't pushed by the group behind.

Played the white tees and they were were all in pretty good shape except for maybe the 11th hole, which had an up slope like and felt it caused the ball to launch higher than normal costing a slight amount of distance.

Greens putted smooth. Sign said playing at about a 10.5 and that seems about right. Fairway was in great shape and the rough the same playing maybe and inch thick but getting deeper the further you got from the fairway.

Was only in one bunker and it was a great condition and gave no problems coming out.

Would play again and recommended at this time.
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Played in the GK event 5/18/19. Thanks Leef2020 and Larryq2001 for a very enjoyable round. It had been almost a year sin... » More

Played in the GK event 5/18/19. Thanks Leef2020 and Larryq2001 for a very enjoyable round. It had been almost a year since last played here and it's still one of my favorite courses. Fairway's were fantastic. Grass changing to Bermuda, but still had some decent roll. Typically will not be the case in the middle of summer. Greens were about halfway grown in with the summer Bermuda. Looked a little on the rough side, but rolled very well at about a medium pace. Were very firm and hard to get anything to stop without having the ability to put some 'stank' on the ball. Of the 100+ bunkers on the course, I found a lot of them and no issues getting out of them. Saw the cart girl many times throughout the round. Was unfortunate the bar was closing when we finished at around 4:30. Highly recommend.
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