Golf Course Reviews
Golf Course Reviews: California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Florida, Hawaii!We used to play this course years ago on a regular basis but first time back in many years. Early morning 4.5 hour round on a fairly busy course. The staff is real friendly and informative about what has gone on with the facility and what is planned going forward. Upon check in every golfer was given a discount for a future weekday round. The practice green is still under repair with only about 50% of it being usable. There is no driving range with only bays and nets. The tee boxes were all level with pretty nice coverage. The rough here is not very thick or long where it is present. Most fairways are lined with brush, trees and water features. Many forced carries on tee and fairway shots. The traps all had ample sand but were all shaggy around the edges. The greens were still a work in progress but in much better condition that we had thought we would find. The greens were all really quick and improved with coverage as the round progressed. There were several ball marks on every green that golfers decided not to repair!! The entire course was marshaled to keep the pace of play reasonable and it was nice. The rates being charged are very reasonable for the course and area. We were told that May 1st would be the grand reopening and I would think that's when rates will increase. Definitely a must play and worth the drive. Recommended
Another great time at Bear Creek Golf Club on January 27th. Played with GDR23, barkydog and friend Brian from Vivid Golf/Golf Moose.
We lucked out with our location and weather in that the majority of SoCal was trenched the night before but Murrieta, although cold and damp, presented us a rain free day and beautiful golf course. I’ve played Bear Creek Golf Club now 5 times with this being the first time the fairways were overseeded for the winter. I enjoyed playing the dormant (still full coverage) bermunda turf winter fairways but loved playing the overseeded fairways instead (its my understanding BCGC will be overseeding in coming years as well for the winter). Although the ball did not roll out as much now, making the course longer, the ball sat up better. Best of all, it was the first time seeing the course with the dormant rough defining the overseeded fairways. Check out the photos I posted!
The greens were fast, smooth and loaded with tournament pin locations. ONE DAY I will have good putting round at The Bear, Monday was NOT the day. Wow, were those greens tough to read BUT A BLAST to play.
The bunkers were gorgeous. White, well maintained, perfect consistent medium/solf texture from hole to hole (can you tell I'm a bogey golfer/bunker connoisseur).
Its a pleasure running outings at Bear Creek GC. The staging area for 80 players max shotgun events keeps all your players nearby. The driving range (grass), practice putting, practice sand/pitching and clubhouse make it easy for our players to enjoy the experience. The Bear Creek GC staff are great to work with from reserving your event to the day of play and follow up.
Thank you everyone that comes to these events!
We lucked out with our location and weather in that the majority of SoCal was trenched the night before but Murrieta, although cold and damp, presented us a rain free day and beautiful golf course. I’ve played Bear Creek Golf Club now 5 times with this being the first time the fairways were overseeded for the winter. I enjoyed playing the dormant (still full coverage) bermunda turf winter fairways but loved playing the overseeded fairways instead (its my understanding BCGC will be overseeding in coming years as well for the winter). Although the ball did not roll out as much now, making the course longer, the ball sat up better. Best of all, it was the first time seeing the course with the dormant rough defining the overseeded fairways. Check out the photos I posted!
The greens were fast, smooth and loaded with tournament pin locations. ONE DAY I will have good putting round at The Bear, Monday was NOT the day. Wow, were those greens tough to read BUT A BLAST to play.
The bunkers were gorgeous. White, well maintained, perfect consistent medium/solf texture from hole to hole (can you tell I'm a bogey golfer/bunker connoisseur).
Its a pleasure running outings at Bear Creek GC. The staging area for 80 players max shotgun events keeps all your players nearby. The driving range (grass), practice putting, practice sand/pitching and clubhouse make it easy for our players to enjoy the experience. The Bear Creek GC staff are great to work with from reserving your event to the day of play and follow up.
Thank you everyone that comes to these events!
So I stopped here on the way home to play another 18. Having played here many times in the past I was looking forward to the return. The sun had come out and I thought things would be better. Wrong. Pro shop great as well as the starter but thats were it ends. I found the tee boxes to be adequate. Fairways were wet, bare, thin and muddy. Traps were not very playable. Greens were all hard and many devoid of grass. Unfortunately the course is in very poor condition IMO. I played 9 holes and left. If the front was any indication of how the course was playing, I could only imagine what the back 9 would be like. I don't really like writing negative reviews on courses but there was really nothing postive about the round except the nice golf carts and really cool GPS. The course needs drying out, sun and some maitenance before I would play here again.
Finally got around to using my JC Resorts card free rounds. Decided to start here today. Unfortunately the morning was rendered difficult due to fog for 12 holes. As I had not played here in many years, I really had no recollection of the holes, so playing in the fog was not fun. I did have two locals playing with me that knew the course, but even that wasn't very helpful. Never had a issue with a tee box. Fairways are wide but combination of bermuda grass, kikyu grass and dampness hindered the lies and roll out. Also plenty of rough, OB, ravines, lakes and well you get the picture. Did find the traps to be playable thank goodness and there are plenty of them and they are large and deep. Also large undulating greens that were unbelievably fast (I would guess 11) and many of them elevated that made club selection difficult given the weather conditions. Once the sun came out on 14 you really got a sense of the layout of this course and why driving accuracy is a premium, length and good putting are so crucial to having a good round. The course is in the hills of Temecula and it really is a great layout w/o any homes and a tremendous variety of holes that will challenge anyone IMO. I would recommend one play this course but on a sunny day and when the course is dried out. Great clubhouse, very nice new carts, driving range right close to the first hole and a new restaurant that just opened. And great customer service as well.
Played this morning. All the damage from the recent storm has been cleaned. Some holes look entirely different with the trees taken out. Overall the course is in decent playing shape. Tee boxes are still filled with grass and clean. Fairways have many dry areas due to lack of rain (which is supposed to come tomorrow) and I noticed they had watered quite a bit overnight since the last time I was here. But they give great roll out and you do get an occacionally good lie on some grass. Traps are all in good shape with the new sand but players don't rake especially those who play on weekends and today it showed. Little to no rough to deal with. Greens are in very nice shape presently. They are firm, putt/chip well and have good speed. But again weekend players left a lot of divots from Sun play. Customer service still continues to be great from every employee encountered. To bad the restaurant only open for full menu Wed to Friday.
played sun 2/2, 8am shotgun. I think this might be my favorite resort/public course in the area. Haven't played here in many years, and it was a fun time. Course in good shape, the worst conditioned of the 3 i played. But overall in good shape. Tee boxes were surprisingly subpar. Greens firm and fast, an 11. They were the bumpiest of the 3 due to small ball marks not being fixed. Fairways lush, bunkers nice. The course is carved into the mountainside, and looks the most natural of the 3 Dye courses I played. 16 interesting holes, 2 or maybe 3 pedestrian holes. Overall had a great time on a beautiful warm day.
played sat 2/1, 8am shotgun. course in fabulous shape. Greens are firm and fast, running 11. Course lush, rough semi dormant. bunkers were mostly playable, but seemed inconsistent. The greens here, out of the 3 i played, were the most undulating and the pins were demanding. It was near impossible to hold a green, and chipping to some pin placements were impossible and you had to play away from the pin. You definitely needed to know where to miss, and even then, you had to miss right. I hit some good shots that normally would've given me a makeable putt, but they ended up rolling off the green, one time 50 ft. Part of it is knowing where to aim to play it, which requires playing it over and over, part of it felt unfair. the facility is amazing, and we had a great time on a beautiful day.
played fri 1/31, 12:15 tee time, 5:15 round, finished in the dusk. First time here in a long time, so I can't remember what it was like before the renovation. Course in fabulous shape, coming off the pga event 2 wks ago. Pretty immaculate, really. Greens firm, running 11. challenging course with water all over. Rough is dormant, but playable. Fairways running fast. A strenuous test all around.. need to keep it out of the water off the tee, hitting the green is no given, and putting is challenging. beautiful day as well. carts have a great speaker system for your tunes, but the gps was a bit sketchy. Overall had a great time.
I thought I make a quick review since the fires and extreme winds a couple weeks ago. The number of fallen and missing trees is noticeable to someone who plays Harding often but other than a little less shade and open space, the trees that were lost aren't significant in affecting the play...except for a single hole. Hole #16 lost the the giant ficus tree that guarded the right side of the fairway. This used to be one of the most difficult driving holes, but now its WIDE open. I hated this hole but I'm saddened that it lost a lot of character and challenge to Harding. Holed #15 and #16 are a downers now. #15 because the green has been a lost cause since last Summer, I don't know if they can, if ever, repair it.
Otherwise, the greens were great! Fairly quick, but on the soft side on approaches. Coverage on the fairways and around the greens is good. Several bunkers are on the thin side but playable. The biggest issue is still the tee boxes, very poor on many.
Harding is still a personal fav and a good value.
Otherwise, the greens were great! Fairly quick, but on the soft side on approaches. Coverage on the fairways and around the greens is good. Several bunkers are on the thin side but playable. The biggest issue is still the tee boxes, very poor on many.
Harding is still a personal fav and a good value.
Finally made it back out to the Babe for the first time in six years and it was every bit as challenging as I remembered it. That Zaharias course at Industry Hills is a target golfer's paradise, but it's also got teeth in some areas made even more difficult by the current conditions.
There's not a short or mild par 3 on the course - you've either got crazy long or lots of trouble in the form of water and/or elevation to judge. The tee shots are very narrow on a great number of holes and being even slightly out of position leaves no shot for success. Hit good shots though and you'll be okay, except that right now the course is not in optimum shape.
The greens are fine - best part of the course. They're rolling nicely at medium-fast speeds, have lots of fun but tricky tiers to them, and require your best effort to keep the three-putts to a minimum. Fairways? They play much better than they look and it's the heart of winter so you can make excuses for them, but they're a pale, dead-looking green and there are also a fair bit of damaged or thin areas. The rough is not as thick as years past so it's quite playable.
The worst part? The bunkers. Simply terrible. No sand, hard-paneed and a little wet even. They were absolutely impossible to play proper sand shots from and weren't much better even when trying to chip out of there. I've never seen so many players hit hosel rockets out of the beach. Terrible. Tee boxes were also pretty beat up (played the blues) but acceptable.
We had cart service come around a few times which was great (they are card only though so keep that in mind), and the carts themselves are quite nice and have a good GPS system to help you judge this difficult track. No complaints there, and the staff all helpful and pleasant.
In top condition, this course is a true gem and a real test of shot accuracy, but right now it's a little less fun and more daunting than it should be based on some of the above-mentioned factors. I would still play it again though as the price ($89) was just fine for the golf experience. If I would have paid more then it would have been a lot more upsetting.
There's not a short or mild par 3 on the course - you've either got crazy long or lots of trouble in the form of water and/or elevation to judge. The tee shots are very narrow on a great number of holes and being even slightly out of position leaves no shot for success. Hit good shots though and you'll be okay, except that right now the course is not in optimum shape.
The greens are fine - best part of the course. They're rolling nicely at medium-fast speeds, have lots of fun but tricky tiers to them, and require your best effort to keep the three-putts to a minimum. Fairways? They play much better than they look and it's the heart of winter so you can make excuses for them, but they're a pale, dead-looking green and there are also a fair bit of damaged or thin areas. The rough is not as thick as years past so it's quite playable.
The worst part? The bunkers. Simply terrible. No sand, hard-paneed and a little wet even. They were absolutely impossible to play proper sand shots from and weren't much better even when trying to chip out of there. I've never seen so many players hit hosel rockets out of the beach. Terrible. Tee boxes were also pretty beat up (played the blues) but acceptable.
We had cart service come around a few times which was great (they are card only though so keep that in mind), and the carts themselves are quite nice and have a good GPS system to help you judge this difficult track. No complaints there, and the staff all helpful and pleasant.
In top condition, this course is a true gem and a real test of shot accuracy, but right now it's a little less fun and more daunting than it should be based on some of the above-mentioned factors. I would still play it again though as the price ($89) was just fine for the golf experience. If I would have paid more then it would have been a lot more upsetting.
I played The Dam Sat 2/1. Growing up, in the SFV, I've probably played this course more than any. Been a while though. Overall, especially after the winds, I was happily surprised that it was in good muni shape.
The Restaurant is open at 8*30, so early tee times bring your own... Newer carts with nice GPS & Bluetooth speakers also slow carts to a crawl near the clubhouse-Boooo. No cart service, but you pass the restaurant at the turn. Range is large, good for warm up, plenty of short game space.
Tee boxes- not great, but adequate.
Fairways- Decent coverage, dormant-semi dormant mix of grasses.
Rough- Some areas thicker than others, mostly dormant so not very penal.
Greens- Most are large. Lots of ball marks, but good muni condition. Running medium speed.
Bunkers- Pretty good shape.
Collars- some chewed up, most decent.
The Lake near the 16th fairway has been empty (cement bottom) for a long time, ugly!
POP- 4:20 teeing off at 8*20. Just right here.
I recommend this LA City course, not a CC by any means, but a fun muni!
The Restaurant is open at 8*30, so early tee times bring your own... Newer carts with nice GPS & Bluetooth speakers also slow carts to a crawl near the clubhouse-Boooo. No cart service, but you pass the restaurant at the turn. Range is large, good for warm up, plenty of short game space.
Tee boxes- not great, but adequate.
Fairways- Decent coverage, dormant-semi dormant mix of grasses.
Rough- Some areas thicker than others, mostly dormant so not very penal.
Greens- Most are large. Lots of ball marks, but good muni condition. Running medium speed.
Bunkers- Pretty good shape.
Collars- some chewed up, most decent.
The Lake near the 16th fairway has been empty (cement bottom) for a long time, ugly!
POP- 4:20 teeing off at 8*20. Just right here.
I recommend this LA City course, not a CC by any means, but a fun muni!
Was excited to check out the Ike for the first time after hearing a lot about it. Rate was $99 for 12pm on Friday afternoon. Walked with my partner who's no stranger to big hills, rate was the same with/without cart.
I don't know if you'd call the fairways dormant or what, but they sure weren't lush - I think this is a wintertime thing. You could still take a divot, so overall fine, a lot of runout, fairly dry. Teeboxes were great, hard to find a spot that wasn't flat. Bunkers were a disappointment - hard packed sand that was impossible to splash out of, some had a little mud in them. The rough was there, wasn't very punitive. There were actually more than a few dead/dirt spots around some greens that you could putt right through.
Greens were in great condition and quite challenging - the tip I got was to 'read them from every angle' and that helped a ton in avoiding three-putts.
POP was 5h15, pretty bad. The guys we played with said it usually wasn't like that - front 9 was backed up starting on the 4th hole and took 3 hours, we were the last group to finish 18.
Overall, I thought it was a little too high of a rack rate for the conditions, but the greens were super memorable and "fun" for sickos that love punishment or can't hit accurate approach shots. Didn't see a marshall, beers were $9, didn't try the glizzy. Still, I know I'm going to come back in the springtime and try the Babe.
I don't know if you'd call the fairways dormant or what, but they sure weren't lush - I think this is a wintertime thing. You could still take a divot, so overall fine, a lot of runout, fairly dry. Teeboxes were great, hard to find a spot that wasn't flat. Bunkers were a disappointment - hard packed sand that was impossible to splash out of, some had a little mud in them. The rough was there, wasn't very punitive. There were actually more than a few dead/dirt spots around some greens that you could putt right through.
Greens were in great condition and quite challenging - the tip I got was to 'read them from every angle' and that helped a ton in avoiding three-putts.
POP was 5h15, pretty bad. The guys we played with said it usually wasn't like that - front 9 was backed up starting on the 4th hole and took 3 hours, we were the last group to finish 18.
Overall, I thought it was a little too high of a rack rate for the conditions, but the greens were super memorable and "fun" for sickos that love punishment or can't hit accurate approach shots. Didn't see a marshall, beers were $9, didn't try the glizzy. Still, I know I'm going to come back in the springtime and try the Babe.
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