Played Sterling Hills for the first time, on 2/20. Had our semi-final cup 16 match, starting at noon and finishing with POP in 4.75 hours. Weather was great, 60's temps, calm at noon and about 10 knot winds starting around 1pm. Range, practice and chipping greens all open. Snack bar open.
The white tees were pretty chewed today, lots of divots, some filled and some not(there were sand bottles on the carts). I saw some were aerated, and some had some slight crowns that made you search for a better footing to tee advantage. Thier tee boxes seem smaller than most, not as wide, and not as long.

The fairways were winter thin and firm, with plenty of rollout. A little dry too, like the winds had been here for a few days prior. Still playable.

The rough was both thin and thick kikuyu. Mostly dry as well. Try to stay away from the rough under the canopy of the many eucalyptus trees...the kikuyu seems to not do well in winter there.

The traps, had real sand...and juuust deep enough, to honor how traps should be.

The areas around the greens were mostly cut enough the have the ball sit up nicely. On the par 3 15th, I missed left and this area was thicker than most and sticky for the flop I attempted.

The greens were tricky for me today. Firm and with plenty of ball marks. I thought they were med-fast. It seemed like approaches from beyond 150 lost a lot holding power. Spend extra time on the practice greens, it should pay dividends.

The drink cart came around twice, no rakes, mats on the range, 1 drink and range balls included with the green fee. Marshall on duty and good customer service. Had a good match with John, Eric & Perry...I'd play here again.

Played Jurupa Hills Friday 1/15 with a 10:15 slot. The pro shop and the Marshall scrambled, and found me another walk-on single(Fred) at the last minute, because the original 3 some refused to play in those high winds. By hole#3, I invite the twosome of young guns(Carlos & Ryan) already on our tail, to join us, and they accepted. We all played the white tees, which was smarter when you're having to scramble about the course in high winds. I read the Sierra Lakes review by chevelle, we were about 15 miles from him, but he clearly had worse winds.
Regardless, the course was in surprisingly good shape for Janurary. I was expecting to see a lot downed limbs, pinecones and other blowdown strewn about, but there wasn't. The greens crews were on top of things. No course conditions hindered our game that day. From tee to green, all elements were acceptable to have a good round.
Service was good in the pro shop and the diner/snack bar. All practice greens and the all grass range were open. The drink cart came by on each 9. Foam in cups, no rakes, and divot mix bottles were on the carts. 4:15 POP. Speaking of carts, the pro shop said thier new fleet of carts will arrive next week. We had 4 club headwinds, but it actually made for good golf fun and comradarie amongst strangers. I'll be back. Cheers,

Played here 12/13 with the GK outing. My first time playing in Borrego Spings area. Grouped up with fellow friendly GK members: Mike, Tony and Steve. Met many others as well, including Jack16, all the way from Ohio! Good course, good service, good company, and good times! Thanks for organizing this event.

As a pilgrim, I played safe and shot below my handicap...so that also 'caps' my experience! That said, I will have way too much bias in rating this track. So let me just say, I will be back again, and recommend Rams Hill. Cheers,

Played here 12/10 at 10am with great GK members. We had sunny skies, no wind, in shorts and short sleeves temps. It gets better, the parking lot was only 2/3 full, so the range, putting and chipping greens, were easily accessed. Looked like the full compliment of workers were all on duty today, and looking after both golfers and the course, I appreciate that. The starter made sure we were following their group spacing, and understood today's pins were set at #4 plan(I should have processed this info better). I've played here before, but always from the III tees(whites). The Goose has been getting good fall reviews, the driver is in the bag for a change, and I'm feeling froggy today, so I decide to play the IV tees(blues) with Nick.
Tee boxes were in great shape, even the par 3 tees. By the way, there are 5 par 3's here, so come get your fix if that is your bag. But, look at that day's pin plan, and par 3 yardages, and really ponder before choosing the tees you play from. Only the par 3 2nd, played less than 170 from the blues, and that was because the pin was at the front. ;-) The par 3 16th was playing 223 from tee to pin. No GIR par 3's for me today.
Fairways were great to play from and in good fall health.
Rough was lush, and cut to useful depths for all occasions.
Traps were good, groomed, sand and no pebbles. I had no problem sweeping out of a fairway trap, and flubbed out of a nice greenside bunker(my bad). A few others were damp.
Areas around greens were good and playable, all favorable to pitches and chips. Believe me, I was pitching and chipping a lot today; luckily my wedge play was pretty reliable.
The greens were good and I saw them hold just about anything. My putting game was off, but the greens were on. They rolled fast and seemed to be cut tight. I should have practiced more on both putting greens to take better advantage of these conditions.
Saw drink cart twice on each nine. Course bathrooms open, foam in cups, no rakes, divot mix on carts, spacing was comfortable and POP was just about 4 hours. Had a good time. I'm fairly local to Goose Creek, and I proudly recommend it for this area. Cheers,

Played the blue tees at Shoboba Shprings resort with co-workers for a rewarding MGF outing. My first time back in over 25 years, for the rest, it's been a few years...why oh why have we not been back here sooner!? This place is in very good condition right now. We were scheduled to tee off at 12:20, but a tournament earlier delayed us by 20 minutes. We still finished in just under 4 hours and with plenty of light. We passed the tips tee box on 17 and sitting there is a TM r5...we reunite it with the the backtracking owner so he can breathe easier and use it on 18.
The tee boxes are all level, healthy and cut right...and will easily satisfy those with tee setup OCD.
The fairway cut is great, very lush and a good balance between soft landings and run outs. Divot scalps showed only good turf health.
The rough was at a good level of cut, just deep enough to get your 'easter egg' hunt fix, but not so deep to be penal to most hackers.
Fairway and greenside bunkers are in great condition and just a pleasure to play from. My partners allowed me lie relief from deep footprints...come on golfers, at least try to fix your footprints with what ya got(no rakes) when bunkers are this nice!
The greens are healthy, roll med/fast, not bumpy and in good pin hunting condition. The greens alone, made today's round totally enjoyable. Foam in cups.
Good customer service, all grass range open, practice greens open, snack bar open till 4:30, drink cart around on each 9, good accurate GPS on carts, virtual marshall on cart screen for POP, and single rider per cart availble as supplies last.
The weather made us spoiled golfers in shorts and short sleeves in November. I birdied 13, and Ed birdied a few holes later, but he isn't with GK...so I still posess the BC. I highly recommend Shoboba Shprings right now. Cheers,

Played the Champions course at Omni La Costa on 11/9 with GK Guru's. It was a pleasure to play some out of town golf and meet more GK'ers. Great weather to start the round, following the needed storm fronts that came through over the weekend.
Tees were good, I played the whites.
The fairways were still in very playable shape with dormant color coming in. Post rains, it was CPO. I saw a few areas staked as GUR and some areas that were marked for maintenance that will need it.
Traps, to be fair, we experienced some post-rains puddles and mud(silt leach down) in some bunkers. However, the ball always sat up in today's firm sand.
Greens were firm, fast and fun for me. Anything I legitimately threw at them, they held. The practice green matched the course greens for speed and break. Foam spacers in the cups.

No less than 8 staff members here, asked if I needed assistance, or they offered their services. Needless to say, customer service here is 'spot on' in my book! The pro shop was open, we saw the drink cart once per 9, the putting green was open, driving range was open(mats with adjustable tees), and the front and back 9 restrooms open. Good accurate GPS on carts...pay attention to the creeks and runoff channels that the GPS presents to you; I wish I had, as I donated 5 balls to water hazards today! As the sun was setting on our round, the temps were dropping and I wish I had layered my duds better...November has arrived. I would definitely play here again.
Cheers,

"Go west young man, and grow up with the country"...grown up is overrated, but golf isn't! So, after the extra hour of sleep, I left the house and headed west to Knollwood 11/1, for a team match with Sr714/m.pugh. First time there for me and a good day for a match. The layout has mostly holes that are nestled in tree lined canyons with homes just beyond the trees. There's pretty much always an elevation change, so if this is your bag...baby, get your fix here. It's fairly quiet, except for a few planes on approach to Van Nuys. We finished in about 4.5 POP on a Sunday. The tees were a little chewed but playable, we played from the whites. The fairways were good, and you'd get both helpful run out on some and soft saving landings on others. I had no issues hitting woods to wedges from any fairway lies today. The rough was good and not to fear(you won't quite lose your ball, but it will challenge you here and there). Now, the areas beyond the cuts of rough are dominated by canyon banking and pine trees. This means hitting the ball, either above or below your feet, with pine needles, twigs and pine cones...so don't expect grass in there(one should discipline oneself to avoid it). I will step out on a limb and say that the greens were putting med/fast. They were mostly tricky to me today on reading the break, because I do better when the practice greens are open. They were anywhere between softer and firmer,  but clearly accepting typical shots. Foam in cups.
The pro shop was open, the snack shop window was open, patio seating open with limited seating, no drink cart, putting green closed, 200yd max driving range open(mats), and the front and back 9 restrooms open. There's no water holes at Knollwood, and that helped me shoot 2 strokes below my handicap. My teammate had useful knowledge and strategies for Knollwood, so here's a shout out for Perry! I would play here again.

Played MMeadows 10/18, following behind thier men's club. Had a fun match with roarksown1, mcantos and kassper7. First time there for me. I like the layout; mature trees, plenty of elevation changes, doglegs, minimal water, and some key features that can't be taken lightly(holes 10 & 13). Putting green closed(d@mn), range open(mats), outside seating, no cash, and saw the drink cart twice. Clear skies and warm(the other GKer's all drove through 'pea soup' fog to get here).

Tees, we played the blues, level & healthy enough, and not too chewed up.
Fairways, healthy all around. Courses with this much elevation change usually have thier extra challenges of thin/bare spots and wet/soggy areas. We saw some of these, but there aren't too many(let's all avoid driving over and through them so they have a chance to heal).
Rough, you will see it all here...penal to short, and don't count on getting the good 'member's bounce' from the hillside rough. Choose your weapon wisely to hit from it.
Bunkers, sand. Pretty decent overall, I had some trouble getting out of, but that is all me. Why can't more courses have bunkers like this?
Greensides, in good shape all around, no problem for short recovery shots.
Greens, softer side and med speed. You can get the surfer's 'cresting wave' ball mark to fix. I had trouble reading the break more than the speed(I'll blame C19 and the closed practice green). I 3 putted way too much. Foam sleeve in cups. About a third of the holes had more extreme pin placements...red pins as far forward and blue pins as far back as possible(probably for the men's club).

I think we finished in a little over 4.5 hours. Overall, happy with the conditions, and it was a pleasure competing here as well. Thanks to Robert and the guys for setting up this round here! Recommended.

Played 10/10/2020 1:12pm in 4.5 hrs. Only north most putting green open, but range fully open from the mats. Check in, bar, cart loading and starter all on duty and made for swell customer service and beginning to round(did I just use the word swell?!?!).
Played with Uncle Jimmy, and paired up with an awesome local couple for a fun and enjoyable October round. BTW, Yucaipa has the best golf course bloody mary's...period! Ashwood is a very close second! You get the same quality bloody mary from the beverage cart as you do from the bar! It's grandma's recipe, don't ask, they won't share it to you. ;-)
Tee boxes mowed tight and lightly fertilized, but level and without issues(we played the whites and reds).
Fairways were great, just a few soggy spots here and there around some sprinklers. Divot scalps were uniform and healthy.
Rough was good, some areas were friendly, and some not so much. Either way, it kept run out off fairway under control. Some courses bring the fairway cut right to thier fairway bunkers. Yucaipa gives you a fighting chance by averaging 2- 4 yards of rough between the fairway cut and bunker. We still found our fair share of bunkers anyway.
Bunkers were fine, no issues sweeping for distance, or wedging for flight n bite.
Areas around greens were mostly playable and predictable to wedge from. Every green with a nearby water hazard, had patchy growth between the hazard and fringe.
Greens, night and day better than 2018/2019. Way better than early 2020. Slightly better than July 2020. Holes 7, 8, 17 & 18 still have green acne issues(7 & 18 being the worst). They were rolling fast, with very little break, as they are mowed very tight. Still, you get what you want from lofted/normal/forwardpressed putts now(been awhile since this could happen here). All those wonderful approach shots I witnessed by sbogey in Feburary, would have a fighting chance to bite and hold now ;-)
We let a fast 3 some play through, and offered the same to a 2 some on hole 15( they declined). Group spacing felt covid comfortable. Good to see continual improvements.
Cheers

Played twilight round Sat 9/26 with Uncle Jimmy, his first round back from 2 months off of knee replacement recovery. We match up and he takes the back 9 to my front 9, by two, for 2 points to my 1... d%mn ! I suggest Colton GC for his benefit as first game back, and my practice for team cup...Jeez, 2 months off and he takes best advantage of strokes on last three holes on me! Well, at least I secured a birdie on hole 3 for our birdie chain. He bought the loiter lagers on hole 19.
Played da blues, par 57, 3108/54.2/82, for a busy round at 3.5 hrs POP(everyone was here!) Range is open, mats and turf. The putting greens, and pitching greens are all open, but without flags/pins. Tees are rough and ridin' hard, but always flat(I'll take that). Mainly par 3's, so go ahead and leave your tees in your pocket and get as much kikuya lie approach practice as you want. Greens here are just as flippin' covid 19 soft as everyone else's greens...med initial roll speed with med2slow break. Greens are small, and always rewarding when you get a GIR and birdie opp. This place can either irritate you, help your game...or both.
Cheers,

First time here, played a really smokey and windy, but fun round at D. O. on Sep 8th.
Typical C19 features like foam in cups, no flags on practice green, no rakes, and no indoor loitering(outdoor loitering ok). D.O. is mostly straight forward tree lined golf, however, at least a third of holes have challenges that should be respected and given attention. From the tees, some par 5s and 4s had elevated LZs or a rise to hit blindly beyond. And still, other holes have pretty good side slope to the fairways, that even a well placed drive with roll out might flirt with the fairway rough(reminds me of some holes found at places I like...Diamond Bar, Jurupa Hills & Mt Woodson).
The tees were good, I played whites, except one, that all you needed to do was move closer to the left marker or just move deeper from the tees.
The fairways were good, mowed well and lush to hit from.
Rough was both good and penal, but mostly good. Rough is used more than fairway bunkers here, and should be respected.
Traps were in good shape and predictable to hit out of, no issues.
Greens, accepted shots well, especially high rpm shots from within 150. Greens were rolling at a medium pace and only the side break was tough to master.
Areas around the greens, were very healthy and could be found at many different cuts and depths...read these lies carefully.
We warmed up on the range and saw that we were starting with a full club headwind. By the turn, we were dealing with 1 club side wind and 2 club headwinds! I lost two in the rough and one in the drink, but still shot a few strokes above my average. We enjoyed good customer service and many cold loiter lagers. Price is right and recommended.

Played in the GK plays event here at Mt Woodson and had a great time. This was my first time here. Wow, what a setting and layout of holes. I can see why many in GK, hold this course in high regard. Come see for yourself.
I think conditions overall were good, as was customer service. POP was way less than 4.5 hours, respectable for a prime mid-moring weekend slot. Woodson will challenge you as well as reward you, and have you wanting to come back again for more. Recommended.