Played 36 here today after a last-minute invite to attend The Kingdom, a special event put on by The King Kollective this weekend. The course is closed to the public for the weekend as a result. (Or I think they said Sunday afternoon public play will resume.) The first round was a three-man shamble with two teams on each hole, and the second was best ball foursomes, with shotgun starts for both. Despite having a buffer of around three holes between each group, the first round was quite slow at around 4.5 hours. We played the second round in a little under 3 hours. Gorgeous day and hotter than I anticipated. Breeze picked up midday but wasn't too bad.

The course is in very good shape. The greens are excellent, medium-fast, smooth, and mostly firm. Full shots hit with lots of spin would stop, but many approaches took a bounce or two before stopping. Fairways are pretty nice, although one type of grass might be right next to another type of grass, and some fairways have some thin/dirt spots. Rough varies from just a little longer than the fairway to some deeper, more penal areas in some areas. I think I was only in one bunker and it had good sand, but I hit a terrible shot anyway. Tee boxes are the lowlight; some are pretty beat up with tons of divots and others are a little better. Wouldn't say any of them are great.

It's always fun to revisit the Goat and see more progress being made to the course. I think someone said in a recent review that's it's the nicest they've ever seen it, and I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. The 18th hole is currently under construction and playing to a temporary green, but you can see the permanent green in place and they are building at least three revetted bunkers surrounding it. The green itself looks almost smaller than the old version, which was a pretty small green already, IIRC. Should be a nice finisher when it's done. All in all, a very fun day with breakfast, lunch, and dinner provided, awards, raffles, and lots of great people.

Played here today with a 2:10 tee time. $55 to ride. Joined a friend from Vegas (Joe from The Chasing Daylight Podcast / @hittingreens on Instagram) and his friend Trey. We were joined by a nice single. The Oaks nine is currently closed for maintenance so we played Creek/Stonehouse. Pace was fantastic and we finished in about 3:40. Nice cool weather and it even rained a bit for a couple holes.

The course is in good condition. Greens are mostly in good shape but there are some unfixed ball marks in various states of repair. They accepted full shots well but anything less than a full, spinning shot would run out some. I had a hard time gauging speed most of the day. Fairways were mostly good, not quite great. Rough varies from a little thicker to much thicker than the fairways and can be penal. Black tee boxes were mostly good. I was in one fairway bunker that could've used a raking; my ball was sitting down a bit between higher points of sand.

The Creek nine is pretty boring so I'm glad we played it first. Oaks/Stonehouse is definitely the best combo here. Really fun day! Not a bad deal at the twilight rate but not sure I'd be thrilled to pay $30 more earlier in the day.

Played here today with a 2:20 time, riding for $69. Paired with a threesome of fun guys and we started right on time. Pace was amazing for a Rustic weekend afternoon; we'd finished the front nine in just a little over two hours, and then the back was a little slower. Total POP a smidge over 4.5 hours and plenty of daylight left on a gorgeous afternoon. A nice breeze kept temperatures tolerable. Three or four holes were CPO.

Conditions are good and the entire course is exceptionally green for how hot it's been lately. Greens are smooth, medium speed, and medium firmness, accepting full shots well. Fairways are very lush and provided good lies all day. Rough is thicker than normal for here and actually slowed offline shots down from going into the native areas. The only bunker I was in was (I think) a waste bunker and it was pretty compacted where my ball was, although a playing partner had no issue with his shot just a few feet away. Blue tee boxes were mostly good but did have lots of divots.

Definitely recommended.

Played here today with a 2:20 TeeOff.com "Deal" time for $25 with cart! Amazing deal that popped up sometime Friday morning. Check-in was simple and I was paired with a threesome. Started right on time behind a twosome who were directly behind a tournament. Pace was slow – three groups were backed up on the par-5 7th tee – but overall time on course was surprisingly decent at a little under five hours. The projected high temps didn't really pan out as it was cloudy and breezy much of the day; almost felt like midwestern thunderstorm weather. Hole 1 was CPO.

Conditions are pretty good. Greens are the highlight, running smooth and medium-fast. They accepted full shots well but shots from the rough and/or shorter shots ran out some. The poa was flowering a lot late in the afternoon but it didn't affect any putts; just gave the surfaces almost like a white sheen. Fairways were mostly good except some dried out spots here and there. Rough was a mixed bag of thick kikuyu and thinner areas, some bare spots. I was in several bunkers and they were all pretty good – fairway bunkers were hard and thin while greenside bunkers had lots of soft sand. Blue tee boxes were the low point; lumpy, not level in many places, and lots of divots.

Hadn't played here for a while and loved the deal I got. (Normal rates have gotten quite expensive here.) At one point ElDo was my favorite Long Beach course but now I think I prefer Rec Park. ElDo is a tougher test but is flat and pretty boring where Rec Park takes advantage of contours much more. Played terribly today but still had fun. I always like the Long Beach courses when temps are forecast to be super hot. Beverage cart was out and about, but like RDDenn mentioned, the snack shop was not open.

Played here today in the GK + GolfMoose collab outing. Super fun times being paired with JohnnyGK and rgm2525. We were group 1B so we got to play the course as normal, starting on 1. POP was typically slow for these types of events at a little over 5 hours. It was a very hot and hazy day but a nice wind helped combat the heat most of the time. (Although it seemed like that wind was into us on about 80% of the holes. ;-) )

Conditions are great. The practice putting green was extremely pure and those conditions translated to the course as well. Greens were very smooth, medium-fast, and accepted full shots really well. (Most of the course seemed very well watered.) They recently renovated and reopened sometime in the the last year, and there are nice contours on many of the new greens. The fairways were similarly excellent, providing great lies almost everywhere except a few areas that were sort of burned out, and some of those areas were aerated. Many of those aerated areas were right in front of greens. Rough was lush, thick bermuda that took a toll despite not being too deep. It could really grab your club. Blue tee boxes were mostly good; a few were in lesser condition. All the bunkers I was in were great.

This was my first time ever playing here. I sort of expected a little more interesting layout. I always figured it was sort of a "sister course" to Mission Viejo Country Club, because they're both RTJ Sr. designs from the same era, Valencia from 1965 and MVCC from 1967. I realize it's unfair to make this course live up to a random expectation I developed in my head, but Valencia lacked as many elevation changes that make MVCC more interesting, in my opinion. (VCC filling in for Riviera as host of the PGA Tour's L.A. Open in 1998 also led to higher expectations.) Don't get me wrong; this is a very nice course and it was an outstanding day. Would love to play it again sometime. (Whoever led the renovation really loves fairway bunkers.) Thanks Johnny for organizing it!

Played here today with 1:41 "Special" tee time for $55 including cart, booked directly on their website a day earlier. Checked in and they said they could move me up one group, so technically I played with a threesome at 1:33 but we didn't tee off until 1:40. Course was busy and we waited all day; total POP almost exactly 5 hours. Hot day but didn't see any beverage cart. Only saw one water jug on the course (14 tee) and it was empty. Ugh. Snack shop between 6 & 7 was open, though. Hole 11 was CPO.

Conditions are pretty good. Greens are probably the highlight: smooth, medium-fast, and quite soft. Full shots stopped very quickly and even well-struck chips could grab. Fairways had mostly good coverage and provided decent lies. Rough seems a little sketchier with clumpier grass and/or weeds, etc. Blue tee boxes were the lowlight - they have good coverage (no bare spots) but most are a mix of inconsistent grasses and many are lumpy and/or uneven. I was in one bunker and it was great.

I've always loved this course but I hadn't been here for almost 3 years. Nice to see they have those "special" deal times on their site. Totally fair price but I wouldn't be happy to pay the full $95 rack rate.

Played here today with a 1:20 tee time. $53 to ride. Paired with a walking single and a riding twosome. Started right on time and pace was great early, then really slowed down around the fifth hole. I'm not sure if some groups quit later on or what, but it picked back up the last 4 or 5 holes. Total POP just a bit over four and a half hours. Sun broke through a couple times but mostly cloudy, cool, semi-windy day.

Conditions are pretty great. Greens are smooth, medium-fast, and medium firmness, accepting full shots well. Fairways are excellent except for areas clearly marked as GUR. They provided great lies. The rough is in a little lesser condition but overall pretty lush, although you might find some bare spots here and there. Blue tees were good except a handful of holes that were sanded pretty extensively. The sand was only in certain spots (not the entire tee box), so I'm not sure why they wouldn't just move the markers on those holes for a few days. I was in one bunker and it was really nice; a couple inches of loose sand on top of a firmer base underneath.

I'd been missing this place with no GK Plays in June this year, and then when I recently played Corica Park up north it felt very much like a poor man's Olivas to me, so I was happy to get out there. Also, I hadn't played here since the rainy season that made some of the hazards into actual lakes once again. As Gary mentioned in his previous review, there are still lots of wildflowers bordering the course and it's really pretty, even though today's cloudy skies didn't really allow the course to come to life, visually. Always love this place, though. Definitely recommended.

Played here again today, two weeks after my last visit. 1:21 tee time, started just a couple minutes late, pace was about 4:40. I rode, the rest of my group walked. One of our players bailed after nine.

Course is in really nice shape. Looks like they verticut the greens at some point recently (looks like razor blade streaks across the surface) but it doesn't affect putts at all. The greens are still very firm and medium speed. Fairways are pretty consistently great. Rough is less consistent with some discoloration and varying depths and conditions of grass. Some of the rough takes a toll on ball striking, so there's a premium on hitting the fairways. Blue tee boxes were all good. I was in several bunkers and they varied from decent to thin; I wouldn't say any of them were good or great.

Gorgeous day and perfect temps with a decent wind most of the day. Highly recommended.

Played here today with a 7:40 TeeOff.com "Deal" time booked a few days ahead for approx. $60 with cart. Arrived about an hour early, checked in smoothly and was told I could start early if I wanted. Played behind a twosome but tried not to push them, hanging back and taking pictures. POP was great; a little under 3.5 hours. My cart's seats were embroidered "San Luis Obispo Country Club" and the cart paths are the weirdest paths ever... There are rounded curbs on both sides of the paths, and then typically the grass is mounded around the paths, so every time you leave the cart path, the cart partially feels like it's going to tip over. Seems like whoever built the paths didn't understand that cart paths don't have curbs. Truly bizarre.

Conditions were quite good, especially the greens. They are smooth, fast, and firm with some good undulations, both subtle and pronounced. There were some unfixed ball marks but otherwise they are great. Fairways have mostly good coverage and provide pretty tight lies. The fairway on hole 12 was more beat up than the others. The rough was in good shape and varied from short to penal, and then there's some really long stuff around the bunkers that I fortunately avoided. Black tee boxes were good. I wasn't in any bunkers but they looked good and maintenance was out in force tending to them.

The layout is somewhat reminiscent of Olivas Links and also reminded me a bit of Royal Links in Vegas. I didn't like it quite as much as those courses, but it's pretty solid. I was happy to have a GPS app because some holes aren't very obvious where they go. Would be a pretty easy walking course. Recommended.

Played here today with a 6:30 tee time that I booked a couple weeks ago for a $20 surcharge before their normal public booking window opens. Then an additional $117 for greens fees and cart today. Started right on time, paired with two other singles. One of them walked, one rode. There was one group in front of us who apparently play here all the time and they were very fast. I don't think we saw them after the first hole, although around 14 a twosome did pop in front of us. I think it was a playing lesson with the pro or something, though. Pace was great and we finished in almost exactly 4 hours. Absolutely gorgeous morning although a little chilly and windy.

Conditions are outstanding. Greens are in very nice shape. They roll medium-fast and can get really fast on downhill, downgrain putts. They were soft enough to accept full shots well, but not super soft. Fairways are excellent except some muddy spots in some low-lying areas. Primary rough varied from around 2 inches to 4 inches deep and was extremely lush. Farther offline there are tall grasses that felt sorta like chopping out of the barranca at LACC in the recent U.S. Open. Black tee boxes were mostly great; some showed signs of somewhat recent aeration, but not a big deal. The gorgeous bunkers were all in excellent condition. Holes 1 and 12 were CPO.

I've wanted to play this course ever since it went public in the mid-'90s and it definitely lived up to and even surpassed my expectations. I really loved it. Didn't hurt I got a picture-perfect morning. There are tons of elevation changes, doglegs, short par 3s, long par 3s, gorgeous views, beautiful bunkers. Very cool history of the course, too, with it dating back to the early 1900s. It's very much a "pure golf course" in that no homes or anything else gets in the way. It felt very much like a private club to me. One of my favorite "new to me" courses in quite some time. Highly, highly recommended.

Played here today with a 7:30 tee time. Paired with a threesome consisting of a dad and two kids probably 12 years old. The kids started off walking but then hopped on our carts starting on No. 7. Minimal waiting and good pace, finishing in just under 4 hours. Cool and cloudy with a couple short periods of mist.

Course is in pretty good condition. The greens are healed from aeration but still very firm. They roll mostly smooth (some look better than others) and medium-fast, and especially fast downhill/downgrain. Only high, spinning full shots would stop quickly; everything else released and rolled out somewhat. Fairways have good coverage and provided good lies. The rough varied from just a little longer than the fairways to some fairly thick stuff that was definitely penal. Blue tee boxes were fine. I was in several bunkers and they were pretty good.

Recommended, but go in knowing the firm greens are making the course play tougher than normal.

Played here today at 1:03 with a TeeOff.com "Deal" time for about $55. I think I nabbed it before they realized it was Memorial Day, because later in the week additional tee times (later in the day) were around $91. Paired with a nice couple from Carlsbad. Started right on time and pace was good early but slowed considerably after a few holes. Total time on course was around 4:45/4:50.

Conditions are mostly good. The practice green is about halfway baked out and halfway good, and the greens on the course were similar, but oddly they rolled pretty good. (The starter said they're closing Stadium on Wednesday until mid-July because the greens are totally gone. He had no answer when I asked how they plan to get the greens back in shape right when summer temps hit.) They are medium speed (slow uphill but can get fast downhill) and medium firmness, mostly smooth. Fairways had good coverage and were mostly really nice. Rough is semi-thick bermuda that was about 3 inches deep at the most penal. Blue tee boxes were really nice on the front nine and then much more spotty (and some aerated) on the back nine. I was in several bunkers and they were well maintained with a thin layer on top of a firmer base.

Overall, the course is pretty good for early summer, but it's still spring for another few weeks, so I'm sure there are many better maintained options in the area right now. (The couple I played with also played both courses at Mountain Vista over the weekend and said they're in great shape.)