Played the shotgun thanksgiving day event. Decent course with a good mix of holes. Pace of play moved along nicely. Real nice group of people, pretty much all locals. Friendly, helpful and inviting. The course conditions were decent for late November, except greens which were sanded and green speed varied greatly between holes. Some tee boxes not real level. Sand is awful. Heavy sand and thin with tons of rocks of all sizes. To the point that I just wanted to take the ball of of the sand because I didn't want to mess up my clubs. I did hear from our playing partners that they were under new management and looking to make improvements to the sand.

Boy where do I start... Definitely the most scenic course I've seen. Gorgeous and flawless from top to bottom. Past reviews pretty much say it all. A definite must play.
That said, it is very difficult, and difficult physically. Walking up to tee boxes, down or up to greens, etc. round was about 5 1/2 hours, but I don't see it ever going much quicker. Not really my type of course with severe uphill/downhill play. I was surprised at how difficult it was even though there is plenty of landing area for shots. There is no GPS so buy the yardage book. You'll need it. They did have a cooler with ice and waters and shoe cleaner though. Again, a MUST play, one time, for sure. My only issue was that the golf carts are all diesel powered. I had a headache from the fumes and it sounds like a bunch of beverage carts driving around. Explanation was that the diesel uses far less power (cost) compared to the electric because of the steep uphill/downhill terrain. Understandable, but a knock nonetheless in my opinion.
Sure was super pretty though.

Had a great round here last weekend. Fairways growing in nicely. Greens looking good as well, just a couple areas of issue visible around edges of hole 1 and one other. Sand good. Tees and rough good. What I really like here is the staff and the feeling when playing here. I don't think I've seen a genuinely friendlier staff than here. Starter/Marshall Dave is awesome. A true asset. A month ago he helped look for a lost ball. This time they weren't real busy and asked me if we preferred to pair up or go as a separate twosome. How cool! I've played here 3 times in the past 6 months and today conditions were best to date. Good mix of holes. Doesn't get boring.

Finally got to play at Angeles National. Everyone I talked to (previous and golfers at the course) say it is overpriced. Got a good weekday rate at $50 on golf now so figured we'd give it a shot. I went in with low expectations as it doesn't always have the best reviews. I was surprisingly impressed. Service was excellent from cart drop through, especially the starter ... Stephanie?? Finished in just over four hours and had enjoyable golfers with us in our foursome.
Greens were excellent and fast, 11 1/2 or so, soft and undulated with many subtle breaks. Barely a divot and yesterday's had all been repaired by the staff.
Fairways good, thin, but playable.
Rough varied between thin and clumpy grasses typical of LA area courses.
Sand was fantastic, full and soft and perfectly raked to start the day. Saw an occasional giant 1-2" rock in the traps, but seemed like about two per trap. Those need to go.
Tees were good on the back 9 but front tees were still being grown in from overseeing. Looked a bit like that 70's shag rug mom had when I was a kid. Either case, didn't really effect anything.
Food and cart service excellent.
Course is challenging, fairways a touch tight at times, but all well playable and holes/shots visible for the most part.
I very much enjoyed our morning here and look forward to going back again.

Reading some recent reviews, they are pretty spot on. Course has been in better shape, but it is still easily playable and I have to say, while fairways were browned out in a lot of areas and rough was lush but mildly inconsistent, I never had a bad lie all day. Just a product of a real hot summer and water restrictions. I do have to say, I really like the staff here. There's just an easy feeling to the place. Pro shop was great and the Marshall AWESOME. Friendly, jovial. Good guy. Teed off at a bit before 1. Great pace until we ran up on a slow twosome on 8 but then made the turn and no one was around. I mean NO ONE! Anywhere! So... The single that caught us joined and we rolled through the back like tornados. I think the round was actually about 3:15 even with 15 minutes of delay. Greens were smooth and rolled well, deceptively fast, however, as stated before some ball marks on a couple holes and some turf issues. Explanation for our playing partner is the wrong salt mixture was used on some greens and they got mold. It wasn't horrific, nor was it on every hole or even anywhere that affected us at all. Ball marks were from a tournament earlier in the day and honestly, that and the footprints will probably be fixed by morning. I made (and fixed!) some GIANT divots. Greens were soft and very receptive, so actually kudos to the staff for the greens not looking like a round at Summerly.
Oh... Sand was pretty awful. Broken rakes, grasses, etc. all said, I would still go back next week. I like it here.

Had a great time, as always, at the GK event this Saturday. Played the course the week before as well. It's hard to specifically pinpoint the detailed ratings because it is a links course and has all the inconsistencies a good links course should have. I didn't like the course a couple years ago, and hadn't played it since, but have to say it was very enjoyable the second & third times around. Front 9 and back are a bit different, back gets tight with some blind shots. Some course knowledge helps here as there is no GPS. Sand was excellent, tee boxes level, fairways good, some tighter lies at times but not too bad. Rough varied much, from dirt to super tall, forget finding your ball, native grasses. I like the look, and the challenge. Greens not super fast, but nice and smooth and rolled well and true. Not much of a clubhouse, just a trailer but staff is attentive and cart girl excellent. Sorry to my teammates for my awful play :-(. Next time. Thank you again Johnny for a great event. GKers rule!

Played 6/9. What can I say? Perfect. Every year this course is in the same phenomenal condition. Greens smooth, challenging. Fairways perfectly cut with flawless lies. Excellent rough. Good traps. Service impeccable, but beware the beverage cart. It is the Ritz Carlton's course. Ouch. That said, my turkey wrap I refinanced the house to buy and $5 coke were excellent. This is probably my favorite course. Great track, unreal scenery, fantastic clubhouse, restaurant and service. What I didn't remember was how hard this course is, or at least was today. Man, it kicked my butt! But I'll be back next June to conquer it! Look out wild burro... I'm comin back for ya!!!!

Played early morning 6/6 with a "pacesetter" tee time, designed to have your round finish in under 4 hours. Love it! Phenomenal Troon service, saw the guy at drop off three different times during the day and kept asking and making sure we were doing well. Good rate with a breakfast sandwich or burrito at the turn as a bonus. Both excellent. Great condition course with a LOT of water. No desert cactus here, looks more like a so cal layout, while not a super interesting mix of holes, enough variation and water to make it interesting. After playing all the desert courses, was a nice change of pace and significantly cooler with all the water. Finished in just at 4 hours. Definitely recommend giving it a try.

Played 6/5. Some of the previous reviewers may beg to differ with this review, but here goes... Wasn't impressed. This was the one in the trip I was definitely looking forward to. That said, my review isn't based on over anticipation. While there are some scenic holes and some cool large boulders, it is a pretty basic track that didn't really excite.
Additionally, we waited on EVERY SHOT from tee at 2 to 8. Didn't wait at 8 because we stopped after 7 to all pee and drink a glass of water, then refill our cups. Note: no one behind us. Approached by the Marshall on 8 and told we were WAY behind. I told him what I just wrote above and he said, "where are you from?" "Southern California". Response seemed sarcastic, "Welcome to Boulders. Have a nice day." This is a resort course. Treat your customers like you want them to be there. I could have dropped $2g to stay there that week. So glad I didn't, because we were going to. I would have been even more pissed. So that said, caught up to the group ahead of us since 7 was a par 3 and 8 was a par 5, at the 9th tee box and waited FIVE minutes before teeing off. Back 9 was slower than the front 9.
Also sprinklers on hoses were in at least 10 different holes and going off, right in the middle of the fairway. And we had a 8ish tee time. I couldn't even play hole 10 and left my ball right by the sprinkler since I couldn't get to it without being soaked. I had to move or seriously rush sic of my shots because of sprinklers and hoses.
Pin placement flags are downright stupid!!! They move a smaller flag up or down the flagstick, depending on where the pin is. This makes no sense as it is on a rubber washer that easily slides with movement such as putting the pin back in the hole or another golfer even trying to be funny and move it around. A really dumb idea. I won't be back and don't recommend this course at all as a must play. There are far better courses in the area that treat you significantly better. Almost want to take my logo ball out of my case and send it back.

Second stop on our annual trip. Played 6/3. They are doing renovations this summer on 9 holes and the range so only 9 are open. Very good condition throughout, minus the traps which were hard packed and not much sand. While I like the layout and service of this course (typical Troon), there are a lot of flies on the course, guess it's a general problem in the area, and TeaGal got bit like 10 times. For me they're just more of a nuisance, but after talking to other females looks like they get bit a lot. Guess the flies know the sweeter blood. If you haven't played here before, probably best to wait until the winter after renovations are complete. It's definitely worth a trip to Maricopa and a try.

First stop on TeaGal and my annual AZ trip. Fantastic course and staff. Greens were fast and super smooth, fairways and rough near flawless. Staff is incredible from the drop off to the club cleaning. Love the iced, scented towels. Fairways and rough barely a mark and any mark was filled as the maintenance crew fills them all nightly. We were told, don't fix your divots (fairway). We'll do it. Wow! I AM ON VACATION!! Sweet! Cool layout with a wide variety of holes. If not my favorite course in AZ, a close second.

Played Sunday, 6/15. Course is in good shape, but starting to show some burn out for the summer with some bare and brown areas on both fairways and rough. Greens much slower than practice green. Played here a month ago as well and it's showing much more signs of summer wear than a month ago. Escena is usually super lush and beautiful, maybe it was because I played Desert Willow the day before, but wasn't so impressed with Escena today. Cart girl was around 5-6 times and super friendly. They have two great cart girls here. Sand was hard and had a lot of large rock, except for one that had a dump truck full in it. Not the best conditions I've had here for this time of year. I'm hoping it holds on for a good summer as we like to play and eat here often.