Walked the blues on Sunday 10/30 at 11:20. POP was good at around 4:15. My friend who had never played there before summed up the conditions quite well: "If you're in the places you're supposed to be in, it's in fantastic shape." He is correct. The fairways and greens are in really nice shape. Fairways are nice and lush, but not too soft so you still get some roll out. There was a decent amount of GUR marked and a some thin areas, but no big deal. The greens are fabulous. Maybe a bit soft, but beautifully smooth and medium fast...around 9-10ish. No ball mark damage, just smooth, green carpet. Once you get into the rough, it's a different story. Splotchy, mixed grasses of varying length, many areas of hardpan, you never know what you're going to get. The bunkers are mostly dirt, not really sand. However, they are very playable with plenty of room to get under the ball. I did see huge mounds of sand next to the maintenance barn, so hopefully the sand will be improved. Service was great, as usual, and we saw the cart girl at least 4 times. I definitely recommend this course right now... a lot of bang for your buck.

Got out Sunday morning, 10/23 at 9:04 with the boys. I was there a month ago during the Thousand Oaks city championships, and conditions were spectacular. Not sure what's happened to the greens over the last month, but it's not good. The tee boxes are all nice and level, but they're completely brown and dry, and look to be dormant. Fairways are still in great shape. Lush and green and are a pleasure to hit from. I wasn't in any traps, but they still look amazing and my buddies didn't have any complaints. Rough is in decent shape. Nice and lush around the greens, a bit splotchy elsewhere, but we're supposed to be in the fairway, right?!? The biggest concern are the greens. The practice green is in great shape, but the one's on the course? Not so much... The front 9's greens are a mess. I don't know if it's a fungus or what but it's not good. Bumpy, rough bare spots, sunken old hole positions. We watched putts bounce all over the place all day. The back 9's greens aren't as bad as the front, but they're far from perfect. I don't know what happened!! A month ago they were perfect. I went in to the proshop after the round to see if the guys (who are great, btw) in there had any idea what the issues were...they didn't. Underwatering them was the only thing that was mentioned as a possibility. It makes me very sad because I love Los Robles, but I'm going to have to take it out of the rotation. I can't recommend it right now.

Back out to Rustic this Sunday teeing off with my boys at 8:50am. POP was good at around 4:15...we waited maybe 3 times all day, and were never pushed. The course is in pretty decent shape. There were still some signs of aeration, mostly in the rough around the greens. I moved plugs away from my ball a few times. Tee boxes are lush and flat. Fairways are mostly green, but also have some browning thin spots. I wouldn't call them lush, but still nice to hit from and you get tons of roll. I was in a couple of the waste bunkers and it's a bit thin, but definitely playable. The greens were in nice shape, and running quick at around a 10.5 on the stimp. They have gone back to their normal firmness, with mid/long irons releasing a bit. As always, I repaired a few extra ball marks on each green, but they held lines well and we made quite a few putts. The beverage cart came around at least 3 times, which was nice. We had a nice lunch and a beer to cool off after the hot round, which hit the spot. I'll be back next Sunday...I can't get enough of Rustic.

Got out Saturday afternoon at 2pm with fellow GK'ers JohnnyGK, Matthias, and Pedro7071. It was a great day of golf with a great group of guys. Thanks for the invite, Johnny! The course is in phenomenal condition right now. Tee boxes were all flat, level, and had great coverage. The fairways were great. Very lush and carpet-like, but still provided good roll out on drives. They were a pleasure to hit from. Luckily, I didn't find any of the bunkers, but they're in great shape. I'm a bit perplexed by the new sand they've put in...I've never seen so many people take multiple shots to exit a bunker as I've seen at Robles since the remodel. It's extremely heavy, and if you go too deep you're in serious trouble. I'm hoping it settles in in the next few months. The rough is lush, but spotty in areas. The turf reduction has given way to many new areas of wood chips, which can be challenging to play from. I found myself playing shots out of the chips around the greens like sand shots, blowing a couple of inches behind the ball out. Seemed to work well. The greens on Saturday were spectacular, but insanely fast due to the city championships. Easily a 12 on the stump, faster downhill. They'd dried them out and cut them tight for the tournament, and I think the greenskeeper was trying to make us all cry with the pin positions. Holy cow. The greens were a bit bumpy, but that's normal for poa in the afternoon. It didn't stop Pedro7071 from dropping multiple bombs, though! Great putting Pedro! I'd have to say Los Robles is in the best shape I've ever seen it. A definite recommend. Maybe part of the enjoyment was the company...who knows. :)

Back to my home course Sunday morning, 9/18, after a long stretch of avoiding the heat playing in Oxnard. It was nice to be back, and I was very happy to see Rustic included on the Golf.com Top 100 courses you can play list! I think it totally deserves it.

POP was around 4:10. It was very warm yesterday, and the course is showing signs of the heat. The fairways are a bit thin right now, which means tons of roll out. Many brown areas mixed with green, but nice lies were to be had everywhere. No problems getting the club through the turf. The rough is a mixed bag a this point. Most is thick and lush, but there are many patchy areas that can provide some funky lies. Tee boxes were flat and level with good coverage, even on the par 3's. The greens are in great shape, running around 10 on the stimp and very smooth. It seems like they've been putting a lot of water on the greens lately, because I experienced much less release compared to normal. I played well, so I found myself repairing a lot of deep divots, which is a bit unusual for Rustic...but I'm not complaining! Putts were dropping from everywhere, so they're definitely holding lines well.

Overall, Rustic is in pretty good shape for the end of summer, and it will just get better as the temps start to drop. I'll be there often, especially now during aeration season. Definitely recommend.

I played the Babe course Saturday 8/20/16 at 8:20. Let's just start this off by saying this course is nowhere near worth the full rack rate of $84 that I paid. Now for the conditions: the term for the day was 'mixed bag.' Some holes were really good, and others were just awful.

Tee boxes weren't too bad. Mostly level with decent coverage. Sadly, probably the best part of the course.

Fairways were completely soaked for the first 11 holes. It was like hitting off a sponge. Lots of GUR, not much of it marked. Some fairways had great coverage, and others did not.

The greens were the biggest disappointment. I mentioned many times that I felt like I was putting over GUR....on the green! Many were completely beat up, with new sod chunks being put in in sections. The worst part of this was they were putting the pins in these areas! I'm not sure why they would do this when other sections of the green were nice. Makes no sense.

Rough was a mixed bag...some holes were lush and thick, some awful. You just had to keep your fingers crossed.

Sand was again, a mixed bag. The one trap I was in had decent sand. Other traps had ZERO sand. Ugh.

Customer service was good, and the food in Red after the round was great. If I could get a deal for $40 with a cart on a weekend, maybe that would be worth it. Full rack rate is highway robbery! The two Industry Hills newbies I played with were not impressed, and will not be back. I strongly DO NOT suggest playing this course for a while. Hopefully, it will come back in the fall.

Played the Lakes Sunday 8/21/16 at 8:11 am. POP was a bit slow...around 4:40, but the weather was so perfect, it didn't matter. The course is in phenomenal shape right now. No need for an extremely in-depth review, because basically everything is great. Tee boxes are level and lush. Fairways are spectacular! Lush and green giving great lies. Some were a bit wet in the morning, but no big deal. The greens are amazing. Fast- 11 on the stimp and just diabolical! I love it! The traps had great sand and played well. Customer service is always great, so no complaints there. I can't say enough good things about this course. My suggestion....get out there and play it before they punch in a couple of weeks!

Got out for a round in before work Wednesday, 8/3...teeing off at 7:04am as a twosome. POP was great, we finished in about 3.5 hrs. and waited on maybe two shots all day. Love that!

Overall, the course is in very nice shape right now. They're putting a lot of water on the fairways and greens. In some places, maybe a bit too much because we encountered some standing water.
The greens were the best part of the course...very soft and a bit slow, probably 8.5-9 on the stimp. They rolled very true with minimal bumpiness...I rolled in 5 putts over 10 ft, so they definitely were holding lines.
The tee boxes were in pretty good shape, mostly level with nice coverage. Obviously, the par 3's were more beat up than others.
The rough was pretty consistent, about 2-3 inches and thick, and penal. I had gotten out the night before on Balboa for a quick 9, and the rough was almost 5 inches. It was insane. I was happy they had cut the rough down Wednesday morning, because 5 inch rough is way too long for a muni...too much time spent looking for balls just off the fairway.
Sand traps weren't in the best of shape. Mostly fine, loose dirt that had a crust on top. Playable, but not ideal. My partner had to pull his ball out of the trap in front of hole 8...it looked like a small lake.

I was pretty impressed with the conditions for the middle of summer. Most of my golf this time of year is played in Ventura county, but if you can get out early or late to beat the heat, Encino/Balboa is in a good place.

Walked the Lakes course on Sunday 7/24 at 8:59. POP was decent at about 4.5. It's a moderately difficult course to walk, as there are a few decent sized hills. Victoria Lakes is definitely the more challenging of the two courses at River Ridge. Overall, the course is in very nice shape right now. The greens are, by far, the highlight of the course. Some of the best I have played. Perfectly smooth and lush, running 11 on the stimp. They were pretty soft and receptive to just about any club. Whatever they're doing, I hope they keep doing it! The tees were nice and level and lush. Fairways had nice coverage and gave you nice lies. There were some spots that were browning out, but not a problem to play from. Rough was pretty consistent and lush, about 1-3 inches. If your ball settles down, it can be pretty penal. I was in more bunkers than I care to talk about on Sunday, but they were all very nice and full of fluffy sand. Even Steve Wheatcroft wouldn't have anything to complain about ;-)

If I lived closer, I'd be at RR all the time. The practice facilities are very good, and the service from everyone was great. Can't wait to play there again. I highly recommend.

Back to my home course on Sunday the 10th, teeing off at 8am. POP was good at around 4:15. Overall, the course is in very good shape, and very green right now. Tee boxes were nice and lush. No issues there. The fairways were quite green, with some spots browning out. Tons of roll as always, and the lies tend to be pretty tight. Rough is pretty lush and consistent, but there are some clumpy, patchy spots to contend with. The greens have completely healed from aeration and are running slower than I've seen them, around 9.5 on the stimp. They almost felt a bit shaggy, but I understand the need to keep them a bit longer during the hot summer months. Much softer and less release than normal...6 and 7 irons were checking up within a yard or two. Some occasional bumpiness, but nothing that took putts offline. My only issue with conditions are the bunkers. No sand, just dirt. IMO, that's tolerable in the waste bunkers, but not in greenside bunkers. I really wish they would address this issue. A definite recommend from me right now...just try and stay out of the bunkers!

Played Sunday 6/12 going out with the first twilight time at 2pm. POP for our foursome was around 4:30. The layout totally reminds me of Torrey South. Challenging course, but very scorable if you know your way around.

This was my first time playing Sandpiper. Oh my. I'm in love. The weather was perfect, about 70 degrees and maybe 3 mph of wind. As benign as it ever gets, I'm sure. My wife and I walked, and I played the gold tees. The course is walkable, but there are definitely some hills to contend with. The hill on #12 is no joke. Overall, the conditions were very good.

Tee boxes: all very level and lush. Some divot damage on par 3's but that's to be expected.

Fairways: For the most part, they were great! Extremely lush, almost like carpet. Very moist and not much roll, which made the course play a bit longer. However, there was A LOT of ground under repair. It was all marked, but some of the marked areas were huge. Large sections of fairway on #14 were completely cut out. They're obviously working on them, but that was a little surprising.

Rough: There were some drought related issues in some areas of the rough, but its mostly very thick and penal. It will grab your ball and stop it on a dime. Keep it in the short grass!

Greens: I was informed they had done a small tine punch on the greens within the last week, so they had let them grow out a bit. Still in nice shape running around 10 on the stimp, and very fast downhill. The punch really didn't affect anything. They were a little bumpy because of being longer, but were still pretty receptive and balls stayed on line. NO prevailing ocean or mountain breaks on this course, what you see is what you get.

Sand traps: I was in two, and I didn't love them. More like dirt traps than sand. Playable, but not what I was expecting from a course with such a high price point.

For me, the $95 fee to walk at twilight is absolutely worth it. $195 to ride during peak times seems a bit steep to me, but the property IS pretty amazing. They offer a 20% discount if you come back within 7 days...we loved it so much we're driving back up this Sunday!

Played Sunday 5/15 at 11:28 as a twosome with my boy Mr. Bugs. POP was around 4:30...not horrible for a Sunday afternoon. I played there last Sunday as well...had to come back because it's in such good shape right now. The changes to the course are complete, and I love them. They've added lots of bunkers, and redesigned all of the original ones. Many of the new ones are strategically placed in landing areas, like at the bottom of the corner on the dogleg right par 5 14th. The first time around may lead to a surprise or two. The lake on 9 is now a huge bunker/waste area with an opening on the right. Driving the green is now a definite option! Currently, the course is very lush and green. The fairways are still a mix of grasses, but well maintained and offered nice lies. The rough is not too penal and relatively thick. Turf reduction has created many more areas with wood chips. The greens are very soft and receptive, running around 9.5 or so on both days. They were a little more bumpy than i prefer, but not too bad. Service is always great in the proshop, and cart service was plentiful. I'm very impressed with the changes to the course. I highly recommend Los Robles right now. It's definitely come a long way.