Played Thursday, 5/15, in midmorning. Good service from the course, starter at the first tee keeping groups moving, marshals around the course, coffee shop open and doing a decent business. Started about 10 minutes after our tee time and played in around 4.5 hours, not bad for this course at that time of day.

The course is dry, looking more pronounced on the back nine. Fairways and greens were good but the rough is not gettin much water. On #15, the dry areas extended into the fairway. I was left of the fairway and got great distance because there was nothing to stop the ball. On #16, I punched out of the trees and was lucky I rolled into the fairway bunker about 115 yards out, or I would have rolled down the drop off to the fence. The fairway was running much faster than I expected. The greens were excellent with decent speed.

Picture perfect day although the Santa Ana winds had the marine layer blocking views of Catalina Island. Recommended.

Played before 7:00 am on Sunday, Mother's Day. Course was surprisingly crowded when we finished in almost exactly 4 hours. I thought Mother's Day was supposed to be the lightest of the year??

Short add to my review last week. They fixed the greens. Quickest turnaround I have ever seen. No evidence of any issue. The greens look great. They are running a little faster than medium speed, so not as fast as usual, but they are much better than last week. They were putting more water on the course likely because of the unseasonable heat.

Played Thursday, May 8, at about 8:45 am on a beautiful spring day with temperature in the 70s. Great service by the pro shop in getting me out, starting on the back nine. We ate lunch the day before on the patio outside the restaurant, nice people and good service. The food was good also. Played in about 3.5 hours, starting out as a solo rider, playing the black tees, played through a single and joining another single on #13 (our fourth hole) through 18, finally playing the front nine alone behind a twosome following a couple of foursomes. Everyone was moving along though.

The course is in excellent shape. There were some thin areas in some fairways and on the tees but overall the course was lush. Generally good surface in the fairways. The rough was about 3/4 a ball height. The tees did have some mounding but I could find flat areas. The bunkers were a mixed bag with little sand in two of the three I was in.

The greens were great. Fairly fast, looking really nice, and rolling true. I was hurt a couple of times by more break than I read. They were the highlight of the course.

The course is playing well if you are in the area. Highly recommended.

Played early today, 6:40 am, on a cloudy, cool morning. Played in 3:50 on a day in which it looked like many golfers did not show up possibly worried about more rain.

Conditions were generally the same as last time. Rough was a little up and the fairways were in good shape. The greens had a fungus problem throughout the course. Light colored circles all over the greens. They ran much slower than they looked and were quite bumpy. Hopefully the course can get the problem under control. Quickly would be nice considering I am playing here again next week.

Played today in the NCGA Senior Series tourney with a 10:00 am shotgun. Very well run, played with a 4:05 POP. Nice banquet facility and affable bar staff. A couple of putting greens and short game area, and the driving range was convenient to the clubhouse.

The course conditions were great. Some areas had tighter lies and there were a couple of places on the edges with poor drainage but otherwise consistently really nice conditions. Very nice firm fairways. Generally lush rough that definitely affected shots. I thought I had a plugged lie at one point but it was just a deep area of rough. Some sloped tees. The sand was difficult. It felt crusted but the club dug deep. Three of us in my group left shots in the bunker after first attempts. I have not seen it’s like.

The greens were great. I am sure they can get them faster but they had nice speed. I really enjoyed them. The front nine was more open but the greens were tougher. I thought they had a lot more break than the ones on the back nine.

I really enjoyed the course and can’t wait to play it again.

Played in the Golf Moose/Vivid Golf event on Monday, April 21, riding with Gary, Mark and Kyle. Perfect day and a great foursome. Really nice facilities and a well organized event. The snack bar at the clubhouse was open for us as was the pro shop. I wandered through the bar and dining room looking how to get to the course and did not see any other activity (nice social areas though).

I liked the course a lot. The greens were very tough. Even the greens that did not have big slopes had subtle breaks that tested reading ability. There were some with great challenges or entertainment value depending on whether you were the one that had to make that downhill putt or hit the short-sided chip. Quite quick. The verticut was evident but I did not see any effect on putts. They were also fairly firm even with the work on them.

I liked the fairways of dormant Bermuda. They are similar to Skylinks when it opened up after its remodel. Fairly tight but the still a good hitting surface. They had a nice runout also although you had to be careful not to run into trouble in spots. The rough was cut down around the landing areas in most spots and thicker around greens or off to the side. I had trouble with the beach sand in the bunkers but they were in good shape. The fairway bunkers had firmer surfaces in the ones I was in.

The highlight for me was the layout. A lot of interesting holes. Good par 3s and varying length on the par fives. The back nine was fun especially the last three holes. The view from the 16th tee was spectacular. Great tough green on the 18th.

I would jump at the chance to play here again.

Played Thursday 4/10, our twosome joining a visiting single player. Fairly slow POP (4:20), probably to be expected considering a start near 8:00 am. Efficient service including a starter on the tee making sure the groups were on the tee when required.

The greens were still showing some signs of aeration. The first two showed very little getting our hopes up but there were many greens where the holes were evident. That said, I was pleased with how they rolled. Medium speed or faster and no major bumps or turns. As the ball slowed it tended to wander but nothing out of the ordinary. They were also pretty firm considering the major holes. They were very playable. Fairway and rough were pretty good. The only complaint was the bunkers. I was in two with little sand (left on #1 and left on #10). I could not get the club under the ball on either.

I recommend the course right now. It will get better when the greens are fully healed but it is good as is.

Played today, April 6, with a 6:50 tee time. I think we were the third group out. The first group was very slow, ended up being a 4:20 POP, which is way too slow for that early. We waited on most shots. Otherwise nice day out there. Pleased to see the snack shack open at the 12th tee. The food truck at the clubhouse was not open when we walked by at 11:10.

Probably a good thing they are aerating this week. The greens were putting as good as I have seen them, rolling true and fast, but they were quite firm. We had trouble finding divots from the balls on some of the greens we hit. Anything more than a wedge was going to bounce out. Very little check on chips around the green. The rest of the course was good. Decent coverage in the fairways and the rough was inconsistent but fairly thick in places. I was in three green side bunkers. Good sand at # 4 and ittle or no sand in the ones at # 12 and #16.

Always a pleasure getting out here, today included. Recommended.

Played here twice this week, Sunday in a Men's Club tourney and Thursday when I got on as a single, walking both times. Played with three nice older gentlemen in the latter round, two walking and one riding. Pace of play was 4:30 teeing off at 10:30. Much better than I expected. No cart service on Thursday. Otherwise, great service as usual. $33 and change to walk on Thursday with a LA County Senior card.

Both rounds, the pins were placed in unusually difficult positions in my experience. very close to the edges most of the time and on slopes. I heard they were set up in difficult spots for the team play match on Wednesday so maybe they left them there the following day. Made for tough putting days considering the greens are firm and running fast. They are rolling great though. The coverage in the fairways is good although it looked drier on Thursday than last weekend. The sand in the bunkers is very playable. The rough is cut down which makes the course play shorter and allows balls to roll into trouble more often.

Did I mention both days were gorgeous especially Thursday? Just beautiful out there. I'll be back.

Played in the Vivid Golf/GK outing on Wednesday, March 19. It was a fun group with John, Ron and Andrew. My family is from the area but I have never played in the city. Santa Maria Country Club is a nice facility. Smallish driving range and practice green. Nice snack bar near the 7th tee with a good selection of grilled items and sundry. The day was gorgeous but the wind kicked up mid-round and it was an added layer of difficulty.

I really liked the course. The layout was interesting. It had a good mix of short and long par fours and varied par 3 distance. Half the course on the other side of the railroad tracks to the northwest of the clubhouse. I preferred the layout of the part of the course on the clubhouse side but the conditioning was equally superb on both sides so it was a matter of personal preference. The fairways were lush with some runout. The rough was also lush and we had to look hard for balls several times. We lost a couple even though we knew the general area they ended up. Great shining white sand. The greens were lush and had decent speed but were not what I would term fast. They were firm but my ball was generally near the divot after good contact from the fairway. The greens were contoured enough that there was runout on some aggressive putts. They were challenging.

I would play this course again any time. It was a long drive but I got a good rate at the local historic hotel (my parent's wedding reception was held there). If I lived in the area, I would consider joining the club. I can't wait to get back.

Played Sunday, March 2. Rain was forecast but it was over by the time we played at 8:40 am. The wind picked up on the late front nine, very cold and gusting strong. It made the conditions difficult.

The course was in good shape. They have had a tremendous amount of rain this winter but the conditions were good. Good coverage in the fairways and lush rough in most places. We had to look for balls at times even though we knew where the balls went. The greens were interesting. Medium speed but quite firm even though it had rained that morning. No check on chips and big bounces on wedge shots into the green. With significant slopes, it made putting a challenge.

Overall, an excellent experience. $82.50 each to ride, it wasn't cheap but definitely in the ball park for the conditions. It has been years since I played the course but hope to get out sooner next time.

Played Saturday February 15, the only decent weather day this week. Misting in the morning but the sun came out in the earlier afternoon and it got into the 60s. The course was crowded, surprising because I got the single 8:523 tee time the night before. 5 hour POP even with marshals out there working the course. Played with three nice locals.

The course is in decent winter shape. The course had obviously been hit hard with rain recently with many wet spots and lines of loose material where it had washed up. Other than mud on the ball and not much roll, it did not affect the golf. Dormant Bermuda grass with tight lies in the fairways and rough not really a factor. In one sand trap that was in good shape. The greens were really nice, good medium fast speed.

I really like the layout. Being able to hit the ball better this time, I got a better sense of what to hit. I rued not using driver on a couple of holes where there was more room than it looked. Some interesting doglegs over creeks to narrow greens.