Review submitted by Alex aka Tubedude:

Course: Paiute Golf Resort Las Vegas (Sun Mountain)
Date: 14 Sep 2017
Review:
"Played out at Paiute on a windy 14 Sep 2017 on a GolfNow deal for $40. The course has recently come out of overseeding and other general groundskeeping work. According to the pro shop it has been about 20 days since the work was done, so the course is 99% back to form. The 1% in this case happens to be the greens. The speed of the greens is severely depressed from the 10-11 range to about 8 on the stimpmeter.

This is a Pete Dye course. However, I am not certain if I was just really on for this round or if the "Dye-abolical" one has gotten soft through the years, but I failed to find any hole very punitive for the bad shot. Fairways are wide on almost all the holes, the bunkers are about 95% fair/easy (as opposed to Mr. Dye's normal 95% punitive), and most fairways allowed for a level stance in most situations. The only place where shots would be severely punished would be a shot severely offline. Each of these would be a ball found flying somewhere out into the desert-scape.
flat
Tee boxes around the course are mostly with some mounding found on most tee boxes. If you look a bit you will find a flat spot for a stance and your ball. The fairways were SOAKED as the sprinkler crews were running ahead of us making things very ironic. We're playing a desert golf course on wet, soft, and slow conditions. There was almost no rollout all day. Rough was very much what you would expect from a course in amazing condition. The rough was lush, thick, and could be very punitive in the wrong situations.

Sand Traps: Most who have read my posts know of my desire to play a course with ACTUAL SAND IN THE BUNKERS! That said, this course had it and it was done right! The green side sand was fluffy and soft where the sprinklers hadn't dampened it and was a bit denser and more coarse where they were wet and the crew ran a rake through it to aid in drying and playability. Fairway bunkers were a good mixture of a light top sand and then a pretty solid base underneath. The classic Pete Dye "railroad ties" were found on a couple of holes, but mostly as an aesthetic making the bunkers look like radiant suns. These bunkers have to be the best bunkers I have played in about 3 years.

Greens: As I said before, the greens were slow as slow gets. I had 34 putts (I average 28 putts per round) which included leaving 10 putts way short of their mark. It was a case of needing to have brought a mallet instead of my blade regardless of the weights I might have changed out (if I brought them with me). Beyond that, the greens were relatively true... once you get your head around the fact they were not about to break no matter how much you believe they should. The green complexes were well defined and I enjoyed the "primary" and "secondary" fringe levels. You just don't see that too much.

I am working on a return trip this next month, and if I am able to pull it off, I would play this again in a heartbeat. It really is a great track."

Review submitted by Andrew aka GK'er AndrewZ28:

I played in the GK Plays event at La Costa this past weekend on a crazy hot day for Carlsbad. I hadn’t played La Costa since they did the course renovations so I was really excited to get back. I’ve always thought La Costa was a really, really solid golf course but because the resort is so nice, they have the Tournament history and the overall feel is pretty luxurious that you’re expecting more of a “wow” factor. You don’t necessarily get that here, but what you do get is a really fun, challenging golf experience with fantastic service and facilities. I could definitely see myself giving this place a try more and more to have a better idea of how to play it.

There were a couple things I noticed about the layout that I think would go away or at least be mitigated with a few turns around the track. First, almost every green sits slightly elevated so there’s always that uneasiness when eye-balling distances and really feeling confident over the shots. Second, I felt almost the same off the tee but more so because of the superb bunkering and sight-lines. There’s something about this course that just keeps you a little off balance and adds to the challenge. I like that!

As for the conditions of the course, I thought they were really good. I never had a bad lie in the fairway even if they weren’t deep emerald green. Really fun to hit all shots from, although some of those tight fairway lies to the elevated green will make you tighten up a bit :). One thing that was really noticeable was the high amount of ball marks on the greens. That’s really not the courses fault but wow, poor greens took a beating. With that being said, I never had one putt bounce off-line so it didn’t affect performance too much.

**Side note: I always wonder why a course of this caliber (or any for that matter) doesn’t have the starter give out divot tools and make it a point to show each group how to use them (and let them know it’s expected). I mean, the cost can’t be that much and that one reminder before the round would make a HUGE difference in whether or not people fix their marks.

POP was right at 4 1/2 hours and I really appreciated the on course service/marshaling keeping things moving. Saw the staff quite a few times.

All in all, La Costa is really cool place to play golf. The resort was busy and had a fun vibe going. It’s fun to see and feel that energy at a course when so many are pretty stuffy and quiet. Definitely had a great time and will be heading back soon to see if multiple rounds make the difference I think they would in scoring.

Review submitted by Wendy aka GK'er abbacat:

I played Sunday, 9-3-17. It was a nice local and inexpensive escape from the heat with the strong ocean breezes that kicked in. I arrived about an hour early. The course was fairly empty so the (unnecessarily rude) guy in the pro shop said to just go play whenever I was ready. A nice threesome invited me to join them and off we went.

I don’t know anyone who considers this a favorite course, but it does have some fun and challenging holes in its very weird layout. Most of the course is narrow with some good blind shots and elevation changes. The ride through the sewer tunnels is always entertaining provided there isn’t a lot of stinky water in there.

Due to some crumbling hillsides, holes 5 & 6 are closed. Holes 9 and 10, which originally were par 5s, have each been split into a par 3 and 4. Conditions were pretty ok – actually about the best I’ve seen there. The fairways had very good grass coverage but there was way too much area that was so lumpy bumpy that severe ankle twistage was a real possibility. The greens varied from smooth and fast to scarred and slow. The sand in the bunkers was really good- deep, clean and soft. Overall the course looked nice with the vegetation between fairways and OB cut way back.

Review submitted by David aka GK'er Broomy:

Played 9/5: The course had its usual excellent customer service. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and was mostly the opposite of the usual wind direction, which made #8 and #9 play a little shorter than usual. Tee boxes and fairways are showing wear from the heat and dry conditions, which is typical this time of year, but the course was still very playable. Bunkers were in pretty good shape, although damp in spots. The greens were a little lumpy, which was unusual because they are usually very smooth. It may be that it was late in the afternoon when we played, so it had grown a little during the day, and the long shadows showed any little imperfection, including footprints from earlier groups.

POP was fine: the marshals do a generally good job of keeping things moving, even though it’s a high dollar resort course, and that we appeared to tee off shortly after a tournament. My buddy has joined their club that gives a pretty decent twilight price, so we play it pretty regularly. I’d say that Monarch Beach is my favorite course in the OC, with the possible exception of perhaps Oak Creek (which I don’t play much because it’s too expensive), and this outing was no exception.

Review submitted by Larry aka larryq2001:

Tuesday, 9/5 I headed out to Hidden Valley since it had been several months since I had been there. Was actually looking forward to it as I have always enjoyed playing here. Well, except for the very nice couple I played with, it was a bit disappointing.

The starter’s area has moved. It’s now in the building next to the driving range and where the starter used to be is now a bar/restaurant. The starter was a kind of a cocky dude. Made the check in a challenge. As I was a single, he made no attempt to pair me up with another group which was odd. So I just headed out to the tee as suggested and paired myself with a very nice couple, teeing off around 11:30.

The kikuyu fairways were lush but could have used a lawnmower. Absolutely no roll out which made a big difference playing from the blues today. Some drives literally just stopped when they hit the ground. The rough was very thick and wet in some areas. I was only in one sand trap and it was very hard. Like concrete.

The greens were very average. Slow which is something I have never seen here as the greens have always been in great condition. Not sure if they are about to aerate.
After, I stopped in to see the new restaurant and to have a beer. Glad I did. The cute server made up for a disappointing day. Very friendly and fun to communicate with. I have always enjoyed playing here and have seen the course in much better condition than today. Not giving up on this place but hope things improve when I return.

Review submitted by Steve Schnakenbert aka Stone8:

Played 9/8: Goose Creek has recovered from fall thatching and fairways are moist but in great condition, carpet like in most areas. Greens are rolling fast and true, tee boxes are all in great shape, bunkers have more sand than usual so its easy to play from them. Rough is thin in spots but easy play from, the rough that isn’t thin is thick and club grabbing so must hit down on the ball with a good speed to advance the ball.

Review submitted by Gus aka GK'er adigitalg87:

Played CrossCreek Golf Club on 9/1. Tee time was at 11:50. It was around 98 degrees. PoP was great, played as a single. I caught up to a few foursomes on holes 6 and 7, they let me play through! Didn't see anyone else the rest of the round. The driving range and putting green are always in great shape. The tee boxes were well maintained. The fairways great. The rough was thick and green. The greens were consistent soft yet firm. The bunkers looked good. This is one of my favorite courses in my area. It's always in great shape. The staff is great. They usually have great deals to play there. Like their logo says "Pristine Golf"

Review submitted by Phil Hunter aka GK'er phunteratc:

I played Revere Concord course today 9/11/2017. The Lexington course is still closed due to overseeding. Concord will be next for overseeding which had me worried as they usually let the course go downhill a lot before overseeding. That was not the case here on Concord. The course was in great shape. The fairways were lush and full. The rough was from 1 to 3 inches thick and very much a pentalty if you were to find yourself there. The Greens were in great shape and and rolling true at a medium speed. There was a lot of pitch mark damage. I really wish players would fix these at the time of play. It really makes a difference. If I can fix 3 to 4 on every green, then you can fix yours. The tee boxes were level and in great shape. My biggest complaint would be the bunkers. The bunkers were sun baked and very hard with course dirt/sand. The drink cart came around about every 5 holes which was more then sufficient. I really was impressed as many courses in southern Nevada are in poor shape going into end of summer maintenance. Good job Revere!