Played Pelican Hill (North) on 10/4/12. Greens were recovering from maintenance and were a little slower than normal but should be great next week. Love the lay out of this course and the views are the best in Southern California. Lots of maintenance personnel all over the course but never got in the way. First class golf experience from bag drop until you are back in your car going home. You pay for the experience but it is worth it for the most part.

Pelican Hill Golf Club Review
Southern California Golf Course Reviews

Played the South Course on Friday, October 5th. Underwhelmed by the La Costa experience.
Took forever to get our bags down from the valet parking area. Still, the pro shop people were nice and helpful. POP was 5 hours which for a Friday afternoon should be expected. The conditions were only slightly better than average with the bunker sand being very firm. Greens were very good with few pitch marks. Old style course with smallish greens but not much to it. I guess I just expected a lot more for the price. No where near worth the rack rate of $170.
Played Pelican Hill (Newport Bch) the day before and Talega (San Clemente) the day after and this was the least favorite by everyone in the group.

La Costa Resort Golf Course Review
Carlsbad California Golf Course Reviews

Played Saturday 4/23 at 7:30am and had a 4.5 hour round. Conditions are as good as they get at Talega now. Greens tend to be on the slower side but roll true, fairways are good and the sand traps have been recently worked on (they needed work - always hard). Talega has always been my favorite Southern OC course because of the variety of holes (front nine vs back nine). Too great par 3's over water (5 and 7). Driving Range is a 5 minute cart ride which isn't ideal but they have replaced their mats so for the time being it is worth going to.

Played a Super Twilight front nine on 4/25. The SC Muni continues to be the best value in OC golf. Always decent conditions and a fun outing. Good greens, decent fairways and tee boxes with a very friendly staff. It's a low key place which sees alot of play but you can usually get around in 4.5 hours.

Played today 4/26 - 8:40 tee time - 4.5 hour round got around the front nine in 2 hours much slower on the back. Good course and is a fair value at around $65-$90. Rack rates ($125+) are way too high.
Conditions are usually fairly good, greens get high marks, tee boxes are good, fairways are very firm right now (too firm IMO), sand traps are a mixed bag (some OK others short on sand). I like the design and the course, It isn't that difficult but has a nice feel for being in the middle of Irvine.

Got out at 7:45am this Sunday - 4/5/09. Course is in excellent condition, fairways great, greens only a few ball marks, bunkers a little firm for my tastes.
Best part is a new GPS that gives you a map of the hole which includes where other carts are located (important from the tee on 15 - Blind tee shot to the fairway). Their old system was very weak so it's an upgrade.
Got around in 4 hrs with the Santa Ana winds blowing which changed everything on how this course usually plays.

Played yesterday - Tuesday and got stuck behind the mens club which made for a 5 hour round. Front nine was really slow but it got better on the back. Teed off at noon and just barely got done a 5:15pm. Wouldn't be bad but on a Tuesday in January?
Course is not in the condition that we have come to expect, especially in the fairways which had a lot of bare spots and not only on the usual problem ones (6 and 8).
Greens were fine as they usually are and everything else was ok but the conditions have generally slipped at this fun course. I hope things get better soon.

Talega is under new ownership and they are telling everyone that changes are going to be made. They did lower the greens fees a bit with $100 - Sat/Sun being the high rate with a $10 discount for San Clemente Residents.
The course is still in very good shape with the exception being the bunkers (hard and unpredictable). Teed off at 8:15am on a Holiday Weekend Saturday and got around in 4 1/2 hours. Can't complain. Greens were slower then usual.

Played on 12/10 and the conditions where much better than a month earlier. The word is that Heritage Golf has sold this club to an investor. It will be interesting to see what changes will be made. Good speed of play as it should be on a Wednesday in December. Greens had much fewer ball marks, tee boxes and fairways were good but the sand as it always is here was inconsistent from bunker to bunker.