Played South on Friday. Ditto on Weber's comments. Fairways and greens are finally perfect, almost like what you would find in the desert. However, that generally means that maintenance is just around the corner. Five months to get it perfect for one winter month of great play, then back to normal reality. Collars around greens are very inconsistent as it's like playing on broccoli. No way to putt as balls bounce around like a pachinko machine. Dormant rough barely hides the hardpan underneath. Tee boxes are fine, sand traps are inconsistently raked, 1/2 in some spots, 3" in others. Part of the issue is bunker design where ball should roll to the bottom but often rolls further back into a downhill lie. POP was 4 hours. CPO still on a few holes for some reason. Would never have known we received 5" of rain a few weeks ago due to firmness of course.

Played on Saturday. 1/2" rain made the course CPO. Fairways at this point are hard packed sand, very little in way of grass growing. Rough is dormant, patchy Bermuda, We joke that the club wastes fuel and labor mowing the fairways as there is not much to mow. Overseeded tee boxes have not been mowed for a week so it's like hitting out of the rough. Greens have returned to inconsistent conditions. Firm surfaces yet stimp speeds range from 8 to 12 from one hole to the next. Lots of unrepaired ball marks and unfilled divots. Sand traps inconsistent as well as they try to remove gravel from a failed bunker project several years ago.

Staff tries their best under new ownership but billionaire owner is completely MIA and his manager spends money like he is in welfare line. Heard so many promises over the last year, yet conditions have not improved but membership has grown where it is now almost impossible to get an online tee time two weeks in advance (tee times gone within a minute) however 20% of the players no show on playing day. Unfortunately it's the atmosphere the club has created, but they are in denial of situation. A perfect example of a club that is being "taken over".

North fairways really need new type of grass and improved drainage but that costs money of which the new owner is unwilling to provide at this time. Hopefully it gets the Shorecliff makeover in the future.

Play with my buddies on beautiful morning with 10-15 mph winds. Overseeded fairways are beautiful that enables us to play the ball down as that had been an issue last month. Greens are firm and fast, but you need to control your spin due to some false fronts. Too many unrepaired ball marks as some members are lazy and don't like to bend over much or walk three extra steps to their mark. Bunkers have new sand, almost too much at this point but I expect maintenance to spread it around more evenly during the next few weeks. Lucky if members rake bunkers properly. They almost expect someone to magically appear and do it for them. Tee boxes are level are green. The par 3 boxes have lots of divots in certain areas mainly due to not moving them more frequently. Rough is very knarly, dormant bermuda grass that makes it near impossible to get clean contact. The fairway lines on #6 and #9 have been shifted up near the green which helps out sightlines.

Played Saturday morning. Greens are firm and fast. Well struck shot can hold the green but you must control your spin since severe undulations coupled with raised greens can result in ball rolling 40 feet off green and down hills where knarly bermuda rough awaits. Fairways remain the biggest challenge as pas pallum bermuda grass has failed to grow in leaving hard, sand packed surfaces to hit from. Like one long sand covered runway. Bunkers are getting refilled with new white sand, but it's hit or miss with the traps with old sand. Tee boxes are in good shape because they were overseeded. Choose your poison here: great greens with bad fairways are much better than bad greens with great fairways. We've had them both within the past six months (along with bad greens and bad fairways) just never great green and great fairways. Could be the reason why legacy members are leaving in droves. Very difficult to obtain tee times as online system may have been compromised. Too many members here with too many membership categories. Too embarrassed to bring guests out to play in these conditions. New billionaire owners not going to pump any money into course except for basic maintenance costs. Very disappointing conditions compared to rest of private clubs in OC.

Out on Saturday for a leisurely 4 1/2 hour round. Overseed of fairways has grown in nicely although there are certain "Indian burial ground" areas that just refuse to grow anything. I think it's a drainage problem more than anything and until the course recontours the fairways and drains, it will continue to be an issue. Fairways are a bit moist so a continuation of mud balls until they dry out somewhat. Greens starting to firm up and a nice consistent 11 speed and you have to play more bump and run chip shots rather than a straight flops landing within 5 ft of hole. Pin setter is finding more new pin positions lately that is a welcome change. Rough is dormant, knarly bermuda and not a place you want to visit. Sand traps remain the biggest issue with gravel poking thru in some spots while it could be quicksand a few feet away. Overseeded tee boxes are in good condition but tee markers don't get moved very much. About five holes are CPO for members but for Monday outside tournament play there are no such restrictions.

Played member tournament on 11/22, Guess superintendent can pull the necessary levers any time he wants to regarding green speed. Double cut and rolled them and "whalla" they were 13 speed on stimp. Love to see the speed but why change it by 30% overnight. And it probably will be like this for only a couple of days. Anyway, the greens were perfect. Fairway grass is still very thin so we had to play winter rules. Rough is knarly but not completely grown in, lots of flyers. Sand traps are inconsistent, gravel in some, quicksand in others. Tee boxes have finally grown in after overseeding eight weeks ago.

The North reopened after being shut down for two weeks to do greens aeration and reseeding tees. We were told that the fairways would not be overseeded this year and therefore not touched during maintenance. That turned out to be false as they decided to verticut and sand about 2/3 of the fairways. Needless to say, the fairways are back to poor shape as there is hardly any grass on those they scalped just in time for the cool weather when the bermuda won't grow. Back to the bird nest divots that explode and hurt your wrists.

Greens rolled better than expected but still rather slow. I expect in another 2 weeks they should be fine if they will ever let fast speeds ever return to Coto. Tees are excellent but they had to lay down a second spreading of seed to feed the crows and skunks. Greens hold very well. Bunkers are inconsistent. Some raked, some aren't. Rough is tough to hit from. Only defense on course.

CPO on about 6 holes. POP was 4 hours. New owner still MIA. It's been 5 months. We've been told he is a perfectionist. So far he is more like an illusionist.

As mentioned before, greens were aerated when course closed five weeks ago. Course has been open for two full weeks. Greens are still moderately slow and all the greens still show evidence of holes and are somewhat bumpy. Add in some sort of discoloration and you scratch your head as to what is going on.

Still cart path only. Winds have dried out fairways a bit. Reasonably good coverage on fairway and you can play the ball down without issue except for the "Indian burial ground" areas that just refuse to grow grass no matter the time of year . Tee boxes have grown in but they get so much wear due to the fact they are so small.

Bunkers are still a concern as gravel poking thru in some greenside sand traps. POP was 4 hours. Getting better but expect it will be another 2-3 weeks before we see all around excellent conditions meaning that it's been 5 months of sub par conditions for this so called "private gem".

North greens just got punched and it will be about 4 weeks of below average conditions on that course. Membership has been brainwashed into thinking "good" is now "excellent" so new course owner doesn't have to make an effort to improve conditions. Still hitting off worn down mats at driving range. Putting green is by far best conditioned of all greens. 2 ft faster on stimp.

Maybe one day we return to the first class experience we are paying all the $ for but I doubt it will be anytime soon.

It seems you never know what conditions you will get at Coto these days. It varies drastically from week to week. My review last week mentioned slow greens and near perfect fairways. However today, it was the reverse. They discovered that the greens mowers needed the blades sharpened and whalla, green speeds went from 8 to 11 overnight. However, they must have done the same thing to the fairway mowers and by going at the same mower speed and lowering the cutting height they scraped most of the grass too low. Back to winter rules with a vengeance. Tees have four varieties of grass on them, pretty thin. Not sure what members did to deserve these conditions. Course shutting down on 10/14 for two weeks of maintenance. New ownership is still MIA, it's been about 4 months of silence. Played before 9AM and POP was less than 4 hours, a full 30-60 min faster than after 9AM.

About a month since my last review. The fairways have grown in nicely but the bermuda grass has returned to it's tangly mess when taking divots. Impossible to take a clean divot. Coverage is about 85%, enough to play the ball down. Tees are just ok, many bares pots and different varieties of grass. Greens are still very soft, craters for ball marks. Don't think greens had been mowed since the weekend as they were very slow. Downhill puts that you would normally have a hard time keeping on green would have to be pounded just to reach the hole. Not sure what is going on here as they had returned to speed two weeks ago. New ownership is still MIA and "plans" are not being shared. South course closed for two plus weeks while overseeding fairways and tees plus aerating greens, so North course getting alot of play.

Day 4 of our four day golf trip. Back to normal Tahoe weather of 75 degrees. Recovering from the shell shock of Day 3 at Martis Camp (for which unfortunately I cannot leave a review for since the course is not in the GK database) where the greens speeds were out of control, easily 13 on the stimp, we venture across the street to Lahonton as guests of several members there. Lahonton, like Martis Camp is owned by the same group but the course greens are quite different. Hit it in the fairway and watch the ball roll. Hit in rough and lose 40 yards distance. Rock hard greens can hold high wedge shots but not much more as you need to use the contours around the greens to maneuver the ball towards the pin. Green speeds are as fast as Martis Camp and you have very tight fairways that extend all the way up to edges of the green making chip shot extremely hard. However if you get in rough, expect flyers with very little chance of holding green. Great collection of holes with elevation changes and an unusual Par 4/4/3/3/5/5 finish. About 4 holes out in the meadows with the rest being in the trees. Multiple tee boxes and pin positions allow Lahonton to be like four different courses. Perhaps my favorite course in Lake Tahoe. POP was 5 hours as we were part of a Pro/Member shotgun. Awesome range with endless views. An eclectic variety of houses surround the holes, but they are setback far enough where none of them are in play. If you get an invitation to play here (or Martis Camp) do not turn it down. Clubhouse is spectacular. Love the tiny Pro Shop and Men's Grill area. Spectacular views of Northstar. $185 green fee (with a member).

Round 2 of our four day golf trip. 50 degrees with afternoon thunderstorms which was frustrating because this time of year it's normally 75 degrees and clear. Staggering $350 green fee during peak season. They had just recently lightly top dressed the greens but that sure didn't affect the speed as they were rolling at 12. Hard to judge uphill or downhill because they were both fast. Your think everything would break away from Heavenly Valley toward the lake but definitely not the case. A very good layout but not quite as spectacular as what you see on TV. Lush tee boxes and fairways. Did get an afternoon thunderstorm that lasted about 30 minutes as we were playing #16. Carts notify us with a message to return to clubhouse when lightening was in area, however halfway back the message said it was ok to return to course just before a lightning bolt hit a tree about 300 yards from us so not sure how real time the notification system is. POP was about 5 hours not including the delay. We got stuck behind a slow foursome that the marshal had to warn 3 times before he made them skip a hole. I think you are paying a premium green fee based upon it's reputation. Ok for one time play but not consistently IMO unless you are a high roller who gets comped. Due to it's location near the casinos it gets a lot of play. Very nice range to warm up on.