20 years ago, I swore off Shorecliffs even though it was 4 miles from home. It was a mess, and then a landslide made it more of a mess.

Time p... » More

20 years ago, I swore off Shorecliffs even though it was 4 miles from home. It was a mess, and then a landslide made it more of a mess.

Time passed. I mellowed. Shorecliffs got a new managing group, and money started to go into the course. Nice new clubhouse and restaurant. Nice practice green and decent chipping areas that I use for practice weekly. Reviews started to pour in about the improvements and positive trends.

Finally, the stars (schedule, openings, hot deal) aligned, and my 20 year hiatus from Shorecliffs came to an end today.

THE KING IS NOT DEAD! LONG LIVE THE KING!

Shorecliffs is still awful. Worse than anything I have played in 20 years, since Shorecliffs.

Here we go. Greens are shaggy, soft, and bumpy. Nothing over 2 feet rolled straight. At least the grass is there, it could be cut short and rolled and I think they would be fine. I might give them the benefit of the doubt, but at least 6 of the cups were cut at ground level. 2 of the cups were actually at grass level, you could run your hand over the hole and feel the cup edge. I can't remember ever seeing cups that poorly seated. If they don't care about that, I doubt they care about shaggy greens.

And an unannounced surprise, all Blue and White tee boxes were closed. So we played from the Ladies' Tees for half of the holes, and the other half the tees were actually ahead of the ladies tees. This already short 5700 yard course played around 4200 today. There was a 267 yard par 5. It was downhill and downwind. I was one good bounce from driving the green on a Par 5.

As for the layout changes over 20 years, as others have stated, the nines have flipped. Now you get to start on the two tightest fairways, without having a range to warm up on. Good luck. The landslide lost Par 4 on the now Back 9 has been replaced by making the Par 5 #10 (old #1) into a 150 yard Par 3, followed by a 220 yard Par 4 (?). And that is a straight 220, although we were playing it at 175. The hole before the landslide is a complete mess. Tees way left of the hole, so you actually have to hit over trees on the left side of the fairway to get to the fairway (that you can't see).

On my golf tracker spreadsheet, 20 years ago I left this liitle note on the Shorecliffs line.... "play only if less than $3". I think I may have been a bit too generous.

Highly not recommended.
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Played Pala Mesa on 9/30. I don't remember seeing Pala Casino branding here before, but it is there now, so apparently the course may be owned by Pala... » More

Played Pala Mesa on 9/30. I don't remember seeing Pala Casino branding here before, but it is there now, so apparently the course may be owned by Pala Casino now. Likely a good development based on what we've seen at other courses that get Casino support.

Greens are really nice. Very soft though. But roll very well.

Everything else is pretty good here. Fairways are good, with a rough spot here and there. Sand was plentiful, although there were quite a bit of unraked areas ( we were first off, so this was late day golfers not raking).

Really enjoyable course. Hit it straight though (I wasn't).
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Played SC Muni on 9/10/25.

Fairways have dropped a notch since I last played here. But last time - fairways were fantastic, so no where to go... » More

Played SC Muni on 9/10/25.

Fairways have dropped a notch since I last played here. But last time - fairways were fantastic, so no where to go but down a notch. Still mostly very good, but there are several spots that were dried out and thin - not a surprise for late summer heat. Same for the rough, which is normal for Muni.

Greens - I don't know if they have a new formula, but the greens are amazing right now. Shockingly green and plush for late summer. Usually this time of year, they are getting dried out and dangerously fast. This year they are just so green and plush and smooth. Kudos to the SC staff.

Still my highest "bargain" recommendation.
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Played Dos Osos on 8/11/25.

JC Golf is definitely putting some work into this place. But it is still a struggle in many places. The greens ar... » More

Played Dos Osos on 8/11/25.

JC Golf is definitely putting some work into this place. But it is still a struggle in many places. The greens are nice, but are a bit shaggy and quite slow. Playable.

Fairways and rough is a challenge to get grass growing everywhere. Play it up or you'll get some nasty spots. I lost two balls in the fairway, things just seem to disappear at times. It's OK though, I was playing some ugly yellow balls that I don't mind losing.

Sand was nice. Tee boxes were decent - good spots, bad spots.

The range is still there, but no longer in use? Kind of surprising, I thought ranges were decent money makers. Couple of poor mats and range nets to get a few swings in before. Hopefully all the money is going into the course now, and the range will be brought back to life later.

I like the layout for a residential neighborhood course. While it does go through housing, the houses for the most part are far enough away and raised above the course - so it doesn't feel too close. If I lived closer, I wouldn't mind going here for a cheap fun round.

For now, just be warned that it is a work in progress. I like what JC is doing here, looking forward to coming back and seeing progress.
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