joined the legendary greenskeeper review team for a great outing in the desert on 1/14. it was a perfect day for golf, sunny with minimal wind. dese... » More

joined the legendary greenskeeper review team for a great outing in the desert on 1/14. it was a perfect day for golf, sunny with minimal wind. desert willow is known for it's immaculate conditions and beautiful bunkers, and it did not disappoint. bag was loaded up quickly onto the cart which had a convenient divider which is a great addition for those playing with partners from different households. interestingly though in contrast to other golf clubs, the clubhouse is open for check in and shopping, putting green is open with regular cups, and there are rakes in the bunkers. all the staff from the bag check to golf course check-in to the starter were pleasant and friendly.

course itself was in fantastic condition, with the fairways and rough a lush emerald green. great carpet-like lies from everywhere in the fairway and rough was grown just enough so that your ball sat up but it would grab your club if you mi sh-t the ball a bit. tee boxes from the combos were nice and flat, well labeled. some diffuse divot damage on some par 3s were probably the only nit pick. fairway and greenside bunkers had a nice amount of sand in them, but there were a couple of greenside bunkers that were just a tiny bit thin. my own fault for ending up in them. greens were the biggest challenge of the course, running medium fast to fast, but rolling true with great coverage and minimal ball mark damage. two putts were often challenging and getting up and down required some well placed chips.

given the thread about layouts in the forums, though it's a challenging course that is kept immaculately, most of the par 4s seemed to blend together for me and even though it was a great day and great round, not a lot of holes stood out in my mind except the par 3s and maybe 9 and 18 (mostly for how poorly i scored on them). it wouldn't keep me from playing it again right away though, probably just means i need to play it more to figure out the subtleties on how to score.

thanks to john, kevin, and brian for a great round, hopefully i find more time to make it out to these events.
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second round of 2021 turned out to be a super windy trek through oak quarry. always one of my favorite tracks, but haven't been back since the pandem... » More

second round of 2021 turned out to be a super windy trek through oak quarry. always one of my favorite tracks, but haven't been back since the pandemic price hikes. a friend wanted to try it out so ok whatever played early saturday morning, they have some nice new carts and everyone goes out in single carts. greg norman thing on gps but i didn't bother with it. 17th and 18th are now 1 and 2, which i'm sort of 'meh' to as you don't get to start near the range but i guess the old 17 and 16 make a better 1 and 18 than the previous.

conditions were excellent for winter. very nicely groomed and flat tee boxes throughout the blues. fairways are brownish dormant but still nicely playable, and the rough is green, making an interesting color contrast which is usually the other way around. rough is light, cut low, and easy to play out of. greens were receptive and putted smooth, medium speed, with minimal ball marks. fringe areas were kept up nicely. in a nice surprise, the greenside bunkers actually had some decent sand in them that was nice to play out of, which is not the usual around this track. a nice improvement.

the winds picked up fiercely after the sun came up though, making club selection difficult, and even standing still to hit the ball was difficult due to wind gusts. never played when it was so windy here, putts were getting blown offline. hit a couple of 300 yd drives and also a few <200. felt like all the par 5s (new 10,14,18) were all into the wind making things especially difficult. POP was <4h as a foursome as should be expected teeing off before 7am. wind killed my score quite a bit as i usually do okay around here, but i still made par on the signature hole #16 so i'm good.

a bit too pricey to recommend at rack weekend morning rates ($161 at 7am next saturday egads) but if you can find a deal it's a fun course. hopefully the wind doesn't bite you in the ass.
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first round of 2021 at maderas. trying to get back into it after taking it easy due to some epicondylitis in right elbow. pro shop is closed, and on... » More

first round of 2021 at maderas. trying to get back into it after taking it easy due to some epicondylitis in right elbow. pro shop is closed, and on check in they charge a $5 covid sanitation fee. seems kind of nickel and dimey to me, for a high end club like this, just include it in your greens fees. that was the last negative though, as the course is in great condition. very nice range with included range balls and starter was friendly. front 9 was wide open, didn't run into anyone until green on 8. had to wait a bit on the back but still finished in 3.5H. fairways are deep green and firm so lots of roll out on tee shots especially if you hit certain slopes. very nice dormant rough so you get the beautiful brown/green contrast. tee boxes were all level and flat. fringes were tight and greens rolled smooth. they were firm and approaches were difficult to hold. greens are the biggest challenge here for me, always large with multiple undulations and tiers, making 2 putts and up and downs challenging. bunkers were filled with nice soft sand and actually had rakes! i haven't seen a rake in months. carts have nice gps and plush seats. always a pleasure to play here, wish it was closer to me.
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Played mid morning here today. Really need to stop playing golf out here in Corona. Just ridiculously long rounds (5h10min) and bad winter condition... » More

Played mid morning here today. Really need to stop playing golf out here in Corona. Just ridiculously long rounds (5h10min) and bad winter conditions just like dos lagos last week. Fairways are brown and dormant which means that there is a teeny layer of brown dead grass. Which in Corona target golf land means that your ball runs forever and usually ends up out of bounds. Hole 3, 5, 9 your drives will run out and there are sand bags or fences but it just doesn't work. There is no rough. Tee boxes were OK from blue. There was actually grass on fringe and greens ran medium fast but were pretty bumpy. Would have enjoyed it if I wasn't waiting on every shot. 5+ is just too long.
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