Well, I’m pretty sure I’m about done with Hidden Valley. When I played here on New Year’s Day with caligolfer1031 I commented on the severe slopes aro... » More

Well, I’m pretty sure I’m about done with Hidden Valley. When I played here on New Year’s Day with caligolfer1031 I commented on the severe slopes around the course and my concern about my mobility being able to deal with them. None of those things have changed – I was drawn back because I had a Costco certificate for HV (that I couldn’t use on NYD) and I certainly couldn’t let that get away (dummy!). I was joined by GKer sr714 for my final GK Cup 15 match, and GKer DeepSea14 joined us for a match with sr714. We had a sunny, warm and blustery afternoon at 12pm on Saturday, 6/27/20.

My unhappiness started early when HV told us that we could not take single carts, unlike every other course I’ve played over the past 2 months during this pandemic and with the rising COVID caseload in CA. I’m in a high-risk age group, but it was $20 extra for a single cart – VERY disappointing! No starter at the tee but we got off pretty much on time.

The first hole is brutal to start the round and sets the pace for the rest of the day. A couple years ago I was in a group that lost 8 balls on the hole – the group behind us must have been dreading the rest of the day. Starting with the first hole and continuing, fairway lies were spotty and inconsistent, and rough could be bare, bushy, or almost non-existent. I wasn’t in any traps, but playing partners complained and most traps looked like lightly groomed dirt. Sr714 had to drop from casual water in a greenside bunker on #16. Tees were very poor – almost all were torn up (we played White) and some were severely sloping to the rear of a right-handed golfer.

Greens for the most part were OK and the best part of the course. Generally good coverage and they held shots and rolled well. With the recent changes due to the pandemic it appears the course has slowed the greens down from what historically has been terrifying speed when going downhill – the green were much more puttable today, although downhill putts still required care.

The carts were pretty basic but did have a good GPS unit, which is useful with many of the blind shots encountered. But my cart had a problem with brakes – the emergency brake was hard to set, and even when set the cart would inch forward/backward on the steeper parking slopes, to the point where I just had to let it roll up against a curb before exiting.

As I said, the extreme slopes here all over the course are hard on my legs, and the resulting overall mode for me is stressful. I think I’ll pass on HV in the future – hopefully the course can address the conditioning and other issues going forward.
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Back to one of my favorite courses in the OC for a Guru round with Johnny and others. Played a GK Cup match with Johnny and were joined by gary00 and ... » More

Back to one of my favorite courses in the OC for a Guru round with Johnny and others. Played a GK Cup match with Johnny and were joined by gary00 and aakes90278 – thanks to Gary and Michael for an enjoyable round. Based on other GK reviews, we might have been holding up the GK group behind us with our pace – sorry about that, guys! Sunny, warm weather with a little bit of breeze made for a pleasant afternoon.

As others noted, course conditions were good – greens were slowed down just a touch from some other previous visits where downhill putts could be terrifying. But I thought they rolled great and held shots well. Fairway lies were good and rough was not too deep to lose balls or be impossible to recover from. I was in 3 bunkers and sand was a little damp but easily playable, with problems only in areas that had a lot of earlier play (footprints).Tees were no problem.

We played White and tee markers were pushed to the front of many boxes, so it’s likely we came in under the 6.000+ yards listed on the card. A couple of strategic bunkers have been removed, including the fairway bunker in the middle of #14. GPS was good – an earlier review said they had been removed, but cart guy told me only some units had been removed to repair wiring. New carts scheduled to be delivered in July – we’ll see if the GPS units remain – they are very useful here.

Always a great day with other GKers, and BG is a favored stop. Recommended.
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After multiple and ongoing tries to arrange a GK Cup match (various frustrations with weekend only; I’m out of town that weekend; I already committed ... » More

After multiple and ongoing tries to arrange a GK Cup match (various frustrations with weekend only; I’m out of town that weekend; I already committed to my Men’s Club) I went out to Goose Creek as a solo on Friday, 6/5 at 1:27pm for $60. The weather lately is so strange – Wednesday 6/3 was in the low 90s here, but by Friday afternoon it was high 60s, scattered rain (IN JUNE!!) and blustery winds in the 1-2 club range. I was matched with a walking single and we were caught on the 7th tee (#16 – they started everyone on #10) by an amiable 2-some, and we enjoyed a casual round in 4+ hours.

I don’t think I’ve ever encountered bad conditions at Goose in 20 years playing here, and today was no exception. Greens looked great, held shots, and rolled at medium+ speed. Fairway lies were great. Rough around fairways was pretty short and playable. Only one tee was obviously sloped – we played IV (Blue). [Don't get me started on tee 'numbering'!] I wasn’t in a bunker.

No water on-course but we saw the cart girl 2-3 times. Bathrooms are open. Marshall was monitoring play and filling divots (HOMBRE!). Pro shop open. Range and putting green now open, but chipping green was closed today. You can remove the flag from the inverted cup, but the big center post/flag ring will repel your ball if you come in too hot. Does that count as 'in'?

Goose is always recommended.
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Met GKer gary00 at one of my favorite SoCal venues for a Cup 15 match, joined by GKer rat-patrol also playing Gary. Other reviews spot on with good co... » More

Met GKer gary00 at one of my favorite SoCal venues for a Cup 15 match, joined by GKer rat-patrol also playing Gary. Other reviews spot on with good course conditions coming out of the lockdown. Good lies in fairways, greens receptive and rolling well, but wish we could do something about the traps. Often wet, or ungroomed, or devastated by footprints. We played ‘smooth and place’ in the traps (course also suggested GUR), so no problem, but golf is hazards and hopefully this will be addressed soon. Fun round in great weather with great company; $40 at noon weekday incl. cart is a great deal for this course.
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First time back out since the virus shutdown. I wanted to play local and Tijeras Creek was the only course I could find that would let you book a sing... » More

First time back out since the virus shutdown. I wanted to play local and Tijeras Creek was the only course I could find that would let you book a single online. For singles, Arroyo Trabuco wants you to just show up and wait in the lot to see if a spot opens, and Talega makes you call. TC was crazy expensive ($88) at 3:42pm on Monday, 5/18/20, but I wanted to get out. The game was pretty ugly after 11 weeks off, but at least the front nine here gives you a chance to work out some of the kinks without too much damage.

I was paired with a family group of father and 2 sons, one of whom is a member of the golf team at St. Margaret’s in SJC. They were pleasant to play with but not talkative and all very deliberate, so we were pushed hard the entire round by the quicker foursome behind us, but for the most part we were in position, and finished in just under 4 hours.

All the virus protections were evident – golf shop closed with check-in at the entry door, calls to carts 10 minutes ahead of your tee time, well-spaced times, range open with distancing [range NOT!! included with green fee!), foam ring in the cups, no water/sand refills/rakes. At least they had the bathrooms open, and we saw a cart girl a couple times.

Greens were in good shape with complete coverage, soft and a little bumpy and rolling at medium speed. I was disappointed to see quite a few unrepaired ballmarks on most greens. Fairways had good coverage and were mostly fine, but some areas are drier/thinner. Rough was maintained but we’d had some showers the previous night and that morning and it was wet and ate the ball up quickly. Sand was pretty wet but adequate to play from. Tees were generally in good shape.

Course uses entry and exit gate areas for carts to manage damage to turf. No GPS but plates in the COF at 100/150/200 and some sprinkler heads are marked. Overall well-maintained conditions but I seemed to find every overly bushy/bad spot – poor shots result in poor lies, I guess! Only one hole was path only – hole #6, which always seems to be in that condition. The Blue and White tees were pushed forward one box on most holes – I wound up playing the White plates, which most often corresponded to placement of the Blue markers.

Recommended, but hopefully you can get a better rate.
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