Played the LONG #1 course in an SCGA qualifier on Thursday, 9/10/20, teeing off at 820am and playing in just over 4.5 hr. Which was pretty torturous, ... » More

Played the LONG #1 course in an SCGA qualifier on Thursday, 9/10/20, teeing off at 820am and playing in just over 4.5 hr. Which was pretty torturous, as all the fires made the air brown and smoky, and we had NO wind and high humidity, making the round very uncomfortable. After the high heat of the past couple weeks, the course (yes, all that lovely kikuyu!) was very wet from early watering, and for some reason SCGA set us up on the Blue tees (6,711/72.5/129), making the long day even longer.

Greens were the best part of the course. They were fairly firm but held good shots, had good coverage and rolled smoothly at medium+ speed. We saw scattered old ballmarks on each hole but it was manageable. Greens on the back nine are a little sloppier than on the front, and a couple of pin placements yesterday were on the edge of the precipice – my downhill putt on #10, struck with appropriate speed for what we saw on the front nine, rolled past the hole and continued off the front of the green 30 feet away! Fortunately this was the exception and not the rule! [Please HOLD the comments on my putting!]

Fairway coverage was variable throughout the course – you could get lush/spongy kikuyu, tight/firm kikuyu, thin/patchy lies, or bare spots. Rough was similar in the variability encountered, but was much more likely to be on the thin/bare side. And farther from the fairway you were in loose dirt. Tees were generally OK but were set up pretty narrow, so cleat damage built up fairly quickly, and frequently were pushed to the side of the tee box, where bordering trees could intrude (go, American Golf!!). Sand was barely adequate – a very thin layer over wet, packed base. It helps that SCGA lets you play lift and place within one club in competitions, but you still have the thin sand problem.

I hadn’t played #1 in 20+ years, so I was happy to see a TFM GPS unit on the good-quality cart. COVID measures in place – don’t touch the flag, no rakes, masks in the clubhouse, and putting green closed. But the range was open. As opposed to the courteous staff at Arrowood a few days ago, staff here just keeps working/driving while you are hitting.

Recommended, but play the correct tees, and wait for the fire residue to clear out.
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Wanted to get some swings in with a couple of competitions coming up, but heat restricted what would be possible. GKer Itslikeimsayin scored a great d... » More

Wanted to get some swings in with a couple of competitions coming up, but heat restricted what would be possible. GKer Itslikeimsayin scored a great deal at Arrowood, one of my SoCal favorites and a location known for cooling ocean breezes. We teed off on time at 1150 on Labor Day, Monday 9/7/20, joining a couple other singles and playing in just under 4.5 hours with more waiting on the back nine. Started on #10 for “front-side maintenance”. Comfortable carts with ball washer and lots of pep even though they had just been recycled from earlier rounds. Shark Experience GPS (but $10 more for single rider cart). Active starter and saw a marshall on the course a couple times. Quite a bit of maintenance activity early in the round but workers were aware of golfers – very nice.

This is one of my favorite courses and I like the layout. The course is very green overall with a variety of grasses sometimes giving the course a mottled appearance. Greens had good coverage, were soft and very receptive. However, this is probably the worst overall ballmark problem I have ever encountered on any course. Some courses have a few holes where you hit a lot of short iron approaches that show lots of ballmarks – at Arrowood every green had dozens of new and old ballmarks. You literally had to do repair work on every green to give yourself a reasonable route to the hole. There were recent marks fairly easily fixed, but many of the older damage had dried edges and craters that were resistant to repair. This was the most disappointing aspect of the entire experience today.

Fairway lies were generally good and coverage was good, although pretty dry and thin in some areas. Rough was mostly cut short and playable near the fairways, and more variable if you strayed too far away. We saw some very deep footprints in the sand that players had made no attempt to smooth, and I had a bad experience in a footprint when I forgot the “lift, smooth, and place” COVID rule. Tees were set up very wide and no problems finding a spot to tee up, although some tees could use a smoothing out.

COVID stuff in place around the clubhouse – masks needed except at the grill, handle your own bag, carts assigned soon before your tee time. $8 for a small bucket on mats at the driving range, but the mats were in good condition. Pin positions use a 6-location wheel which seemed to result in a lot of “back” pin locations today.

Always recommended – but, please, fix your ballmarks, people!!!
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Joined the GK Gurus at the Legends course in the short-hitters group at 12:06 pm on a warm, sunny Thursday, 9/3/20. Really enjoyed the round with GKer... » More

Joined the GK Gurus at the Legends course in the short-hitters group at 12:06 pm on a warm, sunny Thursday, 9/3/20. Really enjoyed the round with GKers gary00, caligolfer1031, and sr129. We all encouraged, dissed, and kidded our way to an easy round in just under 4 hours.

As others before me have noted, course conditions were good. Greens had a light dusting of what looked like fertilizer but held solid shots and rolled well at medium speed – the greens looked a little faster than they played. Fairway lies were very good and the ball sat up nicely. Rough varied from a little drier and easier to play from to damper and pretty juicy – this grass type can really pillow the ball and don’t count on much run when you get into the rough. It looked like a couple of larger trees might no longer be adjacent to some holes, based on my faulty memory. Tees were mostly good and sand was playable, although around the greens I would like to see a little more depth.

Carts are newer and have comfortable seats, GPS, ball washer and cooler with ice. However, my GPS unit never booted up. Starter was friendly but we didn’t see a course employee after that. Many holes were CPO inside the 150 marker, with notification on the GPS. Water and ice available at the clubhouse and at the bathroom that services several holes.

The big difference today for me, compared to several earlier rounds at La Costa, was understandably related to the current COVID measures in place. The resort is spread out and bag drop, parking, and golf shop are well-separated. Today there was no valet parking and no one handled your bag, so you had to drop your bag at the drop and head back to self-parking. It’s a good hump back to the bag drop. Then down 2 flights of stairs to the cart area. After the round, you have to do it all backwards, except it’s all uphill – LOL. For an old guy with a bad knee, this was the most stressful part of the day!

Still recommended for conditioning and GK camaraderie. Once the world gets back to normal, access will be a lot easier.
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Back out to Mesa Linda with a high school buddy at 4pm on 8/25/20, trying to escape the inland heat. Temps were mild with not very much wind at the en... » More

Back out to Mesa Linda with a high school buddy at 4pm on 8/25/20, trying to escape the inland heat. Temps were mild with not very much wind at the end of the day. Paired with a couple young bombers/sprayers and we had a relaxed round. Too relaxed – the two groups ahead of us were sucky players and SLOW, driving all over creation on every hole (shared carts – now a bad idea!), so we dawdled on every shot and had to abandon the round on the 17th green in darkness. Bummer! And so unnecessary. I complained to the marshal on hole #6 and he harassed me repeatedly over the next few holes. $37 incl. cart not too bad for conditions here, which were similar to my review from 8/1/20. Greens firmer today after all the heat we had the past two weeks.
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Played at 3pm 8/18/20 on a humid, warm day with little wind in 4.5 hours. Similar conditions to my review posted 7/15/20. $60 still steep.