Played with an OC Golfers Meetup group at 10am on Saturday, 7/2/22. Sunny, warm day with less wind than is usual for Meadowlark, and I found myself ov... » More

Played with an OC Golfers Meetup group at 10am on Saturday, 7/2/22. Sunny, warm day with less wind than is usual for Meadowlark, and I found myself overdressed and warm. Conditions are unchanged from my review in April – very acceptable conditions for a casual weekend round. There are a few scattered wet areas (sprinkler issues) and scattered dry/bare areas. Tees on the par-3 (over water) 7th hole were moved well forward, perhaps to improve pace on a hole where 3- or 4- group backups are not uncommon. The one greenside trap I was in was hard-packed with a miniscule sand layer, resulting in a blade rocket.
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I joined my high school buddy here on a foggy, cool and breezy Monday, 6/27/22, teeing off a little late around 10:15 between several foursomes. My fi... » More

I joined my high school buddy here on a foggy, cool and breezy Monday, 6/27/22, teeing off a little late around 10:15 between several foursomes. My first time playing here despite living in SoCal for the past 40+ years – I generally avoid 9-holers and never had an invitation from friends. He invited me during the COVID period but they weren’t allowing carts out, which is a no-go for my bum knee. The setting was attractive and very quiet with the surrounding hills close by, very few homes in view, and the damping effect of the fog. We moved along with the other players ahead and behind, finishing in just under 2 hours.

Greens are the highlight of the course and are in very good condition, fairly firm and rolling nicely at medium+ speed. Speeds were consistent through the round, which is great. There’s no significant tiering and most greens are fairly flat. I consistently played too much break on most putts, which we found to be almost always pretty straight. Greens didn’t hold shots too well due to firmness. Many green surrounds were closely mown and shots running onto these slopes funneled down into collection areas or against rough collars. Tees were level – we played White, as the Blue card has some very long par-3s. Fairway lies were good and rough was generally very playable. Traps had apparently been recently refurbished and were visually appealing, had adequate sand quality and quantity, and played great.

Club facilities are nice and look to be recently refurbished. Small but attractive pro shop and snack bar/restaurant available. The accompanying resort was pretty busy during the breakfast/lunch hours with an international clientele. Valet parking is required and staff is efficient. No driving range, but a large netted hitting bay is available, and a tiny putting green about the size of a walk-in closet.

OK for a quick casual round.
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Played River View for the first time with an OC Meetup group at 8:21am on Sunday morning, 6/12/22. First time here for the two guys I played with, as ... » More

Played River View for the first time with an OC Meetup group at 8:21am on Sunday morning, 6/12/22. First time here for the two guys I played with, as well, so we all discovered the course together. I’ve lived in the OC for 45 years and never played here, and I have to say I won’t likely be rushing back. The course is pretty quirky and limited in design by playing up and back along the river and up and down off the riverside bluffs and down onto the banks. So there are a lot of holes that look and play very similar.

The course was crowded and, while we started on time, we waited on every shot after that. Seemed longer than the 2:20 on each side, I guess because of the waiting, but finished in around 4:40, which isn’t too bad on a weekend morning. There was a “lesson”-type thing going on in the group ahead of us, but it looked like they were waiting on the people in front of them, as well.

Conditions were pretty average. Greens had good coverage and rolled pretty well at medium+ speed. Not too many unrepaired ballmarks. Some greens have minor tiering at the back or some minor undulation, but most are fairly level. Some greens were pretty soft and receptive; others were much firmer and approaches took longer bounces. Fairway lies were pretty thin and we saw many large areas where turf was patchy or absent. Rough was variable, from mown areas to wildly-growing deep yikes, as well as areas that were bares and leaf-covered. Holes playing along the river had large stretches of river sand to be avoided. It’s hard to hit to these elevated greens off a bare/thin lie, and then the slope/runup to these perched greens is lush and difficult to play from. Traps were firm with thin layers of coarse sand. Tees were generally flat but many showed a lot of divot damages – partially-filled divot mix bottles on the carts, but no divot mix boxes on the par-3 tees, and no refill rack.

Some really visually-challenging holes. #3 is a longer very narrow par-3 flanked by large trees with a couple of intervening traps. Hole #11 is even more extreme – a shorter par-4 that basically a hallway between huge trees, with a ridge running down the fairway to funnel your ball into the bare dirt under the right trees, if you can hit straight enough to avoid the forest.

Shop is very basic, and so were carts with only a generic GPS to the MOG. No cart girl, but a snack bar in the clubhouse at the turn. Range on mats. Huge putting green with a putting “course” set up – conditions of that green were pretty lush and similar/nicer than the on-course greens. Course infrastructure conditions cry out for maintenance/improvement, but it doesn’t look like ownership is putting much back into the place.

We also had the new experience of seeing a homeless guy get arrested right next to us as we were playing the 4th green – cops had guns drawn and everything. Apparently he was following/harassing a woman golfer in the group ahead of us. So more of the local charm here.

Meat and potatoes golf and what would be a last option for me. Hilarious comment of the day by one of my playing partners: “seems like they packed 10 pounds of sh*t into a 5-pound bag!”
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Played Mile Square on Sunday, 5/29/22, joining a threesome of friends at 1:22pm on a sunny, breezy great day for golf. Walked on and was paired up wit... » More

Played Mile Square on Sunday, 5/29/22, joining a threesome of friends at 1:22pm on a sunny, breezy great day for golf. Walked on and was paired up within about 15 minutes. These guys were enthusiastic players and brought lots of beer and harder liquors. We moved slowly but steadily as the course was pretty crowded, finishing in about 4.75 hours, as things started jamming up on the back 9, especially the last 5 holes that were imported from the old Players Course.

Overall conditions are very good. Greens are pretty receptive, have good coverage, and roll smoothly at medium+ speeds. Too bad there are so many unrepaired ballmarks everywhere. Fairway lies are good and rough is generally pretty short. Tees are level and traps have good quality sand, but most had many unraked areas from earlier players, despite readily-available rakes.

No senior green fee rates on weekends. No cart girl today – there’s a snack bar at the turn. Didn’t see a course marshal. Looks like some construction work has started on the bones of the abandoned course. Future park facilities, I believe.

Recommended.
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Joined GKer lkmckin at 10am on Tuesday, 5/11/22, at a bargain weekday senior rate of $69 on a warm, sunny and breezy perfect day for golf – thanks to ... » More

Joined GKer lkmckin at 10am on Tuesday, 5/11/22, at a bargain weekday senior rate of $69 on a warm, sunny and breezy perfect day for golf – thanks to Lindsay for making the reservation. Course was probably the least busy that I’ve ever seen it, and even the driving range was pretty quiet, although as we were departing I think local golf teams were starting to show up for afternoon workouts. We went off behind two foursomes of ladies that were very deliberate – on hole #6, the affable marshal indicated they were already 3 (!) holes behind, and they had agreed to play the par-3 7th and skip the par-3 8th. By the time we got to tee on #7 they were gone, and we never waited on them again, so kudos to the course for handling the situation. We wound up finishing in about 4.5 hrs, taking into account some bunker and lost ball disasters by our group along the way.

We were told ahead of time that the greens had been verticut and sanded the day before, and were anxious about condition, but we saw no evidence of the verticutting, and only occasional light patches of sand that really did not affect roll. Greens were pretty typical BG – fairly firm, rolling at medium+ speed, and terrifying fast downhill and toward Disneyland. In that direction, there really was no stopping the ball near the hole, and I was fortunate to make most of the necessary comebackers.

Fairways were typically thin and the ball sat close, but coverage was good. Rough was spotty and could be lush, short and playable, or dry/bare. Tees were flat and OK (we played White). Sand was disappointing – most areas were damp/thin/packed, making controlled recoveries impossible. The face of the greenside bunker on #17 had soft, deep sand where I couldn’t get a secure footing and had trouble just climbing out of the bunker.

Pleasant, helpful staff. Cart girl came around a couple times. Divot mix refill rack on the 10th tee was empty. Carts have a nice interactive GPDS that shows pin position and the location of other carts on the hole – I like it. Recommended.
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