I finally got around to playing the newly renovated San Juan Oaks. In short not much has changed. But that’s a good thing because I really liked th... » More

I finally got around to playing the newly renovated San Juan Oaks. In short not much has changed. But that’s a good thing because I really liked this course before it shut down for 2 years. Condition wise the course was in great shape tee to green. Greens were firm and fast. I’ve said it before, the greens at SJO have the perfect blend of enough undulations to challenge you but nothing ridiculous.

Fairways were lush with good coverage throughout. Some of the areas leading up the greens were tight lies but still had good coverage. Tee boxes and sand traps were all good to go.

As far as the layout is concerned nothing really changed. they swapped the 9’s so you now tee off on what used to be #10 and then head up into the hillside. They used to do that on occasion before so no real change. What has changed is the split fairway on #4 (old #13). It is now a single fairway with just the one on the left. The fairway on the right is completely gone with 3’ weeds now in its place.

Other than that I did not see any changes to the course. There might be a new fairway bunker on #10 (old #1) but it’s been so long since I’ve played here, I can’t fully remember if it was there before or not. In fact the new housing development doesn’t really come into play. There are houses along the right side of the long 1 mile entrance road as you come in but nothing alongside the course. At least not as of yet. In fact you can’t see any of the houses from any part of the course. . I have no idea why they closed this place down for 2 years. The clubhouse / restaurant has been completely remodeled and now features full on dinners (or at least that’s the plan).

The price has gone up to $125 mid week and $175 weekend. That includes a cart and warmup range balls. SJO is a fun and challenging layout with great conditions. POP was a little under 4 hours.
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Played Spyglass Hill on Tuesday afternoon on an overcast but warmish day. Being local and knowing the head pro has its benefits. There had been a ... » More

Played Spyglass Hill on Tuesday afternoon on an overcast but warmish day. Being local and knowing the head pro has its benefits. There had been a shotgun tournament earlier in the day and Patrick gave us the option of going off the back nine which was wide up. My buddy and I were joined by a single and the three of us had the entire course to ourselves. By the time we came around the front nine it was cleared out and we finished in about 3 hours. Course is in excellent shape as you would expect. Fairways, tee boxes and sand traps are as close to perfect 10’s as you can get. Rough was thick and penal. I don’t know what it is about the rough at Spyglass but it’s like swinging through Velcro!

Greens were a little on the slow side. My guess is they slowed them down for the earlier outing. My buddy is a caddie at PB/Spy and he said the greens were rolling very fast a few days earlier. The slower (normal speed) greens helped tame the greens.

They are still doing work on the 15th green (short par 3) so that hole is closed. They have now moved the tee boxes Waaay back on 14 and made a temp green just in front of the pond. Then they added a tee box off to the right for a short (120 yard) Par 3 over the pond to the original 14th green which is now the 15th green during the maintenance. They have add some golf carts for walkers to take from the 14/15th green to the 16th tee as it’s now a bit of a hike. You then leave the golf cart off to the side halfway down the 16th fairway so the next group can use them. It’s a nice touch of customer service.

Spyglass is a tough track which is always a pleasure to play.
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Played Del Monte this morning with a former co-worker who was in town from Texas. The original plan was to play Poppy Hills but there was a tournamen... » More

Played Del Monte this morning with a former co-worker who was in town from Texas. The original plan was to play Poppy Hills but there was a tournament going on so we opted to Del Monte. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We tee’d off at 9:30 with a couple other locals. Course is in great shape Tee to green. Starting with the small greens that for the most part are single tier but they have just enough slope in them to keep you honest. The greens rolled smooth at a very fast pace. I played Spanish Bay last week the greens here were much much faster.

Fairways present a tight lie which is great for roll out. Still plush enough to get good contact and they were green throughout. Tee boxes were level and lush as well. I wasn’t in any sand traps but I did rake a few for my buddy and they were all great. Plenty of nice and fluffy sand. Rough was very manageable.

They have done some reworking of a few of the bunkers. Mainly on holes 9 and 10. They have reshaped them and added some nasty lips and mounds to negotiate. Gone are the church pew style bunker/grass on hole 10 and now it’s just an ugly bunker with mounds of grass. Not sure what the purpose of that was. Maybe easier on maintenance crews?

As far as customer service is concerned. One person (Don A.) who is in the pro shop, is a complete jerk (enter other explicit here). The rest of the team are great. This used to be a “locals” course but they seem to cater towards tourists who I guess are paying the outrageous fees. I used a couple of free vouchers so obviously it was worth it. But for $135 rack rate? No way. $75 would seem like a fair price for this place.
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very disappointing conditions. In short avoid this place. I’ve played here dozens of times and the last couple including earlier this week have rea... » More

very disappointing conditions. In short avoid this place. I’ve played here dozens of times and the last couple including earlier this week have really been poor conditions. The greens have multiple brown/dead areas on them and the skirt area around the greens are atrocious. Mainly hardpacked dirt with a few patches of grass here and there. Fairways were the only decent part of the course. Fairly lush with a good amount of rollout. Tee boxes were pretty chewed up. Bunkers were a mixture of gravel pits and others were excellent with ample fluffy sand throughout.

Prices at Dragonfly have gone through the roof in the last 5 years. The price and conditions just don’t match up. There are better options when in the area.
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Conditions are pretty identical to my review from last year. I played on 5/7 with a 7:50 AM tee time and this time around it was a little busier. St... » More

Conditions are pretty identical to my review from last year. I played on 5/7 with a 7:50 AM tee time and this time around it was a little busier. Still finished in about 3.5 hrs but had to wait on most shots. The only thing I’d add from my last review. Bring bug spray!! There was a 3-4 hole stretch that was horrible. Other than that. All good. Fun, unique layout that really takes advantage of the mountain slope. A very doable Muni course and the appropriate price point for conditions and layout.
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