Played the Mountain View track at Desert Willow with some of the GK Guru gentlemen. Had a fun day out in the desert. This was my first time at Desert ... » More

Played the Mountain View track at Desert Willow with some of the GK Guru gentlemen. Had a fun day out in the desert. This was my first time at Desert Willow...very nice facilities. The range, practice greens, golf shop and locker rooms were all extremely nice for a public resort course. The only bummer was the weather, made for some tough conditions as the winds were swirling and the ball wasn't traveling as far.

The COURSE: We spoke with the superintendent before we teed off and he explained some of the issues they had with the overseed on Mountain View. The first 5 to 6 holes were a little "banged up" but by no means in bad shape at all. Just let it be know, these first few holes are in better shape than 90% of public courses in So Cal. The rest of the track was in its true desert mint condition! Desert golf in the winter is some of the best golf. The TEE BOXES (9/10) were all level and had minimal divots. The FAIRWAYS (10/10) were some of the best I've played on in recent months. Mowed perfectly, not too tight but not too long. Didn't have a bad lie all day. The ROUGH (10/10) was lush, about 2-3 inches in length, fair but still challenging enough to penalize you on a bad shot. The BUNKERS (7/10) weren't my favorite I've played. Two of the four bunkers I was in were thin underneath which makes it extremely tough to play out of. A little more consistency on the greenside bunkers would be nice. The GREENS (9/10) were smooth and rolled true. Lots of subtle breaks that were tricky to read. Greens are firm but receptive to good wedge/iron shots. Almost hardly any unrepaired ball marks, which is nice to see. I would have like to seen them roll a bit quicker but no real complaints, just personal preference.

CONCLUSION: Great golf resort, hoping I'll get to play the Firecliff course someday. The staff was friendly and very proactive to help out. A big thank you to Desert Willow for having us out, a real treat. Wish the weather would have been better, but that's mother nature for ya. Would highly recommend this track to anyone looking for a solid desert track. Worth the drive from SD, OC or LA.
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Played Black Gold Golf Club for the first time on 1/17/21. The conditions were tough as it was windy and a bit warm for "winter" weather. Nonetheless ... » More

Played Black Gold Golf Club for the first time on 1/17/21. The conditions were tough as it was windy and a bit warm for "winter" weather. Nonetheless we were golfing in mid January as other around the nation are done for the "season". The check-in process was painless and the staff was extremely friendly. The asst pro actually gave me their member rate since I worked in the industry, saved abould $30. The golf carts look brand new with very comfortable leather cushioned seats. Range balls were included with the green fee. Had a 10:45am tee time which we played in just under 5 hours. The pace was good until we reached the 7th hole, par 3 with three groups waiting on the tee box. From there on out the pace was awfully slow all day. Saw the marshall once but he just did a fly by, didn't seem like he was monitoring the pace of play.

The COURSE: The layout of this course is very challenging, hitting in the fairway is a must if you want to shoot a low score. Trouble on both sides of the hole on most of the course. Lots of elevation changes and rolling hills. The overall condition of the course was a bit disappointing. The TEE BOXES (5/10) were very hit and miss. Some were lush and green while other were hard and brown. All of the par 3's were full of divots. The FAIRWAYS (7/10) were firm and cut tight. Most were green and in decent shape with minimal divots while others were a bit burnt out and full of divots. Very inconsistent. The ROUGH (6/10) was dormant and not too long in length. Some areas were penalizing with clumpy grass patches in certain places. Most of the rough played fairly firm. The BUNKERS (7/10) were decent overall. I probably scored the bunkers too high but the condition of the greenside bunkers were great while the fairway bunkers were awful. Lots of rocks and barely any sand. They felt more like waste areas than fairway bunkers. The GREENS (9/10) were the highlight of the round. Very receptive and rolled true with minimal ball marks. The wind made putting on these massive greens that much harder. Most of the holes had very large greens. Putts were extremely quick when you were above the hole and the uphill putts were a touch slow. The greens very grainy which could be tough for some golfers to get accustom of the speed.

NEGATIVES: The pace was an issue from hole 7 on. I enjoy playing in 4H or less but also don't expect that on a weekend round at a tough course. The overall condition of the course was a big letdown for me. I was expecting the course to be maintained a bit tighter based on what they are charging.

CONCLUSION: The inconsistency from hole to hole (see photos I uploaded) has me confused and questioning giving the course another shot. I don't believe the course is worth paying triple digits. The layout is brilliant if you like challenging, tight tracks (which I do). Like I said earlier, the greens were the thing that stood out to me, very very nice!.Not my favorite Orange County course but definitely not the worse.
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Played The Westin Mission Hills (Pete Dye course) on January 2nd and 3rd as part of a stay and play package. Tee'd off just after 10am on Saturday and... » More

Played The Westin Mission Hills (Pete Dye course) on January 2nd and 3rd as part of a stay and play package. Tee'd off just after 10am on Saturday and just after 9am on Sunday. We had free use of the practice facilities and complementary range balls during our stay. The check-in process was a breeze and they even offer a shuttle from the parking lot to the golf shop if you don't want to make the lengthy walk. I'll do one review for both rounds since the course and weather conditions were identical each day.

The COURSE: First off, let me start by saying this is one of Pete Dye's most underrated designs on the West coast. I grew up playing on a Dye designed track so I might have a greater appreciation for his work than other golfers. Regardless of your thoughts about the late great Pete Dye, this track is in PRIME winter condition for the desert. The TEE BOXES (8/10) were great on all par 4's and 5's. They even moved some of the tees around between the Sat. and Sun. rounds to give the holes a different "look". The par 3 tee boxes were a bit beat up due to unfilled divots. The FAIRWAYS (9/10) were in amazing shape and had the perfect amount of green tint to them. Not to firm but not slow. There was only one fairway that was soggy (#18), the rest all played the same speed. Minimal bare spots as it looks like someone on the golf maintenance staff has been filling divots. The ROUGH (9/10) is dormant which is common in the Winter out in the desert. It actually gives the course a great "look" with the green/brown contrast (I uploaded some photos). Some parts of the rough around the green were bare which made for tight tricky lies. The BUNKERS (8/10) were in great shape and all very much playable. I found myself in both fairway and greenside bunkers over the two rounds. Most bunkers had the perfect amount of sand in them, a few were on the heavy side. The GREENS (9/10) were pure and the perfect speed for resort play. Hardly any ball marks were visible since they play a bit firm. The overall speed of the greens was very fair (I prefer them a bit faster but they were not slow by any means). If I had to guess, I'd say they were rolling about 11 on the stimpmeter. Downhill chips and putts were quick and the uphill ones you could be a little more aggressive with. The undulation of the greens on this track is tricky but not too challenging.

NEGATIVES: The only thing I would say left a sour taste in my mouth was there was no marshall monitoring pace of play and the snackbar was closed even though the golf cart GPS promotes a hot dog and beer special at the turn. Other than that, no complaints.

CONCLUSION: The stay and play package offered by Underpar was a steal. The going rate of just the hotel room by itself was more money than what we paid for our entire stay and play package (2 days of unlimited golf and 1 night stay). The hotel room was spacious and the bed was extremely comfortable. They have several nice fire pits around this massive property. There was also some live music on Saturday night from 6-9pm on the outdoor bar patio. The Westin is doing COVID right. Wish we had more time to take advantage of the pools and outdoor fitness facilities (looked very nice) but this was a GOLF trip hahaha. We can't wait for our next opportunity to revisit the desert and play some different courses.
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Played Pala Mesa on Wednesday, December 30 for my last round of 2020. Not to ruin the review but I wish I would have stayed in South OC that day. » More

Played Pala Mesa on Wednesday, December 30 for my last round of 2020. Not to ruin the review but I wish I would have stayed in South OC that day.

We had a 7:45 am tee time that ended up being pushed to an 8:15 am modified shotgun due to a slight frost delay (common for this time of the year out there). We were notified of the slight delay upon arrival and given our starting hole assignment after check-in.

The COURSE: Not much was mowed or maintained that morning due to the frost. I would have thought they would have at least put the mowers on the greens once the frost lifted before we all went out but that didn't happen. The TEE BOXES (5/10) were spotty and several were not level. The FAIRWAYS (3/10) were patchy and extremely inconsistent. There were also a ton of unfilled divots which is sad and part of the problem with golfers these days. We need golfers to take more pride in filling divots and fixing ball marks. The ROUGH (5/10) was lush in certain areas but inconsistent majority of the time. The BUNKERS (6/10) that were playable were freshly raked and consistent throughout the course. The reason I didn't score the bunkers higher is because several of the bunkers were unplayable (still puddled up from Monday's rain and some were under construction). None of these bunkers were mark G.U.R. so we made the decision to take relief in our match if we felt the bunker was unplayable. The GREENS (6/10) were in decent shape for not having been mowed or rolled that morning. If you were above the hole, you had your work cut out for you. Several ball marks and bumps on the greens even in the early morning.

The NEGATIVES: The value of the green fee isn't great (based on what their charging and the current shape of the course). The biggest negative was the the mishandling of the tee sheet. They modified shotgunned everyone up until about 8:15-8:30 am. However, they did not modify shotgun any of the midday/afternoon tee times once the morning groups made the turn from #18 to #1. After playing holes 3-18, we made the drive back across the parking lot to #1 and find about 30-40 people gather around the first tee. Amongst all the people, we recognized the group that we had been following all morning was talking with the starter. Long story short, we find out that we are now 6 deep on the #1 tee because they are letting the afternoon tee times go out in between the morning groups that were making the turn to finish their remaining holes. We were 6 DEEP!!!!! We waited about 45 minutes before we tee'd off on #1 to finish our last two holes. Had our match not have been tied, we would have left after playing the 16 holes. Regardless, the way the golf shop handled the frost delay and then didn't communicate that we'd have a wait after #18 was inexcusable. We played our first 16 holes in 3:40 and played the last 2 holes in 1:25 (includes the 45 minute wait to tee off on #1).

CONCLUSION: Fun day on the course regardless of the miscommunication and mishandling of the tee sheet. I spoke with the head pro after the round and he apologized for the miscommunication and the debacle on the first tee. I was led to believe that this is how they normally handle frost delays at Pala Mesa, which is odd. I work in a golf shop as an asst. and we've done some creative things but never anything like that. The head pro offered us a rain check at the end of the conservation and said he hoped to earn our business back. Not sure I'll give them another try yet but it was a very nice gesture for him to do that.

I get that were in a pandemic and the golf industry is busier than ever but I believe the course is charging about $10-12 too much per round due to the condition of the course. However, my buddy got charged $15 less than the rest of us. We're not sure how that happened but it's okay, I won his green fee savings plus a bit more in our match.
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Played Coronado GC the day after Christmas with the family. This would have been my uncle's 28 annual Day after XMAS tournament but it was canceled du... » More

Played Coronado GC the day after Christmas with the family. This would have been my uncle's 28 annual Day after XMAS tournament but it was canceled due to the corona. Instead we got the family together and had two groups go out around 9:30. The weather was amazing and Coronado seems to never let me down.

DETAILS: For a course that does the most rounds of golf per year in America, the course is in great shape! The greens (9/10) are always sneaky quick and in good shape. Minimal ball marks and bare spots. The tee boxes (8/10) were flat and had plenty of grass to choose from. The fairways (7/10) are in decent shape with a few unfilled divots here and there. You expect that from a course that does as much business as Coronado does. The rough (7/10) can be thick in certain areas but for the most part is very playable. The bunkers (8/10) were solid as I was in a handful of fairway and greenside beaches.

CONCLUSION: To play a course like Coronado for $60 on a holiday weekend is such a steal. I wish I could play there more often (far drive for me). You can't beat the views as well as the conditions. The golf shop always has great gear and gets some of money every time. I hit the shot of the day on 15 (par 3 toward the CYC) to about five feet and made the bird for the final KP of the round. Can't wait til the next time we're able to play that beautiful track.
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