I played here yesterday with my daughter and her boyfriend (both beginning golfers). The course is pretty much how kassper7 described it from last year. Overall, the course is in poor-to-fair shape. T... Continue »

I played here yesterday with my daughter and her boyfriend (both beginning golfers). The course is pretty much how kassper7 described it from last year. Overall, the course is in poor-to-fair shape. The rough is deep in many areas and you could easily lose a ball or two. Water hazards do come in to play if you are not straight. It was not a good ball striking day for me and I suffered some penalties. Tees and greens were okay; the greens rolled nicely, but there were a lot of ball marks and infiltrated weeds and kikuyu grass. The bunkers looked nice, but the sand was hard packed and not very playable. I made an online reservation for a twosome, thinking we'd be able to have an observer, but when I called I was denied. My bad. I made another online reservation for three later in the day, but could not get a refund on the first reservation. Oh well. I ended up playing two rounds (minus a few holes) early and then another round later with my daughter and her boyfriend. This is the course to bring beginning golfers. Unlike nearby Vista Valencia GC, this course was wide open on a Sunday. Three hours for the three of us; earlier it was about 1.5 hours per round for me alone. I had to skip around on the second round to make it. I cold have avoided all that if the pro shop just told me how empty the course was. I would have paid the extra green fee up front. The person I spoke to made it seem like the course would be busy and no room to add an observer or extra golfer. That was bad info.

El Cariso is the local seedy bar of golf courses. Most people that don't live near it - don't realize it exists but for the locals - it's a staple. Conditions of the club house with it's 2x4 holding... Continue »

El Cariso is the local seedy bar of golf courses. Most people that don't live near it - don't realize it exists but for the locals - it's a staple. Conditions of the club house with it's 2x4 holding up the bathroom sink, the tired driving range with hard mats and cheap ball trays and the course itself are the golf equivalents of ratty barstools, peeling paint and sticky floors.

As and outsider, I'm only there because it's walking distance from my father in-law who is a Tuesday regular along with all the other Tuesday regulars. It's a cruel par 62 course for the regulars with half of the holes being too challenging for the clientele. Water, barrancas, OB, trees in the fairway and a smattering of long holes make all but a couple of holes an easy place to post a big number - usually my handicap is worse for a go around this track.

I would guess that El Cariso watered and little else during the closure time. Even after a couple of weeks off the rough is US Open length. Every shot must be watched carefully and then finding a shot isn't guaranteed. I found 3 balls in the vicinity of where we expected to find a tee shot 10 feet off the fairway but never found the actual ball. Strokes lost this way can be made up with the above ground cups that improve putting stats. Greens were ok, with medium speed and relatively smooth despite tiny holes punched in them. Where mowed, fairways were in good shape, tee boxes lush and better than usual. No bunkers for me - so no report.

This added difficulty did not go over well with the locals - it was like they decided to have craft beer and cocktail day for the budwiser and whisky crowd.

I played yesterday, 4-7-19, with my cousins who are beginner golfers. On GN, it was $40 including cart and range balls. There were no recent reviews on GK so I had no idea what to expect. The conditi... Continue »

I played yesterday, 4-7-19, with my cousins who are beginner golfers. On GN, it was $40 including cart and range balls. There were no recent reviews on GK so I had no idea what to expect. The conditions were surprisingly good. The fairways had good coverage, the rough was well trimmed and the tee boxes level. The greens were medium speed and rolled true. The bunkers were awful, though, just hard and full of little stones. There are some really fun holes, including a few elevation changes and carries over water and a ditch. I was in desperate need of a confidence boost and this par 62 course was perfect. I would gladly play here again if in the area.

Played Sunday 8/6 at 11AM. Course is in fair to good condition with somewhat smooth greens. Fair amount of ball marks but surfaces were good. Fairways are lush but splotchy in areas but overall not ba... Continue »

Played Sunday 8/6 at 11AM. Course is in fair to good condition with somewhat smooth greens. Fair amount of ball marks but surfaces were good. Fairways are lush but splotchy in areas but overall not bad to play from. Pace of play was fantastic with no one in front or behind all day. Comparing to Vista Valencia, a similar executive course in the area. El Cariso is way better option at this time as its in better shape and a much better experience due to vastly superior pace of play, value, condition as well as a much more pleasant staff.

I had a great time playing this little muni. It's short, and has a pretty simple layout. There are a couple of holes that stood out and were particularly fun on the back 9. There's very little water t... Continue »

I had a great time playing this little muni. It's short, and has a pretty simple layout. There are a couple of holes that stood out and were particularly fun on the back 9. There's very little water to worry about, and it's pretty wide open and forgiving. The girl who was working in the pro shop was really sweet. She got me out before the afternoon rush because I was a single, and even hooked it up on the twilight rate 15 min early. She didn't have to do that, but she did and it made the day that much better.

It's only a part 62, and all the par 4's but one are under 400 yds so it was a good opportunity to practice more precision tee shots with my 2 iron and 3 wood. 6th hole is a nice short par 3 over water. Only hole where you actually hit *over*water. You can shoot around the water, but it's only 129 yds from the blues. The 11th is another par three teeing off at elevation shooting downhill into the green at 150 yds (against the wind when I played). That was a real fun hole, one of 2 that had any kind of significant elevation change. Play a nice cut shot if you're a righty following the shape of the green and you'll be in good shape. The next hole, a short par 4, you can go for the green, but that's not the play here. Lay it up before the gully and you'll have a nice uphill approach shot 100yds or less in.

For being such a short easy course, it sure was a lot of fun. They have one hit over water hole, one down hill elevation hole, one up hill elevation hole, one narrow hole off the tee box. It's simple, but there is enough going on to make it fun. The greens were nice, but it was the day before they typically get cut so they were a little slow. Overall a good experience, and a nice track to play just passing through the area.

Played here this afternoon with fellow GKer dabldya on a windy and cool day. We used to play here when we were kids, so it was fun to come back after many years and get some. The course,and the greens... Continue »

Played here this afternoon with fellow GKer dabldya on a windy and cool day. We used to play here when we were kids, so it was fun to come back after many years and get some. The course,and the greens in particular, are way better than I remember them ever being. I was really surprised by the quality of the putting surfaces. Kudos to the maintenance superintendent. The greens are medium fast, smooth, and on the soft side. A lot like nearby Hansen Dam with kikuyu collars and edged greens. We fixed quite a few ball marks all day. The fairways and rough are dormant Bermuda and kikuyu grass. Balls ran forever and bad shots would run as far as good shots. I was in a couple bunkers. They were groomed well. The sand was somewhat coarse and heavy. There was enough sand under both my shots. Tee boxes were crappy for the most part. There was some that were severely domed and many that were peppered with divots. The course has made some attempts to sand and seed at least a couple of tee boxes, but real repairs are needed. POP was about 3 hours.

Played here on Saturday 9/10 with a mid-morning tee time. I didn't keep track of POP but I guess it was around 4 1/2 to 5 hours to play 18. It played a little slow today. We had to wait to hit on a... Continue »

Played here on Saturday 9/10 with a mid-morning tee time. I didn't keep track of POP but I guess it was around 4 1/2 to 5 hours to play 18. It played a little slow today. We had to wait to hit on almost every hole. A lot of beginners and seniors play here as this is an executive course. No par 5's just a lot of par 4s and par 3s.

Course conditions were pretty good today. I played from the white tees today. There were a lot of divots on the white tee boxes. Some of the white tee boxes were not level. The fairways were in fairly good condition today. Pretty good coverage. There were areas where the grass was yellow and some spots that were fairly muddy. There were bare spots here and there on the fairways but you can still play. Water comes into play on 3 or 4 holes. With all these water on the course, there is a number of geese and geese droppings all over the fairways and greens. You had to take care not stepping on the geese poops. Can't comment about the sand as I didn't land in any bunkers today.

Greens were in excellent condition. First green was just so so. After that hole, the greens were in great shape and rolled true. Hole number 11 has an elevated tee to a green below. Back nine seems to play harder than the front nine with out of bounds on a number of holes here.

There is a small driving range here and there is a putting green next to the driving range. Nice clubhouse here and the staff is very friendly here. It was hot today and the staff came by while we were playing with ice cold water in their cart. Nice.

Played this execute course today for the first time in about a year. Its almost as if this place never changes, and neither improves or gets worse.

The tee boxes here are pretty much the worst p... Continue »

Played this execute course today for the first time in about a year. Its almost as if this place never changes, and neither improves or gets worse.

The tee boxes here are pretty much the worst part of the course. On the few par 4s they seem to do a good job keeping them level, and in fairly good shape. However, the par 3s really take a beating and are in need of some serious TLC. Most of them are sloped, or slanted in one direction or the other which is a big pet peeve of mine. They suffer from tons of un-repaired divots, and are very thin in most spots. In general about 75% of the tee boxes here are in bad need of repair.

The fairways here have gotten quite thin in a lot of spots, but the general high traffic play areas seem to be okay, as if they are specifically targeting those areas for maintenance. The rough on the other hand is quite poor. Very spotty, tons of crab grass, and burned out brown grass in general.

The greens were by far the best part of the course. Since there are so many newer / beginner golfers on this course they have very few divot marks. They roll pretty true, and smooth, with a fairly slow pace to suit the normal crowd that wanders these holes.

After playing here today, I recall why I have not been back in more than a year. There are too many brand new golfers out here, and the pacing is just too slow. This is a good course to learn to use all the clubs in the bag, and I recognize that, so perhaps I belong somewhere else. The other thing that bothers me is the never ending geese droppings on nearly every hole, and on many of the greens. It really detracts from the course experience. With a Saturday green fee around $35-40 its just not worth it.

I'm aware this is a course for new golfers, seniors and less skilled players but all players should understand and know golf etiquette. I saw 5somes not allowing 2some to play through groups driving ... Continue »

I'm aware this is a course for new golfers, seniors and less skilled players but all players should understand and know golf etiquette. I saw 5somes not allowing 2some to play through groups driving their cart on (yes) on the green and the 3some in front playing a form of golf I have never seen. This course needs marshals and to remind players to fix divots, rake traps and allow faster groups to play through. Course was in fair shape, but what I found interesting is the different green fees charged based on booking site or course special. Check golfzing or ask the course if specials/discounts are available.