I played the Ike on my second round in the 2015 SCGA Amateur Net Championship on Tuesday morning, 4/14/15, on a warm clear day with only light breezes. We started on #10, which I think allows you to g... Continue »

I played the Ike on my second round in the 2015 SCGA Amateur Net Championship on Tuesday morning, 4/14/15, on a warm clear day with only light breezes. We started on #10, which I think allows you to get into the course a little easier than getting holes 2-7 on the front side to destroy your round very early.

Conditions on Ike were similar to those on the Babe the previous day and similar to those in my review of the Ike of last January – the course is badly overwatered and the conditions contribute to carts and equipment tearing up turf and causing damage in fairways and rough areas. Greens were very good – receptive, few ballmarks, rolled well at medium fast speeds. Fairways were good when we weren’t dodging torn up areas or wet zones, rough was generally cut down and playable, unless wet and long. Sand in traps was good – damp but with good depth and coverage; probably better than what we had at the Babe. Staff warned us about “racoon damage” – but these sloppy wet/torn up areas look to me like overwaterd areas torn up by equipment, not animals; we saw the same wet turf problems (i.e, on #6 affecting the last 1/3 length of the hole) as we saw last January.

So we had unnecessary issues similar to those encountered at the Babe – “path only” on holes 2, 4, 7, and 17. There were 3 groups on #4 tee when we arrived. POP was 4.5+ hours.

Course issues: the water fountain on #8 was not working. And those maintenance guys again – a tractor was spraying fertilizer on #12 fairway when our balls were in the fairway(!); he rolled by and sprayed right over the top of our balls!! Do the rules allow lift and clean on that???

Played the Guest day fun tourney on Friday, March 20, a great time, nice buffet after the round, all for $80 ... sweet deal and open to the public. PoP very reasonable 4.5 hours but considering it wa... Continue »

Played the Guest day fun tourney on Friday, March 20, a great time, nice buffet after the round, all for $80 ... sweet deal and open to the public. PoP very reasonable 4.5 hours but considering it was a two-man scramble, it should have been faster. Greens coming back from aeration nicely. Still a bit long-ish and slow-ish but give them one more week and it'll be back to normal. Fairways are lush and green, so is the rough. The hilly areas adjacent to the fairways are already turning brown, like we skipped spring and went straight to summer. Weird drought we're in. Anyway, the course is in excellent condition right now if you want to tee it up.

Played with the Men's club on the Ike this morning, 5 hour round was slower than it needed to be. Course in great shape - fairways gorgeous but some shady areas had more water than needed, a little m... Continue »

Played with the Men's club on the Ike this morning, 5 hour round was slower than it needed to be. Course in great shape - fairways gorgeous but some shady areas had more water than needed, a little muddy, most marked GUR. Was in one bunker, real nice, but I know the rocks are still there in many. Greens rolling true but a tad on the medium-slow side for the Ike. A few minor bumps and soft spike marks to negotiate.

Great to go play both courses as they were over seeded in the fall and it shows.

Played 1-25-15 with Sixpez, Lotrgolfer48, and Itslikeimsayin. Pace of play was 5 hours 20 min which would have been unbearable if it wasnt for the great company. Course was in just OK shape, Tees were... Continue »

Played 1-25-15 with Sixpez, Lotrgolfer48, and Itslikeimsayin. Pace of play was 5 hours 20 min which would have been unbearable if it wasnt for the great company. Course was in just OK shape, Tees were level and lush. Fairways were soft on the front side and firm on the back. Rough was not that long and easy to hit from in fairways, but a little thin around the greens. Sand traps were terrible, very thin layer of sand and very hard underneath with a lot of rocks in them. Greens were in good shape a little bumpy with medium speed. A little disappointed in conditions, would expect better from what is supposed to be a higher end resort.

A little while ago GolfNow sent me an email with a promo code for 25% off any Hot Deal, so I used that on a $60 time at 11:40 today to play for just $45. Incredible deal! Like sixpez said, it was fun ... Continue »

A little while ago GolfNow sent me an email with a promo code for 25% off any Hot Deal, so I used that on a $60 time at 11:40 today to play for just $45. Incredible deal! Like sixpez said, it was fun to find out that rgm2525 was our fourth and nice to finally play with lotrgolfer48. Conditions were good, not great. It was better visually than playability-wise, unfortunately. The course looks gorgeous, but I got a bunch of thin lies in the fairways where my ball could've used a little better grass coverage underneath. Rough was good and so were the tee boxes. Two of the three bunkers I was in were thin and needed more sand. The greens were the highlight, fairly fast and smooth except for the occasional bumpy ride. I hadn't played here for a loooong time and loved the course as much as I did way back when. Such a wonderful, challenging layout full of elevation changes. Although it's part of a resort, when you're on the course it feels like you're on a parcel of land solely devoted to golf. I love this course and sure hope it's not another 15-20 years before I return again.

Played out here today with Itslikeimsayin and lotrgolfer48 using a GN hot deal time ($60 at 11:40). We didn't know who our fourth was and then rgm2525 walks up to greet us! Very fun surprise. It was b... Continue »

Played out here today with Itslikeimsayin and lotrgolfer48 using a GN hot deal time ($60 at 11:40). We didn't know who our fourth was and then rgm2525 walks up to greet us! Very fun surprise. It was basically a free round for me because I used a GolfNow reward from last year that covered my full price. Can't beat a free round at Industry Hills! The pace, as usual, was brutally slow. 5 hours and 20 minutes with waiting on every hole. No marshals and only saw the cart girl once on the front nine. The course was in good overall condition, especially for winter. Tee boxes excellent. Fairways looked great and were mostly pretty good. Overall, though, I'd say they looked a little nicer from a distance than they played as there were some firm areas and some muddy sections, too. The rough was mostly lush. Not overly penal today. The greens were a tad bumpy at times and rolling at medium/quick speeds, but again a lot more good than bad. Some bunkers seemed to have a lot of rocks and I noticed plenty of unraked footprints, but the few traps I found had pretty good sand. Not super fluffy, but just enough on top to work with, which is how I like it. Visually, the course looks fantastic throughout with just some weak spots here and there once you're up close and personal. Other than the bad pace of play, which is a problem they can't seem to tame and don't seem to care about, it was a great day on Ike with a group of GKers. Such a beautiful and challenging course that will test every aspect of your game. This was only my second time playing this course, but certainly not the last. One of my absolute favorite courses in SoCal!

Played the Ike on Friday, Guest Day on the Hill, $80 green fee included range balls and a nice buffet dinner afterward. 11AM shotgun. PoP very little slow, 5 hours due to a 25 minute wait on #4. Fa... Continue »

Played the Ike on Friday, Guest Day on the Hill, $80 green fee included range balls and a nice buffet dinner afterward. 11AM shotgun. PoP very little slow, 5 hours due to a 25 minute wait on #4. Fairways are dry and open to cart traffic (as opposed to last week when the GK crew played here), ball was rolling out as expected and the course is just gorgeous, tee to green ... a week of no rain and drier conditions probably made the difference. Only exception is the rocks in the bunkers ... no excuse for a high end resort course like this. Shame, shame. Rant off. The highlight was the greens, they were cut and rolled today ... just great to putt on but super slick, as fast as I've ever seen them (I'd guess an 11). Anything downhill and forget it, bye bye, cya later. Also, I had a couple thin lies along the fringe areas but it is winter time, really nothing to complain about. Just a beautiful day on the hill.

Played the Ike with GKers bradleycoop, stickboy, and lotrgolfer48 at 10:40 on Friday, 1/9/15, on a cool overcast day with no wind. I enjoyed the company of other GKers but the course pretty well beat ... Continue »

Played the Ike with GKers bradleycoop, stickboy, and lotrgolfer48 at 10:40 on Friday, 1/9/15, on a cool overcast day with no wind. I enjoyed the company of other GKers but the course pretty well beat me up. This course is long and difficult, made more so by the overly wet conditions cutting down roll and affecting playing conditions. I echo a lot of Matt's comments but am less forgiving of some of the conditions encountered. Given the lack of rain we've had in SoCal, it's hard to believe that many fairway and rough areas were soaked, sloppy wet, or even torn up from equipment and carts destroying the turf in playing areas, necessitating drops. Greens are large, firm (although receptive), and many pins today were placed in restricted areas difficult to approach.

Other problem areas: At least 6 or 7 holes, exclusive of the par 3s, were path only - that's ridiculous! This is a hilly course with resulting long walks from the path to balls. Drainage should not be a problem! In retrospect, I played from the wrong tees - coming back from wrist surgery and given the course length and the nature of my game, I should have played from the white tees, but I didn't want to be the only person in the foursome playing those tees.

Also, this course/resort is advertised as a destination resort in Southern California. But you can't take your golf cart to the range - you have to lug your own bag out to the range and back to the cart area (a long walk, thank you). No shuttle was offered. Afterward, you again lug your bag from the cart area out to the parking lot. Not my idea of "resort-style" service.

Overall it's a good, challenging course with challenges associated with conditions and service.

Played with fellow GKers dconnally, bradleycoop, and stickboy today at 10:40 on a golfnow deal for $65.

It's been a few years, but the course is just as tough as I remember it. Rough is lush and th... Continue »

Played with fellow GKers dconnally, bradleycoop, and stickboy today at 10:40 on a golfnow deal for $65.

It's been a few years, but the course is just as tough as I remember it. Rough is lush and thick in spots but mostly pretty reasonable. Fairways showed signs of divot damage (#3 and #17 come to mind first) but were good otherwise. Tee boxes were also solid with a couple feeling a little unlevel but nothing out of the ordinary. Bunkers were thin, I skipped off of the only one I was in and wasn't the only one to do that today. Greens looked nice, but had their fair share of divots and seemed to wander a bit and not hold lines all that well.

Other notes: Front nine was soggy in many spots (North side of the property). Too much water on the course with the drought we're in. I had at least 6 mudballs today which didn't make me all too happy. Also, the pin placements today were hilarious/ridiculous. GK must have had a bad night last night. Very hard to stop putts to holes on slopes (front left of #2, back right #3, front right #4, etc.) This is a really good track and tricking up the pin placements ruins the experience.

POP was just under 4.5 hours I believe. Saw the cart girl 3-4 times during out round. Very much worth what we payed.