Played July 3. That was a SLOW round. Took 3 hours to finish 9 holes. Half our group quit at the turn and we only managed to finish 15 by the time the sun went down. The course was crowded. Condi... Continue »

Played July 3. That was a SLOW round. Took 3 hours to finish 9 holes. Half our group quit at the turn and we only managed to finish 15 by the time the sun went down. The course was crowded. Conditions were OK. They had a shortage of carts which should have told me instantly it would be slow. But what the heck it's the holiday and I wasn't going anywhere. I just wish my anywhere was a tad faster than what we were subjected.

Greens are smoothish but afternoon sun and the foot traffic took their toll on the greens. Footprints everywhere. Greens were softish for approach shots and somewhat fast. Bunkers were stocked well with sand but a little wet underneath. Not fluffy just compacted sand in the bunkers.

Fairways are lush-ish. There are a few thin areas but definitely playable. The rough is a mix of thick grass and if you're unfortunate to be off to the sides well it's thin lies but easy to hit from.

Tee boxes are flat but wet.

Overall conditions are what I would call good at Skylinks. It's the pace of play that stunk and stuck out as the major issue here. It's a popular course. It gets a lot of play -- even the range. And it's central to Long Beach.

Come here again? Never before the holiday and never on the weekend. If they send you out in a samba line and just fill the course, there is no point to slow play. May as well save my money and play someplace else that will move faster and get me out sooner.

1st time playing Skylinks and was impressed by links style layout and course conditions. This course is definitely different from the other LB courses like El Dorado and Rec 18. It certainly plays l... Continue »

1st time playing Skylinks and was impressed by links style layout and course conditions. This course is definitely different from the other LB courses like El Dorado and Rec 18. It certainly plays like links style course with plenty of trees.

Greens were smooth and rolled at medium pace at 9. Fairways were dry, but had plenty of tight lies all day. It was better to be in rough sometimes. Rough was non existent and traps were decent but crusty. We played in 4:40 with two gentlemen. Customer service was decent.

The course can get noisy with nearby airport traffic.

Played on Saturday in a match play at 716 tee time. Got off the 1st tee about 20 minutes later than schedule. Pace was almost 5 hours with some waiting due to a group of PGA tour pro wanna bes playi... Continue »

Played on Saturday in a match play at 716 tee time. Got off the 1st tee about 20 minutes later than schedule. Pace was almost 5 hours with some waiting due to a group of PGA tour pro wanna bes playing the tips. Of course they should not have been playing there, but oh well.

Conditions were good, and like Bradcoop and i stated people complain about the fairways and rough not being green and turf being hard is that the course is designed to play that way. It is supposed to play like a links course, so the grass will brown. We liked the way the turf was.

The pins were all red because of the aeration they had before, but the putts rolled medium fast and true. There was just no variety since everything was playing as a red flag.

Bunkers were great in that the sand was plenty and you could get under it.

I enjoyed playing this course once in a while due to the fact that non resident walking on weekends are 59 dollars.

Played Saturday 4/18 for opening round of GK Cup

Beautiful day and teed off right around our 7:16 tee time

POP was 4.5 hours which is great for any Muni on a Saturday

Drought conditions are d... Continue »

Played Saturday 4/18 for opening round of GK Cup

Beautiful day and teed off right around our 7:16 tee time

POP was 4.5 hours which is great for any Muni on a Saturday

Drought conditions are definitely affecting Long Beach golf courses because the fairways were somewhat brown; dormant grass not being overly watered so you lies were fine but the ball rolled forever. Greens were just mowed so were very firm but in very good condition. I can never understand why people can't fix their ball marks; I was repairing 3 more plus mine on every hole.

Still one of my favorites in LB

1/2 greens have recovered from aeration. Greens are very firm, roll true and are faster than what I am used to. Fairways are dormant but several lies could be considered thin so the hard clay layer ... Continue »

1/2 greens have recovered from aeration. Greens are very firm, roll true and are faster than what I am used to. Fairways are dormant but several lies could be considered thin so the hard clay layer under the grass can be a factor. Sand in bunkers ( I saw several greenside and fairway bunkers) have this really grainy sand; not complaining just an observation. Bunkers are well stocked with the sides thinned out to prevent embedding. Rough is thickish in parts but not really a factor. Tee boxes are all flat and very lush. Pace of play for teeing off at 715am was around 4 hours. Funny thing was we rarely saw the group ahead or the group behind. Only problem was the green fee. OMG $75 for a cart with GPS now and a tee time? Wowzers. Oh well.... it was a great day of golf though.

Played on Saturday, April 11. Tee time was 6:04 am. We teed off at 6:04 am as a fivesome. Walked off 18th green at 9:55 am. Less than 4 hour round. If you tee off later in the day, you WILL be ou... Continue »

Played on Saturday, April 11. Tee time was 6:04 am. We teed off at 6:04 am as a fivesome. Walked off 18th green at 9:55 am. Less than 4 hour round. If you tee off later in the day, you WILL be out there 5+ hours just like ANY of the Long Beach courses.

I read the recent review from melnick who complained how water rationing had browned out the fairways and rough. melnick and all others should be aware that bermuda grass (which is what you find on the fairways and rough at Skylinks) is dormant during the winter and takes on a straw like appearance. It is the middle of April and still not warm enough for the bermuda to start greening up. melnick described hitting off hardpan. I did not see this at all. I think the more appropriate description would be "tight lies". It doesn't have to be hardpan to have your wedges bounce before striking the ball.

I also do not feel like the fairways are THAT close together. I suppose that later in the day on a Sunday there will be tons of players out there and so there will be balls everywhere. Especially on a Masters Sunday when most of the "real" golfers are at home watching the broadcast.

I play Skylinks quite often and almost always find the condition of the course to be pretty good. Currently, the greens are recovering from being punched (1/2 the green) a couple of weeks ago. They played pretty well this past Saturday although much slower than their usual quickness.

Condition - Water rationing has had a big effect. Fairways and rough were browned out. Ground was extremely hard. Pitching and chipping was extremely difficult as club would bounce if ground was st... Continue »

Condition - Water rationing has had a big effect. Fairways and rough were browned out. Ground was extremely hard. Pitching and chipping was extremely difficult as club would bounce if ground was struck even slightly behind ball. It was like playing on hardpan. Strange condition since I played at El Dorado Park two days ago and it was still green. Needed a hammar to put tees into the ground on some holes.

Safety - Fairways are very close together and due to many doglegs, shots routinely sail into adjacent fairways. I had 4 balls sail past my cart and others in the group had similar experience. Hole orientation gave no thought to its impact on errant shots.

Pace of play - Took 6 hours and 5 minutes, and this was on Masters Sunday. Constant flow of golfers playing balls in our fairway a major reason of slowing. Of course, the large number of fivesomes didn't help. Neither does the low skill level of many of the golfers.

Last played here over 5 years ago and decided to give it a try. will be at least 5 years before I return.

Played Saturday 03/28 at 2pm for twighlight and walked.

The course is playing very "links" style right now. The tee boxes are decent and firm. The fairways are brown with some green and mostly ... Continue »

Played Saturday 03/28 at 2pm for twighlight and walked.

The course is playing very "links" style right now. The tee boxes are decent and firm. The fairways are brown with some green and mostly dormant looking. They are firm and fast. Your ball rolls forever for better or worse. The sand traps were average, and the greens were rolling about medium speed. I've definitely seen them roll faster. I wouldn't say there was a lot of ball damage on the greens but it was noticeable for sure.

Pace of play was brutally slow at about 5 hours and 10 minutes, but it was a Saturday so no big shock there. This is still one of my favorite courses in the area because of how differently it plays than any other.

It's been literally years since I played here. Got out last Friday as part of my Golfing Bonanza, because it was after all my birthday week.

Greens are slowish but as day progressed they got rea... Continue »

It's been literally years since I played here. Got out last Friday as part of my Golfing Bonanza, because it was after all my birthday week.

Greens are slowish but as day progressed they got really speedy. Ball would roll fairly true and break hard at the end. Took a while to realize lag puts where the order of the day. Fairways are dormant (brownish) but playable. Just could not figure out how to put my club on the ball since the lies were fairly tight. No sand in bunkers. It was a thin veil of sand at the bottom and hard pan underneath. It was very difficult to get under the ball and averaged at least two shots per bunker -- I saw MORE than my fair share of them. Side note at least I managed to get better out of the bunkers but not a lot better.

Pace of play was slowish. It was crowded so had to wait on every shot. Course was a mix of threesomes and foursomes with some fivesomes sprinkled in for good measure. Finished with enough light but it was brutally hot. Thankfully you get a nice ocean flow towards the afternoon just when the greens would get patchy.

Overall it was a good time playing here. Just wished I could have played better. A lot of the lies had me sitting uncomfortably over the ball. Play here again? Depends on if I can get my game back in order.