This course is in horrible shape right now. Word is the greens keeper left skylinks to go to El Dorado. Not sure if its true or not, but El Dorado is in pristine shape ans Skylinks is crumbling.
Man... Continue »

This course is in horrible shape right now. Word is the greens keeper left skylinks to go to El Dorado. Not sure if its true or not, but El Dorado is in pristine shape ans Skylinks is crumbling.
Many of the greens are a joke. On a few greens there are racing stripes across the green. There are pock marks all over the green and they look like they have been neglected. Fairways are all dried out and thin. Chipping just off the green is rather a challenge because of the tight lies, accompanied with dead spots. Some of the holes are in great shape, but overall the course was lacking severely from what it was a year ago.
Skylinks management either needs to get a new greens keeper or lower their rates. $72 w/cart for a round is a joke when $20-$30 less gets you a round of golf in the same area on a much nicer course (at the moment)

I've avoided Skylinks for a couple of years, partly because I wasn't impressed by the maintenance and the lack of care of the punters when it came to ballmarks etc. At $40 it was losing it's appeal. S... Continue »

I've avoided Skylinks for a couple of years, partly because I wasn't impressed by the maintenance and the lack of care of the punters when it came to ballmarks etc. At $40 it was losing it's appeal. So i decided to try ti again and I was really pleasantly surprised.

The greens are really really good right now. Hats off to the greenskeeper. They ran at around 10-11 today and were true as love should be. It was a real pleasure and I got really excited just being on the greens. The rest of the course is in good shape - fairways are packed pretty tight, tee boxes are level if fluffy, but the bunkers need attention next. Quite wet, quite firm, very muni.

Sadly, at 6am in the morning it's still a madhouse. When I arrived at 5.50am there were about 15 people milling around the first tee - no one sure who's next or who's with who. I'm not sure why it's so hard to organize. sadly they still let 5's out early doors too. But by 6.30 the rush hour had cleared and I slotted in fine.

Lastly, it's lovely to get a course you can walk so you get a bit of exercise.
Hats off to the greenkeeper, just need a firmer foot on the early starters.
Worth the $43 right now, chaps.

Played twilight here 6/15. Was a little disappointed in the course conditions. Fairways were pretty dry and hard, not unplayable, but not very good. Tee boxes were also pretty hard, lots of divots. Ro... Continue »

Played twilight here 6/15. Was a little disappointed in the course conditions. Fairways were pretty dry and hard, not unplayable, but not very good. Tee boxes were also pretty hard, lots of divots. Rough was pretty non-existent, some lies in the rough seemed better than the fairways because there was actually a little grass there. Greens were pretty good, medium fast speed, rolled very true, some ball marks. Bunkers were great, plenty of sand in them. Overall layout was good, lots of doglegs left and right, nothing too tough though. Really wish the course was just more lush, needs some water.

Okay, I'm totally biased here, I grew up a few blocks from here, and have played this course since I was wearing Keds and had trouble with all the snot in my nose. I caddied there at the 1995 Long Bea... Continue »

Okay, I'm totally biased here, I grew up a few blocks from here, and have played this course since I was wearing Keds and had trouble with all the snot in my nose. I caddied there at the 1995 Long Beach match play, and my swing coach started working with me in the back of the driving range that same year. I was in the pro shop during Tiger's first Masters victory. The memories go on and on. If you want a more impartial review, scroll on, but I know every contour, branch, and trick to this track.

All that being said, Skylinks is the best value/quality (certainly not the cheapest, but I'll get to that in a few) in the Long Beach area. After they spent a fortune remodeling it a decade ago, they turned a bland course under the flight path of an airport into a course that was vying for the attention of mini tour events.

I played there this afternoon, booking on GolfZing. If you are going to play an American Golf golf course, do yourself a favor and book through that site, it'll save you a bundle. Their putting green rolls very true, comparable to the greens on the course, but their bunker/chipping areas are not up to snuff. The pro shop is always decently stocked and staffed well. Weekend rounds are going to play incredibly slow, but if you're lucky enough to have some weekday time, it's usually smooth sailing. The tee boxes are pretty decent, the fairways are uncommonly good, every bunker is excellent sand, and if the greenskeeper is having trouble with the ball and chain, you might be in for some brutal pin positions. As with ALL muni courses, no one seems to ever fix their ball marks on the green, but they still roll well, and if you don't know the course, don't expect to get too close to the pin on your approach shots.

If you are a good putter, prefer a fade off the tee, are aggressive off the tee but not so aggressive that you have the big stick out every hole, and want the best beverage cart service around (say hi to my friend Claire, leave her a tip, it'll keep the golf gods happy... you'll need that for hole 11), Skylinks is where you should be tomorrow.

Played sunday early morning as the second group out. Pace was bad the first 6 holes in that we were waiting for every shot because the husband was giving lessons to his wife on every shot. Once the ... Continue »

Played sunday early morning as the second group out. Pace was bad the first 6 holes in that we were waiting for every shot because the husband was giving lessons to his wife on every shot. Once the group finally let us pass we finished quick. The course itself was in good shape. I like the thin lies of links courses. The greens were firm but held shots. The greens rolled nice and medium fast. They rolled true.
One advice for people that book early teetimes, you do know that the time change makes the sun come out later. Please do not make other people wait for you to tee off because the suns not out. Make your tee time later if you want the sun. We were stacked 5 groups on the first tee because the first group waited for the sun. A starter on the tee would have been helpful. Please be considerate of other golfers around you.

Have not played Skylinks for more than 3 years. Played 3/23, POP - due to the tournament playing ahead of us, first 9 holes were slow. Overall condition of the course was good. Service - starter and m... Continue »

Have not played Skylinks for more than 3 years. Played 3/23, POP - due to the tournament playing ahead of us, first 9 holes were slow. Overall condition of the course was good. Service - starter and marshall were good. Cart girl pass by us twice thought our group don't need her service but at least she could stop and ask us if we need drinks or snacks(??). To pay $73 per round, that might be the reason the course condition was good - fairways were lush and no bare spot, green, bunkers and tee ground. May come back during the summer season.

Hadn't played here in a few years didn't really know what to expect. The course was in overall good shape with faster than expected greens due to the time of year. The course played very firm and fa... Continue »

Hadn't played here in a few years didn't really know what to expect. The course was in overall good shape with faster than expected greens due to the time of year. The course played very firm and fast with your drives running out. I was in a few traps and they were in very playable shape. The course has a lot of tricky pin placements on the greens and you need to be very cognicent of where you're leaving your approach shots. I look forward to coming again!

Have played twice in the last week, and am happy to say conditions are improving radically. The fairways have recovered much of their 'greenness', and the former muddy areas have dried up and regrow... Continue »

Have played twice in the last week, and am happy to say conditions are improving radically. The fairways have recovered much of their 'greenness', and the former muddy areas have dried up and regrown their grass. The rough is still dormant and brown, but covers pretty well with few bare spots. The greens are most impressive. For a while it looked like disease was gonna take a couple (namely holes 8 and 10), but whatever maintenance they have done has paid off. The greens were nice and green, few ball marks, and rolled at a nice, fast pace. The bunkers are ALWAYS great here, its quite nice to play out of a bunker that's not hard as a rock. Am happy with my home course again!

Played 02-05-13 at 0830. Pleasantly surprised by the conditions. Tee boxes were a little damp and at times thin but very playable. Fairways were somewhat dormant with lots of rollout. Tight lies a... Continue »

Played 02-05-13 at 0830. Pleasantly surprised by the conditions. Tee boxes were a little damp and at times thin but very playable. Fairways were somewhat dormant with lots of rollout. Tight lies around the green but that doesn't bother me. Sand traps were great in my opinion. Lots of fluffy sand. Only complaint about them is how soft the sides of the traps are. They lead to lots of plugged lies in the faces of the traps that don't roll back down to the bottom. Greens were rolling fast and true in most areas. There was some worn areas from foot traffic. Pace of play was nice at about 4 hours.