Played this weekend and course is coming back great from recent aeration of the greens. Conditions are getting firm and fast out there, seeing alot of roll out off the tee. Bunkers are probably the lo... Continue »

Played this weekend and course is coming back great from recent aeration of the greens. Conditions are getting firm and fast out there, seeing alot of roll out off the tee. Bunkers are probably the low point of the course, inconsistent sand and some pebbles in here and there but not horrible. Tee boxes and fairways are nice. Definitely recommend right now if youre a fan of this course, best the greens have been in a long time, probably even better in two weeks from now.

A rare mid-morning round with some out of town guests. Not accustomed to playing in 4+ hours, but today it was more about socializing, so it never felt like a long day. I am also not used to playing... Continue »

A rare mid-morning round with some out of town guests. Not accustomed to playing in 4+ hours, but today it was more about socializing, so it never felt like a long day. I am also not used to playing when the course is dry and fairways running. Add the warmth of the day and it is incredible how much shorter a course plays in "normal" conditions.

Course is in overall nice condition, with the greens being in some of the better condition I've seen. They rolled true and reasonably quick. Fairways also better than in my previous round. I notice the greens will be punched next week, so let's hope they recover quickly and return it their present state.

The greens were great today, they played very true. It can be irritating when greens are too fast or too slow, so it was great to have them play perfect and completely reliable - just as they should h... Continue »

The greens were great today, they played very true. It can be irritating when greens are too fast or too slow, so it was great to have them play perfect and completely reliable - just as they should have been, just I read them. The fairways were great, not perfect, but great. Unfortunately, the biggest boo-hoo about the fairways were the burrowing from the crows. Also, there are some brown spots throughout the fairways, but it didn't affect play, they looked brownish, but it was not dirt patches or anything like that, just brow & green grass mixed together. The course played great. The course is challenging to be sure, but it was in great playing condition. Great greens. And as always, the customer service is excellent, everywhere at the club, from club drop off to O'Neill's Restaurant (delicious food too).

Played Arroyo Trabuco Wed. senior $70 green fee. Found the course in great shape, tee to green, very pleased as the layout here is one of the best in the OC. Greens were cut so decent speed, rolling... Continue »

Played Arroyo Trabuco Wed. senior $70 green fee. Found the course in great shape, tee to green, very pleased as the layout here is one of the best in the OC. Greens were cut so decent speed, rolling true ... not shaggy like some previous reviews. Maybe the cooler temps allows them to cut to an appropriate length cuz it's no fun putting on slow greens on an otherwise super course. I'd guess rolling around a 10 today. Found a few rocks in bunkers (okay to remove) which had lightly textured sand at a playable depth. Bermuda fairways mostly in great shape and plenty of roll out but some landing areas were a bit pock marked (ie. #6). The majority were in fantastic shape and a pleasure to play from. With a PoP just over 4 hrs., a real enjoyable experience even thought it's a bit pricey here. But that's the OC for you. Recommended with a deal.

Played out here on Sunday 9/8 for the first time in a few months. The course is in great shape in regards to the tee boxes, fairways and rough. The bunkers are okay, some have nice sand but almost all... Continue »

Played out here on Sunday 9/8 for the first time in a few months. The course is in great shape in regards to the tee boxes, fairways and rough. The bunkers are okay, some have nice sand but almost all of them have large rocks in them. The greens look healthier than I've seen them in a while, but mannnn are they slow. Proshop states they mow them and roll them Saturday morning and then Sunday they dont mow them.... they only roll them. Rate is over 100 dollars, come on. If they mowed the greens, the course would be worth that fee, but as they were, slowest greens in Orange County. Not sure why this course can't figure out their greens, never seems to change. If you don't mind slow greens then go for it, if you do I'd call and find out if they are mowing that day.

I would play here more often if the price were less, but I always enjoy playing here, in part because Larry in the pro shop and Jim the starter, are fantastic! They always work with me to get out me ... Continue »

I would play here more often if the price were less, but I always enjoy playing here, in part because Larry in the pro shop and Jim the starter, are fantastic! They always work with me to get out me early. Those two guys are one of the reasons I play here despite the cost.

Without doubt, the greens are best I have seen them. They are just too slow for my taste. They rolled well, and were receptive to shots. Fairways also nice. Greenside bunkers had plenty of well raked sand.

Fun course to play, with generous fairways, and some interesting holes. Recommend this course right now while it is in good condition.

I played Sunday, August 4th, at the member rate of $98. It’s been awhile since I’ve visited Arroyo Trabuco but I really enjoy playing here. The price is a bit steep IMO but I guess I should expect hig... Continue »

I played Sunday, August 4th, at the member rate of $98. It’s been awhile since I’ve visited Arroyo Trabuco but I really enjoy playing here. The price is a bit steep IMO but I guess I should expect high greens fees because this is OC golf after all. I dig the layout of this course and appreciate the lack of homes lining every fairway like many other courses in the area. There are lots of forced carries and plenty of hazards that can get you in trouble but I find the course to be a fair challenge. We played the blue tees and found them to be lush and level. The fairways were pretty good but I found too many divots that weren’t replaced. In the past, the greens here were consistently bad and almost unplayable at times. However, I’m happy to report lush greens with no signs of disease that I remember being an issue in the past. I will say the greens were a little too grown out for my liking and made for very slow putts. I saw the cart girl a couple of times and had a tasty burger at their restaurant after the round. I will note that the service here was excellent. I’d recommend paying Arroyo a visit.

Part two of the OC double dip was a trip to Arroyo Trabuco for the first time ever. Walked on and got a holiday price of $115 to ride from the blue tees. Now, before I get into the course review, I'm ... Continue »

Part two of the OC double dip was a trip to Arroyo Trabuco for the first time ever. Walked on and got a holiday price of $115 to ride from the blue tees. Now, before I get into the course review, I'm very curious as to how to grade certain aspects of this course and its management. Now, any course that you shell out over a hundred dollars for, you're going to have expectations. So when I saw the sprinklers out and running full speed on the first hole green, I thought, 'Okay. No big deal.' I mean, at least don't put the pin on that same side of the green, but whatever. Unfortunately, this same situation would be repeated on 4-5 holes throughout the day, two greens which were so drenched with water that little lakes were formed on the green and we had to alter shots around them. Sorry, but that's just poor. Really poor. So do I ding the greens rating or just the rating for Customer Service? I kind of went half and half, but I'm curious what the final rating will be. Although to be fair, the greens looked nice but rolled actually pretty slow and were looking like they were in need of a press. Held shots well though and were pretty challenging in terms of tiers and undulations. Now to the good part ... fairways were in mostly very nice shape, as were the tee boxes and did not have any gripes about the bunkers whatsoever. Rough had its moments that made club selection quite imperative, and there is no shortage of OB areas to torment your scorecard. This course is tough. Very tough. You have to be very good picking out the right spots and getting the ball there. There are not many 'easy' holes at all. In fact, almost every one of them is downright difficult and nerve-wracking. You can blow up a scorecard here quite quickly. But if you get into a nice little groove, which I did on the back nine for a while, then it's actually a pretty cool track. It's very isolated so you don't worry too much about houses around the property, and the views are quite nice all day. No complaints on the location - it was made to be a golf course. So what was my overall impression of Arroyo Trabuco? Look, it's a quality track that can easily justify the price if they don't take their customers for granted by rolling their eyes at any complaints about things like sprinklers on the greens. Some really quality holes that will challenge you all day. POP was a bit slow as well, but the cart service came around numerous times on a hot day. Would I go back? I would, but I would wait to find a good deal online, but of course they don't do that. So we'll see. Mixed feelings for sure but I can easily see another trip and a whole different feeling when I leave. Time will tell.

POP: 4:30
Weather: Low to Mid 70s, Sunny.
Time: 7:10am
Date: 6/29/19

Service and Amenities:
Staff was friendly and informative. Starter was very helpful with tips as it was our first time pl... Continue »

POP: 4:30
Weather: Low to Mid 70s, Sunny.
Time: 7:10am
Date: 6/29/19

Service and Amenities:
Staff was friendly and informative. Starter was very helpful with tips as it was our first time playing the course.

Range:
Grass range with moderately priced range balls. Level stalls with decent coverage, not too sandy. Good amount of targets with marked distances.

Greens:
Much slower than they looked but they looked fast. Overall the greens rolled pretty true and at the speed they played you could be super aggressive with putts. Fairly firm but you could get some action on the ball with wedges. Greens changed for us on the back 9 since we were following a crew of guys watering the greens so it got a bit slower and softer.

Fairways:
The fairways were very firm and even getting steep on wedges it was hard to take a decent divot. It felt like clubs were bouncing off the ground. Kind of pissed off with one fairway where my pitching wedge found a rock just below the grass and dinged up the leading edge. This course shows long yardages on the card but there are lots of risk/reward tee shots where you can take on more hazard for shorter irons into the green.
Some collection areas were completely soaked with standing water...very odd!

Bunkers:
Average bunkers, on par with most stuff I see in south orange county. They were decently groomed but neither overly fluffy or thin.

Tee Boxes:
Flat with good grass coverage. Some areas were a bit torn up on the par 3s but overall decent. Some of the boxes were so firm you had to try and insert a tee-peg a few times before you could find a spot that accepted it.

Rough:
About 1.5-2" long. Depending on how it was sitting, the rough was deep/thick enough to produce dead shots or snap a club face closed.

Overall:
Great course and a fun layout. Definitely a great course to try but make sure to keep an eye out for deals! For the cost, I think this is one of the best value tracks in South OC. I really enjoyed it as did all my playing partners. The only downside was the slow pace of play for a morning tee time, but I guess that is to be expected on weekends.