Every golf course should provide the great customer service that Arroyo Trabuco does. Larry in the pro shop is always fantastic as are all the staff. Friendly and accommodating.

I was able to get... Continue »

Every golf course should provide the great customer service that Arroyo Trabuco does. Larry in the pro shop is always fantastic as are all the staff. Friendly and accommodating.

I was able to get off first at 6:12, still somewhat dark. Course was in overall very nice condition. Greens much better than when I last played here several months ago, although a few still have some issues. Fairways are green and lush. Bunkers had lots of sand. (Maybe a little too much?)

Played in under 2 1/2 hours, taking my time to enjoy a very mild morning. Other than some light rain for a few holes, conditions were excellent. The only disappointment is that I noticed they have raised their fees. $65 for senior M-Thurs.

Played Thursday the 5th at 1:30 with discounted greens fees due to the maintenance on the greens. Even with the recent punching the greens rolled smooth at a decent speed all day. There are some troub... Continue »

Played Thursday the 5th at 1:30 with discounted greens fees due to the maintenance on the greens. Even with the recent punching the greens rolled smooth at a decent speed all day. There are some trouble spots around the fringes that are being worked on, but nothing that really bothered me despite hitting into those spots multiple times. PoP was right around 4 hours without much waiting after the first few holes. Fairways were in good shape with no GUP that I noticed. The two sand traps I found were good, with a soft layer on top. Tee boxes, can only speak on blues, but lush and level, never had trouble finding a good spot even on par 3's.
I haven't played Arroyo very often, but it's a fun layout that can challenge you if you're not hitting it straight. Conditions were good across the board, and the greens were much better than expected, to the point where the maintenance had almost no impact beyond holding less than perfect long iron shots. Definitely recommend playing here.

Back to AT for super-twilight during the heat wave on Friday afternoon, 7/7/17. Mission Viejo overall was pretty hot, but AT’s location down at the south end in that arroyo means it gets a nice coasta... Continue »

Back to AT for super-twilight during the heat wave on Friday afternoon, 7/7/17. Mission Viejo overall was pretty hot, but AT’s location down at the south end in that arroyo means it gets a nice coastal breeze that really makes a difference. I arrived just after 3pm to get on their ST list (4pm), and starter Hal was able to pair me and another walk-on, amiable Nigel, with a twosome and we got out a few minutes before ST started, at 3:45. The two guys we were paired with were also likeable – one was very deliberate, the other a bomber but totally wild – he went through 5(!) sleeves during the round. If you get offline or start topping tee shots, it’s easy to find trouble here. Unfortunately, these guys also didn’t bother filling divots or fixing ballmarks, so that was disappointing. The breeze died down a few holes into the round, but some scattered cloudiness and the advancing hour moderated the temperature. We bumped around as fast as we could given the deliberate play and many(!) reloads, and finished as the next-to-last group at just after 8pm.

The course continues to be in good shape and fairly lush condition, with the caveat of some continuing issues with some of the greens (see some of the recent reviews). While some greens are very lush and surfaces are great, some greens still show significant thin/bare spots, and these are also mostly pretty soft. So you get varying green lushness, firmness, and speed as you go through the round; most rolled at medium speed, but were pretty bumpy. A couple greens were getting watered by hand as we went around. Lots of ballmarks on all greens. We also saw wet/rutted areas adjacent to several greens where mowers were not able to get – you needed to avoid those to not get sloppy/impossible lies and muddy shoes.

We had good lies in all the fairways, but popular landing areas have many unfilled divots. The course is still watering too much in the tee-shot landing area on the long par-4 #12 – you really need that rollout on this 467-yd, 2-hcp hole! Rough was lush and very playable when dry – all the ESA areas were thick and lush, and looking for balls was pretty futile.
I found the sand traps to have good coverage, but with only a fairly thin playing layer over a damp firm base. Par-3 tees were pretty torn up; all tees were mostly level – the slope problem seemed to be on holes with a narrower teebox setup.

They might have had a competition earlier in the day, as many pin positions were tucked in challenging locations or on knobs. We also noted that some pin locations on the good-graphics GPS were very off from actual locations on several holes – use of your own tools as backup is recommended. The cart girl came by on hole #3, but that was last call at just after 4pm. Plenty of water available, which was good. The course still needs to address the extensive cart path damage you find on many holes.

I enjoy this layout and conditions are generally very good.

Mid-morning tee time at the Arroyo on a warm Friday, $65 senior rate (they knocked off $10 due to some green issues) ... got around in 4 hours with no waiting. I was concerned about what I've read th... Continue »

Mid-morning tee time at the Arroyo on a warm Friday, $65 senior rate (they knocked off $10 due to some green issues) ... got around in 4 hours with no waiting. I was concerned about what I've read that the greens are messed up, so I called ahead ... was told they are back in good shape other than 6 & 8 which have major patchwork and will take a while to get back into playable condition (15 was fuzzy, too). Glad to report the course is back in great shape overall. Bermuda fairway grass is full and lush and greens putted true at medium speed. There's a few spots here and there that show some distress but not much came into play. The majority of putting surfaces were V-good to excellent. Bunkers well conditioned and very playable, one was a bit damp from sprinklers ... they're putting a lot of water on the course. The ponds on the course are clean and clear, nice attraction to a thoughtfully designed, out and back layout thru the South OC hills. Water containers spaced out and cart gals at the ready was nice to see on a hot day. We really enjoyed our round here and the vibe at O'Neills afterward. Will come again for some weekday super-twilight which is the best bargain.

Played with 2 group on Friday 6/7/17, the course seamed in good condition. As we were playing all the greens seamed to have damage some more then others and some very bad. This made putting very hard.... Continue »

Played with 2 group on Friday 6/7/17, the course seamed in good condition. As we were playing all the greens seamed to have damage some more then others and some very bad. This made putting very hard. I think some warning about these greens should have been given before taking our money.

Walked on to play super-twilight at 4pm on Friday, 5/26/17. I wanted to get in some swings prior to my GK Cup 10 match on Sunday. The putting green was empty, and the tee uncrowded, so the starter got... Continue »

Walked on to play super-twilight at 4pm on Friday, 5/26/17. I wanted to get in some swings prior to my GK Cup 10 match on Sunday. The putting green was empty, and the tee uncrowded, so the starter got me out early with a local single at 3:30 - nice. Weather was partly cloudy and breezy and we moved along OK until we ran into a loud foursome playing music and bending elbows and being all over the course – staggered in at 7:35, in just over 4 hours.

As previous reviews noted, everything is in great shape except the greens, which got slammed a few weeks ago after a fertilizer mixture error was followed by hot drier weather, and they burned up. The course is working to bring them back - all greens had scattered thin/bare areas, some more than others. Greens on holes 6, 8, and 15 had to be resodded, and are much softer; some of the others are very firm. Those in better condition are being left “furrier” to make sure they don’t regress, so speeds are only medium fast. We saw lots of old and new ballmarks.

Fairways were firm and gave good lies and rollouts, but we saw many unfilled divots. Rough was cut short and very playable, then you got to the ESA! Traps were all very good quality – except for the many unraked areas. Tees were mostly OK, but many were sloping; there was divot damage on many non par-3s, which was strange.

The course is using an entry/exit gate system to minimize cart damage along fairway margins. There’s a good GPS in the carts, but hole locations shown today varied from “just off” to “way off” – we learned quickly to check with your own tools. You see many signs along the ESA areas warning you against going in and to be aware of rattlesnakes. This was the first time I’d seen the sign (along the regional park on hole #2) to be aware of possible mountain lions!

I enjoy this layout. Recommended – just be ready to be patient with the greens for a while.

Played here Wednesday 5/24/17.

Unfortunately, the previous review is still applicable.

While fairways were in very good shape, the greens were is poor condition. Many bare or damaged areas on va... Continue »

Played here Wednesday 5/24/17.

Unfortunately, the previous review is still applicable.

While fairways were in very good shape, the greens were is poor condition. Many bare or damaged areas on vast majority (14 o 15) of the greens. In spots where there was good coverage, still slow an bumpy. Very disappointing.

Bunkers I played out of (3) greenside and (1) fairway had good amount of sand and were very playable. Heard a couple of complaints from playing partners about lack of sand or wet, oatmeal like, sand.

As mentioned above no complaints with fairway conditions. Excellent Bermuda coverage, slightly dry in a couple spots.

Layout is challenging. Strategic bunkers which gobble up slight misses on approaches to greens. Found a lot of pins on edges behind bunkers on this day. No homes on the course (a positive).

Great customer service inside and out. Very nice restaurant and bar. Good food.

Attendant cleaning clubs behind 18 green assured us, without being prompted about the greens, that they would be better next time. That said, I think they need a couple of months to improve.

Wow ! What happened to their greens? The fairways are as nice as I can remember. Lush, green, lots of grass. Gone are the days when the ball when the ball ran forever on the fairways, now the co... Continue »

Wow ! What happened to their greens? The fairways are as nice as I can remember. Lush, green, lots of grass. Gone are the days when the ball when the ball ran forever on the fairways, now the course play to its full yardage. That's the good, now for the greens: On the majority of the greens, their are many areas which are "gone" Some areas on the greens have grass, but even those areas do not roll very true.

I've seen this before at this course, so I am hopeful that they will address the issue and resolve it as the rest of the course is in overall nice shape.

One of the reasons I enjoy coming here is the staff. Simply put, the entire staff is fantastic. Starting with Larry in the pro shop, to the starter Jim, and everyone else. Perfect. I wish all golf courses had people like these on their staff.

Back to Arroyo Trabuco for super-twilight, 2:09pm on Friday, 3/10/17. Thanks to GKer sngernz for his invite to join him. We had a relaxed enjoyable round in warm, almost windless conditions, finishing... Continue »

Back to Arroyo Trabuco for super-twilight, 2:09pm on Friday, 3/10/17. Thanks to GKer sngernz for his invite to join him. We had a relaxed enjoyable round in warm, almost windless conditions, finishing right at dark. We were paired with a member at AT and his guest – the younger guest was constantly either on the phone or in the ESA, while the older member was hard to like. Music playing in his cart was occasionally annoying. And these guys hit out of turn, drove the cart up the side of the hole when others were hitting, and didn’t fill any of their divots.

The course is still in good shape as detailed in recent reviews. Greens were a little softer than recently, holding shots well, but really showed footprints and cleat marks badly as the day progressed. Lots of old and recent ballmarks on all greens, so greens were medium-fast and pretty bumpy. Good lies in fairways, but many unfilled divots. Stew was in a couple bunkers and sand quality seemed OK. Had a skeeter attack on the 18th hole after all the rain and next to that lake as darkness closed in - I haven't slapped that much since the last time I was in East Texas!!

Still recommended.