One of my favorite tracks in the OC and the GK coupon made it affordable. Thanks to the recent rain, grass is great on the tee boxes and fairways. No complaints there. The rough was fair. It was i... Continue »

One of my favorite tracks in the OC and the GK coupon made it affordable. Thanks to the recent rain, grass is great on the tee boxes and fairways. No complaints there. The rough was fair. It was inconsistent with good amounts of thin and balding areas. They could be in better shape. The bunkers were also inconsistent. Unfortunately, I found many during my round. On the nice ones, they were fluffy and filled with plenty of fine white sand. However, there were a few (green side) I was in that were thin and hard. The greens need another week or 2 to recover from recent aeration. Punch holes were clearly visible and delicate downhill putts were definitely affected. Overall, a pleasant round (just under 4h pace with some waiting on the group in front of us) at a great track.

Played Black Gold on 4/2. Overall this course is one of my favorites in the OC. Good value for the price and a decent test of golf.

Tees: Even with some divot damage but overall good.
Fairways:... Continue »

Played Black Gold on 4/2. Overall this course is one of my favorites in the OC. Good value for the price and a decent test of golf.

Tees: Even with some divot damage but overall good.
Fairways: Awesome. The rain has done really well. Never once had a thin/uneven lie
Rough: Pretty long. One of my playing partners lost a ball or two just off the fairway. It took about a club off the shots from my time in there.
Bunkers: Was in two, they were both great.
Greens: Still need another two weeks (from 4/2) in my estimation to be 100% pure again. It was still a bit of a checkerbox of sand holes though not unplayable by any means.

Overall love this course and this time was no different. The hills are beautiful right now with all the flowers blooming. Use the GK coupon to get a great deal here like I did. Pro shop guys are super nice. Locked my keys in my car and they let me charge my phone behind the counter so I could call a tow truck. Just a great facility all around.

Played Black Gold on Thursday late morning. Greens are recovering nicely from the aeration. First time playing this course and it was enjoyable and challenging. Lots of elevation change, forced car... Continue »

Played Black Gold on Thursday late morning. Greens are recovering nicely from the aeration. First time playing this course and it was enjoyable and challenging. Lots of elevation change, forced carries, and it can be difficult to picture a good target/landing area off the tee.

Tee boxes were in good shape; level with minimal damage.

Fairways were also in good shape and running fairly firm, good coverage except for a couple of spots under repair.

Bunkers looked to be in excellent condition and the one I was in was a pleasure to play from.

Rough varied in length and could be fluffy providing decent lies or if your ball sinks down can be pretty penal.

Greens were aerated a couple weeks ago and although you could still see some evidence of the holes, they ran pretty quick and fairly true. I was told this was the first day they had cut them short again.

Enjoyable experience and I would play it again.

Joined the Guru's yesterday and had a great time. This course is quite expensive on the weekend which hurts the course rating a bit. The Course is in good condition but not great. The fairways, rough ... Continue »

Joined the Guru's yesterday and had a great time. This course is quite expensive on the weekend which hurts the course rating a bit. The Course is in good condition but not great. The fairways, rough and greens are all mostly lush and green.

The tee's are the issue I had. There seemed to be a few uneven tee's and they need to be moved as divot damage and no grass is a concern.

The fairways rolled fast which helps on this course that can stretch out from the tips and its nice to have roll to flat areas.

Greens were way to firm and impossible to get some zip on the ball. I do know they are punching the greens today and that was probably why they were so firm. They did roll true and everything breaks to Disneyland no matter what it looks like.

Sand- was a nice powder and easy to hit out of.

First time ever at Black Gold with the added thrill of a Guru round with Matt, Greg and Gary, so it's easy to admit that I had been excited about this one for quite some time. And in most every respec... Continue »

First time ever at Black Gold with the added thrill of a Guru round with Matt, Greg and Gary, so it's easy to admit that I had been excited about this one for quite some time. And in most every respect, Black Gold did not disappoint. My game was a bit of a different story ...

But the course itself was a good test for any golfer. Loads of uneven fairways and rough areas, plenty of well-placed and stocked bunkers, elevated tees and greens, along with some narrow landing areas with plenty of OB threat, and some super fast and tricky greens make BG a serious challenge to put up a low score.

Plenty of nice fairway out there and mostly all good lies, however I will admit that I was expecting the course to be a little more green in that area. But by no means does that mean it was bad. The rough is cut pretty high and makes for some tough escapes, but it's lush and consistent. The bunkers are in very good shape - fluffy greenside, firm in the fairways. And the tee boxes were all well level and never a problem to find a good spot.

As for the greens, well there was some love-hate going on there. They were in very nice shape for sure and ran very fast with some very unnerving breaks (especially if above the hole), but they were so firm and fast that most any balls landing on the green (even a firm chip) would simply roll off into collection areas. The apron was also recently punched.

POP was very steady with waiting of any consequence really only taking place on a few holes, and the cart service came by at least three times on a pretty gorgeous day all around. Carts are actually very nice with plush seats, good GPS system, and ice in the coolers. It was also great to finally play with Matt and Greg and their crushing drives, and meet and play a fun GK Cup practice round with Gary - we were neck and neck all day long!

The great Guru deal was of course the icing on the cake today, but I would certainly take advantage of the regular GK coupon for Black Gold and come back to play it again and improve my score with some better course knowledge.

Played here today for a guru outing with Matt, Gary and Rob. Great group today! Had a blast. We tee'd off at 12:27 right on time, pace of play was about average, finished around 5:30PM. The course was... Continue »

Played here today for a guru outing with Matt, Gary and Rob. Great group today! Had a blast. We tee'd off at 12:27 right on time, pace of play was about average, finished around 5:30PM. The course was in great shape, nice and green, flowers were blooming and the weather was perfect today. The tee boxes were a little brown, and some what even for the most part. The fairways were looking great, rolled a lot since this course is very hilly. The greens were in terrific shape, but the pin placements today were pretty rough. The breaks all go toward disneyland no matter where you are, pretty hard to get used to. A lot of false fronts and backs, balls took a high hop coming into the green and are almost impossible to stop. I like this course, but I wouldn't pay the weekend price for this course.

3/19 with gurus Matt Greg and Rob-- fun group great setting--good weather. State of the art GPS--grass driving range rather chewed up --putting green an exact replica of what is in store on the cours... Continue »

3/19 with gurus Matt Greg and Rob-- fun group great setting--good weather. State of the art GPS--grass driving range rather chewed up --putting green an exact replica of what is in store on the course. Fairways have good cover had good lies with nice cushion and often nicely mowed thick grass that didnt leave a divot. Fairways are some what tight due to slope so ball can run into trouble--also lot of un-even stances. Rough is heavy and thick not overly long but depending on the lie can be really grabby or if sitting more on top the flyer comes into play. Shot making around the green out of the rough is even more challenging mainly due to the hardness of the greens. Tees were level but many were pretty thin. Bunkers have nice sand very consistent--fairway traps are a little more firm allowing for better contact. Greenside traps have a fine white sand that is compacted just enough to provide right amount of bounce. The greens played like some one was pissed off--really firm and fast with often times significant break. They were smooth with the ball rolling true but the tendency was to keep rolling. Marginally receptive to short irons--mostly impossible to hold chips and pitches especially out of the rough and so many times from the back of the green. Prevailing topography has everything breaking toward the valley which is known as Disneyland. Good customer service --easy check in even threw in range balls --drink cart around 3 times. This is a challenging tract and plays tougher than the yardage--I now admit I am too old and too short to play this course from the blues--but still I survived and had a good time--POP about 420 with more waiting on the back 9. Rob and I played a pretend GK match which he won on 18(with his stroke)

Played at 12:48pm on Wednesday, with three other guys for an enjoyable, but long round. POP was 4:50.

Will just update changes from my last review. Course is still in very good condition, especial... Continue »

Played at 12:48pm on Wednesday, with three other guys for an enjoyable, but long round. POP was 4:50.

Will just update changes from my last review. Course is still in very good condition, especially the greens.

GK has indicated that aeration starts in about a week. They've jumped the gun and punched the apron/fringe on all holes. No sand added yet. Biggest issue were the punched grass pegs laying around the fringe. But, the greens are still fantastic.

Fairways were very nice, green, lush, good roll, and not too tight lies. Rough was a bit splotchy, tufts of grass and 2-3" of normal grass.

Tee boxes are greening up again nicely, but still a little bare in spots.

Great day, warm weather, and well worth the TeeOff.com deal I got - $45, less a PGA Live $20 promo code...suhweet!

Proshop, starter, marshall and cart lady (came by 3x) all great. Grabbed a happy-hour snack after the round, which hit the spot. Bartender is a very good man. Nice TVs covering the practice round of the Arnie Bay Hill Classic and NFLNetwork.

Will probably give this lovely tract a break now, just due to the upcoming aeration.

Played here today, 2/28 at 12:19pm via a deal on their web-site for $43.00. Was paired with a friendly twosome for an enjoyable sunny afternoon.

Only issue was intermittent waiting, mostly on the ... Continue »

Played here today, 2/28 at 12:19pm via a deal on their web-site for $43.00. Was paired with a friendly twosome for an enjoyable sunny afternoon.

Only issue was intermittent waiting, mostly on the front nine. According to the friendly marshal, it was a 4-some 2 groups ahead. He came by several times, and did say he 'encouraged' them to speed it up. POP ended up being 4hrs 40mins, with the back nine slightly faster than the front. A few extra holes were 'cart path only', so that may have contributed.

Since I last played here 10 days ago, the teebox conditions have dipped. Still, flat and easy to find a level stance, but they have browned up a bit and some of the grass has been washed out by the rain. Probably need a re-seeding on some. 6/10

Rough was a bit splotchy/hairy in most places I ventured, making for some challenging uneven lies/swing-paths with tufts causing me some problems. 5/10

Sand was great, sadly I had about 4 of them today. Medium-weight 1/2" top layer/fluff over a slightly damp base (sorry, sounds like a ski-slope report). 7/10

Fairways were lush and green. Not a lot of roll for my slow swing, mud on ball about 1/3 of the time. 8/10

Greens were firm, but held shots well. The putting was true, smooth-rolling, and fast today. Lots of break after the ball lost speed. The pull towards Disneyland was in full operation today. Happy with my 32 putts. 9/10

Cart lady was by 3 times, very friendly. Pro-shop staff, starter and cart-return guys very friendly. My favourite place to play right now, and a very good value.