Stayed in the old OC (as in "Overpriced Courses") today with a round at Black Gold. Actually, I saw a decent GN hot deal for $44.50 at 12:38 and snatched it up, so that's about as good a deal you'll f... Continue »

Stayed in the old OC (as in "Overpriced Courses") today with a round at Black Gold. Actually, I saw a decent GN hot deal for $44.50 at 12:38 and snatched it up, so that's about as good a deal you'll find here. I arrived early and it wasn't too busy out, so I was teeing off by myself a little before noon. I cruised through the front nine and then caught all the groups at the turn. Luckily, there was a threesome waiting on the 10th tee and I joined up with them to make the back nine more enjoyable behind stacked groups. The total pace of around 3.5 hours was still excellent, though!!! The course was in pretty good winter shape. Compared to what I've become used to around SoCal, I was fairly impressed with Black Gold today. The tee boxes were in nice shape. The fairways were cut tight and there were some really thin/sandy spots scattered around, but they were appropriately painted off as GUR. Lots of roll-out on drives, which isn't always a good thing on this course, but usually good lies to hit from. The rough was semi-dormant and not too much of a factor unless you caught some of the thicker areas up by the greens. Bunkers were great. The greens were excellent. After the last review talked about how firm and fast they were (as well as the starter telling me the same thing before I teed off), I was expecting tabletops. They were somewhat firm, but plenty receptive to well-struck shots. The surfaces rolled super smooth and true at quick speeds. The speeds here are so relative to where you are. Anything above the hole is hard to stop. Anything below is hard to get there. There was the occasional unrepaired mark, which is unfortunate and inconsiderate of golfers playing here, but the surfaces were otherwise maintained beautifully! I had only played here once many years ago. I liked it well enough then and wanted to give it another shot, but never felt it was worth what they charge. I liked the course more this time, aided by the pretty good deal I had, good overall winter conditions and crystal clear views all the way out to Catalina. The layout is fairly fun, diverse and challenging. I just couldn't imagine paying full rack here, but that's true at most OC courses for me. It is what it is. I did get frustrated a few times today when I thought I hit perfect drives based on the GPS map, but ended up in terrible situations or a couple of times in hazards. Even landing on the high side of the fairway on certain holes was no good as the ball would roll out into trouble. The early half of the back nine has a few blind shots where you really need to know where to hit. Course knowledge definitely goes a long way out here!

Made our once a year appearance here using their Cyber Monday Special that they offer for $55. It's the only time we show because the course is out of our price range. The staff is always great here I... Continue »

Made our once a year appearance here using their Cyber Monday Special that they offer for $55. It's the only time we show because the course is out of our price range. The staff is always great here I must say. Pleasant and helpful in every way. We got off a full 20 minutes before are scheduled time ( it was about 7:20 am). The course was in better shape than I was expecting. The fairways had some pretty tight lies and just a few bare spots. Rough was decent. The greens were another matter. They wouldn't hold any shots from distance. Pretty hard and VERY fast. Too fast for me and my partner. The sand traps were probably the best I've seen locally and I know because I probably should have had a beach chair in my bag as many times as I found them. It was an enjoyable round and we'll be back next year.

Decided to get back out to Black Gold as it had been a while since I last played there. I have never really loved this course, maybe because I rarely shoot well? In any case, Juan in the pro shop was... Continue »

Decided to get back out to Black Gold as it had been a while since I last played there. I have never really loved this course, maybe because I rarely shoot well? In any case, Juan in the pro shop was fantastic! He actually made me feel welcome and was great about getting me out first. His whole attitude was positive. How refreshing! It was windy and cool.The greens were fast, too fast! I actually putted several balls off the green. I love fast greens, but clearly I was unable to handle these ????. The grass in the fairways was super "tight" which under cool conditions made to tough to deal with. All and all I guess I just played crappy. It's a wonderful course, it just doesn't "fit my eye". It's a wonderful course and do recommend it, but I suspect I it will be a while before I return. Any complaints I have are not with the course, but with my golf ability (Or lack there of)

played here on a saturday, first weekend round in a long time. was pretty slow, took about 5 hours to complete starting at 11am. had a voucher i needed to use, otherwise i probably wouldn't pay th... Continue »

played here on a saturday, first weekend round in a long time. was pretty slow, took about 5 hours to complete starting at 11am. had a voucher i needed to use, otherwise i probably wouldn't pay the weekend rack rates. i like this course layout, always feel it's challenging and a good test of my game though there's always a few holes that get me every time. greens were fast and as always pretty difficult to read, but in pretty good condition. fairways and teeboxes were in good shape. no issues here.

Course is in pretty good shape. Greens are running very fast. On some holes, too fast. On 16, putts from both sides of the hole ran off the green and down a steep hill. No way to stop the ball anywher... Continue »

Course is in pretty good shape. Greens are running very fast. On some holes, too fast. On 16, putts from both sides of the hole ran off the green and down a steep hill. No way to stop the ball anywhere close on any type of downhill putt. Fairways decent for drought conditions. as mentioned in previous reviews, very few flat lies and lots of elevation changes. Not a bad layout but not worth the hundred plus they are asking on weekends.

I haven't played here in about 5 months and I feel obligated to really give this course a thorough review. My dad and I booked at 10:56 AM for a good rate, $66 to ride, on Saturday morning. Rates here... Continue »

I haven't played here in about 5 months and I feel obligated to really give this course a thorough review. My dad and I booked at 10:56 AM for a good rate, $66 to ride, on Saturday morning. Rates here can get pretty out of control (above 100$) on the weekends so we felt like it was a good rate.

Upon arrival, the staff was very accommodating and helped my dad and I get our bags set up on a cart. Staff in the proshop were fantastic. We hit a few balls on the GRASS driving range and knocked a few putts on the putting green located adjacent to the first tee box. The first thing I thought was "man, I hope the putting greens are like these practice greens". Well, they absolutely were. Greens were receptive, yet very fast and smooth. Hands down the putting surfaces were the highlight of our day.

The fairways were probably a 6-7 out of 10. There were thin areas here and there but for the most part were nice to hit off of. Tee boxes were all level and nice. Overall, I would say the conditioning was pretty top notch and improved from when I played there last in May.

The course is not overly long but you will be tested with not a flat lie in the fairways and the kikuya rough can be pretty penalizing. Putting with the undulating surfaces posed a challenge but we had a really fun day out there testing ourselves. If we can get a weekend rate < 70$ I would say it's a fair deal.

Enjoy! (Pictures to come)

Played here 10/3/15.
Almost 4 weeks after aeration. Greens are about 80% recovered. For the most part, pretty smooth and rolling nicely again. Medium-Fast, medium soft, very receptive. A few thin "di... Continue »

Played here 10/3/15.
Almost 4 weeks after aeration. Greens are about 80% recovered. For the most part, pretty smooth and rolling nicely again. Medium-Fast, medium soft, very receptive. A few thin "dirty" spots on some green edges / aprons.

Fairways are still a bit spotty, but most bad spots are marked GUR, so no real problem there. Where they are good (kikuya transition), they are very good, but still a few thin spots.

Bunkers were good to very good. More new sand of most if not all bunkers. I played out of 3 greenside and all were very good. Assuming others were as well.

Always very good service inside and out.

Should be completely back to normal in another 7-10 days. Playable now.

Played today 9/13on a warm but breezy day at Black Gold. We teed off at 11 am and virtually saw no one until the 9th hole. The price couldn't be beat as we paid 70.00 for the both of us. The greens... Continue »

Played today 9/13on a warm but breezy day at Black Gold. We teed off at 11 am and virtually saw no one until the 9th hole. The price couldn't be beat as we paid 70.00 for the both of us. The greens had recently been punched but only 9 of the greens were affected, the rest were fine. The fairways and tee boxes were fine and the cart girl came around several times. We played in 3hrs and 45 min, All in all, we had fun and enjoyable time...

$42 dollar late morning rate with teeoff.com was a steal today. Our threesome got out at 11am right before they were scheduled to punch the greens. Place was pretty empty and we had nobody in front or... Continue »

$42 dollar late morning rate with teeoff.com was a steal today. Our threesome got out at 11am right before they were scheduled to punch the greens. Place was pretty empty and we had nobody in front or behind us all round.

Sand traps were hard packed, other than that, the course is in great shape. Customer service is outstanding. Must play for SoCal golfers. Easy recommend, just wait for the greens to heal.