Costa del Sol – Played the back 9 Thursday 07/18/2019 teeing off at 5:45 using my American Golf Players Club rate of $6. Price includes cart and a drink. Tee time was a walk up, the $6 rate is only fo... Continue »

Costa del Sol – Played the back 9 Thursday 07/18/2019 teeing off at 5:45 using my American Golf Players Club rate of $6. Price includes cart and a drink. Tee time was a walk up, the $6 rate is only for players who pay before 7am, space available. Played as a single
Check in was quick, and friendly. Facilities were in good condition; the practice green is very representative of the green on course. They were running medium fast with morning dew. Cart was clean, score cards are available at the club house. The course largely empty except for a group of early birds in front of me, and a single that would follow. I was able to complete the round in just about one hour.
Tees were playing from the tips. Lies were mostly level with good coverage. Whoever laid out the tees also decided to try and move them the extreme right or left of each tee box, and at really odd (Challenging) angles.
Fairways were in good condition but some had been punched and not completely cleaned up, good coverage very few bare spots. Fairway rough was sparse.
Bunkers were in good condition but heavy from watering and overnight dew. Several had not been raked yet as maintenance was working the front nine first.
Greens were in good condition, with excellent coverage, Very Smooth. Greens are firm but will hold a shot that has spin. There were a moderate number of unrepaired ball marks. Greenside rough was tightly mown.
Pace of play was good at just over one hour as the threesome in front of me was playing speed golf. At this hour of the morning the snack bar is still closed so only drinks from the cooler in the pro shop are available.

At the rack rate I consider this a good course, at the club rate it’s a deal, and at the sunrise weekday club rate it’s a steal.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived at 6am, was not certain the course would even be open for play, but it was. In fact, other than carts on path, there were no obstructions at all. Actually ... Continue »

I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived at 6am, was not certain the course would even be open for play, but it was. In fact, other than carts on path, there were no obstructions at all. Actually very little casual water. Many of the bunkers still were flooded, but otherwise the course was very playable. The few greens I had cut were very smooth and fairly quick. Fairways were good, although very wet and in areas, thin. Lots of clean up needed after the storms, but that's to be expected. Staff in the shop was late arriving and was not at all friendly. Some people should not be doing jobs which interact with the public !

Played CDS on 10/24. High marks for the greens - beautiful, smooth, soft, near perfect. The rest of the course is acceptable for a Par 3/4 course. Great place to go out and practice your irons and sho... Continue »

Played CDS on 10/24. High marks for the greens - beautiful, smooth, soft, near perfect. The rest of the course is acceptable for a Par 3/4 course. Great place to go out and practice your irons and short game.

However, I cannot for the life of me figure out why it takes 4 hours for a 3600 yard course when it is all twosomes and threesomes. A 3 group wait on #10 tee? Why? Pick up the pace people!

Played 9/18, greens were just punched and sanded. Not crowded on a weekday afternoon except for the high school teams. Pro shop starter was nice to us. Course was in good shape.

Played 9/18, greens were just punched and sanded. Not crowded on a weekday afternoon except for the high school teams. Pro shop starter was nice to us. Course was in good shape.

Met a buddy for lunch on the way home from my So Cal golf trip. We decided to play 9 here at Casta Del Sol. It's an executive course comprised mainly of various length (100-195) par three's to a coup... Continue »

Met a buddy for lunch on the way home from my So Cal golf trip. We decided to play 9 here at Casta Del Sol. It's an executive course comprised mainly of various length (100-195) par three's to a couple of short par 4's (225-285). Greens were in fantastic shape. I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth the greens were.

With most of the holes being par 3's there aren't too many real fairways to contend with. The grass area between the tee boxes and greens is so so. Sand traps are hard packed dirt.

Customer service was great.

Costa Del Sol – Played Wednesday 05/16/2018 using my American Golf Players Club twilight rate of $5. Price includes 18 holes, cart and a drink. Tee time 3:00 PM. Played as a single joined by a single ... Continue »

Costa Del Sol – Played Wednesday 05/16/2018 using my American Golf Players Club twilight rate of $5. Price includes 18 holes, cart and a drink. Tee time 3:00 PM. Played as a single joined by a single and twosome. Three great guys.
Check in was quick, and friendly. Facilities were in good condition; the practice green is healing form the recent aeration and is very representative of the green on course. They were running unusually fast today. Cart was clean, score cards are available at the first tee. The course was busy and the round took just over three hours. There were only two holes where we had a wait of any real substance, roughly 3-5 minutes.
Tees were playing alternately very up front, or from the tips. Lies were mostly level with good coverage. Whoever laid out the tees also decided to try and move them the extreme right or left of each tee box, and at really odd (Challenging) angles.
Fairways were in good condition, good coverage very few bare spots. Fairway rough was sparse.
Bunkers were a mix of firm sand, and hard pack. Not sure where the sand that was there a few week ago went to.
Greens were in good condition, with excellent coverage, however still very bumpy as the aeration heals. At this point they visually appear like a quilt, with a light topcoat of stand. Even the best puts are jumping on the bumps. Greens are firm but will hold a shot that has spin. There were a moderate number of un-repaired ball marks. Green-side rough was very short, and splotchy, almost weed like.
Pace of play was good at just over three hours with a full course. At the turn my partners wanted a beer, the bar was closed, the snack bar and outdoor grill were closed.

At the rack rate I consider this a good course, at the club rate it’s a deal, and at the twilight club rate it’s a steal.

5:56 am tee time this morning, and to my surprise and delight, not very busy so our threesome was able to get out a little early. None of the greens we played had been mowed, so they were rather slow... Continue »

5:56 am tee time this morning, and to my surprise and delight, not very busy so our threesome was able to get out a little early. None of the greens we played had been mowed, so they were rather slow. Still could see evidence of prior punching, but didn't really affect the roll. Fairways were about as expected, decent but not great. Rough was hit/miss. I was in two bunkers and both were well raked and had enough sand.

I do not play here all that often, in fact it was the first time I've ever played with other players. (Normally I try to get out first and zip around, but today the wife and friend wanted to play here, so why not.) We got help on the back by "back nine players" but even so were able to finish in about 2 hours 45 minutes. not too bad !

Fun little course,and if you play the "tips" it actually provides a few holes with decent challenge. And for $18 - worth the $$$

Note they are in the process of working on the tee boxes. (Punching?) We were able to get ahead of maintenance after #4, but I'm sure by tomorrow all the holes will be affected.

Thursday 04/26/2018 Played Casta del Sol on an American Golf Players Club Twilight rate of $5 with cart and drink. Tee time 3pm, pace of play 3:30 minutes. The facility was humming but as usual the pr... Continue »

Thursday 04/26/2018 Played Casta del Sol on an American Golf Players Club Twilight rate of $5 with cart and drink. Tee time 3pm, pace of play 3:30 minutes. The facility was humming but as usual the pro shop was pleasant, and the marshal friendly. The bar is currently closed as the area is under renovation.
Carts are basic, clean and do their job. The practice green was busy with juniors and coaches but they kindly made room for others. It was not posted on the American Players Club website, however the greens at Casa del Sol have been punched, which would be the Bain of my round as they were not evenly sanded, there were clumps of sand and it was impossible to get a rhythm on the greens.
Played as a foursome with a charming couple and a friend of theirs following a high school match between Mission Viejo and Tesoro High Schools. We were then followed by a couple of foursomes, followed by a Junior PGA competition. Well first nine holes were somewhat slow with us having to wait for the first seven holes, the back nine was wide open as the high school match was only nine holes.
Tee boxes were lush, relatively free of unrepaired divots, and configured to create challenging sight lines and distance that I had not seen before at what I consider a home course. All but the eighth tee box were level.
Fairways were lush, mostly dry and rolling well. Perhaps because of the unusual tee placements and angle there were few if any divots in the landing areas.
Rough was thicker than it has been recently, a little spotty in places more like a patchwork but effective at creating stress. Most of the rough around the greens was cut short.

Bunkers were clean, with abundant sand that was particularly heavy feeling. Several bunkers were unraked.
Greens as I mentioned were punched, they should be back to normal on the front nine in about two weeks, and on the back nine which is in better condition in a week to ten days.
I would still like to see the course add a relief station at the fifth tee.
Punched greens or not it’s hard to complain in any way about 18 holes for $5, with a cart and drink. I had fun, the warm weather 74 degrees at start gave way to about 70 degrees and a nice half, to one club breeze by the time we finished up 18. As is normal this time of year there were an abundance of squirrels, water fowl, and bugs, none of which were particularly annoying. The high school teams were consummate gentlemen, my playing partners were very enjoyable, and the overall course condition was good.
If you have to pay rack rate, I would hold off on playing here for a couple of weeks. If you can play on a discount it’s a great deal.

Played Casta Del Sol in Mission Viejo Friday 03/30/2018 1:16 Tee Time on an American Golf Players club rate of $10 with cart and drink.
When I arrived the parking lot was full indicating that this w... Continue »

Played Casta Del Sol in Mission Viejo Friday 03/30/2018 1:16 Tee Time on an American Golf Players club rate of $10 with cart and drink.
When I arrived the parking lot was full indicating that this was going to be a full course and slow round. The putting green was full, as was the pro shop. The snack bar was busy and the outside grill at the turn was humming. The mood was upbeat and fun. I checked in, the pro shop very efficient, and matched me with my playing partner to be. As we put our bags on the cart there was a foursome on first green, a foursome in the fairway and two foursomes on the tee. The marshal was doing a good job of keeping every one moving.
Weather was a wonderful low 70’s with a light breeze that would hold up through the front nine, an absolutely spectacular day for golf. I was paired with a retired police officer named Beano, and a pair of friends Tim and Tony. The company was as good as I have had recently when playing as a single. Tim and Tony had a small speaker with music going in their cart and the 60/70/80’s rock mostly Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac worked fine. I don’t smoke or drink but they kindly shared cigars, and beer at the turn. Despite Beano and Tony playing to a very low handicap, they remained positive and encouraging through round and lifted my game.
The starter got us out on time, as we bunched up on subsequent holes we found the foursome in front of us, and the one behind us friend, polite (no one hit into us) and generally good company all round. By the back nine everyone spread out and we were in a position where one team was on the green and the other on the tee.

Tee boxes were lush, mostly level and players were filling their divots. With the exception of the first tee, most tee boxes were playing back. Both 9 and 18 were playing at the tip. Despite playing this course frequently at least three tees were placed with angles I had not previously experienced. The result on 14 was that three of the four of us found ourselves in the right greenside bunker.
The fairways had good cover a patchwork of different grasses, with a few bare and brown spots. Near the greens the turf was a little thin making wedge shots challenging. I didn’t find myself in the fairway rough but it looked shaggy, in the 2 to 3 inch range. Greenside rough was about 2” and much appreciated.
Bunkers looked good but were very thin on the bottom I was in a total of three bunkers and there wasn’t enough sand to splash the ball in any of them.

Greens were nearly perfect. It was so nice to put on greens that were in good shape fully covered, very little in the way of ball mark damage. The were rolling surprisingly fast. I am not sure if this was just me having played on shaggy greens at David L. Baker and sanded greens at La Mirada over the last two weeks, but the speed made the slope of the greens a fun challenge. Late in the day being Poa annua the greens became bumpy but that is the nature of the grass.
At first glance the playing time of 4.5 hours would imply really slow play, but we had a very comfortable pace, the quality of the company, the discussion on the last hole, made the time go quickly. As always this course is a pleasant, challenging little gem, so glad I went out and played today.