Out with my monthly golf group this past Saturday and this time Costa Mesa's Los Lagos 18 got the call for our three foursomes. We always play from the white tees with this group, and this past weeken... Continue »

Out with my monthly golf group this past Saturday and this time Costa Mesa's Los Lagos 18 got the call for our three foursomes. We always play from the white tees with this group, and this past weekend was no different. A few of the guys walked but most rode and the greens fee was around $79 if I recall correctly.

Overall the course is in pretty nice shape despite the massive amount of traffic it gets and the two courses on the same property. I found lots of good spots in the fairways and not too many burned out junky sections, so that was nice. Rough could be thick in spots but was mostly very playable. Greens were also in good shape, not running too fast or slow but holding shots well and staying pretty true to their lines.

Bunkers were generally pretty thin and grainy so it was often better to opt for the chip exit than the sand style, but you could feel it out a bit when digging your feet into the sand. Not sure it it was some earlier overwatering or just the type of sand they're currently using. Tee boxes were mostly in good shape and always flat. Tough to keep them pristine I'm sure.

The bad part? The POP was a disaster, and often is at this course. I'm not sure if it's the back-to-back par 5s at the start, or the always calamitous 4th and 7th par 3s that get backed up sometimes three groups, but it's pretty soul-crushing and groove-destroying waiting that long all the time. It cleared up a bit on the back nine but by then the damage is done. Overall we finished at around five and a half hours and that's just depressing. Please fix this.

It's still a fun course though even though I never seem to score well here, kind of like Santa Anita. There are just some courses that never play well to your game, and this is one of them, but I'm not going to simply blame it on the conditions, but the long POP certainly doesn't help!