Played Mesa Linda last Friday, 6/18, teeing off around 2:30. Costa Mesa is ALWAYS packed so its expected to take awhile to play and that held true this time with POP around 5 hours.

It's been about... Continue »

Played Mesa Linda last Friday, 6/18, teeing off around 2:30. Costa Mesa is ALWAYS packed so its expected to take awhile to play and that held true this time with POP around 5 hours.

It's been about 10 years since I played Mesa Linda and I still love this quirky little course. Oddly enough the greens were even crazier than I remembered and with some of the pin placements we had you just kind of shook your head and laughed. As for the condition of the greens, I thought they were really good. For the amount of play these things get and the short yardage, you know they just get pummelled. So I'm pretty impressed as they held well and rolled pretty decently. We did have the end of day/Poa wobbles to deal with, but not bad at all.

The fairways, tees and rough were all really good. Getting that summer lush kikuyu going and other than the 14th hole everything was really good.

The layout of this course is super fun to me. It's definitely short but you don't need to just try and overpower it because this little guy protects itself with some of the wildest greens anywhere. I think if you're smart you'd lay back a little and give yourself the best angles in rather than being as close as possible.

It was $49 for the round with cart which is a pretty good deal in the OC if you ask me. My guess is things keep getting better as they gear up for the City Championship in early August. I'd recommend this course if only to see how many times you say "this is the weirdest green I've ever seen..." :)

Foursome booked at Costa Mesa this past week since I found a better time than my original LA City booking, and bonus was that it was the Mesa Linda 18 that I had never played before. It's the shorter ... Continue »

Foursome booked at Costa Mesa this past week since I found a better time than my original LA City booking, and bonus was that it was the Mesa Linda 18 that I had never played before. It's the shorter version of the Los Lagos 18 at the same facility, but the 1000 or so yards less is made up for with trickier, smaller greens. I actually really enjoyed this track and think I prefer it to the Los Lagos side, which is something I did not expect. It just feels like it has a bit more character and is a fun change of pace with more par 3s thrown in and very reachable par 5s in many cases. At present you will find some good coverage in the fairways as well (a few bare areas here and there to be fair), and some deep but not severely penal rough. The tee boxes (we played from the blue tees) are in good shape (maybe a bit shaggy on some) and I found the bunkers to be quite playable. Greens were also in good shape but some of the angled, sloping pin placements here are devilish, making for a horrible day out with the flat stick, but fun nonetheless. Paid $60 greens fee + cart which is acceptable and a good rate at an optimum time in the OC. The carts are very basic so make sure to have a GPS of your own as some of the transitional routing can be a little confusing, especially the transition from the 15th to the 16th holes. POP was actually pretty good despite waiting on a good numbers of holes. It was a pretty perfect day out there weather-wise so a few minutes waiting here and there was not a massive issue. Overall, just a nice place to play some golf and dial in some of that short game, but you're not being spoon-fed the journey to get to those greens. You still have to bring your best in order to get out of here with a great score.

Sure was nice to play in the morning when it was not cold. Actually able to loosen up up before placing the clubs back in the truck for a change.

Course was in pretty nice overall condition. I ... Continue »

Sure was nice to play in the morning when it was not cold. Actually able to loosen up up before placing the clubs back in the truck for a change.

Course was in pretty nice overall condition. I thought the fairways had good coverage, and the greens rolled well, but not as quick as I remember them to be. Both bunkers I found had decent amount of sand, which was well maintained.

While not the longest course, it offers some rather challenging green complexes, and the greens themselves can be tough if you get on the wrong side of the hole. Fun track which allows enough of a challenge to keep your interest, while providing a number of really easy holes. One of my favorite things about this course is the fact it does not come in after 9, so I do not have to encounter "back nine play", so as long as you get out in one of the first few groups, pace of play is fine.

Played twilight out at Mesa Linda on 3/30/2021. I was just trying to get 9 holes in after work and was able to do so in about 2.5 hours... super slow for a course this length. Waited on every shot. Pa... Continue »

Played twilight out at Mesa Linda on 3/30/2021. I was just trying to get 9 holes in after work and was able to do so in about 2.5 hours... super slow for a course this length. Waited on every shot. Pace of play was terrible but conditions were solid. Greens were in really nice shape, smooth, medium-fast and firm. Fairways had good coverage but a mix of bare spots as well. Rough is patchy with some thick spots and plenty of bare spots. The one bunker I was in had good sand actually. Tee boxes were definitely better than they usually are out here, less beat up, mowed and was able to find some real grass. For the price I think its a great value in Orange County but the POP is always a struggle.

Very rare for me not to have a super early tee time, so having a 7:15am tee time and being about the 5th or 6th group out, I thought it would be very slow. (Very busy at the course) In all fairness,... Continue »

Very rare for me not to have a super early tee time, so having a 7:15am tee time and being about the 5th or 6th group out, I thought it would be very slow. (Very busy at the course) In all fairness, we played in just a hair over 3 1/2 hours, but it just felt like we were out there forever.

Course was in much worse condition than when I played here some months ago. Greens, which generally are quick and fairly true, were bumpy and slower than normal. Many more bare spots in the fairways and many tee boxes need attention. But overall the condition was OK.

What bothered me was a received an email the night before advising that I needed to have a signed waiver before they would allow play. Plus they indicated no walk ups and no carts. walking only. As I found out that was from the original Covid instructions in March. Since I walk anyway, not a big deal, but IF I required a cart, I might have cancelled my tee time. Poor management by the course from sending out that email.

Walked-on for a Sunday 8/30 @ 10:25 tee time as a single, grouped in with pleasant threesome (father / son / family friend). Finished in just under 4 hours and barely had to wait. Beer-bug spacing has... Continue »

Walked-on for a Sunday 8/30 @ 10:25 tee time as a single, grouped in with pleasant threesome (father / son / family friend). Finished in just under 4 hours and barely had to wait. Beer-bug spacing has made muni golf an absolute steal. Course conditions are pretty great other than some divot damage on par-3 tees. Coverage everywhere on fairways and rough, no bare spots or GUR. While you can, please get your time on these tracks now and save the cash for the nicer courses once this craziness ends.

Back out to Mesa Linda with a high school buddy at 4pm on 8/25/20, trying to escape the inland heat. Temps were mild with not very much wind at the end of the day. Paired with a couple young bombers/s... Continue »

Back out to Mesa Linda with a high school buddy at 4pm on 8/25/20, trying to escape the inland heat. Temps were mild with not very much wind at the end of the day. Paired with a couple young bombers/sprayers and we had a relaxed round. Too relaxed – the two groups ahead of us were sucky players and SLOW, driving all over creation on every hole (shared carts – now a bad idea!), so we dawdled on every shot and had to abandon the round on the 17th green in darkness. Bummer! And so unnecessary. I complained to the marshal on hole #6 and he harassed me repeatedly over the next few holes. $37 incl. cart not too bad for conditions here, which were similar to my review from 8/1/20. Greens firmer today after all the heat we had the past two weeks.

Out early with a couple friends who are at best "casual golfers", so this was a perfect course to play. Biggest challenge was making sure that we maintained a decent pace of play. We never held up t... Continue »

Out early with a couple friends who are at best "casual golfers", so this was a perfect course to play. Biggest challenge was making sure that we maintained a decent pace of play. We never held up the group behind us, so mission accomplished. Fun course to play, and with the course being on the short side, it helped my playing companions. That plus there is not a whole lot of trouble, so didn't have to spend time looking for balls. As Dave stated in his recent review, greens rolled well and were receptive to shots. Sand was good, plenty of it and well maintained. Fairways continue to be lush and green, nice to play from. A few tee boxes were chewed up, but not too bad.

Played with an internet golf club on Saturday afternoon, 8/1/2020, on a warm breezy day. Both CMCC tees were busy but we went off pretty much on time, and played at a steady pace in just over 4 hours.... Continue »

Played with an internet golf club on Saturday afternoon, 8/1/2020, on a warm breezy day. Both CMCC tees were busy but we went off pretty much on time, and played at a steady pace in just over 4 hours.

I hadn’t played Mesa Linda in almost 40 years and only vaguely remembered anything about it. I knew it was short, but what I didn’t expect were the tiny, oddly-shaped greens, many with a LOT of slopes and movement. Some of the greens made little sense – one was #1, the 1-hcp hole (440 yards, DL-right with trees right, into the wind) with a small pedestal green, false front, and awkward slopes. The most ridiculous green was #14, a straight par-5 – the green was about 8 paces wide and 40 yards deep, and rolling like ocean waves. All kikuyu everywhere, but it was fairly short and playable, unless you got into a bare area or a bushy area near a sprinkler head. We did see what we thought were a couple of areas spray-painted green – maybe a fertilizer mixture. Sand traps had plenty of sand, although they weren’t recently groomed so the sand was fairly compacted. Greens were pretty receptive and rolled well at medium+ speed. We saw a few scattered bare spots on the greens and MANY MANY old ballmarks. Tees are sent up wide so it’s never hard to find a good spot.

Saw the cart girl a couple times, but no ranger. Snack bar was closed by the time we finished. Pay for golf at the shop window but you could also go in and look at merchandise. Single carts were available. OK for a casual round.