Played Mesa Linda on Monday, teeing off about 1:40pm on a rare warm and sunny day (so spoiled). Friendly greeting in the pro shop by one of the assistant pro's, Andrew. A group two ahead kept things s... Continue »

Played Mesa Linda on Monday, teeing off about 1:40pm on a rare warm and sunny day (so spoiled). Friendly greeting in the pro shop by one of the assistant pro's, Andrew. A group two ahead kept things slowed down, we waited throughout, and our 3some finished in 4 hours.

Course was similar to last time here, fair to pretty good condition overall. Things were not as firm, and somewhat less roll, but not much. Greens still not hold shots very well. The bunkers were pretty much hard pan with a dust cover-layer. My playing partners and I pretty much thinned and air-mailed every shot. The clubhead easily bounced off of the surface into the ball. Hard to dig down into it.

Greens were slower, a bit bumpy, and about medium-speed. They were not as smooth nor as fast as the putting green on the day. Tough pin placements throughout the day, the slower greens meant less hazardous putting overall.

Saw the cart girl twice. The marshal hovered nearby some groups, but never saw him talk with anyone. A good day out overall.

Played Mesa Linda on a lovely, sunny 70's Monday, with a slight wind from the west.
Teed it up about 12:40pm as a 3some and finished a few minutes over 4hrs. A few waits here and there, but things mo... Continue »

Played Mesa Linda on a lovely, sunny 70's Monday, with a slight wind from the west.
Teed it up about 12:40pm as a 3some and finished a few minutes over 4hrs. A few waits here and there, but things moved along pretty well. Just a gorgeous afternoon.

Course was fair to pretty good condition, mostly firm and cut close throughout, which meant lots and lots of roll in the fairway and even the rough. Blue tees were mostly nice and lush, level and also cut short.

Was in the fairway bunker on the par5 #5, and it was very firm with a nice thin layer of sand, as I prefer all fairway bunkers to be, allowing one to make pretty good contact. Made par from it, so it clearly wasn't penal.

Greens really were firm and were putting fast, with some crazy, crazy roll away from the holes due to pin placements on severe slopes - seemed to be at least two that were very unfair. They held some shots fairly well and a few not so well. The kikuyu fringe around the greens was cut much shorter than usual - same as the fairways - and were also very firm and dry. So, approach shots landing short of the green had a much bigger first hop than usual, with the kikuyu not playing 'catch and grab' with the ball, as it is wont to do.

Saw the cart girl twice. The marshal once. Hit a 240-yard drive to end the day (40 more than usual). I did say that the ball was rolling lots and lots today!

Played today at 12:23pm as a 3some and finished just under 4 hours. Pace seemed slower than it ended up at, but played at a nice, leisurely round on a cool MLK Jr Day.

Course was in pretty good con... Continue »

Played today at 12:23pm as a 3some and finished just under 4 hours. Pace seemed slower than it ended up at, but played at a nice, leisurely round on a cool MLK Jr Day.

Course was in pretty good condition overall. Blue tees were level and cut nicely. Fairways were pretty bog standard today, not getting as much roll as I'd hope. Rough was about 2-3 inches. Both fairways and rough had some washed out, hard and very thin areas, of which I found both, and then almost lost a leg sinking into a hidden water-bog under the grass just in front of #17 green, from over-watering!

Avoided all bunkers today, but my playing partners said the sand in the few they visited were soft and reasonably fluffy.

Greens were very nice, minimal ball marks, held shots pretty well, very green, lush and smooth putting. Medium-fast pace.

Saw the cart girl twice and the marshall actually was visible and said a few words. Great day on CM-ML overall.

Teed off today as a 3some on Mesa Linda at 12:10pm w/cart for $31.00 on their 'golfer's special' rate (MTW, btwn 11-12:30pm now).

Played behind a pokey 4some for the first 9, but they finally let ... Continue »

Teed off today as a 3some on Mesa Linda at 12:10pm w/cart for $31.00 on their 'golfer's special' rate (MTW, btwn 11-12:30pm now).

Played behind a pokey 4some for the first 9, but they finally let us play through on #10, with 2 1/2 holes open in front of them - thanks (finally)! They weren't too bad, 2hrs on the front, but we only took 1 1/2 hours on the back, so 3hrs 3mins POP overall.

Conditions are in line with the previous reviewer and my own from two weeks ago. Thought the greens were pretty good other than all the leaf and needle debris from trees caused by the wind, and nothing major to complain about regarding the fairway and rough. Tees weren't cut close, but were fine. No problems with the traps, good conditions today. As they say in England, 'bog standard' conditions for the course mostly. Good enough for this muni.

Water fountains were working again, and the water tasted pretty good. Cart girl came by twice. Marshal was lurking, but didn't urge the group ahead to pick up the pace, even though they were far behind the next group. Doesn't seem to like to talk with people much.

As we finished quickly enough, we snuck in a few extra holes on Los Lagos. Greens there were in better conditions, though they were verticut very recently. A nice day out on the course this afternoon.

Easily made an online Saturday tee time at Mesa Linda for four walkers, $38 green fee. Found the course in average muni condition in the fairways and rough with decent lies amidst some areas which sh... Continue »

Easily made an online Saturday tee time at Mesa Linda for four walkers, $38 green fee. Found the course in average muni condition in the fairways and rough with decent lies amidst some areas which should have been marked GUR. Played behind a group consisting of two elderly couples (please, just put me outta my misery) which were pitifully slow causing backups ... 4.5 hrs should have be under 4. Marshall didn't seem to care and we had whiskey, so no biggie. Tees hadn't been moved since October so they were beat up and bunkers were not maintained (they use those worthless 1' wide heavy rakes which makes it downright impossible to smooth out your foot prints) although the sand was decent to play from if you weren't in foot print or against a crease. Greens rolled mostly true and semi-quick, no complaints. The drawback here on the Linda is the surrounding traffic and noise from nearby apartments on several holes (like #8-11, I believe). We had a newbie with us today so played here as it's the easiest course in the OC ... and relatively inexpensive. Mostly driver - wedge as well as short par 3's & 5's, except the first hole which is a 440 yd par 4 and #17, a 188 yd par 3 ... go figure on this design process. It's under 5600 yds from the blues and a par 70 to boot. I'll play here again for convenience. Good ego booster, for sure, cuz if you can't score here you might as well take up bowling.

Friendly greeting by Andrew in the pro shop today. For those who are local, they have a multitude Callaway Chrome Softs, including various colours of Truvis and Xs on sale for $31.99!

Teed off at 1... Continue »

Friendly greeting by Andrew in the pro shop today. For those who are local, they have a multitude Callaway Chrome Softs, including various colours of Truvis and Xs on sale for $31.99!

Teed off at 12:15pm as a 3some, and after playing through a sixsome(!) on the 2nd hole, we had a fast POP, never waiting again until the 14th green approach shot. POP ended up being 3hrs 30mins total, so very happy about that.

Tees were a bit hairy and soft. Fairways were over-watered in the middle, where I generally hit the ball ;-), so minimal roll, and muddy balls were the norm. Good kikuyu coverage, but grass wasn't freshly cut and minimal roll. Rough wasn't bad to hit from. Was in one greenside bunker on #7, which was soft, thinnish sand over a medium-firm base. Greens were pretty good, a bit bumpy overall, but not as smooth as the practice green.

The friendly Amanda was our cart girl for the day, and she came around multiple times. No pressure on the water fountains on the course today for some reason. A lovely day on the course, with slightly overcast skies and minimal wind made for a very comfortable round.

Played here Friday, taking advantage of a fantastic deal on GolfNow, $15.49 including fees for golf and a cart. Friendly greeting by Sean in the pro shop. Got out on time, as Sean kept up on group tee... Continue »

Played here Friday, taking advantage of a fantastic deal on GolfNow, $15.49 including fees for golf and a cart. Friendly greeting by Sean in the pro shop. Got out on time, as Sean kept up on group tee-pairing announcements. In spite of it being a busy day on the course, with a few 5somes (including ours from holes 6-16) sprinkled in, POP was pretty good, with only minor occasional waiting. Finished just after sunset, POP @ 4hrs 15mins.

Good course conditions overall today, with the greens now completely healed from their recent punching. Was in a handful of greenside bunkers today on hole #s 4,5,10,15, so a good sampling from bad shot-making. Very consistent, with a thinnish medium-layer of sand over a very firm base. Tees, fairways and rough pretty much the same as last week.

Saw the cart girl a few times and saw the marshal doing any number of things unrelated to keeping the pace moving, once again. Very happy to take advantage of the GN deal. Probably saved about $25 over rack twilight rates.

Looking for a place where the heat might be a bit less brutal, but even in Costa Mesa, it was hot! Very busy in the morning, more so than normal. Able to slip out early, but had to skip #1 to insu... Continue »

Looking for a place where the heat might be a bit less brutal, but even in Costa Mesa, it was hot! Very busy in the morning, more so than normal. Able to slip out early, but had to skip #1 to insure I was off first. One of the things I like about this course is that the front nine does not "come in" so you do not have to deal with back nine play.

Agree with the prior review, the greens are best part of the course right now, having healed fairly well from the recent punching. Fairways were very shaggy, and the tees were a mess. I was two bunkers and both had sand and were raked.

Despite it's modest length, I enjoy this course as I find it interesting and the greens offer some fun approaches. A little pricey for what you get, but Hey, it's Orange County.

Teed off as a threesome at 1:40pm on a very hot Monday. POP was a remarkable 3.5 hours, finishing at 5:10pm, only waiting on the 17th tee for a few minutes.

The greens were punched 2 weeks ago and ... Continue »

Teed off as a threesome at 1:40pm on a very hot Monday. POP was a remarkable 3.5 hours, finishing at 5:10pm, only waiting on the 17th tee for a few minutes.

The greens were punched 2 weeks ago and are pretty much healed, just a wee bit bumpy in spots. Pace was medium speed, lush and held shots well.

As Los Lagos was actively being punched and top-dressed today, the grounds crew did not get around to mowing the fairways. They were firm enough to provide decent roll, but were long and inconsistent. Rough wasn't too penal.

Was in two greenside bunkers. On the 17th, the sand was firm and crispy. And, on 18, the right greenside bunker had good, medium-weight sand.

Tee boxes were the worst feature of the day. They mostly had everyone teeing from front tee positions that were thin, worn out and sandy - terrible footing. On the par 3s, they had us teeing off from the very back of the tees, on all except for hole #2.

Cart girl was by twice. Really impressed with how good the greens were, considering they were punched just two weeks ago.