Walked on at twilight (1:30, $26 walking rate) Friday afternoon out here. Pro shop guy had me pay right away and was calling me to the first tee within about three minutes of putting my name on the li... Continue »

Walked on at twilight (1:30, $26 walking rate) Friday afternoon out here. Pro shop guy had me pay right away and was calling me to the first tee within about three minutes of putting my name on the list. Paired with two really nice guys. We all walked and POP was decent, although it felt like we waited a lot. Two groups in front of us was a slow group, but we still finished in about 4:10. I hoped heading to San Clemente would allow me to escape the scorching temps somewhat, but it was still hot (low 80s) and also surprisingly humid. There was some breeze that helped cool things down, but I was absolutely exhausted when I finished walking that hilly course. (It would have been a perfect litmus test for the Casey Martin controversy many years ago because not only was I physically tired, but also mentally. I’m quite certain I would have shaved several strokes off my score had I splurged for a cart. Anyway…)

Conditions are pretty good overall. Like Jay mentioned in the previous review, the greens are very grainy right now. Anything toward the ocean/setting sun runs out quite a bit, while putts headed the opposite direction are pretty slow. The down-grain putts aren’t necessarily fast, but they just don’t stop…they keep trickling and trickling. Kind of a fun challenge trying to read the grain and adjust your stroke accordingly, although I struggled and had multiple three-putts. The greens were pretty soft, smooth and accepted full shots well. Although again like Jay said, approaches with longer clubs definitely didn’t stick as well as well as short irons. Fairways are about 80-85% really nice and the rest some thin/browning spots. The rough is spottier with some thin/bare areas, but also some really lush kikuyu that can play tough if the ball sits down a bit. Overall rough was much more inconsistent than the fairways. Tee boxes were decent. I wasn’t in a bunker but they looked pretty good.

Always love this layout and it looked really nice in the afternoon sun yesterday. There are few (if any) courses I’ve played more than San Clemente, but I hadn’t played it since I started making photo albums of courses. So I created a Flickr album of 44 images that can be viewed by copying & pasting this URL: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm3X6Zih

Played July 3rd, pretty much crowded day, most people took the day off for the 4th of July holiday, but it kept moving after the 2nd hole, we had to wait on a few shots, but overall POP was 4.5hrs, wh... Continue »

Played July 3rd, pretty much crowded day, most people took the day off for the 4th of July holiday, but it kept moving after the 2nd hole, we had to wait on a few shots, but overall POP was 4.5hrs, which was great for a holiday.

Overall, the course is in good shape. Teeboxes were a little chewed up, but usually found a good spot to put the tee. Fairways were in very good condition, never had a bad lie and they offered some roll on several occasions. Rough was brutal in some spots, stay out of it. Found one bunker and it was just fine, no issues. Greens were good for the most part, but they didn't seem to hold shots very well. If you had more than a 9 iron going into the green, you could expect about 3-5yds of release. They were very fast going downhill and were "grainy" towards the ocean. Stay below the hole.

All things considered, it's in good shape. Thoroughly enjoy the layout, don't play here that often. It was a good workout to walk with my pull cart. $31 walking rate that day.

Early morning round in near perfect weather. Wanted to get out before they punch the greens next week. Overall the course is in very nice condition, particularly the fairways. The last few times I... Continue »

Early morning round in near perfect weather. Wanted to get out before they punch the greens next week. Overall the course is in very nice condition, particularly the fairways. The last few times I've played here the greens have been bumpy, not to the point where they are "bad", just not true.

The staff is always accommodating and work with you to get you out as a single. Love these old style traditional walkable courses. Throw in the weather, views, and easy access, wish there were more of these courses in Orange County !

Played 4/17/17 @ 930 as a single, hooked up with three other players. POP was at 4 hrs. Windy and cool. perfect golf weather. Fairways were as good as I've ever seen them at SCGC. Great coverage, ball... Continue »

Played 4/17/17 @ 930 as a single, hooked up with three other players. POP was at 4 hrs. Windy and cool. perfect golf weather. Fairways were as good as I've ever seen them at SCGC. Great coverage, ball sat up like it was on a tee. Nice to see the 45 degree mow pattern of the fairways, that added a nice wow factor. Greens were very firm, medium fast ,a little bumpy at times, overall they rolled pretty true. As always, putting towards the ocean fast, away from the ocean slow. Chipping from the sticky kikuya grass towards the ocean makes it tough to gauge the proper speed. Hats off to the super, course is in great shape, the Pride of the Pacific is back.

Played san clemente twilight yesterday. Course is very green right now. Starting with the tee boxes the course was in good shape, some divot damage on the par 3s as can be expected. Fairways are fanta... Continue »

Played san clemente twilight yesterday. Course is very green right now. Starting with the tee boxes the course was in good shape, some divot damage on the par 3s as can be expected. Fairways are fantastic very full and lush, the best part of the course. Rough was solid not too penalizing but good. Greens were rock hard and bumpy. I saw they are punching their greens soon which is definitely needed. Pace of play was a little slow but a good value for twilight, you can walk for 14 bucks. Definitely a fun place to play a round at and hit some shots.

Wanted to stay south of the Atmospheric Rivers crossing southern California so booked a Sunday mid-morning time at San Clemente, $44 walking rate. Super nice guy in the Pro Shop tossed us a range bal... Continue »

Wanted to stay south of the Atmospheric Rivers crossing southern California so booked a Sunday mid-morning time at San Clemente, $44 walking rate. Super nice guy in the Pro Shop tossed us a range ball token to warm up, in fact, the entire staff I encountered were courteous and engaging. Stayed dry all day, actually, the course was remarkably very playable albeit an incredible amount of debris from the recent winds and rains which scattered the course. No casual water but a few semi-muddy areas to avoid. The Kikuyu is as green as I've ever seen Kikuyu and after the mowers get a chance to come out and give the fairways and rough a trim, will be outstanding to play from. Greens looked a bit scruffy with various grass types, but actually rolled decent at medium pace. Relatively flat but very tricky to read if you do not play here as everything breaks to the Pacific ... we got fooled several times even with little 2 ft putts. Bunkers were not maintained and some had very wet sand at the bottom. Interesting layout with some nice views of the ocean ... and a constant buzz from the nearby 5 freeway. Most of the front is flat (1-6) and traditional muni stuff but the back (12-18) winds up the hills thru the SC 'hood and can be a challenge if you're not familiar with the layout ... walkable but some steep elevations to negotiate. We were paired with a couple teenagers who helped us out and restored my faith in the next generation ... good kids. Would like to come back sometime after the greens get cut and the course gets cleaned up. Add: PoP was 4.5 hrs following a 5-some of riders (CPO) attempting to play golf. Otherwise, it would have been a 4 hr round.

Played here today (12/5/16) at 12:30pm as a twosome and finished 18 holes in 3:50hrs. Never saw anyone within two holes either side of us. Good weather, so a great day on the course. First time I've p... Continue »

Played here today (12/5/16) at 12:30pm as a twosome and finished 18 holes in 3:50hrs. Never saw anyone within two holes either side of us. Good weather, so a great day on the course. First time I've played it. Front nine is fairly open and pretty flat. Back nine is a bit more scenic, with more elevation changes. Tee boxes were green, but I'd give them a 'fair' grade, as it was sometimes hard to get a nice level stance. I thought the fairways were very good. Nicely cut, got a good roll and ball typically sat up nicely. Rough was a bit choppy at times, with clumps of turf popping out of bare spots here and there. Otherwise not too much of a penalty, cut at about 2". Greens were a bit bumpy and medium-speed, unless you were putting towards the ocean - then very fast. Or, away from the ocean - then they were pretty slow. The grain growing towards the ocean certainly had a big effect on ball speed and direction of break. I really enjoyed this aspect of the greens - a good challenge. A few water faucets on the course and one set of restrooms, if I recall. No beverage cart came around, but did chat with one friendly marshal content smoking his cigar. My cart was pretty wobbly, and no GPS. I think this is a good course to 'grip it and rip it' on many holes. A decent variety of holes for a muni course and though not in great condition, it's good enough, and the course overall represents a nice challenge even for very good golfers.

My concern as to probable frost caused me to decide to play San Clemente, because it simply does not freeze there. I was lucky to get out in the first group with another walking twosome. Great pace ... Continue »

My concern as to probable frost caused me to decide to play San Clemente, because it simply does not freeze there. I was lucky to get out in the first group with another walking twosome. Great pace of play, as we never saw anyone within holes of us either behind or ahead.

Greens were just OK. Very receptive, but somewhat bumpy and much too slow for my taste. Fairways were above average, as were the tees, but I guess because of the recent rains, they have not got around to doing the bunkers as they were all compacted hardpan.

As I mentioned, I was fortunate enough to be paired with two nice walkers and enjoyed the round despite some rather poor play on my part.

Knowing that the city championship is coming next month, I wanted to get back to San Clemente, expecting it to be in really good condition. It was just OK. There were still areas in the fairways whi... Continue »

Knowing that the city championship is coming next month, I wanted to get back to San Clemente, expecting it to be in really good condition. It was just OK. There were still areas in the fairways which are brown, rough was some good/some thin, but I was surprised the greens weren't better? It wasn't that they were bad, just not as good as I thought they'd be. Perhaps they are "saving" the greens for the championship?

Always enjoy playing here because of the "flow" of the course, the moderate weather, excellent staff, and generally very good pace of play. Because they provide two "open times" every hour for walk on players, it's rarely a problem getting out here.