Got a good prepaid rate of $24 on the SCGC website for 1:47pm on Monday, 11/28/22, on a cool, partly sunny day with not too much wind. They grouped me with a family: mother, 21-year old son (his birth... Continue »

Got a good prepaid rate of $24 on the SCGC website for 1:47pm on Monday, 11/28/22, on a cool, partly sunny day with not too much wind. They grouped me with a family: mother, 21-year old son (his birthday), and sister. Son had a decent game, sis almost none. Their first swings of the day were either whiffs or tops, so on the first green I excused myself and bolted to the second tee, but wasn’t able to make much headway against the two slow foursomes ahead of me.

Conditions were typical for San Clemente – good lies in the fairways, minimal rough with some bare or scruffy area, good sand in bunkers. Many of the tees are sloping – I played White. Greens were pretty firm, cut tight, and very fast. There’s not that much grass there over the green base – ballmarks were large but the ball released after impact. And, man, these greens have a lot of break toward the sea. My mouth was literally agape on several occasions as putts or chips made big turns or took very long runouts compared to what I expected.

Able to finish 14 holes in a little over 3 hours before realizing the foursomes ahead of me would likely have to set up camp to finish #15, so bailed out back to the house and missed the tough closing stretch. Looking at the scorecard, SCGC is one of the most egregious around in assigning handicap strokes based primarily on hole length – the par-5s, only one of which is >500 yards, are handicap holes 1 thru 4, while the par-3s are 15 thru 18. In reality, three of the par 3s (9, 13, and 15) are beasts that require excellent play to get a good score. Those par-3s should be at least middle-pack in terms of handicap, while the 5s are likely lower third on the list.

Recommended for good conditions and ambiance.