Played SC Muni on 10/28/21. In general, conditions were pretty standard for here. Greens a bit thin, but rolled well. Fairways good. Rough is hit and miss. Bunkers were just fine.


The one except... Continue »

Played SC Muni on 10/28/21. In general, conditions were pretty standard for here. Greens a bit thin, but rolled well. Fairways good. Rough is hit and miss. Bunkers were just fine.


The one exception - the tee boxes are awful. Some might have some grass, but they were all overloaded with sand. It was like teeing off in a bunker. I can only assume this was major maintenance, having played here for years I've never seen it like this.

I'll be back, always a fun course to play, hopefully those tee boxes recover quickly.

I’ve grown up playing here. At times it’s been amazing but, I’ll be honest…. Over the last few years the overall conditioning of the course has gone downhill. The bunkers need to be reshaped and the m... Continue »

I’ve grown up playing here. At times it’s been amazing but, I’ll be honest…. Over the last few years the overall conditioning of the course has gone downhill. The bunkers need to be reshaped and the massive lips cut down to a more normal/ playable height. ( this naturally occurs over times) and the sand is gone in most. It’s a known fact that there’s just not many people working on the course. Hole for hole, it’s a classic Bell Sr layout. The greens roll pretty good for the most part but they could benefit from rolling them more frequently. Just some attention to details would be much appreciated from all the loyal players they have at this classic gem. Service is always great . Pace of play is great. Just some more TLC would be awesome ???

Always great to come back and play San Clemente. It is just such a pleasant walking course. If I was even half smart, I would have played last week when it was hot, but playing here is great any tim... Continue »

Always great to come back and play San Clemente. It is just such a pleasant walking course. If I was even half smart, I would have played last week when it was hot, but playing here is great any time.

Course is generally in good condition and found that to be the case again. Greens rolled well, but not as quick as I remember them. Most fairways had good coverage, but a few areas which were thin. Both bunkers I found had sufficient well raked sand. Rough was at times inconsistent.

Staff at San Clemente is always friendly and accommodating. Nice to feel welcome when you arrive in the shop. That is appreciated.

Played Monday teeing off at 7:50 finishing in just over 4 hours. The greens are in good condition rolling smooth with medium/fast speed and holding shots. The fairways have mostly good coverage with a... Continue »

Played Monday teeing off at 7:50 finishing in just over 4 hours. The greens are in good condition rolling smooth with medium/fast speed and holding shots. The fairways have mostly good coverage with a few thin spots. The rough is mostly good with thin/bare spots primarily in the shaded areas of trees. Rough was long enough to affect shots but not overly penal. The bunkers appeared to be in good condition although I was not in any today. The tee boxes have decent coverage. Enjoyable layout with friendly staff.

We played on 8/3/21, course in great shape, staff very friendly. I play here 3 to 4 times a month, always a good experience. Tricky part of this course are the greens, I would say all but two, pull s... Continue »

We played on 8/3/21, course in great shape, staff very friendly. I play here 3 to 4 times a month, always a good experience. Tricky part of this course are the greens, I would say all but two, pull severely to the ocean. Once you get that in your head, you can have a lot of fun on this course. Clubhouse is on the smaller size, well stocked. Always a good hot dog from the snack stand. No cart person, on the course. You pass the snack stand twice during the game, that’s convenient. Carts have no gps. Half newer carts, half older. Course is always in great shape. I would recommend some playtime here. Three and a half to four ??

When the heat comes, San Clemente is such a wonderful course to play. Truth is, it's great any time of year. (Never any frost here either ! ) Course is really in nice condition right now. Greens r... Continue »

When the heat comes, San Clemente is such a wonderful course to play. Truth is, it's great any time of year. (Never any frost here either ! ) Course is really in nice condition right now. Greens rolling well, very receptive. Fairways have good coverage. Really the entire course is very good right now. Staff is always friendly and unlike many other courses, they have not inflated their fees. Highly recommend !

Played early on 6/10/21. Let's get the one minor negative out of the way...they have a light topcoat of sand on the greens. Give that a week to settle in, and the greens will be fabulous. Right now, t... Continue »

Played early on 6/10/21. Let's get the one minor negative out of the way...they have a light topcoat of sand on the greens. Give that a week to settle in, and the greens will be fabulous. Right now, the grass is great and rolling smooth.

Fairways are borderline immaculate. Green, plush, super-healthy.

Tee boxes are very good. The two or three boxes under construction have been resodded, but not open yet. Should be soon though. Rough is getting thick as well.

In all, amazing conditions for a muni. Heck, amazing conditions for any course, public or private.

Little late with my post here as I played with Dconnally on 5/25 in our GK Cup Match.

It had been a long time since I'd been out to SC (maybe 5-7 years?) and I don't really know why. I have a soft ... Continue »

Little late with my post here as I played with Dconnally on 5/25 in our GK Cup Match.

It had been a long time since I'd been out to SC (maybe 5-7 years?) and I don't really know why. I have a soft spot in my heart for this place as I played it a bunch as a kid and I just think the vibe is cool and it serves the golf community well as a municipal course that provides a great experience.

Everyone I've ever met at this place has been cool. Guy in the shop was great, lady in the snack bar was funny and engaging, the locals hanging around were fun and loud and when we were making the turn a junior group was loading up on snacks and they all seemed to be having a good time. Love a place that loves golf but understands how to make it fun and accessible.

As for the course, it a really fun layout. I think the front nine is a little more straightforward than the back, but the holes never get boring. I've been playing a tighter, more punishing course so getting out to SC with it's parallel fairways and somewhat bigger greens was nice. There's definitely a challenge to be found, but the course is absolutely playable and is a nice layout for all skill levels.

As for the conditions, I thought they were really good. Fairways were super lush and pure. Kikuyu is really starting to come in so you get those lies that sit up a bit, but it was like playing everything off a tee. However, kikuyu rough grows the same and being lush means it's not easy at all and over the next 3-4 months will likely get even tougher. Seems that especially around the greens there was some tricky stuff.

The greens were pretty crispy and bumpy visually as they don't look totally healed from punching, but didn't roll too bad. If you've never played here you HAVE to pay attention to the ocean pull. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. More like everything goes hard to the Southwest from what I was reading. Definitely playable greens and will probably just get better over the next couple weeks.

Pace of play was more than okay. Half our foursome dropped off at the turn so we slowed a bit on the back, but I'd say it was in the 4 1/2 hour range. Not bad for a place that packs them in.

All in all I had a great time and will do my best to get back to SC sooner rather than later. It's in good shape, price is good, people are great and if you can get around in a decent amount of time it's kinda hard to beat for South OC/North SD.

Met up with GKer AndrewZ28 for a GK Cup match at 2:51 pm on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, 5/25/21, a sunny afternoon with surprisingly little wind for this course. The kikuyu is lushing up at the end... Continue »

Met up with GKer AndrewZ28 for a GK Cup match at 2:51 pm on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, 5/25/21, a sunny afternoon with surprisingly little wind for this course. The kikuyu is lushing up at the end of Spring and it’s wall-to-wall at San Clemente. Greens are pretty firm and look dried out, but hold shots pretty well. I thought they rolled pretty good – just ask Andrew! Fairway cuts are short and fairly tight, but the ball sits just fine. Rough has been cut low in most places and is easy to play from. I wasn’t in a bunker – AZ said a fairway bunker he was in was fine, but greenside he ran into footprint/grooming problems. Rakes were in bunkers so we played it down. Tees were OK but a few sloped to the back of a righthanded golfer, and boxes on #1 and #12 were being resodded.

Basic carts. Divot mix (sand) on the carts and refill barrels scattered around the course. Pace was good until we ran up against a backup on #13 and things slowed down – we finished in ~4.5 hr. San Clemente always seems to be in pretty good shape, and is very good right now.